Posted on 05/12/2007 10:36:36 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Another missing bee article ( Ping )
Well you probably wouldn’t catch the rest. :) You can attract a swarm of bees but swarms almost always have queens within them. The best way to start beekeeping is to find someone going out of the business or start with a starter kit and buy the bees from a local person. Generally if you can get a local to give you some brood also it makes it easier.
But the results are “highly preliminary” and are from only a few hives from Le Grand in Merced County, UCSF biochemist Joe DeRisi said. “We don’t want to give anybody the impression that this thing has been solved.”
Maybe that’s why?
They would pollinate but just not as easily. Without commercial honey bees people would have to start relying on local gardens for alot of produce and even then we might be hard pressed to feed everyone.
Basically you have enough pollinators that aren’t bees or are other types of bees in local yards to pollinate the problem is that type of insect population doesn’t exist to properly pollinate the mega farms we have today.
And thus if there is ANY virus, fungus, or parasite ANYWHERE along their route, it will be spread EVERYWHERE along their route
The die off were much smaller in magnitude before but there isn’t a huge amount of data like we have today to say for certain.
I agree with your post. In my state, I have seen an alarming absence of honeybees. I thought it may be pesticides to fight off the Japanese beetles in my state. The beetles devour everything and the only way to kill them is with a product named Sevin. If someone knows of another way, please let me know. The Sevin also kills the bees!
I was told on another thread on this subject that a menthol cough drop in the hive...(toss it in and beat feet!) the beas will snack on and then will keep the mites away..
04/16/07 - Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in Honey Bees
Received from:
Dr. Jamie Ellis
Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory
Department of Entomology and Nematology
University of Florida
Bldg 970 Natural Area Drive
PO Box 110620
Gainesville, FL 32601
Email: jdellis@ufl.edu
Phone: 352 392 1901 ext. 130
Introduction
The U.S. beekeeping industry has faced a number of obstacles to healthy bee management over the years. These obstacles range from arthropod pests to pathogenic diseases. Now a new problem threatens the beekeeping industry and it may eclipse altogether the bee maladies of old. Termed “colony collapse disorder” (or CCD), the disorder has gained considerable national and international attention.
Beekeepers around the United States have reported higher-than-usual colony losses since the fall of 2006. Some beekeepers in states reporting CCD have lost 50 to 90% of their colonies, often within a matter of weeks. This translates into thousands of dead colonies and millions of dead bees. In a country where honey bees contribute billions of dollars in added revenue to the agriculture industry, these bee losses cannot be taken lightly.
SNIP
What causes CCD?
The cause of CCD is under investigation. At this point, almost every conceivable and realistic cause remains a possibility. The leading candidates and a brief explanation of their potential role are listed below. This list is not a comprehensive list and the candidates occur in no particular order. It is important to note that this list may change as new information on CCD becomes available. Such changes could result in the addition or exclusion of any of the following potential causes. The author makes no attempt to promote or undermine any one of the following theories.
Traditional bee pests and diseases (including American foulbrood, European foulbrood, chalkbrood, nosema, small hive beetles, and tracheal mites): Although considered potential causes, “traditional” bee maladies (those nearly-cosmopolitan throughout the US and globally) likely are not responsible for causing CCD. This is because they do not have a history of promoting CCD-like symptoms. That said, traditional bee pests and diseases may exacerbate the disorder, so scientists have not abandoned experiments investigating them.
Style of feeding bees and type of bee food: The style of feeding bees and types of bee food used to feed bees vary considerably among beekeepers reporting CCD losses. As such, no correlation has been found between what colonies were fed and their likelihood of survival. Despite this, many beekeepers have abandoned the practice of feeding high fructose corn syrup to bees due to indications that it can form byproducts that are harmful to bees
How the bees were managed: Management style is a broad category but it can include the type of income pursued with bees (honey production, pollination services, etc.) or what routine colony management beekeepers perform (splitting hives, swarm control, chemical use, etc.). Both of these vary considerably among beekeepers so this possible cause of CCD is given less attention. That said, poor management can make any colony malady worse.
Queen source: Scientists are investigating the lack of genetic diversity and lineage of bees, both related to queen quality, as possible causes of CCD. Regarding the former, relatively few (in the hundreds) breeder queens are used in the U.S. to produce the millions of queen bees (and therefore all bees) used throughout the U.S. Geneticists refer to this as a genetic bottle neck. This lack of genetic biodiversity can make bees increasingly susceptible to any pest/disease that invades the system.
Chemical use in bee colonies: Like farmers in other agricultural sectors, beekeepers often attempt to chemically-control the various maladies affecting their honey bees in an effort to keep their bees healthy and productive. Investigators recently have found a number of sub-lethal effects of these chemicals on honey bees (workers, queens, and drones) even when the chemicals were used according to label and in accordance with best management practices suggested by specialists. These sub-lethal effects have led some to consider the role of in-hive chemical use in the CCD paradigm.
Chemical toxins in the environment: Another chemically-oriented theory is that toxins in the environment are responsible for CCD. Because pesticides are used widely in cropping systems in an effort to kill herbivorous insects, one is left to consider the potential for non-target chemical effects on foraging bees. In addition to being exposed to toxins while foraging, honey bees also may encounter toxins by drinking water contaminated with chemical runoff, encountering various chemicals (household, commercial, etc.) through contact outside of the hive, or via direct inhalation.
Genetically modified crops: Some people have proposed that genetically modified crops may be responsible for the widespread bee deaths. Interestingly, many seeds from which genetically modified crops are grown are dipped first in systemic insecticides that later may appear in the plants’ nectar and pollen. This makes genetically modified plants suspect because of their chemical treatment history, not just because they are genetically modified. Scientists have begun initial investigations into both theories but no conclusive data have been collected.
Varroa mites and associated pathogens: Even with the concerns surrounding CCD, varroa mites remain the world’s most destructive honey bee killer. As such, varroa and the viruses they transmit have been considered as possible causes of CCD. Further, varroa often are controlled chemically by beekeepers. So varroa (perhaps not directly) has been considered a potential cause of CCD because the mite itself is damaging, it transmits viruses to bees, and it can elicit chemical responses from beekeepers. Despite this, there have been instances of colonies showing symptoms of CCD when their varroa populations were under control.
Nutritional fitness: Scientists have proposed nutritional fitness of adult bees as a potential cause of CCD. This topic is being investigated although little information exists currently to support/refute the role of nutrition. Malnutrition is a stress to bees, possibly weakening the bees’ immune system. A weak immune system can affect a bee’s ability to fight pests and diseases.
Undiscovered/new pests and diseases: Finally, undiscovered or unidentified pests/pathogens are considered possible causes of CCD. Some believe that a new pest/disease may have been introduced into the U.S. and is causing CCD. To give one example, Nosema apis (a microsporidian that lives in the digestive tract of honey bees) has been present in the U.S. for many years. In 2006, scientists discovered and identified a new nosema species, Nosema ceranae, present in some colonies displaying symptoms of CCD (it also has been found in bee samples dating back to 1995). When this disease is present in bees in elevated levels, the bees leave their colonies, never to return. Although the role of N. ceranae in the CCD complex is not understood, it and other new pathogens may play an important role in elevated bee deaths.
Many scientists believe that CCD is caused by a combination of the factors above. To illustrate this point, some dead bees showing symptoms of CCD have had elevated levels of normally-benign pathogens in their bodies, possibly indicating a compromised immune system. In theory, any stress or combination of stresses (chemicals, genetic bottlenecks, varroa, etc.) can suppress a bee’s immune system. Considering synergistic effects as a potential cause of CCD makes the disorder increasingly harder to study.
How will CCD affect the general public?
In general, most people respect honey bees, recognizing their importance, while being cautious when near them. This is not surprising because honey bees can inflict a painful sting. Stings aside, most people also recognize honey bees for the sweet honey that they produce. To be sure, the production and sale of honey supports thousands of beekeeper families and provides the consumer with an alternative to sugar (incidentally, there is no evidence that honey from CCD colonies is unsafe for human consumption). However, honey is of only minor importance compared to the benefits afforded humans by honey bee pollination.
http://pestalert.ifas.ufl.edu/Colony_Collapse_Disorder.htm
States (in red) where beekeepers are reporting significant honey bee losses to CCD.
Courtesy: Bee Alert Technologies, Inc.
Experts may have found what's bugging the bees A fungus that hit hives in Europe and Asia may be partly to blame for wiping out colonies across the U.S. By Jia-Rui Chong and Thomas H. Maugh II,
I agree it is not a problem to be minimized.
As for the sudden onset of this particular problem, I have no answer. I’ve lost hives to wax moth in ten days. I left on vacation and the hives were fine or so I thought. Upon my return, they were severely weakened by the wax moth. I was a new beekeeper at the time and had not taken all the available preventive steps to ward off such infestations so it was partly my fault. Still, it is sickening to lose even one hive to those critters.
With regard to CCD, or colony collapse disorder, it is my understanding that the bees leave the hive and cannot find their way back. Why this is so, I haven’t a clue. Apparently this leave the hive in a greatly weakened state and it become susceptible to the diseases I mentioned previously. I don’t know if the queen leave the hive or not in CCD.
Since I live in a city, I don’t think pesticides are too much of a problem for my bees, but out in the rural areas, it can be, even though pesticide use is down from what it was. What is used is probably more powerful.
This is disinformation. Even with hives present, 70% of the pollination in California orchards is accomplished by wild bees.
So you are calling pesticide resistant varroa mites "mysterious"?
Then, if it is a “navigation” problem (for those bees who have LEFT the hive during the day, then don’t return, then the symptom (of the ones left in the hive) is starvation, right?
drones don’t go out, the queen doesn’t go out, but the rest (almost all right?) do leave for many trips every day. Some are left to tend the eggs, feed the young in the combs, and clean/defend, but those aren’t a “fixed” caste. Or even if those are a fixed group, then they starve to death also.
How many trips do the workers make a day? 10? 50? 150?
The magnetic poles (both in intensity and location!) are shifting DRASTICALLY in the past few years: since about 1983 as a matter of fact. (Notice anything else that has changed since about 1983? Hmmmmn.)
So, what if the thresh hold of intensity is being reached: below today’s level of magnetic intensity, the bees are beginning to NOT detect their position and direction magnetically (since the poles are moving slowly from a day-day period the movement shouldn’t matter as much. North Canada or North Siberia wouldn’t matter to a bee in Texas, even if the direction were a bit off from ten years before. The bee has nothing to compare to ten years before.
But, if now 5 or 10% are at the threshhol, then 5% every 20 flights “misses” home. It dies. If every bee makes 20 flights a day x only 95% getting home each flight, then you’d kill your hive quickly.
In act, even a 99 percent chance of getting home would threaten a hive if they made 50 flights a day = 60% losses every day.
So see if the ones left are dying of starvation, or of a "disease" or toxin.
See if anybody knows exactly how much influence a magnetic field has on local (hive to flower to hive to flower ...) navigation.
I have a cherry tree and I have noticed that there are dramatic differences in the amount of fruit from year to year. If there is a heavy rain right at the time the flowers are open there are often hardly any cherries. If there is nice weather and the wind and some naturally occurring bees are able to do their thing, the branches are weighed down with cherries. It appears that the deciding factor is the opportunity for pollination to occur. If bees make this process more efficient and reliable then they will increase the yield of fruit.
I would suggest you contact a beekeeper and your insurance company. Although chances are slim of being covered, it is worth a try.
So, we have bee keepers saying “Be Concerned” and the nyslimes saying “don’t worry be happy”. My, my, my who shall I trust? </ sarcasm>
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*I* was NOT speculating, I was repeating what I was told by a ***professional*** beekeeper, whom, I would venture to guess, knows a great deal more about how honeybees react to fertilizers and pesticides than *you* do. Get over yourself.
I stand corrected, I couldn’t remember the exact number he had told us, I just remember being amazed at how far a tiny bee would fly back and forth! But the beekeeper gave us a lot of stats in the 2 hours that we visited with him, and they unfortunately didn’t all stick in my head just right! (I didn’t take notes. We did, however, practice being bees and doing the “waggle” dance! It is fascinating to hear about the intricate system of communication that bees have developed! God is great.) Thanks for the info!
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