skunkboy69
Reverend of Eternal Light
Bloody swarm closed my kids school yesterday 
Is anyone else noticing alot of dead bees?
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story
Gone for a Burton
The details don't matter much in this instance.
Whether or not it was said by Einstein, the fact remains that if there are no bees, many of our vegetable and fruit crops go unpollinated and thus they will not bear. It's been estimated that we have about four years of sufficiency without the bees.
Whether it's a mite or a virus or GM honey or stress or man-made electromagnetic noise or a combination of these things is not the main issue. We could spend the next few years arguing about what it is, and then find all the bees are dead.
I'm waiting for someone to find out something and then do something about it. And so is everyone else. Meanwhile the bees are dying.
Not enough money in research, not enough attention is being given to this problem. This is the main issue.
In the event, some other insect will doubtless move into the empty niche left by bees, but that could take a while.
In the event, there will be enough bees to continue pollinating on a local level, even while the endless miles of almond orchards go barren. Smallholdings will be okay.
In the event, we will just have to find a way to cope.
But in the event, we'll leave it until it's too late and then spend a lot of time blaming each other and lamenting our loss (not the loss of the bees themselves, but the loss of our easily-acquired food).
We need to learn to love our planet and our fellow beings. Not just see it's beauty, but really love it as we do our children and our parents... or more so. We are all part of the same integral system, each single element is important. We humans, so arrogant, assume ourselves to be the most important part. Maybe the bees have all along been the keystone that holds it all together. We have to accept that they are at least as important as the humans, and so is everything else.
Whether or not it was said by Einstein, the fact remains that if there are no bees, many of our vegetable and fruit crops go unpollinated and thus they will not bear. It's been estimated that we have about four years of sufficiency without the bees.
Whether it's a mite or a virus or GM honey or stress or man-made electromagnetic noise or a combination of these things is not the main issue. We could spend the next few years arguing about what it is, and then find all the bees are dead.
I'm waiting for someone to find out something and then do something about it. And so is everyone else. Meanwhile the bees are dying.
Not enough money in research, not enough attention is being given to this problem. This is the main issue.
In the event, some other insect will doubtless move into the empty niche left by bees, but that could take a while.
In the event, there will be enough bees to continue pollinating on a local level, even while the endless miles of almond orchards go barren. Smallholdings will be okay.
In the event, we will just have to find a way to cope.
But in the event, we'll leave it until it's too late and then spend a lot of time blaming each other and lamenting our loss (not the loss of the bees themselves, but the loss of our easily-acquired food).
We need to learn to love our planet and our fellow beings. Not just see it's beauty, but really love it as we do our children and our parents... or more so. We are all part of the same integral system, each single element is important. We humans, so arrogant, assume ourselves to be the most important part. Maybe the bees have all along been the keystone that holds it all together. We have to accept that they are at least as important as the humans, and so is everything else.
story
Gone for a Burton
Bloody swarm closed my kids school yesterday
Yeah, and there seem to be more wild swarms too....
Very odd.
Maybe the captive bees are making a bid for freedom, breaking their chains of slavery and setting escaping from the yoke of human agriculture.
Callie
Pivoting
so everyone is waiting for someone else to do something about it - excellent!
does anyone have any real facts and figures on how much pollination is done by bees and how much is done by other insects? are bees just the most efficient pollinators?
I don't actually believe its just bees and that other insects must play a very important role?
bees are nice though
story
Gone for a Burton
Of course pollination is carried out by any number of different insects, as well as birds, bats, the wind etc.
Bees are the most manageable pollinating agents and are therefore exploited for the purposes of agriculture.
Bees are transported on trucks around America for the express purpose of pollinating the crops.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that about one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants and that the honey bee is responsible for 80 percent of this pollination.
As I said, smallholdings will be alright, as will much of the less developed world. But since most of our food in the West comes from big agriculture, it follows that most of our food is dependent on the bees.
Bees are the most manageable pollinating agents and are therefore exploited for the purposes of agriculture.
Bees are transported on trucks around America for the express purpose of pollinating the crops.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that about one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants and that the honey bee is responsible for 80 percent of this pollination.
As I said, smallholdings will be alright, as will much of the less developed world. But since most of our food in the West comes from big agriculture, it follows that most of our food is dependent on the bees.
Fucking spongers, too good to use their wings now are they?
story
Gone for a Burton
It's not that pleasant for them. They are forced to become active earlier in the year than is natural for them. Their hives are stacked four or five high on the trucks and they rattle around in the hives (no seatbelts in there) for long periods of time.
Some beekeepers are wondering if they're just fed up and stressed and unhappy. Do they then simply abandon the hive? or is their immunity compromised by the stress? or do they get confused by all the to-ing and fro-ing and can't find their way back to the hives?
But why is it all happening now, suddenly?
Another theory is that the pesticides used on the crops are affecting the bees. Well isn't that a wonder, what a shocker: insecticides affect beneficial insects
Some beekeepers are wondering if they're just fed up and stressed and unhappy. Do they then simply abandon the hive? or is their immunity compromised by the stress? or do they get confused by all the to-ing and fro-ing and can't find their way back to the hives?
But why is it all happening now, suddenly?
Another theory is that the pesticides used on the crops are affecting the bees. Well isn't that a wonder, what a shocker: insecticides affect beneficial insects
dilute micro
esse quam videri
Yeah I wondered too how much research is going into this. It would seem that big food companies wouldn't find it hard to help fund it. There's something surreal about telling kids that when we were little there were lots of bees everywhere.
I wouldn't be surprised with all this driving around the states
story
Gone for a Burton
Not enough as yet.
I think, as it gets worse and profits are affected agribusiness will bring pressure to bear on the govt. to put more money into research.
I'm betting that the big agri-boys like Monsanto are already researching the problem. They'll be marketting the solution within the decade.
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
I had a dream about a big swarm of bees the other night. So that's where they are all going - my dreams.
HTH.
HTH.
what does that mean, btw?
story
Gone for a Burton
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
lulz.
weltweit
Well-Known Member
Have some bees living in the undergrowth outside my back door. They seem to be doing ok at the moment, they were active before the snow and lived though that seemingly with no problems though there can't have been too many flowers about. Now the sun is shining again they seem more active that ever.
Yuwipi Woman
Whack-A-Mole Queen
Didn't they trace CCD to a virus that started in Australia? Some Bee breaders conference in Australia put out papers on it recently. It was something like "bee AIDS," which leaves the bees open to other problems like mites and pollution. Australia is a big exporter of bee hives so the virus would travel quickly.
dilute micro
esse quam videri
extra dry
Happy to be here
some orchards in china have had all the bees die....so the solution is people with feathers and other things going round hand pollinating trees like walnut.
Loads of fruit and veg plants are pollinated by bees this is a big problem and will only get bigger with more use of weed killers and pesticides.
Loads of fruit and veg plants are pollinated by bees this is a big problem and will only get bigger with more use of weed killers and pesticides.
Yuwipi Woman
Whack-A-Mole Queen
This isn't the article that I read, but a similar one:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=bees-ccd-virus
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=bees-ccd-virus
Paul Russell
Psychogeographer
In the last week, I've seen stories about bees disrupting Wimbledon, taking over the Weymouth Punch and Judy booth, and generally being a nuisance in Dorchester, and Exeter.
Does this happen every year at this time?!
Does this happen every year at this time?!
Callie
Pivoting
where are you? and what type of bee? big fluffy bumbly types or small brown waspish honey bees?
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