Grand Junction, Colo. (KKCO) - Since 2007, bees having been disappearing from their hives due to what experts call colony collapse. One third of the honey bee population has been lost over the last six years.
The vanishing honey bees are causing a crisis and having an impact on those who produce apples, watermelon, onions, and hundreds of other fruits and vegetables.
Tuesday night was a chance for the community to learn all about the issue during a documentary, Vanishing of the Bees, that played at the KAFM radio room.
Dr. Gary McCallister, president of the Western Colorado Bee Keepers Association, says "if you think about losing a third of the cattle every year that would be pretty devastating and it's been pretty devastating to pollination.
Most people don't understand the role pollination plays and it's significance and necessity. There would not even be a Big Mac meal with a strawberry shake if we didn't have pollination.”
Experts blame to the dwindling bee population on a number of factors, including the way bees are managed and pesticides used in bee farms.
To learn more about bees you can attend a meeting of The Western Colorado Bee Keepers Association. They meet on the second Wednesday of each month at the Jockey Club at the Mesa County fair grounds.