I like Lomborg too, but I don't think he lives up to the standard set by his instigator/inspirator, Julian Simon. Lomborg seems a little more comfortable picking the data that support his argument, while Simon was always careful to consider all the data available (and cite it). He released a copy of his article with citations, but I still can't tell where he got the statistic that "Colony numbers were higher in 2010 than any year since 1999." It sounds like good news for bees, but with a wider context it's kind of hard to figure out:
Surely Lomborg wouldn't commit the sin Simon so often ridiculed, of picking the most extreme recent points in the data to manufacture a trend? Anyway, annoying gloom and doomsters is a worthy goal, but too easy.The total number of managed honey bee colonies has decreased from 5 million in the 1940s to only 2.5 million today. source