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The secret death of bees
The Houston Chronicle ^ | May 11, 2007

Posted on 05/12/2007 10:36:36 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued

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To: MNJohnnie
Note to hysteric Leftists. Get over yourselves. You are not the center of the Universe. The world does NOT revolve around your butts. LONG before “commercial bee hives” were invented, plants grew and pollinated all over the world just fine. If you magically removed all commercial bee hives today, the world will continue along just fine.

Enviromental Wackism, the new Secular Religion. All regions have their wacko doomsday cults, “Environmentalism” is our secular version of them.
No. This is a real problem, and an ongoing one. The media has ignored it until recently, but it's very important to understand. In the 80's/90's I don't remember the exact time frame two invader species, a fungus and a mite pretty much annihilated the wild honeybee population in America(isn't globalization great?). That's why agriculture has to rely on "commercial bee hives" for pollination, there *are no* wild bees to do it anymore. If the kept bees die off we *will* be looking at an epic disaster.

This is an important problem and one that needs to be watched closely.
81 posted on 05/12/2007 1:11:34 PM PDT by ketsu
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To: RightWhale

Glad you have some! Our lilacs are in full bloom and nary a one. There are none of the other buzzing things either, so I really suspect this is just overkill caused by our our current pesticides. You recall 10-15 years ago when tracheal mites were the apparent cause of the die-off of most of the wild hives. At the time, the well-cared for commercial hives were thought to be the refugium. Meanwhile, to return to my hypothesis, driving as many miles as I do at night, and remembering the old days when you’d have to literally scrape your windshield, there ain’t no such bug population no more. only the mosquitoes have survived.


82 posted on 05/12/2007 1:12:24 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: Clintonfatigued
They have pretty much solved this.

Culprit?

A single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae.

Why isn't this widely reported in MSM?

The are still hoping that they can come up with a link to one of their pet beliefs to blame it on. These include the usual suspects of genetically modified foods, electromagnetic radiation from high voltage transmission lines or cell towers, environmental change-related stresses (read global warming), pesticides and/or the Bush administration.

83 posted on 05/12/2007 1:12:39 PM PDT by atomic_dog
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To: gusopol3

“there ain’t no such bug population no more.”

It seems that there aren’t anywhere near as many butterflies as there used to be.


84 posted on 05/12/2007 1:34:57 PM PDT by dsc (There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. Edmund Burke)
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To: xzins

The bees are being fed high fructose corn syrup made from GM corn. Studies with rats have shown that those fed GM corn exhibit neuropsychological deficits as compared with those fed regular corn. The bees are leaving the hive and getting lost before coming home.


85 posted on 05/12/2007 1:35:33 PM PDT by MIDad23
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To: VRWCer

Could the bees have been lured to set up housekeeping somewhere else? How hard would it be to be a bee bandit, to be rustling bees?


86 posted on 05/12/2007 1:37:51 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: atomic_dog

Not solved at all Nosema is merely an opportunistic infection allowed to thrive because the immune system of the bees is weak.

Its sort of like saying someone with full blown aids died of pneumonia. Yes technically yes in reality they would have never contracted it without the aids.


87 posted on 05/12/2007 1:43:12 PM PDT by sentis1 (lity)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Bees will drift to other hives nearby however that doesn’t seem to be what is happening. Also bees on the wing so to speak can’t set up housekeeping elsewhere without a queen.


88 posted on 05/12/2007 1:44:42 PM PDT by sentis1 (lity)
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To: sentis1

So how hard to produce queens to attract other bees? Would producing a few queens and using them to catch the rest be easier than breeding whole hives from scratch?


89 posted on 05/12/2007 1:48:19 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: apocalypto

I’m in Texas, and I’ve noticed the something similar. Usually, my March-April wildflowers are alive with bees. I’ll bet that there wasn’t one-fifth of the normal number of bees this spring.


90 posted on 05/12/2007 1:51:30 PM PDT by Clara Lou (Run, Fred, run!)
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To: MNJohnnie
"If you magically removed all commercial bee hives today, the world will continue along just fine."

I was wondering about just how many native wild bumble & honey bees have been having the same problem.

91 posted on 05/12/2007 2:01:01 PM PDT by MSF BU
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To: fieldmarshaldj

-it’s Global Warming!


92 posted on 05/12/2007 2:02:16 PM PDT by tioga
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To: sentis1

Would wild bees, bumble bees, etc. polinate the crops?


93 posted on 05/12/2007 2:03:34 PM PDT by MSF BU
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To: Clintonfatigued

Bush sneaks out of the WH late at night get some poison and kills all the Bees.


94 posted on 05/12/2007 2:13:24 PM PDT by DeaconRed (If it weren't for the United States Military-There would be NO United States of America.)
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To: Voter#537

Photos at 11


95 posted on 05/12/2007 2:14:35 PM PDT by DeaconRed (If it weren't for the United States Military-There would be NO United States of America.)
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To: blu

blu,
my understanding of bees and agriculture is that
some crops will be reduced by 80%. Not good for
farmers to break even. Not good for those of us
who want to eat at a reasonable price.

best,
ampu


96 posted on 05/12/2007 2:14:39 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion (-Taken -)
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To: Clintonfatigued

They’re living in my house. I kid you not - right now, as I type this, they are swarming all around my house! They move in every year. The live in the walls and I have no idea how to get them out! Can a beekeeper coax out the queen bee without tearing off my wooden siding? They look healthy to me!


97 posted on 05/12/2007 2:19:41 PM PDT by sneakers
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To: sentis1
"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"

What were the losses then compared with now?


98 posted on 05/12/2007 2:20:39 PM PDT by I see my hands (_8(|)
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To: Clintonfatigued
Sightings have mostly been confined to rural areas....Eyewitnesses say that the bees are yellow and black and dress much the way Eli Wallach did in the movie, The Magnificent Seven (1960). The bees are also overweight...


99 posted on 05/12/2007 2:21:27 PM PDT by philetus (Keep doing what you always do and you'll keep getting what you always get.)
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To: Clintonfatigued
It happens overnight without warning signs of distress and with no evidence left behind. The bees simply disappear....
100 posted on 05/12/2007 2:23:27 PM PDT by traumer
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