Posted on 04/07/2007 7:02:03 AM PDT by Nomorjer Kinov
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US beekeepers have been stung in recent months by the mysterious disappearance of millions of bees threatening honey supplies as well as crops which depend on the insects for pollination.
Bee numbers on parts of the east coast and in Texas have fallen by more than 70 percent, while California has seen colonies drop by 30 to 60 percent.
According to estimates from the US Department of Agriculture, bees are vanishing across a total of 22 states, and for the time being no one really knows why.
"Approximately 40 percent of my 2,000 colonies are currently dead and this is the greatest winter colony mortality I have ever experienced in my 30 years of beekeeping," apiarist Gene Brandi, from the California State Beekeepers Association, told Congress recently.
It is normal for hives to see populations fall by some 20 percent during the winter, but the sharp loss of bees is causing concern, especially as domestic US bee colonies have been steadily decreasing since 1980.
There are some 2.4 million professional hives in the country, according to the Agriculture Department, 25 percent fewer than at the start of the 1980s.
And the number of beekeepers has halved.
The situation is so bad, that beekeepers are now calling for some kind of government intervention, warning the flight of the bees could be catastrophic for crop growers.
Domestic bees are essential for pollinating some 90 varieties of vegetables and fruits, such as apples, avocados, and blueberries and cherries.
"The pollination work of honey bees increases the yield and quality of United States crops by approximately 15 billion dollars annually including six billion in California," Brandi said.
California's almond industry alone contributes two billion dollars to the local economy, and depends on 1.4 million bees which are brought from around the US every year to help pollinate the trees, he added.
The phenomenon now being witnessed across the United States has been dubbed "colony collapse disorder," or CCD, by scientists as they seek to explain what is causing the bees to literally disappear in droves.
The usual suspects to which bees are known to be vulnerable such as the varroa mite, an external parasite which attacks honey bees and which can wipe out a hive, appear not to be the main cause.
"CCD is associated with unique symptoms, not seen in normal collapses associated with varroa mites and honey bee viruses or in colony deaths due to winter kill," entomologist Diana Cox-Foster told the Congress committee.
In cases of colony collapse disorder, flourishing hives are suddenly depopulated leaving few, if any, surviving bees behind.
The queen bee, which is the only one in the hive allowed to reproduce, is found with just a handful of young worker bees and a reserve of food.
Curiously though no dead bees are found either inside or outside the hive.
The fact that other bees or parasites seem to shun the emptied hives raises suspicions that some kind of toxin or chemical is keeping the insects away, Cox-Foster said.
Those bees found in such devastated colonies also all seem to be infected with multiple micro-organisms, many of which are known to be behind stress-related illness in bees.
Scientists working to unravel the mysteries behind CCD believe a new pathogen may be the cause, or a new kind of chemical product which could be weakening the insects' immune systems.
The finger of suspicion is being pointed at agriculture pesticides such as the widely-used neonicotinoides, which are already known to be poisonous to bees.
France saw a huge fall in its bee population in the 1990s, blamed on the insecticide Gaucho which has now been banned in the country.
Very south - Mobile, Alabama. The pond isn’t big, maybe a 1/2 acre. The bass and bream are doing well in it and we have seen a water snake already this spring but I just haven’t noticed frogs. I don’t know if they aren’t there or if I just haven’t paid attention. Tonight wouldn’t be a good test either because it’s supposed to get really cold.
Once a hive is contaminated with insecticide from returning worker-bees and the bees start to die, the hive must be burned not repopulated as the new tenants will die too. This sounds so elementary but it is amazing how many beekeepers do not understand. (my dad was a beekeeper and he taught me this MANY years ago)
I've checked out your last 500 posts. If there were ever an Islamofascist coddler and suck-up, you definitely meet the standard.
There's no sign of bees having died ~ just that they're leaving their hives. We don't know where they've gone. This can happen with an unknown viral infection, or maybe even some sort of chemical contamination.
Other than figuring out how to toss pieces of a deadcow at Congress, your typical Islamofascist or one of their running dog lackeys probably has no idea how to control disease or other contamination.
So what is it that the Dems have against seed that have been harmlessly used for thousands of years? I know they have lobbyists to keep happy, but what is their public justification for this?
Who is putting out this report out and how are they measuring them.
And I lived thought horible winters in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s why now, this was a mild winter!
I did a search on frogs like you suggested and some sites are saying tree frogs are also disappearing. As soon as the weather gets back to normal I'll listen for our nighttime serenaders and let you know if they're around this part of the country.
Stay warm......Ping-Pong
In my neck of the woods in Maine we have not had honey bees on our land in over four years. Just groundbees and wasps.
Appears likely. Apparently all of the bee-lievers have been taken away.
Why are they not putting video cameras inside hives to record what might be happening?
Making them "bee-leavers"
:-)
There’s no shortage of bees in this part of California.
When we sit in the back patio, all we can hear is bzzzzzzzzz.
Not really, I read a recent thread here that detailed a similar occurance about 50 years ago. In that article the person interviewed said that what was occuring at that time was increased sunspot activity which impacted the magnetic fields of our planet much the same that is going on today and that bees are very sensitive to that kind of thing. Thats about all I can tell you because the gist of it all was about two stories above me..............
Bottom line, the world ain't coming to an end and whats happening today has happened before..........
It was and is truly, a reality-wake-up call to think about, my FRiend. It alarmed me, greatly, during the 90s; I still keep watch.
Hmmmm, maybe they disappeared into the Beemuda Triangle..........
Good question. If it’s that important, then it should be worth finding out what is happening.
I admit, I've had some phenomenally good howls of laughter, hearing a hullabaloo outside and witnessing my husband doing a spastic full-jive dance, shrieking, while running away from these bees. I think he is drawn to wherever the bees hangout. Some sort of internal radar.. ;>
Bravo! I’ve only just begun the implementation of my master “landscaping” plan in his new locale. It will have a very natural look to it, and of course, I have had a vege garden nearly all my life. Clover? Love that smell.
Yes, it has. But engineered seeds are another matter.
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