Bee Shortage Again This Year

Bee Shortage Again This Year

www.wkbw.com

Many bee farm owners say there's once again a bee shortage this year. "The bee population this year seems to be better than it was two and three years ago so there's some recovery being noted, but still we have a ways to go," bee farm owner Mike Potoczak said. "We're still losing 20% to 30% a year and that's way too much. One third of our food supply is because of their pollinating activities and that's why bees are protected by the government."He says his farm is still seeing a loss of bees and there's no solid explanation for it, but researchers are looking into possible reasons.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Mod edit, to fix ALL CAPS



[edit on 24-6-2009 by DontTreadOnMe]

This is an indication of an environmental crisis. No bees, no pollination, no plants, no animals, no more humans. Yes this seems drastic but very true, in the chain of life."

Bees are an important provider of the ecosystem of pollination. This will have a huge impact on our agricultural economy.

From a financial perspective, pollination is an invaluable service, provided by bees at no cost to us. We can’t take this for granted.

An alarming number of honeybee colonies began to diminish from the United States, and beekeepers all over the country have reported unprecedented losses.

The pollination value of bee colonies is a more serious reason to protect them than for the honey and wax they produce, it's an undeniable benefit.

Inadequate pollination poses a serious and immediate threat to our FOOD SECURITY.

Another thing to mention is no matter where you live the coffee industry is getting hit hard with the lack of honey Bee pollination. Have you noticed the price of coffee lately?

See below that Honey is not just a food it’s a cure for many ailments. One perfect food.

Any other idea’s about where they have gone and how to get them back?

www.wkbw.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 24-6-2009 by DontTreadOnMe]

BEE SHORTAGE AGAIN THIS YEAR

It’s more than a food. There are several health benefits from Honey Bees.

Burns, Infection, coughs, Hay Fever, relaxation, Asthma, nasal congestion, indigestion, cure stomach ulcers, sore throats, Sinus problems, an instant energy booster, Calcium utilization, Good for your heart, Honey for Longevity, migraine attacks, conjunctivitis, a food preservative, a multi vitamin and also helps sleeping problems.



Theories Behind the Sudden Disappearance of Honeybee Hives

1.Malnutrition;

2.Pesticides; Genetically Modified Crops; Migratory Beekeeping;

3.Lack of Genetic Biodiversity

4.Migratory Beekeeping

5.Lack of Genetic Biodiversity

6.Beekeeping Practices

7.Parasites and Pathogens

8.Toxins in the Environment

9.Electromagnetic Radiation

10.Climate Change

insects.about.com...

Are there more?

I live in Virginia and have a friend who is a beekeeper. For the last couple of years, we have not had our usual rainfalls. This year, we have surpassed the average and our water tables are plentiful. The bees are back!!!! My friend is positive that his
hives are larger than before; he has added two new houses for them.
Positive vein indeed!!!
Hopefully, this same will be reported elsewhere.

However, our fireflies are staying inside the trees and not flying around the yards like usual. This is making for an almost elfin, spirit-like scene in the evening.

Peace...

past 2 weeks I've seen dozens dead on the ground, very odd

their wings looked shriveled on their backs, wonder what it could be?

i should probably stop killing them when i find them around my house...


why dont they breed them or something. get some hives.

reply to post by Gyrochiral


That is excellent news! The sad reality is that 50% of the Bee population has disappered withing a 40 some year period. I hope your friends Bees will multiply.

Quick thread bump

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I wrote about possible causes for the bee disappearances back in the winter. It's pretty long and detailed, but provides some good background for anyone interested in the issue.

In America, honeybees are responsible for the pollination of over 90 plants which are considered "commercial crops," including fruit, vegetables, cotton, nut plants, and more. They pollinate about a third of everything that we eat, and the value of the pollination done by honeybees around the country is about $15 billion. Humans simply cannot take over pollinating these crops if the bees are in serious trouble. In China, the use of pesticides did not trigger CCD but it did cause the entire bee population of a specific area in China to die off. The humans took over pollinating their livelihood, apples and pears. They pollinate every flower by hand, and a report on Biodiversity and the Ecosystem Approach in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries puts it mildly when they call hand pollination a "laborious and time-consuming method."

There's a ton more, that's just a snippet.

[edit on 6/24/2009 by ravenshadow13]

reply to post by warrenb


I'm glad youre wearing your gas mask.. I hate saying this but Chemtrials?? Joking but I'll try to find out. That would be horrific and needs more research!

In North Carolina, we have dealt with two species of alien tracheal mites, and one alien beetle. There are treatments for the mites that can keep the stand strong enough to prevent the beetle from invading.

CCD, Colony Collapse Disorder, is the new player, and it is popping up worldwide. It is the real nasty, as the cause is still undetermined.

Global warming may kill us all in 50 years, but if the prime pollinator for agriculture goes away, no one will really care if the Goracle was right or wrong (but he is making a nice profit either way).

Edit to add the following.

This year, although most beekeepers had the worst over-winter losses in memory, I have noticed more bees working clover in pastures than I can remember seeing in recent memory.

[edit on 24-6-2009 by Viking04]

reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest


That's funny. I swat them too so they dont sting my kids. Those usually arent Honey Bees. Probably a yellow jacket, etc.

I have a hornet hive, in my wood shed I want to spray and run like Hell.

reply to post by Viking04

It's called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Around half of all CCD cases display symptoms that are unlike any other known cause of honeybee disorders or illnesses. The adults in the colony disappear. Many other countries, like France, the UK, and Australia have experienced the same problems with their honeybee colonies, and CCD has not appeared in any other species. According to an informative website by beekeepers, the symptoms include "Sudden colony death (3-6 week period) with no dead bees around or in the hive."

There are many theories surrounding CCD, and all of them have their merit. The varroa mite, which is a bee parasite, may be responsible. Or a disease like IAPV. Pesticides are contributing to the many problems that a bee faces, and genetically engineered crops have been blamed. Drought, poor nutrition, and weather changes may also be part of the problem. And because of the need for honeybees to pollinate crops, they are migrated by trucks to different areas in order to pollinate whichever crops are in season. An invasive species of mite was considered to suppress bee immunity in 2005 according to an article in Science Daily. However, bee autopsies of CCD cases did not show mites to appear in CCD cases. Many people suggest that cell phone signals may interfere with migration and cause CCD, but it would just be another stress factor like drought that would contribute to the lowering of a bee's immune defenses.

However, the most highly suspected cause of CCD is, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, "potential immune-suppressing stress on bees caused by one or a combination of factors." Bees who exhibit CCD have parasites, fungal infections, and viruses. Their immune symptoms collapse and the bees contract all sorts of things. An article on westonaprice.org states that "Investigators have found so many infections in surviving adult bees that many have diagnosed "immunosupression" from an unknown toxic agent." The article also states that Dennis Van Engelsdorp, a bee specialist, has said that this "could be the AIDS of the bee industry." The beekeeper website says that "Researchers have found a virus that appears to be highly associated with CCD at this point in research."

Also from my thread.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by ravenshadow13


I wasnt aware honey Bees were out in the winter.

This is a new year and here we are again. It's nice to see another caring about the consequences. Thanks.

reply to post by wonderworld


I actually created the thread in February. Most bees hibernate over the winter. Many of the causes of the decline remain the same, and this has been going on for years. The truth is that the real cause is a multitude of different things going on at the same time. It's sad. All of the research I did just made me more upset that we keep harming the environment without thinking of how it will affect humans and other species in the long run.

just to report in,
i live in pacifica, ca
and we have had a nice amount of bees visiting out "tower f jewel plants!
i cannot specify which exact bee it is though.

Originally posted by wonderworld
reply to post by ravenshadow13

 

I wasnt aware honey Bees were out in the winter.

It depends upon the location. In a warmer climate, where there is a 'honey flow' (flowers that the bees can work), the bees work year round. In most of the world, there is no winter honey flow. In the fall, the males (drones) are driven out of the hive to starve. The workers make a ball in the nest, usually with the queen near the center. This is for mutual warmth, to conserve energy. They only have their stored honey to sustain them, so they go into this conservation mode. A false spring can cause them to become active, eat up all of the stored honey and starve. Extreme cold can kill off a colony, or weaken it to the point that invaders can steal honey and/or kill the survivors. Before CCD, winter was the time that you expected to lose stands of bees. We have wintered bees over by feeding sugar water when we believed a stand to be stressed, but it doesn't always work.

When spring comes and the flow starts (usually poplar is the first big component of the flow here), they go to work, and swarming begins, when the colony reproduces. Swarming time is a good time.

reply to post by zooplancton


Probably the honeybee
Member of Apidae

reply to post by zooplancton


That's odd. It seems to afect certain locations. I havent seen any honey Bees this summer.

I have a relative near Vegas and he didnt get one bee to pollinate his Pomegranates. He's a bit upset about it.

I tried to explain how to manually pollinate but he didnt do it.

reply to post by Viking04


Yes I figured, as much. I get 4 feet of snow. My drones probably headed south, if my cell phone tower didnt lose alter direction.

Well when all the bees are dead at least the job market will pick up.