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Good news for bees as numbers rise and mystery malady wanes
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | August 2, 2017 | Alan Bjerga

Posted on 08/02/2017 9:05:49 PM PDT by artichokegrower

The number of U.S. honeybees, a critical component to agricultural production, rose in 2017 from a year earlier, and deaths of the insects attributed to a mysterious malady that's affected hives in North America and Europe declined, according a U.S. Department of Agriculture honeybee health survey released Tuesday.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: agriculture
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To: artichokegrower

If you’re interested in beekeeping, and the trials and errors in starting a hive, my sons formed

https://www.brothersinbees.com/
“Helping Vets Save the Bees”.
An organization dedicated to serving U.S. Veterans and honey bees.


41 posted on 08/03/2017 3:15:27 AM PDT by Katydidnt ("...the greatest of these is love.")
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To: artichokegrower
That's right.

I think that we were all supposed to have starved to death by now.

Maybe not, but I remember a few years ago, either the bees dying off or the oceans rising or some other climate crisis was going to do us all in.

I know it was cereal.

42 posted on 08/03/2017 4:07:44 AM PDT by skimbell
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To: artichokegrower

You are ignorant

The decline in bee colonies was precipitous. The problem was real.


43 posted on 08/03/2017 4:10:30 AM PDT by bert (K.E.; N.P.; GOPc;WASP .... The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column)
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To: Timpanagos1

my friend is a beekeeper that bought much of my equipment told me a startling story. A I Root that invented wax foundation made the cells slightly oversized. That is, the wax foundation hex cells are slightly larger than those made naturally by wild bees. we are talking very small dimensional change here.

New smaller cell foundation wax is available for brood chambers and supers. When the smaller cell size is used, most of the problems with hive death disappear.

That is her testimony and the results of other members of her bee keeper’s club


44 posted on 08/03/2017 4:16:20 AM PDT by bert (K.E.; N.P.; GOPc;WASP .... The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column)
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To: Katydidnt

Smart and creative!


45 posted on 08/03/2017 4:38:53 AM PDT by SE Mom (Screaming Eagle mom)
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To: artichokegrower

Never any worries, God is in control.


46 posted on 08/03/2017 4:52:27 AM PDT by faucetman (Just the facts, ma'am, Just the facts)
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To: Snowybear

Actually, no it doesn’t.

It said that the MAJORITY are and there MAYBE a causal relation to the pesticide: The bees are weakened by the pesticides and the natural pests and diseases are then able to take hold.

That is what the USDA is trying to determine.


47 posted on 08/03/2017 5:00:59 AM PDT by Freeport (The proper application of high explosives will remove all obstacles.)
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To: artichokegrower

Bees love Trump


48 posted on 08/03/2017 5:27:30 AM PDT by rrrod (just an old guy with a gun in his pocket.6l)
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To: artichokegrower
And it's all because there was an influx of cross-breeding with hardier bees ...


49 posted on 08/03/2017 5:33:13 AM PDT by BlueLancer (Ex Scientia Tridens)
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To: artichokegrower

The true real concern was the possible reduction in food crops being pollenated, not so much lack of honey.

So this is huge news.


50 posted on 08/03/2017 7:04:24 AM PDT by Openurmind
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To: artichokegrower

Obama out of office Trump in good things happening all over the place.


51 posted on 08/03/2017 7:21:37 AM PDT by Vaduz (women and children to be impacted the most.)
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To: Daffynition

Only twice over three decades here. The last one was too smart for a net, much less a confined room during the day.


52 posted on 08/03/2017 5:37:42 PM PDT by setha (It is past time for the United States to take back what the world took away.)
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To: setha

I’m a *pro-bat* person here. It breaks my heart that their numbers have so declined.

Catch & release for these little marvels.


53 posted on 08/03/2017 6:13:18 PM PDT by Daffynition (The New PTSD: PRESIDENT-Trump Stress Disorder” - The LSN didn’t make Trump, so they can’t break h)
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To: bert

I have read that as well and i’m not sure if it is accurate.

Beekeeping is essentially Insect Husbandry and sometimes there is no rhyme or reason for a hive to succeed or fail.

I have been to beekeeper meetings where two guys argue about beekeeping practices, one has a Phd in Entomology and is a certified Master Beekeeper and the other did not go past the 9th grade.

At the end of the day, both beekeepers lose around a third of their hives per year.


54 posted on 08/03/2017 9:04:21 PM PDT by Timpanagos1
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