Recent research by scientists at the University of Reading reveals a disconcerting honeybee shortage throughout Europe.

Findings portray Europe to be around 13.4 million bees short of what is needed for accurate pollination.

Although much news pertaining to such a decline has fallen under the radar, the United States has been facing a similar threat.

Trying to observe the threat locally will prove to be an uneventful task, considering the major crops of Florence and surrounding areas: corn, soybeans and cotton.

These crops do not necessarily need the services provided by honeybees, said biology professor Paul Kittle. Corn is pollinated by wind. Soybeans and cotton are heavily self-pollinated.

The aftershock can be felt by those who are involved with the honeybee industry and those who are reliant on the services and products provided, Kittle said.

Steve Carpenter, the owner of Jack-O-Lantern-Farm in Muscle Shoals and a local honey harvester, depends heavily on pollination to maintain his business, he said.

The honey is a favorite among local customers. Many attest to its ability to ease allergy symptoms, he said.

“We have 47 colonies that pollinate the vegetables that we sell,” Carpenter said. “Our business is totally dependent upon our honeybees.”

Pollination for an acre of vegetables takes two hives with approximately 50,000 honeybees in each, he said.

Honeybees pollinate nearly $20 billion worth of crops in America, according to the Alfa Farmers Federation.

Honeybees are important in Florence, as well as throughout the entire country, Kittle said.

“The greatest asset of honeybees is their pollination service,” Kittle said. “They are very important for vegetables.”

Honeybees, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, do more than 80 percent of insect-crop pollination. Around one-third of the human diet is derived from plants pollinated by insects.

Alabama Bee and Honey Producers highlight Alabama crops such as watermelons and vegetable seed as being heavily dependent on pollination.

The shortage in Europe has a small chance of affecting local areas, said Mac Higginbotham, director of Alabama Bee and Honey Producers.

Even so, Higginbotham recognized industry-threatening issues could result from the current decline in the honeybee population of America.

“The decline results from a culmination of all kinds of things attacking our bee population,” Higginbotham said.

A conference took place in October 2012 involving National Stakeholders and Pennsylvania State University, wherein multiple causes for the decline were pinpointed.

The parasitic Varroa mite was declared the greatest factor over pesticides and habitat destruction.

These factors came to be real threats in certain areas, Kittle said.

“The mites live in honeybee air passages,” Kittle said. “The pesticides can (then) get into plant tissues.”

Honeybees are mostly known for their versatile honey. Known primarily as a natural sweetener, honey contains an anti-microbial agent used in treatment of most minor burns and many bacterial infections.