Posted on 07/10/2007 5:45:15 PM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
Could the Ozarks be emerging from what was once called a crisis for the agricultural industry? That's the question among beekeepers across the region as it seems bee populations might be rebuilding.
Earlier in the year, a problem called Colony Collapse Disorder became all the buzz as bees across the nation left the hive and never returned. But as summer wears on, local bee keepers and honey vendors say there are signs of recovery.
“It was a huge concern. Bees are so important, but it hasn't affected our local supplier." says Susie Farbin, co-owner of Mama Jean's Natural Market.
Local retailers say their shelves are stocked with honey and prices haven't gone up much despite the national decline in bee populations.
Commercial beekeepers tell KOLR/KSFX the insects are slowly but surely repopulating. But, it's a slightly different story for self proclaimed back yard beekeepers like Howard Wimmer. He's had hives for 30 years and while he's not tracking a significant number of bees disappearing or dying, the farmer is finding problems in keeping them fed.
"The only thing different this year was the ice storm and then the freeze after that killed all they were working on. We had to go to feeding them sugar water to keep them producing bees and keep them alive." says Wimmer.
Wimmer says because the bees don't have a lot to work with, they're not producing honey. He usually sells his product at the fair, but doesn't have enough honey to do that this year.
Both commercial and backyard beekeepers say the insects are making a steady recovery. They say the fall should give a better indication of the cause of the disorder, which could range from disease to pesticides, as well as what the overall local effect will be.
Global warming...anyone notice this line:
"The only thing different this year was the ice storm and then the freeze after that killed all they were working on. We had to go to feeding them sugar water to keep them producing bees and keep them alive."
That's buildup food for the hives, but fortunately it turned quite warm and the tulip poplar bloomed a little early, so there wasn't a gap. When the weather is weird like this we offer the bees sugar syrup once a week or so, but they never touched it.
We got 18 frames of honey off one hive (mostly tulip but some clover and wildflower). The bees get the rest of the clover and the fall honeyflow for wintering over.
I thought that the collapse was due to the imported pest, the bee mite, that decimated most of the bee hives in Florida.
No bee problem here, backyard tomatoes getting polinated just fine.
It wasn’t the warming that was the problem, it was the late season freeze.
Can you comment on reports that Colony Collapse Disorder might be related to some genetically modified strains of corn? I read a report on that theory back in the spring, but haven’t seen a thing about it since.
I figured that it might be the "Let's scare the bejeezus out of them" MSM at work again.
For my backyard fruit trees, I rely on wild bees for pollination.
This year, I had a bumper crop of sweet cherries, and the pear tree is already bending under the weight of fruit that won’t be ready until September.
Maybe the wild pollinators are doing better since they don’t have as much competition from the domestic bees?
Bttt
I know the bumble bee population around my father's place is intact. I got stung three times yesterday. One was buzzing around my head and I thought I would remain calm and let it buzz off. It didn't and stung me in the jaw. Then I ran off about twenty yards and another one hunted me down and stung me in the shoulder through my T-shirt. Then one more got me in the back. I only got one of them and had to call a truce.
I have one stuck to my front headlight so if anyone you know is reporting it missing, I'll send him on......
I don't know why but I really like bumble bees. They don't bother me, they defy aerodynamics and they work their butts off and go about their business. I had one or two enter my house this summer and I carefully caught them then sent them on their way.
Bumblebees are far more friendly than yellow jackets who I consider the islamofacists of the bee world..........I destroy them on sight.
We also have Carpenter Bees
Those SOBs are chewing holes in my fence.
Actually what he was talking about here in the Ozarks in January we had an ice storm I was with out power for 8 days some were out of power for longer. Then in May we had a late freeze and a lot of the flowers and trees just dropped their blooms so shortage of food for them.
Thats the way they usually are. I think they had a nest right outside the shed door and I was in their territory.
Sounds like a George Norrie story that hit the mainstream...
Clearly; you were the aggressor!
;-)
I’m glad you’re not allergic!
You need to change you aftershave....
Yellow jackets aren’t bees. They are wasps.
Probably has more to do with the late freezes (we had TWO) and the resulting lack of forage.
Besides, I don't think bees pollinate corn. Been keeping bees for 20 or 30 years, never heard of "corn honey". It's definitely not on the list of major crops pollinated by honeybees.
I’ve been staying in rural central VA for the last month + and I’ve never seen so many bees in my life. The flowering trees have been just loaded with them, even the clover is covered with bees.
CCD (Colony collapse disorder) is not a new phenomenon. In the last 50 years there have been 3 such situations ... none have been fully diagnosed with any scientific validity. The bees have always come back.
I have seen a greater amount of bees in my backyard here in SW Ohio than at anytime this year. Of course that is anecdotal and I am not minimizing that CCD exists right now. It does.
I suspect that as in the past, the bees will return. I am not sure if we will have any good answer as to why.
I don’t shave though. I have a ZZ Top like beard, except more sparse.
I'm glad the bees are ready to make a comeback and start picking up the slack because frankly, I'm exhausted....
The genetically modified corn controversy IS a hit job. Beekeepers on line have been noting that in central Illinois, which is GRE Corn Headquarters, they are just covered up with bees all over everything, while in Germany, where GRE is less than 1 percent of the total corn crop, the bees are dying off like mad.
Germany gets hit harder by a bad winter than England, France, or the Netherlands, because they don't have the buffer that the Atlantic Ocean provides against extreme cold.
So my opinion, for what it's worth, is that it was the dry winter and late freezes that killed off the "spring buildup" forage. Anybody who didn't feed their bees lost them to starvation. Which would explain why the bees didn't return to the hive -- they starved to death trying to find food.
This is why I love FreeRepublic. Thanks for the info!
It could be that this bee blight it something that has naturally occurred throughout history, just like global warming. In years past I've heard that out here in the west, predator populations such as coyote and fox will rise and fall in conjunction with the population of their prey, such as rabbits and rodents.
When an animal overpopulates its range, nature takes its course and starvation and disease will return it to its sustainable number.
So, is it possible the the bees overpopulated, and got temporarily whacked down?
I'm glad I grew up in a more Huck Finn time, when boys were allowed to be boys.
Once again—the apocalypse has been cancelled.
They don’t bother me, they defy aerodynamics and they work their butts off and go about their business.
Glad you like them!
The Bumble Bee does twice the pollination a Honey Bee does.
You are right about the “aerodynamics”. According to scientist, they aren’t suppose to fly, “aerodynamics”?
You're right, they don't. Corn self pollinates thats why they are planted the way they are; close together and in rows so the wind can spread the pollen throughout the crop......
I grew up in a Huck Finn time also. I remember watching hornets build their nest in an apple tree. I watched them for about two months until the nest was about a foot tall and nearly as wide. There seemed to be hundreds of them climbing in and on the nest. I decided to go to war with the nest after I lost my fascination with the building process. It was a blast tapping the nest with branches and then running as fast as I could away with them chasing me. I ended the conflict with a ten foot copper pipe one day by hitting the nest off the tree.
My dad would put a butane torch on the end of a long pole and burn 'em out.
I was fascinated that they would come out and swarm around the nest in a rage.
Now I think back...if they had figured out who was tormenting them, and found me...I would not be blithering on this forum right now, I would be stung to death 35 years ago. Kids do the darnedest things.
Now one of my favorite things is that a pair of mourning doves nest under my patio roof every year, and put out 3 or 4 broods per year. (Way back then I would have offed them with my BB gun, cruel as I was...I seemed to have mellowed out since then for some reason...is that a sign of old age?).
Lucky for them they are under my roof and we trust each other, instead of out in the wild, where I might consider them food. :)
BB guns were for shooting frogs in the pond and black birds. Don’t get me started about BB guns. I had the best time with mine, even shot my brother under the eye with it. We were playing war and it was either me or him and I won. My folks were not to happy to pull the BB out of his cheek.
Excellent news.
I’m a Minnesota boy, we didn’t have any “legal” fireworks back then, unless one went across the border to Wisconsin.
Well, we didn’t have any here either until about 4 years ago . . . but that never stopped any of us (there are all kinds of Class ‘C’ fireworks available in SC, TN, and AL and always have been).
Tales of regret. Never shot my brother with a BB, but did shoot him with an oil-soaked cotton ball out of the Crosman 760, thinking it wouldn't hurt him much. It raised quite a welt. Regrets. I don't think he ever really forgave me for that, but that's the way brothers are.
We took our share of birds and bullfrogs with the BB gun too. Sometimes when you'd whack a bullfrog behind the head with a BB, we found it fascinating that they would swim in circles for a while before expiring. But, those frog legs are quite a delicacy when you cook them up.
Now, I have a pair of mourning doves under my patio roof, working on their fourth brood this year. They come back every year. I consider them my old friends, and wouldn't even think about getting out the ol' BB gun. :). Sometimes they will light on the barbeque lid, just a few feet away from my chair, and look me over with their quizzical looks. We trust each other.
How times change.
For quite a while after the freeze, there were no flowers around for the bees to visit. We have no peaches and only a handful of blueberries this summer.
Like the guy in the article, we have a lot less honey this year. We aren't selling any.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.