To Bee or Not To Be, that is the Question

Associated Content ^ | 05-12-07 | Ranger

[mission9]

All around the United States, reports have been coming in for months about the wholesale loss of bees by beekeepers. Apiarists are flummoxed over the losses which are not being suffered by native, wild bees. The "killer" bees or Africanized bees, are not affected. As much of your food relies on bee pollination skills to arrive at your tabletop, the public has cause for concern regarding this blight.

Richard Hoagland, in addition ....

[mission9]

So the cause of Global warming is a celestial event, and Hoagland's got the bees to prove it...

[cripplecreek]

I’m not seeing a lot of honey bees but I am seeing a lot of our native bees.

[kjo]

Gotta be Bush’s fault.

[o_zarkman44]

My blackberry bush is full of blooms and the bees of all kinds are very actively pollinating. Should be a good crop.

Maybe bees prefer hollow trees instead of boxes?

Hmmmm.

I even heard a theory about microwave transmissions and cell phones chasing off the bees.

[Calpernia]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1785723/posts
Mysterious illness stings beekeepers

Note from thread:

“Imidacloprid was a partial nicotinic agonist, since it elicited only 36% of ACh-induced currents and competitively blocked 64% of the peak ACh-induced currents. GABA-induced currents were partially blocked when imidacloprid was coapplied and this block was independent upon activation of nAChRs. Our results identify the honeybee nAChR as a target of imidacloprid and an imidacloprid-induced inhibition of the insect GABA receptor.”

nAChR = nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

Nicotine enhances cognitive functions, such as learning, memory, and retention through activation of brain nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs).

The most common nicotinic receptors found in the brain are the low affinity a 7-nAChR and the high affinity a 4b2-nAChR. a 7.

***Imidacloprid, which is being sprayed as an insecticide, it is an agnostic. An agnostic is used to affect the addictive properties and some of the side-effects of nicotine.***

Hazards of imidacloprid seed coating - affects orientation flights, foraging bees
http://www.univ-tours.fr/irbi/UIEIS/Theses-DEA/Lefebvre-these.pdf

Also:

Effects of sub-lethal imidacloprid doses on the
homing rate and foraging activity of honey bees

Treated honey bees also showed anomalous
flying behaviour: they often fell in the grass and their
flight direction was not towards the hive. Treated bees
seemed to be disoriented, and that could be the cause of
their disappearance.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Is Art Bell keeping bees now?

[Old Professer]

See what happens when everybody quits smoking?

[Calpernia]

I do get the joke, but look at this again:

***Imidacloprid, which is being sprayed as an insecticide, it is an agnostic. An agnostic is used to affect the addictive properties and some of the side-effects of nicotine.***

That insecticide, makes people more addicted to smoking.

It also affects the homing rate and foraging activity of honey bees. This is why bees aren’t being found dead by the hives.

Now, what happens when birds get this imidacloprid in their system?

[Sawdring]

A good article on how bees are used today. Traveling Bees

[mission9]

HE Could bee, if it looks like the granola crunching, nut and berry crowd might go hungry.

[CarrotAndStick]

Like I mentioned earlier...

If there are bees that are surviving this mystery, then that’s probably enough. It may be a slump now, but the ones which have survived (or have been “naturally selected”) are going to be the progenitors of the new colonies, and they will most probably be able to survive this onslaught.

Bees have been on earth for hundreds of millions of years. Methinks they’ve seen enough as a species, to be able to adapt to newer realities than they are given credit for.

[mission9]

Some if the bees start smoking tobacco, problem solved?

[Boundless]

> Apiarists are flummoxed over the losses which are
> not being suffered by native, wild bees.

Note: “not being suffered by native, wild bees”

Conjecture: something in or on the crops is
wrecking the commercial hives.

Another thread speculated on GMO crops, esp.
those with pest-resistant mods.

Bees are insects, no?

[philman_36]

Should be a good crop.
I've already picked 3 1-gal bags off of our bush and expect to pick that much again in a couple of days. A very good crop this year.
The figs look to be plentiful as well as the persimmons.

[Calpernia]

It’s an insecticide the plant seeds are being coated with.

[Old Professer]

That is a subject for study; and that is what needs to be done rather than making knee-jerk decisions on several levels.

[Calpernia]

bump

[Paleo Conservative]

Perhaps the domesticated European honey bees are too inbred to defend agains some pathogens?

[gitmo]

Has anyone on this thread (other than mission9) actually read this article? The losses to apiarists is something I’m very interested in, but this article is wacko to the 4th dimension.

[Boundless]

> It may be a slump now, but the ones which have
> survived (or have been “naturally selected”) are
> going to be the progenitors of the new colonies,
> and they will most probably be able to survive
> this onslaught.

Only if it’s a natural cycle phenomenon.

If it’s due to GMO or new seed/fert/pest treatments,
big ag may be changing the commercial hive ecosystem
faster than the bees can adapt.

It won’t just be big apiary that will be unhappy
about that.