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 ...
But you know what? I really really care if humanity continues to survive, since I have something of a stake in the outcome.
I find your post puzzling. Are you saying that non-Americans don't care about humanity?
They need to to take the bees to an underground bunker, a few male ones and many female ones to ensure the species survives.
Wasn’t it Einstein that stated: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”
Wild honey bees have died off many years ago from mites. All honey bees now require medication during periods when honey is not being made, thus those in the wild die off very shortly after swarming from managed colonies. There are other bees that pollinate as well as flys and other insects. They usually are not enough to handle the monoculture fields that come into bloom at one time.
I’m a beekeeper so i am going to jump in. Here is the speculation I have on this subject.
1. no it is probably not terrorists :) although a disease that kills honey bees could be introduced the disease would kill a large number of bees but not all.
2. Bees fertilizing the GE corn is probably not the culprit as Corn doesn’t need honey bees to fertilize it and my bees stay away from corn, however bees fed on corn syrup made from that corn may be the culprit (causing bees to become immunodeficient). (I feed my bees sugar not corn syrup I haven’t had mysterious losses).
3. Most beekeepers have some loss of bees each year due to a number of pests that plague the industry. mites, etc
4. We will not produce as much food without European honey bees and yes if they all died out we would be in a world of hurt for alot of crops.
5. the bees may be dying of certain pesticides that were found to destroy honey bees in Europe but that homeowners are now routinely using in the US to prevent termite damage.
So several things could be to blame. It could also be a natural cycle as a die off (not of this magnitude) occurred 50-60 years ago and 50-60 years before that.
In my area of NCal Euros were slow to emerge but the natives were out in force from the beginning. So far we are having record levels of pollination and fruit set.
One of the crops most dependent on bees is cucumbers. A flower that is not pollinated makes a very small cucumber. A field of very small cucumbers cost more to harvest than the crop is worth. Thus they are sometimes just plowed under.
Almonds are also very dependent on bees as are many other crops.
“Is it...a bee?” - Patsy Stone
Not always true. There is a wild hive across the street from me that has thrived probably for 20 years maybe more as the bees are a smaller Eastern European type that is no longer favored among bee keepers. Like all animals some few adapt to things like mites and other pests and thrive. I have been trying to get a swarm off that wild hive for two years now but I haven’t been lucky enough to catch them when swarming yet.
Still a few wild hives in the big swamp. If they’re smart, they’ll stay here. I am more likely to see carpenter bees or bumblebees on the yard flowers however. I checked out the closest commercial hives yesterday, looking good so far.
As long as they are not finding huge burial mounds I will continue to believe that the bees probably joined a union and went on a nationwide strike.
I don’t know what to think about this. By the time I decide the bees will probably all be dead....
Nonsense, the level of pesticide use is at its lowest level in decades as a percentage of fields treated and pounds used.
Show me the bodies or shut up, is what I say to all who wildly speculate.
Invest in paint brushes and then watch the Congress. This may be a ruse to import armies of migrant workers to hand pollinate the crops. :)
What should I give them, flank steak?
This Queen Bee will help the pollination process.
There are other insects besides bees we can use to polinate crops with. This problem has been going on since we have had bees in the US(bees were imported here, before the evil white man showed up, there were no bees here, other insects and the wind did polination). We always survive it. We can simply import more bees, let other insects take up the slack(Yeah, what are we paying them for anyay?), and let the wind do some of the work.
Personally I would rather raise hummingbirds instead of bees, hummingbirds don't sting!
All kidding aside, this is something that happens periodically, just another scrare tactic. The liberals never sleep, looking for ways to terrify Americans.
Beehave yourself.
Beeaware of puns and dents.
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