Posted on 09/06/2007 3:03:25 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
This is a very common pattern in modern medical (psuedo) science - confusing cause with effect. The virus is the result of weakned immunity due to toxic pesticide exposure.
(And many times the so called virus is not a virus at all. It is residual proteins due to altered meatabolism, i.e. auto generated toxins.)
To attribute the bee affliction to a virus is medical sophistry. The major benefactor of course are the pharmaceuticals that “fight” the virus.
Your post makes absolute sense and, of course, the pesticide companies want to bury the facts...
The suspected cause may be “Israeli Paralysis Disease” but that apparently didn’t stop the law firm of Klover and KVetch from filing the complaint.
Originally, they thought the bee die-off was thought to be due to alcohol poisoning. The researchers were of the opinion the bees had a drinking problem, because the bees were so fond of stingers. :-)
I used to have one hive of the little wild black bees. They were more trouble than all the others put together.
Made more honey . . . but lots more trouble.
Now I've got Italian/Caucasian hybrids that are so gentle that I sometimes don't bother to suit up, just grab my smoker. Got 18 pounds off the hive in the main honeyflow this spring.
I'd rather have less honey and less trouble!
Thanks for the ping!
My Dad was PSU class of 1940—very proud of his connection with the Nittany Lion sculpture at PSU. Dad told me this past week that the Great Depression was still in full swing when he graduated. He said he was one of only two engineering grads who had a job at graduation. He retired at age 80 after working for the same employer for 59 years (and fighting in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII).
JoePa was gracious enough to send him a congratulatory video and say (in 1999) that he hoped to break Dad’s employment/retirement record.
Dad’s only gripe now is that his Social Security is so high, he’s billed extra for his Medicare.
BTW, my hubby is an entomologist w/ PSU ties. He knew of this research result before the MSM started attributing the bee dieoff to global warming. The MSM has been ignoring the evidence for a long time.
I’m undecided on this. My 100% organic garden (for 15 years now) has seen the bee population plummet as well, so while pesticide use may well be a factor, those of us that grow food & flowers the “old fashioned” way have had this lack-o-bees problem, as well.
I was actually stung this summer and welcomed it...though that was the end of yet another pollinator. Damn!
One thing we all can do is to make sure we’re planting things that bring in the “Good Bugs” to organically kill off the “Bad Bugs.”
I always have a row of this annual flower/herb mix in my garden. I encourage everyone that reads this and gardens to give it a try, as well. :) The key is to make your garden, no matter how small, a HAVEN for the good bugs, the birds and the bees. They’ll do a lot of the work for you, and you won’t need to use any chemicals. :)
Diana’s Beneficial Bug Mix
Calendula (Pot Marigold)
Dill
Fennel
Cilantro
Blue Bachelor Buttons
Orange Cosmos
Take a standard seed pack of each and mix it all together in a bowl. Direct seed in your garden when your soil is workable in the spring. The weather can still be cool, as long as your soil has warmed sufficiently for germination. Or, start in 4-packs indoors under lights or in your greenhouse and set the plugs out when they’re 6-8 weeks along. (You can also grow this mix in large pots, but make sure those pots are in or at the edges of your garden.)
It’s also lovely and makes a pretty, fragrant bouquet for the kitchen table. :)
*GROAN* ;)
Wasn't there another article posted a few months ago, concerning French hives having the same problem?
IIRC, it mentioned a Far East Asian bee virus, that Asian bees were acclimated to, but that was deadly to Western bees in vitro. The culprit was very closely related, genetically, to a virus Western bees are pretty much immune to.
We don't keep bees, but we do have apple blossoms & clovers, and a growing shortage of pollinators.
A co-worker told me today of these angry, evil wasps that are killing honey bees at an alarming rate...they bite the heads off of the drones then bust their way in and kill the Queen.
We are NOT amused!
I’ll see if I can get details from him, or find an article.
Too funny! I was just thinking about bees today. There are virtually none where I live. Some kind of little scary looking things and a few small bumbles. We saw a few more honeybees this year because a customer put a hive in a farmer’s field about a mile from the store. Last year I saw 2-3, and about the same the year before.
When I was growing up, there were clover pathes everywhere and you had to be careful where you stepped. Now, there’s hardly any clover, either.
The same customer has an uncle who maintains lots of hives—40 or more. He lost half.
Customer checked on the hive close to the store today—said they were fine. Last year he was making sugar water in tanker amounts becasue it stayed warm so long. The bees were still active and there was nothing for them to eat.
Thanks for pinging me and I’ll try the garden row. Maybe bugs are like deer, tho. Regional! I’ll let you know.
Hadn’t heard that one.
Thanks.
Also, the bees have a severe allergy problem, they get hives. :-)
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