Posted on 05/12/2007 10:36:36 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Bees are big business. They are crucial to pollination of $14 billion in food crops and a third of the food we eat. If bees have a problem, we all have a problem. And bees have a big problem.
The chief apiary inspector for the state of Texas calls it "a hell of a problem." As many as a quarter of the nation's commercially kept bees went missing last year, presumed dead, in a phenomenon now called colony collapse disorder. Inspector Paul Jackson said it is as much a mystery in Texas as it is in 24 other states and half a dozen nations. He said it happens overnight without warning signs of distress and with no evidence left behind. The bees simply disappear.
Jackson has yet to find a pattern in this worrisome phenomenon. One beekeeper may lose 5,000 hives in a day's time while another down the road 10 miles loses none. In Texas, as elsewhere, it is the large commercial colonies that are most affected.
A threat of this magnitude to such a fundamental element in food production prompted congressional hearings last week. A specially appointed, nationwide task force of scientists will conduct research to try to pinpoint the cause and find solutions.
Pollination is the name of the game. Beekeepers in Texas and several other states send thousands of hives to pollinate crops around the country, moving them from state to state and crop to crop. Texas hives are deployed as many as four or five times a year, carried about the country on 18-wheeler trucks.
This constant mobility has been cited as a possible cause for the disappearing hives. The resulting stress depresses bees' immune systems, making bees vulnerable to a host of diseases and parasites.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Wuli, I’m sorry if I sounded snarky, let’s credit it to watching too much “Little House On The Prairie”, and too many viewings of Nellie Olsen sniffing “Country girls!” at Laura and Mary! Oh, and a long life as a “country” girl, too! :)
By small gardens are you including the ohhh, I don’t know, maybe less than two hundred acre farms we have in New England? There is A LOT of overgrown farmland in ME, NH, VT, CT and even western MA that I’d imagine could be worked again. Would the native species adequately pollinate these farms?
two hundred acres farms....no native species would be hard pressed to do the job if any pesticides are used.
When I say small farms 10-15 acre plots surrounded by forests and fields that haven’t been treated with pesticides.
I thought I would let you know how our garden is doing without the bees.
We’ve never had so many tomatoes and snap beans. I still only saw one honey bee but it hasn’t affected any of our vegetables.
Something is pollinating them thank goodness but I don’t know what, except for one or two bumblebees. Do you think Einstein could have been wrong???
We have lot’s of bunny rabbits * cicadas around our house though ...
I Keep waiting for the flowers to bloom , but I may have to pull them completly because they look like weeds !
Have A Great Night , & Thanks For The Bee Ping .
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