Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe

[Stretch]

Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe

By: malterwitty
Tags:

• SCIENCE/HEALTH/CLIMATE/NATURE

Disturbing evidence that honeybees are in terminal decline has emerged from the United States where, for the fourth year in a row, more than a third of colonies have failed to survive the winter.

 

[Johnnny]

are you posting a link to another forum?

 

[Mowich]

Good article, Stretch. Read an interesting article in Nature about cell phone towers possibly contributing to the demise of bees.

As mentioned in the article you cite, no one seems to be able to conclusively point to the reason for colony collapse but pesticides must surely play a big role.

 

[Johnnny]

i thought they found a mite somewhere preying on the bee's in there hives???

 

[Mowich]

Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe | Environment | The Observer


"Potential causes range from parasites, such as the bloodsucking varroa mite, to viral and bacterial infections, pesticides and poor nutrition stemming from intensive farming methods. The disappearance of so many colonies has also been dubbed "Mary Celeste syndrome" due to the absence of dead bees in many of the empty hives."

"A global review of honeybee deaths by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) reported last week that there was no one single cause, but pointed the finger at the "irresponsible use" of pesticides that may damage bee health and make them more susceptible to diseases. Bernard Vallat, the OIE's director-general, warned: "Bees contribute to global food security, and their extinction would represent a terrible biological disaster."

 

[Stretch]

i thought they found a mite somewhere preying on the bee's in there hives???

the monsanto bug.........?

 

[AnnaG]

Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe

By: malterwitty
Tags:

• SCIENCE/HEALTH/CLIMATE/NATURE

Disturbing evidence that honeybees are in terminal decline has emerged from the United States where, for the fourth year in a row, more than a third of colonies have failed to survive the winter.

I didn't click any links because it sounded like a gross exaggeration.
Yes, honey bee populations suffer during harsh winters. The US's harsh winter was not worldwide and bees in other regions did fine.
Are Oz's crops all going to fail because US bees are dying?

 

[Bar Sinister]

Bees dying out appears to be a worldwide phenomenon. In parts of
China farmers have resorted to pollinating their crops by hand.

 

[AnnaG]

Bees dying out appears to be a worldwide phenomenon. In parts of
China farmers have resorted to pollinating their crops by hand.

There are hazzards for bees besides the winters, but research is plugging away at remedying the issues as usual. The last hypothesis I heard about is that CCD is a cyclical event and bees have recovered many times from the collapses. BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | 'No proof' of bee killer theory
Did you know there is more than one subspecies of honeybee? There are 8, I think.

 

[Stretch]

I didn't click any links because it sounded like a gross exaggeration.
Yes, honey bee populations suffer during harsh winters. The US's harsh winter was not worldwide and bees in other regions did fine.
Are Oz's crops all going to fail because US bees are dying?

to me you sound like you're in denial.........

 

[Tonington]

the monsanto bug.........?

No, a foreign mite, varroa mite causes increased mortality, but it differs from CCD in where you find the dead bees, progressive mortality in workers, and a few other symptoms.

I don't think it's pesticides. I think it's an infectious agent. If it was pesticides on the crops the bees pollinate, then you wouldn't expect to find horizontal transmission of the disorder when equipment isn't disinfected between colonies. But this is what they find, that is a telltale sign of a pathogen. They've noted one virus that seems to be a common factor in CCD, Israeli acute paralysis virus, but as of yet, still nothing conclusive. The virus could be a co-factor for something else.

 

[relic]

Just as long as nothing people do is to blame,why does the argument about whos to blame trump how to fix the problem ?To hell with the bees as long as nobody looses their bonus.