Is anyone else noticing alot of dead bees?

[Strumpet]

(((bees)))

 

[isitme]

I think its GM crops.

I think the cilmate getting warmer is bringing over foriegn bees who don't respect our culture or even bother to learn the language

 

[tangentlama]

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

We can't rule out the effect of unnatural feeding of US bees with HFCS 55 over winter - the bees need their own stocks of honey/propolis to protect themselves - the fructose substitute, manufactured from maize, can't provide them with every element they need. It's also mixed with city-supply water (in USA, these mostly contain chemical fluoridation).

In UK, I think mostly sugar syrup is used to restock the bees after their honey has been taken from them.


There's some research being done in USA, due to end shortly:

Start Date: Oct 01, 2007
End Date: Jul 31, 2008

Objective:
Describe the chemical composition of High Fructose Corn Syrup samples and test for presence of microorganisms; Determine the thermal ranges and exposure times under which HMF and other contaminants occur in HFCS; Determine the effects of known contaminants in HFCS fed to honey bees in caged studies.

Approach:
Chemical and microbial analysis from samples collected from suppliers and beekeepers will be compared with samples of HFCS from manufacturers. Cages bees will be fed HFCS samples to determine toxicity levels.

www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm

If half of USA's corn is GMO corn, the odds are that most HFCS is produced from GMO corn.

 

[rover07]

Haven't seen any bees this year. Dead or alive.

 

[chemn]

...(One particular parasite I forget the name of.)...

Varroa innit. Nasty little red mites that feed off the brood (eggs & larvae).

 

[tangentlama]

Haven't seen any bees this year. Dead or alive.

I have a nest of buff-tailed bumble bees (Bombus terrestris) in the garden. They're delightful to watch as they fly in and out of their earthwork labyrinths in the flower bed. I thought they might have overwintered in that nest, because they were still there this year.

 

[_pH_]

Seen a few, but not as many as previous years

 

[elbows]

I have seen lots of bee's and bumble bee's, flying around plants and my bedroom window. I have seen 2 dead bee's and one dead wasp.

They dont like it up em!