A really big mystery and a really big deal as honeybees disappear all across the USA . . . . . leaving crops in jeopardy.
Now, in a mystery worthy of Agatha Christie, bees are flying off in search of pollen and nectar and simply never returning to their colonies. And nobody knows why. Researchers say the bees are presumably dying in the fields, perhaps becoming exhausted or simply disoriented and eventually falling victim to the cold.
As researchers scramble to find answers to the syndrome they have decided to call “colony collapse disorder,” growers are becoming openly nervous about the capability of the commercial bee industry to meet the growing demand for bees to pollinate dozens of crops, from almonds to avocados to kiwis.
A Cornell University study has estimated that honeybees annually pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the United States, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts. “Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food,” said Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation.
The bee losses are ranging from 30 to 60 percent on the West Coast, with some beekeepers on the East Coast and in Texas reporting losses of more than 70 percent; beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20 percent in the offseason to be normal.
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That is odd. I used to work with bee's for pollination of seed crops. Sometimes the crop that the bee's are suppossed to be pollinating is not as attractive as other crops, or native plants in the area. That can lead to a desertion. I'm sure if the bee's wander into a neighboring crop when it is being sprayed with insecticide that could be another problem. But to lose up to 70% over such a wide spread area is very alarming. Maybe it is the first sign of the Apocolypse. (I kid)
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Last edited by burn_baby_burn; 02-27-2007 at 11:53 AM.
Maybe it is the first sign of the Apocolypse. (I kid)
Is it just me or is starting to look like you may not be too far off?
I can't believe how little this is being discussed on CP, considering the global and life altering affects of losing all the bees would do. Is it that people don't understand that without bees, the world as we know it is in serious jeopardy? There's no other way to polinate the plants and flowers, and last I checked the world kind of revolves around it's ability to produce plant life. Without it, everyone dies.
This thread is 2 months old and has a grand total of 2 (now 3) posts. Kinda scary to think how little people are concerning themselves with the possible "end of the world". Obviously we're not at that stage yet, but unless someone truly figures out what is happening to all the honeybees, we could be in some serious trouble.
Is it just me or is starting to look like you may not be too far off?
I can't believe how little this is being discussed on CP, considering the global and life altering affects of losing all the bees would do. Is it that people don't understand that without bees, the world as we know it is in serious jeopardy? There's no other way to polinate the plants and flowers, and last I checked the world kind of revolves around it's ability to produce plant life. Without it, everyone dies.
This thread is 2 months old and has a grand total of 2 (now 3) posts. Kinda scary to think how little people are concerning themselves with the possible "end of the world". Obviously we're not at that stage yet, but unless someone truly figures out what is happening to all the honeybees, we could be in some serious trouble.
Maybe part of the problem is that you need to register to read the story?
I saw just a bit of a report on the television about this the other night. I was flipping during commercials during a hockey game so I didn't get much, but there was something about cell phones/cell phone towers that might be discombobulating the bees. Anyone heard about this?
This is actually quite frightening. unless we are close to developing self pollination in crops there'd better be some focus on this issue. save us science!
There likely is a great deal of truth to that, the first thing I thought of when reading the article wasn't the adverse impacts on the enviroment, but rather this simpsons clip...
there was something about cell phones/cell phone towers that might be discombobulating the bees. Anyone heard about this?
I've heard this as well, but there are a number of theories at this point as to why including the possibility that maybe we've finally used too much pesticides on our poor world.
The cell phone theory however does seem to have some merit as it apparently has been proven that when flying close to a cell phone, bees lose their navigational ability. Whether or not cell's can be attributed to the losses being accrued however, has yet to be proven.
Maybe though...just maybe, until they've figured it all out for certain, people could try a little harder not to talk on cell phones unless it's completely necessary. I've turned mine off until I need it, I hope others will do the same.
A lot really has to do with chemicals being used. I came from Saskatchewan, there is (at least used to be) quite a drop in bees there. Not only that, there is a drop in song birds and the like too. Bees of course get in direct contact with the crops being sprayed, and song birds will eat the dead insects that have been killed by the chemicals. It really is a chain reaction. Just like when they finally found the main reason for the huge drop in peregrine falcons, the mercury and chemicals they had ingested caused the shells of their eggs to be very soft and then they broke when sat on and none hatched.
First pirates and now honey bees. When will it end!
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"The problem with any ideology is that it gives the answer before you look at the evidence."
—Bill Clinton
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance--it is the illusion of knowledge."
—Daniel J. Boorstin, historian, former Librarian of Congress
"But the Senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity"
—WKRP in Cincinatti
I think its just a problem of disease rather then Cell phone towers/ GM crops/ pesticides/ four horse men.
There really hasn't been any problems with Colony Collapse Disorder in Canada like there has been in the States. I don't think it's a coincidence because Canadian Beekeepers have been prohibited from importing American bees since the 80's when there was a large bee mite outbreak in the US.
If the bee disappearances were related to a global enviromental issue like cell phone towers or the like then the cases of bee disappearances probably wouldn't be almost solely contained in the States.
I read about the cell phone / honeybee connection as well. Not sure if it's been proven though. If it is true, probably want to stay away from putting one to my head.
So, here's a quote from Albert Einstein. He said, if the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination. No more plants. No more animals. No more man. Well, guess what? The bees are disappearing in massive numbers all around the world. And if you think I'm being alarmist, and that, "Oh, they'll figure out some way to pollinate the plants." No, they've tried.
For a lot of what we eat, only bees work. And they're not working. They're gone. It's called "colony collapse disorder," when the hive's inhabitants suddenly disappear and all that's left are a few queens and some immature workers. Like when a party winds down at Elton John's house. Queens imagery.
But, I think we are the ones suffering from colony collapse disorder. Because, although nobody really knows for sure what's killing the bees, it's not Al Qaeda, and it's not God doing some of his Old Testament shtick. And it's not Winnie the Pooh. It's us. It could be from pesticides or genetically-modified food or global warming, or the high fructose corn syrup we started to feed them.
Recently, it was discovered that bees won't fly near cell phones. The electromagnetic signals they emit might screw up the bees' navigation system, knocking them out of the sky. So, thanks, big mouth guy in line at Starbucks. You just killed us.
It's nature's way of saying, "Can you hear me now?"
The thing I don't get about the cell phone idea is that cell phones and towers didn't proliferate in the last few months? Should we have not figured the relationship several years ago if it was cell phones?
OR that the media is always tryiing to alarm us about every thing. Remember killer bees, I remember being scared of that as a kid. It is always something new and it gets tiring. Imagine actually being genuinely being scared of and researching every thing the media whips up. You would commit suicide pretty quick.
When I first heard about the bees disappearing, this was pretty much the exact same thought line that occured to me. The big "Killer Bees in Texas" that was all over the news when I was younger and how frightening it was to think that they would be in Canada in only a matter of years... What ever happened with that? The media, especially in America, is a constant broadcast of fear.
If the media has taught me one thing, just one thing in all my years, it's that whatever you hear from it needs to be taken with a huge spoonful of salt.
When I first heard about the bees disappearing, this was pretty much the exact same thought line that occured to me. The big "Killer Bees in Texas" that was all over the news when I was younger and how frightening it was to think that they would be in Canada in only a matter of years... What ever happened with that? The media, especially in America, is a constant broadcast of fear.
If the media has taught me one thing, just one thing in all my years, it's that whatever you hear from it needs to be taken with a huge spoonful of salt.
Africanized Bees don't create broods as large as European honeybees do. They swarm much more often and don't hoard as much honey so they don't handle cold weather well which means they will most likely never reach Canada.
Albert Einstein: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."
Don't they pollonate 70% of our food sources or something like that!
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The latest issue of National Geographic magazine has an article about Jamestown and the transformation of the North American ecosystem after the English landed in 1607. Honeybees were introduced to North America by them. I guess we can just go back to whatever they were eating here before then.
__________________
"The problem with any ideology is that it gives the answer before you look at the evidence."
—Bill Clinton
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance--it is the illusion of knowledge."
—Daniel J. Boorstin, historian, former Librarian of Congress
"But the Senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity"
—WKRP in Cincinatti
Disappearing honeybees . . .
