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Researchers Find "Alarming" Decline in Bumblebees
ABC News ^ | January 3, 2011

Posted on 01/03/2011 5:29:47 PM PST by TaraP

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four previously abundant species of bumblebee are close to disappearing in the United States, researchers reported Monday in a study confirming that the agriculturally important bees are being affected worldwide.

They documented a 96 percent decline in the numbers of the four species, and said their range had shrunk by as much as 87 percent. As with honeybees, a pathogen is partly involved, but the researchers also found evidence of inbreeding caused by habitat loss.

We provide incontrovertible evidence that multiple Bombus species have experienced sharp population declines at the national level," the researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, calling the findings "alarming."

"These are one of the most important pollinators of native plants," Sydney Cameron of the University of Illinois, Urbana, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.

In recent years, experts have documented a disappearance of bees in what is widely called colony collapse disorder, blamed on many factors including parasites, fungi, stress, pesticides and viruses. But most studies have focused on honeybees.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bees; bumblebees; epa; foodsupply; honeybees; lifehate; populationcontrol
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1 posted on 01/03/2011 5:29:48 PM PST by TaraP
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To: TaraP

Wiki-Bee Leaks: EPA Document Shows It Knowingly Allowed Pesticide That Kills Honey Bees

http://www.fastcompany.com/1708896/wiki-bee-leaks-epa-document-reveals-agency-knowingly-allowed-use-of-bee-toxic-pesticide


2 posted on 01/03/2011 5:31:52 PM PST by Lorianne (During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. ___ George Orwell)
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To: TaraP
Ive not seen any bumble bees up here for over a month now


3 posted on 01/03/2011 5:32:02 PM PST by Flavius (A)
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To: TaraP

Bombus Americanis, just watch out for the ones with
white faces.....or is it the other way round?
I don’t mess with either one.


4 posted on 01/03/2011 5:32:29 PM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: TaraP

Bush’s fault, no doubt....


5 posted on 01/03/2011 5:33:55 PM PST by April Lexington (Study the Constitution so you know what they are taking away!)
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To: tet68

Saw BOATLOADS of honey/bumble bees this past summer. no shortage here in upstate NY


6 posted on 01/03/2011 5:34:23 PM PST by AbolishCSEU (Percentage of Income in CS is inversely proportionate to Mother's parenting of children)
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To: TaraP

Oh my!! Not another species falling to evil “development”? We need to get these humans off the animals’ planet RIGHT NOW and send them back where they came from.

Should we just report to the nearest Disintegration Chamber or is Obama planning to do it using the tried-and-true gas chamber and crematorium method?


7 posted on 01/03/2011 5:34:56 PM PST by Bryanw92 (We no longer need to win an election. We need to win a revolution.)
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To: TaraP
Four previously abundant species of bumblebee are close to disappearing in the United States, researchers reported Monday in a study confirming that the agriculturally important bees are being affected worldwide

This all also happened in the early 70's.

The more the things change, the more the alarmists are the same.

8 posted on 01/03/2011 5:36:02 PM PST by Balding_Eagle (Overproduction, one of the top five worries of the American Farmer each and every year..)
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To: AbolishCSEU

This article is from 2001

Saturday, 5 May, 2001, 07:46 GMT 08:46 UK
Bumblebees could face extinction

Bumblebees are disappearing at such an alarming rate in Britain that scientists are warning they could be wiped out within a few years.

DNA experts are now investigating ways to stop the insect’s decline.

They are using genetic technology to build up the first accurate picture of the diversity and health of remaining bee populations.

Three of the 19 UK species are already extinct and a further nine are on the critically endangered list.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/1314012.stm


9 posted on 01/03/2011 5:36:50 PM PST by TaraP (An APPEASER is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last)
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To: TaraP

Without bumblebees, how will I get mead?


10 posted on 01/03/2011 5:37:06 PM PST by sionnsar (IranAzadi|5yst3m 0wn3d-it's N0t Y0ur5:SONY|Why are TSA exempt from their own searches?)
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To: AbolishCSEU

>>upstate NY

Upstate?!? There’s crazy (i.e. rural) people up there. They probably only count bees in NYC, Chicago, and SF and then interpolate numbers for the rest of the nation. If they need some southern data, they use Atlanta and San Diego.


11 posted on 01/03/2011 5:37:12 PM PST by Bryanw92 (We no longer need to win an election. We need to win a revolution.)
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To: TaraP

“As with honeybees, a pathogen is partly involved, but the researchers also found evidence of inbreeding caused by habitat loss.”

Since when did bumblebees convert to Islam?


12 posted on 01/03/2011 5:38:30 PM PST by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

LOL...

Well bees are dis-appearing, birds falling from the skies, whales washing up on beaches and fish dying in the streams....

Looks like we have enough doom to keep us on our toes for months!


13 posted on 01/03/2011 5:40:37 PM PST by TaraP (An APPEASER is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last)
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To: Bryanw92

Actually this is a real problem. Agriculture depends on bees, without bees we don’t eat.

The EPA caused this.


14 posted on 01/03/2011 5:41:02 PM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: driftdiver

Thank you. This is not a humorous situation.


15 posted on 01/03/2011 5:46:04 PM PST by Aria ( "Remember, attitudes are contagious, so make sure yours are worth catching." Sarah Palin 9-18-2010)
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To: Balding_Eagle
This all also happened in the early 70's.

Yup, back then we were going into a man-made ice age, today it's man-made global warming. Go figure, either way the decline in any species is always the Western countries (mainly America's) fault

16 posted on 01/03/2011 5:47:18 PM PST by YankeeReb
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To: TaraP

Oh great... a new “crises du jour”...


17 posted on 01/03/2011 5:52:54 PM PST by aquila48
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To: AbolishCSEU

No shortge of them here in MI, either. The small bumbles are downright agressive! I find that gasoline poured on their underground dwelling prevents them from attacking while mowing.


18 posted on 01/03/2011 5:53:34 PM PST by bog trotter
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To: Aria

No it is not. We visited my son (USAF pilot out in Idaho) this summer.We were struck by how many farmers seem to have gone into the bee business. We were told that the bee population in the U.S. is having problems (not a biologist, so don’t know the details.)

We planted a garden here in fall in S.FL this year. My impression is., lots of flowers but the rate of pollination is not cool.


19 posted on 01/03/2011 5:59:51 PM PST by Sigurdrifta
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To: TaraP

20 posted on 01/03/2011 6:03:30 PM PST by COBOL2Java (Obama is the least qualified guy in whatever room he walks into.)
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