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According to Albert Einstein, if honey bees were to disappear from earth, humans would be dead within four years, declares a meme shared on Facebook in Uganda and Egypt. The claim also appears in a quote attributed to the famous 20th century scientist , published on quotation webpages . It reads : If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. But did Einstein make any prediction about bees and human extinction? We investigated. ‘Probably not Einstein’ The bees quote is listed in the Probably not by Einstein section of the book The Ultimate Quotable Einstein , a collection of his sayings. According to the fact-checking site Snopes , the quote first appeared in a pamphlet distributed during a protest by beekeepers in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, in 1994. The quote does not appear in database searches of Einstein’s writings and books. In 2014, ecologist Michael Pocock reportedly told business website Forbes there was no evidence Einstein ever made any statement about bees. Extinction of bees would not mean end of people Forbes also reported Pocock as saying that if pollen-spreading insects such as bees died out, it could lead to mass human starvation but it probably wouldn’t be the end of mankind. Honeybees play an important role in mass flowering crops but some plants would survive their extinction. Other plants are wind pollinated and grown via different methods leaving little need for insects. While there might be a decrease in the quality of crops, it would not mean the end of humanity, according to Pocock. And there is no evidence that Einstein had anything to say about the subject. – Butchie Seroto
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