Genetische Manipulatie?

'COLLAPSING COLONIES.
Are GM Crops Killing Bees?
By Gunther Latsch

A mysterious decimation of bee populations has German beekeepers
worried, while a similar phenomenon in the United States is gradually
assuming catastrophic proportions. The consequences for agriculture
and the economy could be enormous.

Is the mysterous decimation of bee populations in the US and Germany
a result of GM crops?

Walter Haefeker is a man who is used to painting grim scenarios. He
sits on the board of directors of the German Beekeepers Association
(DBIB) and is vice president of the European Professional Beekeepers
Association. And because griping is part of a lobbyist's trade, it is
practically his professional duty to warn that "the very existence of
beekeeping is at stake."

The problem, says Haefeker, has a number of causes, one being the
varroa mite, introduced from Asia, and another is the widespread
practice in agriculture of spraying wildflowers with herbicides and
practicing monoculture. Another possible cause, according to
Haefeker, is the controversial and growing use of genetic engineering
in agriculture.

As far back as 2005, Haefeker ended an article he contributed to the
journal Der Kritischer Agrarbericht (Critical Agricultural Report)
with an Albert Einstein quote: "If the bee disappeared off the
surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life
left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more
animals, no more man."

Mysterious events in recent months have suddenly made Einstein's
apocalyptic vision seem all the more topical. For unknown reasons,
bee populations throughout Germany are disappearing -- something that
is so far only harming beekeepers. But the situation is different in
the United States, where bees are dying in such dramatic numbers that
the economic consequences could soon be dire. No one knows what is
causing the bees to perish, but some experts believe that the large-
scale use of genetically modified plants in the US could be a factor.'

Lees verder: http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,473166,00.html