Mystery Ailment Strikes Honeybees — No honeybees and we don’t eat. The chain reaction goes right up and down the food chain. I’m guessing this has something to do with that mite which the big commercial beekeepers have been killing with bug poison not noticing that bees are bugs too!
A mysterious illness is killing tens of thousands of honeybee colonies across the country, threatening honey production, the livelihood of beekeepers and possibly crops that need bees for pollination.
Researchers are scrambling to find the cause of the ailment, called Colony Collapse Disorder.
Reports of unusual colony deaths have come from at least 22 states. Some affected commercial beekeepers — who often keep thousands of colonies — have reported losing more than 50 percent of their bees. A colony can have roughly 20,000 bees in the winter, and up to 60,000 in the summer.
“We have seen a lot of things happen in 40 years, but this is the epitome of it all,” Dave Hackenberg, of Lewisburg-based Hackenberg Apiaries, said by phone from Fort Meade, Fla., where he was working with his bees.
The country’s bee population had already been shocked in recent years by a tiny, parasitic bug called the varroa mite, which has destroyed more than half of some beekeepers’ hives and devastated most wild honeybee populations.
I have to agree with Nancy Jo splicing genes from here to there in these plants coud very possibly be a big part of the bee problem.We were assured when they started this lunacy it could not be transferred between plant species.Of course only a handfull of years later we found out the horrific truth.Between spraying for west nile, mite strips that we put in our hives,and transgenic crops the poor bees dont have a chance in hell.And therefor neither do we.Wake up America before its too late!
I wonder if trucking colonies all across the country is a factor.
If it’s a disease it certainly helps the spread.
Colonies have been moved around for years. But in recent years I see them going down the interstate at 80 mph with a jillion bees in piles inside the net they put over the whole load. Maybe they arrive a little weakened or disoriented, maybe?
Al
When reading the postings it is obvious how very little Americans understand about the cycle of much of their food production. Scary. Doug said “The bees are dead” and seems to think it will not affect him if the puzzle is never solved. Not so Doug! And, yes, it is very possible that a gene snip might have brought about a drop in the immunity in the bees. The scary part, if the bees, then the birds? And how about the humans. My take is the world is MOVING TOO FAST and does not understand all the consequences. Then again, maybe it is a mutated “bird flu”! Hope the scientists are hard at work.
There is no doubt that this bee situation could cause serious health, environmental, and economic hardships not just here at home, but worldwide. We sell and share our food production with more than just our statewide neighbors. A typical wheat farmer may feed 179 people in a year now, but how thin can the distribution grow to suficiently sustain that many lives if other forms of produce are diminished? I, personally, like the ability to go to my local grocery store and have the ability to purchase a variety of foods. I like the fact that we are able to sell additional foodstuffs to other nations to help them out and to keep our prices low. I’d like to keep it that way. I don’t care which side of the fence you stand on politically, the question we should really be asking is: what can we do to help?
No one should be joking. This is a serious problem and it needs to be treated seriously. The long range effects could be devastating. Let’s hope there’s someone out there trying to find a solution before it ‘s too late.
Re: #20 – African Honey Bees (AHB) have been known to take over another colony, but only a weakened colony, and they replace the colony’s queen with their own. Then the genetics of the colony becomes AHB, BUT the colony still exists. That is not the case with this “disappearing disease”.
Re: #22 – Beekeepers regularly relocate hives. When that happens, the bees take what is called “orientation flights” at their entrances, to reorient themselves to the hive and its location so they can find their way back. There is some scientific speculation that the bees orient not only vis-a-vis the sun, but also the earth’s magnetic field. However they do it, this loss of bee colonies isn’t the result of disorientation.
The mite problem is real with almost total losses to the wild bee populations and large commercial losses each year. this year i lost 60 our of 90 hives where i would normally estimated a loss of 20.
I am a chef and know quite a lot about food. I have had a garden for many years and it’s not nostalgia that vegetables used to taste better. Many of the fruits and vegetables that I order commercially are tasteless and look great, not to mention they last for weeks in the fridge. I realize it’s a tradeoff, however, consumer taste and demand is what drives the introduction of these inferior tasting veggies. Many customers to my restaurant have no clue about how different produce tastes today compared to 35 years ago. Someone earlier bashed the capitalists; I would say to them that the capitalists are probably our only hope right now. You can bet the farm that they will be putting their capital to work to find a solution to this problem for their very survival depends on it. More people are planting gardens every year and learning the value of growing your own stuff that tastes 100 times better and the mass producers I believe beginning to listen. The next time you eat out in a nice restaurant don’t blow up at the staff if you find the evidence of a bug on your meal. You should understand that maybe that’s an indication that it’s not loaded with pesticide. Be grateful that we live in a capitalist country where business can react to something like this very quickly and with great gusto. Bon Apetite
Maybe it is God.
It is kinda strange how the bees are not dying near the nest. Maybe they all got together and decided on a strike…bees do communicate.
Would be cool if all the bees show up at a rally somewhere in say Brazil…like the monarche butterflies that migrate!….What? There may be some truth to this ya know!
I recommend reading The Forgotten Pollinators by Stephen L. Buchmann and Gary Paul Nabham. Written over 10 years ago it is still relevant and seems prophetic (could be a bad word choice) now that this story is big news. Not only are the honeybees failing but attention to viable native pollinators has fallen off the radar and they are losing habitat as well. It’s such a complex system but the backup that could salvage, in part, the seemingly impending crisis of the weakened honeybee population are all of the other native bees and insects, which in some cases are more effective at pollination than the honeybee. So there is hope. I hope.
All the
And I was just about to start brewing mead again. so much for that idea
We can synthesize sugar or bioengineer some bacteria to do it for us.
You people know we are destined to move underground after we rape the hell out of the above ground part of the earth, dontcha? well, figure it out