Don’t Bee-lieve Fearmongering About A ‘Beepocalypse'.

newsbusters.org ^ | 7/29/2015 | Julia A. Seymour

[rktman]

Fear often trumps facts in media coverage. The past several years of worries about dying colonies of bees was certainly no exception, but The Washington Post recently supplied some much-needed sting to the honeybee situation.

News media scare stories about bee deaths and the label that came to describe the occurrence -- Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) -- saturated the news. Magazines, broadcast networks and left-wing websites blamed bee deaths on a host of factors, including cell phones, pesticides, mites and fungi. Oh, and global warming, of course.

Hype was rampant.

Time magazine warned of “Beepocalypse” in 2013, claiming the “economic and environmental damage could be immense.” In that story Time’s resident climate alarmist Bryan Walsh cautioned that if CCD continued it could there could be “dire” consequences -- “even for our ability to feed ourselves.” NBC referred to the die-offs as almost a “natural disaster” and ABC worried that it could cause ice cream to “disappear.”

[rktman]

Well, if the swarm that shows up on our lavender every day is any indication, we got nothing to worry about. If I could only find the hive, I'd have me some lavender honey. As far as causing ice cream to disappear, I thought that was glow-bull warming. Oh well. Just another case of #factsdontmatter.

[Old Sarge]

The bees disappearence was explained in the fourth season of “Doctor Who”.

Honestly, people...

[Reddy]

What? We don’t need to run around with our hands in the air and like our hair is on fire just because the envirowhackos say we do?

Phew. That’s a relief! :)

[blackdog]

I keep bees. The only losses I've ever experienced are from Varoa Mites. I've been keeping bees since 1979 and have found no increase in hive losses.

I tried Carniolian bees once which were supposed to be more docile. After a year of getting stung up I killed the queen and replaced her with one I cultivated pre swarm from another hive I had had for years.

Varoa Mites are terrible. I used to keep a bee yard with twenty or so hives all in a cluster. Now I scatter them about 100 yards apart so the mites don't hitch rides.

[Sacajaweau]

What are the chances that he would have used the word "trumps" in his essay a year ago?? "0"

See how the mind works.

[DoughtyOne]

This was something I was interested in. It did concern me, the reports that were so negative.

I should have known. Today’s media is incompetent.

[rktman]

LOL! See how easy even some of us smarty pants types are?

[LambSlave]

I’ve noticed a resurgence of “wild” honey bees this past year in my area. I have a good number of friends who keep bees, and my theory is that as they have moved to the hardier and more disease resistant Russian strains of honey bees (who produce a little less honey) during the last five to ten years, these bees have begun to replace the “native” bees that were lost previously. Note that the “native” bees are also not truly indigneous; bee keepers have always obtained bees for productivity/hardiness that become “native” as they swarm and establish wild colonies.

[blackdog]

There are few if any media reporters who are pilots. They report on accidents and incidents like idiots. They don't even know what questions to ask.

Now find me just one national reporter who is a beekeeper?

Same way the "China Syndrome" movie became fact among the public.

I do miss John Hollerman(sp?) who used to cover space and aviation for CNN.It was his passion and he knew about the subject in order to present real news.

[blackdog]

You are correct. The honey bee is not indigenous to North America. It is an invasive species brought by settlers.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I’ve always wondered if Man’s habit of taking away the bee’s main source of food (honey) had anything to do with large numbers of bees dying. Probably not. But history shows, again and again, how Nature points out the folly of Men.

[DoughtyOne]

Yes.

[DoughtyOne]

I know what you mean. And even if you’re not connected to a certain field, at least talk to some people who are. And then try to make sure you’re not talking to a select group that shares a ‘group-think’ view.

You do hate to see good people fade away.

I like Ramirez political cartoons. He’s cut back, and I miss seeing a fresh new creation as often.

[blackdog]

The average hive in a cold climate requires about 100 pounds of honey to over-winter. A little more for areas like the mid south where they are active even in winter months.

I have had a hive produce over 600 pounds of honey in one season. It was in the Pocono Mountains at our summer home. The average excess crop is usually around 150 to 250 pounds per hive.

[Red Badger]

Sweet..............

[Red Badger]

Be-zilla?.....................

[blackdog]

And BTW, never extract excess honey from a first year colony. If you find a weak colony in October, kill it off and save the frames of stored honey for nuc's in the spring. That's where you make splits of strong spring hives to increase your successful colonies.

Propagate the strong and eliminate the weak.

[semimojo]

I think this piece avoids the point. There has been a real decline in bee and other pollinator populations in the wild. Just because commercial operators can continue to breed new colonies doesn't mean that there isn't a problem.

I don't know the numbers but there's an awful lot of crop production reliant on wild pollinators.

[VanDeKoik]

I hope this isn’t a real issue. I like to plant flowers that will attract them and its been pretty light this summer in terms of their numbers. Just must be an off year.

[B Knotts]

At first glance, I thought this said “Beer-pocalypse.” I am relieved.