Where are all the bees going?

There seems to be a problem here. A lot of bees are just "disappearing" due to a "mysterious ailment" according to CNN.

I saw it on local national news and I haven't done much research into the topic, I'll edit the post with more links when I find more. For now I have a link to CNN that claims:

Beekeepers in 22 states have reported losses of up to 80 percent of their colonies in recent weeks, leaving many unable to rent the bees to farmers of crops such as almonds and, later in the year, apples and blueberries.

Researchers from state and federal agriculture agencies have been frustrated in their search for a cause because affected hives are often empty except for the queen and a few bees.

www.cnn.com...

Who cares about the bees? They just make honey... right? WRONG! If bees go endangered or even possibly extinct we are going to be looking at a global agriculture disaster because bees pollinate many fruits and even veggies as well.

Anyone that has any info into this is welcome. I'm really interested and confused (as are many scientists) about this.

Yeah, NPR just had a story on this this afternoon, that link will take you there. They have no idea. It's like the bees just vanished! So far the two prevailing theories seem to be a slow accumulation of widespread pesticides brought back via the pollen the bees gather, that doesn't immediately kill them but alters them in other ways. Alternately, it might be vampire mites. Really though, no one has anything more than speculation to go on at the moment.

Texan beekeepers say it's the darndest thing, they've never seen anything like it before. Hundreds of thousands of bees on professional beekeeping farms just vanishing. Not even bodies left behind.

It's a damn good thing that this whole climate change thing is a total myth, right? Otherwise the mass vanishings of a vital ecological system might cause some sort of alarm or something. Yep... nothing to see here. Move along, people, move along.

I can tell you where the bees have gone - my back garden! Well, maybe not now in February, but certainly in November and December my garden was full of bees, and I'm sure I even saw some in January. I know I live on the south coast of England but it really should be too cold for them, but when trees have been blossoming in January I suppose anything is possible.

Is it possible that the weather pattern could have anything to do with their disappearance?

Cheers Cara

I think the great resistance they put up to keep the killer bees down South has finally buckled anf killer bees are reaking their vengence!

I predict a great calm as all the regular bees disappear and the killer bees regroup.

Then comes the storm.

Im glad the assault weapons ban has expired.
Itll be every man for himself.

It's interesting that killer bees are mentioned. I have zero evidence to support this theory, but figured it was worth stating.

Killer bees were really beginning to become a problem here in the south. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if a bee plague were developed and distributed. It would kill both the killer bees and the honey bees alike, bringing their population down to extremely low levels, and leaving only the healthiest and most disease-resistant bees.

The additional generations and cross-breeding it would take to recover the native bee population might be enough to mellow out the aggressiveness of the killer bees, while at the same time strengthening the stock.

Originally posted by thelibra
It's interesting that killer bees are mentioned. I have zero evidence to support this theory, but figured it was worth stating.

Killer bees were really beginning to become a problem here in the south. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if a bee plague were developed and distributed. It would kill both the killer bees and the honey bees alike, bringing their population down to extremely low levels, and leaving only the healthiest and most disease-resistant bees.

The additional generations and cross-breeding it would take to recover the native bee population might be enough to mellow out the aggressiveness of the killer bees, while at the same time strengthening the stock.

Disease and toxin resistant super killer bees!!!

It sound like a Sci-Fi Channel original picture.

I cant wait!

The Wu-Tang Clan can do the soundtrack.

[edit on 14-2-2007 by thisguyrighthere]

I'm perplexed by the different ways the story is being reported. Some reports simply state the bees are dying in huge numbers, while some say they are disappearing from the hives. On NBC last night the reporter alternated between saying died and disappeared.

Any bee experts out there who could clear up a few basic questions;

Are there any phenomena which cause bees to abandon an established hive.

With what degree of probability can it be stated that the missing bees are dead?

I'm not dismsissing the significance of this event, but as usual, the reporting leaves me whith many more questions than it answers.

Also - All the visuals on the news story I saw last night showed keepers dumping out trays from the hive to show how few bees were present - all the bees present were alive by the way.

Do the live bees expell dead bees from the hive? Do sick bees leave the hive to die?

If these bees died in groups in flight like the recent bird die outs, I guess it would be difficult to find them.

Any entomologists out there?

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Disease and toxin resistant super killer bees!!!

Well, yeah, or that's the flip side. Instead of more mellow, healthy bees, we might get super giant killer bees that just won't effing die.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
The Wu-Tang Clan can do the soundtrack.

Don't be ridiculous.

It'd totally be by Outkast...

Can you imagine horror scenes of people being brutally swarmed by hordes of mutant killer bees to the tune of "Hey Ya" ?

This whole thing is interesting for sure. Birds dropping from the sky, now bees disappearing. I can only wonder if there isn't something bad behind it.

Craziness.

Troy

you would very suprise to hear about what me and three other seen by the side of the river thames last year coming back from a job!
every one in the other cars too where suprise too we could see they were looking with amazment!
never saw anything like it!
above just certain tree a thread of smoke seamed to be overing like smoked!
not just one vortex of smoke sometime 2 for one tree!
we stopped and went closer even stopped a passer by to ask him he was a local!
he reply I have no Idea what it is!
it was lke small tornadoes but present!
then I came with the idea they are flies or bees!
and it was we agreed! we saw a movement from the vortex!
it was like they were helping the trees! that was my definition!
and what my instinct was saying!
my pales never saw that nore other in the neighbourhood of Hampton court!
the one clue it was the same tree! I will have to go back to find out what type of tree it was!

Posted this under the thread in Science & Tech as well.....

NPR's Talk of the Nation’s Science Friday just had a special on this subject. While many theories are discussed, and the researchers are willing to entertain the idea of systemic pesticides, the lack of bodies is strange. If pesticides were to blame you would expect the bees to die at random intervals; or to die at times concurrent with their prospective exposure levels if you will. Some of the bees would have died in the hive, but in this case there are no bodies. Tests have been done on the queens and the remaining members of the hive an there were no traces of any chemicals. The Queen is fed by the workers so if there was a contamination you would expect the queen to have died as well, or at minimum have suffered some toxic contamination. Tests for mites were negative as well. Mite and virus die offs are well known and the bees tend either to die outside the entrance of the hive or their bodies are dumped outside by their hive mates.

This is very strange! I wonder if GM crops have anything to do with this?

Here is a link to the Science Friday show. On the top right you can download the mp3 of the broadcast. There are also additional links to the subject on the bottom right portion of the page, under "Related Links"

Additional links:
American Beekeeping Federation

Mid-Atlantic Apiculture


[edit on 9-3-2007 by Imperium Americana]

Just like the frogs. The article said disappearing. Not dying.

The articles assume that disappearing means dying, but like the frogs, no bodies. Just gone.

The articles said the queen and a few workers were left in the hives. If it was a plague or toxin, it would not selectively leave the queen. We would also be able to find the billion dead bees.

Researchers from state and federal agriculture agencies have been frustrated in their search for a cause because affected hives are often empty except for the queen and a few bees.

The number of bees in a hive typically diminishes over a period of days to the point where there are very few or none left, Hackenberg said. There is no indication of where the bees have gone or what drove them away, he said.

I mean the guy in the first article, just one bee keeper said that he had 2000 hives. Each hive holds about 50,000 bees. He said that 80% of those hives had disappeared, no bodies.

Dave Hackenberg, a Pennsylvania beekeeper who reported the so-called Colony Collapse Disorder to researchers at Pennsylvania State University in November, said he had lost about 2,000 hives, which can each contain around 50,000 bees during the summer months.

Where are they? Where are the frogs?

There is something unusual happening. The queen is left, but most of the workers take a hike? Without the queen? If it was killer bees, they would have killed the queen. She is ok, and a few workers to take care of her, but no other workers?

The article said it had been happening for the last two years at least, but the current happening seemed to have woke up the workers, at least for the moment.

The article also said something like this might have happened in Spain.

It's all very worrying. I don't think that global warming is a myth. I do think that what is causing it is the myth. I don't think it's man made, or not as much as we have been made to believe. I think the earth is going through a natuaral cycle, which the earth and human society has seen before and will soon see again. Just an opinion.


[edit on 12-3-2007 by Harassment101]

This may sound very crazy but many scientists will agree...

Honey Bee's are turning carnivorous... of course you know..

This means Honey Bee's are doing what cows will do on occasion. They will eat meat. They will eat meat because of the lack of nutrients or minerals in the substance they are getting. Some bee keepers claim it has to do with the breeding process between the African bees and the honey bees.

As mentioned above, disappearing bees are currently being discussed her
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Please post your comments there.

Closed.