# After the bees leave, humans have 4 years to live? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-bees-leave-humans-have-4-years-to-live/403216 "2007-05-08T12:26:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-bees-leave-humans-have-4-years-to-live/403216/1 "2007-05-08T12:26:27Z")
I heard recently that due to the shortage of bees, or the rising threat of a bee shortage, humans only have 4 more years to live. The person who said this, then said, that he thought Einstein said it. Now I’m curious. Did Einstein ever say anything, remotely close to this? Who did say it? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-bees-leave-humans-have-4-years-to-live/403216/2 "2007-05-08T12:34:19Z")
There is no evidence that Einstein said this quote. Snopes linky: > **[Did Einstein Say Without Bees, Mankind Would Soon Perish?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/einstein-on-bees/)** > > Did Albert Einstein predict that if something eliminated bees from our planet, mankind would perish within 4 years? ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-bees-leave-humans-have-4-years-to-live/403216/3 "2007-05-08T12:44:34Z")
[QUOTE=engineer\_comp\_geek] There is no evidence that Einstein said this quote. Snopes linky: > **[Did Einstein Say Without Bees, Mankind Would Soon Perish?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/einstein-on-bees/)** > > Did Albert Einstein predict that if something eliminated bees from our planet, mankind would perish within 4 years? [/QUOTE] I would have gone to snopes, had I thought to think that it would be, uh, snopeable. – I think you know what I mean. As it is, this quote was just added on 4-21. Seriously, I only heard it that one time, and thats why I am asking. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-bees-leave-humans-have-4-years-to-live/403216/4 "2007-05-08T13:07:40Z")
Assuming no bees, there would be shortages of many fruits and vegetables until and unless a substitute was found. There would also be shortages of some forms of forage for meat animals (e.g., alfalfa). Humans would survive, though food would be scarcer. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-bees-leave-humans-have-4-years-to-live/403216/5 "2007-05-08T14:20:44Z")
This would be just weird enough to be true. Everybody worrrying about asteriods, disease, and global warming, and it’s lack of bees that do us in. :\ ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-bees-leave-humans-have-4-years-to-live/403216/6 "2007-05-08T15:18:54Z")
If we lose bees as a primary source of pollination, won’t something else step in and fill the empty niche? Would we experience a population boom of butterflys, moths, previously unidentified whats-its? ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-the-bees-leave-humans-have-4-years-to-live/403216/7 "2007-05-08T16:08:05Z")
Interesting [Great Debates thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=416781) on the disappearance of bees.