Bad news bees - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Botnst · #1 04-07-2007, 04:34 PM

I had very few bees on my Satsuma's this past 2 weeks of flowering. Damn!

B

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Mysterious disappearance of US bees creating a buzz
by Jean-Louis Santini Fri Apr 6, 10:54 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US beekeepers have been stung in recent months by the mysterious disappearance of millions of bees threatening honey supplies as well as crops which depend on the insects for pollination.

Bee numbers on parts of the east coast and in Texas have fallen by more than 70 percent, while California has seen colonies drop by 30 to 60 percent.

According to estimates from the US
Department of Agriculture, bees are vanishing across a total of 22 states, and for the time being no one really knows why.

"Approximately 40 percent of my 2,000 colonies are currently dead and this is the greatest winter colony mortality I have ever experienced in my 30 years of beekeeping," apiarist Gene Brandi, from the California State Beekeepers Association, told Congress recently.

It is normal for hives to see populations fall by some 20 percent during the winter, but the sharp loss of bees is causing concern, especially as domestic US bee colonies have been steadily decreasing since 1980.

There are some 2.4 million professional hives in the country, according to the Agriculture Department, 25 percent fewer than at the start of the 1980s.

And the number of beekeepers has halved.

The situation is so bad, that beekeepers are now calling for some kind of government intervention, warning the flight of the bees could be catastrophic for crop growers.

Domestic bees are essential for pollinating some 90 varieties of vegetables and fruits, such as apples, avocados, and blueberries and cherries.

"The pollination work of honey bees increases the yield and quality of United States crops by approximately 15 billion dollars annually including six billion in California," Brandi said.

California's almond industry alone contributes two billion dollars to the local economy, and depends on 1.4 million bees which are brought from around the US every year to help pollinate the trees, he added.

The phenomenon now being witnessed across the United States has been dubbed "colony collapse disorder," or CCD, by scientists as they seek to explain what is causing the bees to literally disappear in droves.

The usual suspects to which bees are known to be vulnerable such as the varroa mite, an external parasite which attacks honey bees and which can wipe out a hive, appear not to be the main cause.

"CCD is associated with unique symptoms, not seen in normal collapses associated with varroa mites and honey bee viruses or in colony deaths due to winter kill," entomologist Diana Cox-Foster told the Congress committee.

In cases of colony collapse disorder, flourishing hives are suddenly depopulated leaving few, if any, surviving bees behind.

The queen bee, which is the only one in the hive allowed to reproduce, is found with just a handful of young worker bees and a reserve of food.

Curiously though no dead bees are found either inside or outside the hive.

The fact that other bees or parasites seem to shun the emptied hives raises suspicions that some kind of toxin or chemical is keeping the insects away, Cox-Foster said.

Those bees found in such devastated colonies also all seem to be infected with multiple micro-organisms, many of which are known to be behind stress-related illness in bees.

Scientists working to unravel the mysteries behind CCD believe a new pathogen may be the cause, or a new kind of chemical product which could be weakening the insects' immune systems.

The finger of suspicion is being pointed at agriculture pesticides such as the widely-used neonicotinoides, which are already known to be poisonous to bees.

France saw a huge fall in its bee population in the 1990s, blamed on the insecticide Gaucho which has now been banned in the country.

A Floridan bee-keeper. US beekeepers have been stung in recent months by the mysterious disappearance of millions of bees threatening honey supplies as well as crops which depend on the insects for pollination(AFP/Getty Images/File/Joe Raedle)

420SEL · #2 04-07-2007, 04:52 PM

They've all been lured away to the huge pile of sugar I set up just this side of the border.

Botnst · #3 04-07-2007, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 420SEL

They've all been lured away to the huge pile of sugar I set up just this side of the border.

Another plot revealed from the Canadian Threat! Bee Gone! Buzz-off!

300SD81 · #4 04-07-2007, 05:30 PM

Don't see any missing around here... Huge ones still flying around infront of my house, those things scare me... Also found several dead floating in my biodiesel a few times...

Palangi · #5 04-07-2007, 05:34 PM

I may get a look at an interesting bee experiment later his year.

Christmas Island, Republic of Kiribati (Central Pacific).

The island had no bees. The soil is terrible, just sand and coral, virtually no nutrients. Nothing much would grow there except coconuts, breadfruit, salt brush, dottir weed, etc. A few people grew some flowers and vegetables, but basically had to be pollinated by hand. Very little pesticide use. An Australian aerosol product called "Fast Knock Down" was available, but it was pretty much limited to spraying down the cabin of incoming aircraft for skeeters. The locals couldn't afford the bug spray. The hotel might be the only other place it was used. Certainly there was no use of agricultural pesticedes as there was / is no agriculture except for coconuts.

About 1993 / 1994, some bees were brought in from Tabeuran (Fanning) Island. Last time I was there was 1999. I didn't really check on the bees at that time, but I think they were still there.

I may get to make a trip down there later this year. If so, I will check on the bee situation.

Botnst · #6 04-07-2007, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Palangi

I may get a look at an interesting bee experiment later his year.

Christmas Island, Republic of Kiribati (Central Pacific).

The island had no bees. The soil is terrible, just sand and coral, virtually no nutrients. Nothing much would grow there except coconuts, breadfruit, salt brush, dottir weed, etc. A few people grew some flowers and vegetables, but basically had to be pollinated by hand. Very little pesticide use. An Australian aerosol product called "Fast Knock Down" was available, but it was pretty much limited to spraying down the cabin of incoming aircraft for skeeters. The locals couldn't afford the bug spray. The hotel might be the only other place it was used. Certainly there was no use of agricultural pesticedes as there was / is no agriculture except for coconuts.

About 1993 / 1994, some bees were brought in from Tabeuran (Fanning) Island. Last time I was there was 1999. I didn't really check on the bees at that time, but I think they were still there.

I may get to make a trip down there later this year. If so, I will check on the bee situation.

I'm dying with envy, here.

Palangi · #7 04-07-2007, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

I'm dying with envy, here.

Interesting place to visit. More isolated from the outside world than you might think. Definitely not a tourist haven. Highest elevation is about 12 feet. If global warming is real, the whole country is gone in this century.

Botnst · #8 04-07-2007, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Palangi

Interesting place to visit. More isolated from the outside world than you might think. Definitely not a tourist haven. Highest elevation is about 12 feet. If global warming is real, the whole country is gone in this century.

Back in 2000 I had an opportunity to take a job working on management of mangroves for fuel and construction wood. Had I taken it, I would've been stationed on Kosrae and traveled the Micronesian archepelago.

I guess they are a completely different people and region and all but as I read about Pacific islands I became increasingly intrigued by the unique problems faced by life on the islands and by the people who inhabit them. Someday.

Palangi · #9 04-07-2007, 07:08 PM

The Christmas Island people are basically the population overflow from Tarawa and the other islands in western Kiribati. As such, they are also Micronesian as opposed to Polynesian. Kiribati = Gilberts, as in Gilbert Islands. And, yes, big problems out there. Not the paradise that people imagine. Life is hard out there, not like here.

Mistress · #10 04-07-2007, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

I'm dying with envy, here.

Bot- I'm wondering (wandering actually being Jewish we do that) is there any chance that the next genertion of bees will be immune to some extent to the pesticides that are doing away with their fore fathers? Like the roaches they were experimenting with at the University of Florida in Gainesville for coming up with a pesticide that could kill a roach? The roaches became immune so quickly that the next batch was like "Rambo Roaches," nothing would kiil them...

Botnst · #11 04-07-2007, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mistress

Bot- I'm wondering (wandering actually being Jewish we do that) is there any chance that the next genertion of bees will be immune to some extent to the pesticides that are doing away with their fore fathers? Like the roaches they were experimenting with at the University of Florida in Gainesville for coming up with a pesticide that could kill a roach? The roaches became immune so quickly that the next batch was like "Rambo Roaches," nothing would kiil them...

That's the theory of evolution through natural selection in a nutshell.

The added difficulty with domesticated life is that humanity selects the genes for his needs, not for the benefit of the subject organism. Thus we bred corn in the 1960's peculiarly susceptible to a previously unknown virus that nearly wiped-out the corn crop one year due to the hybrid's popularity.

We can all imagine that breeding produced line-bred dogs with genetic hip displasia, pine trees susceptible to rusts or beetles, susceptibility to bovine venereal diseases, etc. Darwin always wins.

cmac2012 · #12 04-08-2007, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

The fact that other bees or parasites seem to shun the emptied hives raises suspicions that some kind of toxin or chemical is keeping the insects away, Cox-Foster said.

On one of the talk shows I heard about this, one beekeeper said that normally, other species would clamor to get into empty hives first chance they got. He said when they'd have hives on a trailer, when they'd stop for something, other critters were trying to get in before he got around to the back of the truck.

I'm guessing they can smell the honey.

But he repeated what I quoted here. No attempts at occupying vacant hives. Spooky, man.

mikemover · #13 04-08-2007, 05:05 AM

They can have the ones that are buzzing around my house... Damned carpenter bees around my garage have been driving me nuts.

Mike

SwampYankee · #14 04-09-2007, 11:31 AM

As someone who relies on the sale of vegetable seeds to home gardeners and hobby farmers for a sizeable portion of their well being, I can attest to the anecdotal evidence. I've had many a conversation with a customer regarding the tremendous germination and growth out from our "poor" seed that didn't provide them with any fruit/veggies. When I get to the point about the lower bee population and the fact that most of these fruiting vegetables need bees to pollinate them, most people have that lightbulb go off and usually reply with something to the effect of "Oh yeah, now that you mention it I haven't seen any bees in the garden." The remaining small percentage just think I'm full of cow manure and making an excuse for our "poor" seed.

Larry Delor · #15 04-09-2007, 04:52 PM

A few weeks ago, there was a thread about the dissappearing bees, and I stated that I would ask my neighbor, who is a amateur bee keeper, if he had any bee losses.
He does not, and says that he probably would remain unaffected since there are no farm fields nearby on which pesticides are being used. He seems pretty convinced that it is pesticides that are causing the problem.