Picture of the day - June 12, 2007

A honeybee "lighting" on a flower blossom

Photo courtesy of FreePhotosBank. I suppose that most people consider honeybees to be little more than common pests, always eager to team up with flies and mosquitoes on a mission to ruin a good picnic. But in reality, the lowly honeybee is one of our most precious friends because they pollinate the planet's trees and plants, allowing them to bear the fruits and vegetables that ultimately sustain virtually every animal and human being on earth. The world's honeybee population has been declining in recent years, and the rate of that decline seems to be increasing. No one really knows for sure why it's happening, but the prevailing theory is that the signals emitted from cell phone towers are wreaking havoc with the honeybees' navigational systems, causing the insects to get lost and lose the ability to return to their hives. The late physicist Albert Einstein, widely believed to be one of the most intelligent men who ever lived, was once quoted as saying that if the world's honeybees ever become extinct, we humans will die off as well in just four years. Whether that dire prediction is accurate or not, one thing is for sure: If our honeybee friends ever stop flying from blossom to blossom and spreading that precious pollen, the world's food supply as we know it will certainly disappear right before our eyes.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!            Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"