Beekeepers Expect "Worst Year For Bees, We’re Facing The Extinction Of A Species.”

Originally posted by Indellkoffer

Originally posted by TruthxIsxInxThexMist
I've been thinking about this for the last hour and I have no solution apart from taking up beekeeping!!

It's difficult and expensive, and most neighborhoods do NOT want beehives where people can get stung.

A much better solution is to plant native flowers and pick up trash (keeping a clean environment), provide a small habitat (water, plants) for them to visit. A good environment helps sustain them if they run into insecticides and other pollutants (oil, tire dust, air pollution.)

This is not true its not that difficult and most neighborhoods would have no clue if you had bee hives in your backyard ( I do) and wouldn't care anyway as the bees are coming there anyway if there are flowers! You might be surprised who is already keeping bees in your neighborhood. Conventional beekeeping can be difficult if you try and act like commercial beekeepers always opening the hive and stressing the bees etc. natural beekeeping takes very little effort and you only need to open the hive maybe a couple times a year. Its very hands off once you get a colony. Commercial/conventional beekeeping is part of the problem. They don't care about the bees they just care about getting the honey. Check out www.biobees.com... or just search "natural beekeeping"

reply to post by burntheships


By personal observation, around the world I have noticed where every GMO seeds and modified seeds are introduced not only do the plants not reproduce any usable seeds for replanting but the bees in those areas die off.

I am sure that GMO plants and modified seeds have a lot to do with this.

I am sorry let me give an example. We put our bee boxes with queens next to a corn field every year as the bees love the corn and other wild flowers around the fields. Not only after drying the corn after harvest the corn would not grow but a few inches then die off. but we noticed the bees too began to die off we lost whole hives.

Mansanto has the monopoly on seed production around the globe and it was their seeds we are now forced to buy in order to grow crops large enough to support our nation.

In short I am sure that these GMO plants are hurting not only the bees but the ground and us who eat it.

Rudolf Steiner - Nine Lectures on Bees

Just heard about this (and Rudolf Steiner, for that matter), and thought I'd drop it in here. In 1923, he predicted that bees would die out in 80 to 100 years due to industrialized beekeeping and over queen breeding (this might not be the root cause of Colony Collapse Disorder, but the time-frame is pretty prescient). Throughout the lectures, he provides numerous indications of the intricate nature of the honeybee community - even likening it to spiritual matters and the order of the cosmos:

"From physical depictions of the daily activities of bees to the most elevated esoteric insights, these lectures describe the unconscious wisdom of the beehive and its connection to our experience of health, culture, and the cosmos." (from Amazon book description)

I know that kind of talk isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoy that type of speculation from time-to-time, and - if nothing else - it offers an interesting perspective.

Rudolf Steiner was also the father of a permacultural method known as Biodynamic Agriculture - which emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system. Seems like an all-around interesting guy:

Rudolf Steiner - Wikipedia page

reply to post by burntheships


I have noticed a lack of bees in my garden for the past several years. There are a small variety of wasps and a few small, not large, bumblebees. Seeing honey bees, that were plentiful at one time, is a rare thing. I think I'd be telling the truth if I said I could have counted the honey bees I saw last spring and summer.

Originally posted by ibiubu
reply to post by Philippines

 

It's really vitamin supplements, not shooting drugs.

I moved to a more rural area, and that has helped a great deal. I have thought about moving to a more remote area or overseas. So tired and burnt out from corporate America as well. I camped for 40 days in a wildlife preserve. No head pain, no ear ringing, clarity with concentration, and all without vitamins. It was the best I ever felt in my life. It's funny in the video, they ask "Why do you feel better when you go outside?"

I believe you, and I was being sarcastic about the drug part. However, injection really really is not natural in my opinion and if you aren't making the dose, who knows what's in it.

Also I couldn't agree with you more about being burned out of corporate life. I was so burned out I literally gave and sold everything I had and then moved to the middle of nowhere. No more stress or panics, and I could list the other positive effects, but will keep this short.

Glad you're feeling the need to "disconnect" and are acting on it. Most people only say "I wish I could do that".

no bees=no pollination=no life on earth, lol

Originally posted by Philippines

Originally posted by Plotus
I am an amature Apiest, ie. Beekeeper. I have had two hives now for around five years. It has been a struggle here in North Carolina with the local crops of corn, cotton and soy by and large, with a sprinkling of various other crops. But these are primarily what is grown here. There are small and large scale spraying operations of pesticides going on seasonally. We have tried to educate the farming community of the dangers to bees, and accordingly, form timetables to coincide with spraying events. Thus we are able to close our hives and protect our colonies. As always there are those who under advisement, still selfishly spray with no regard. There are a couple types of sprays, one for soft bodied such as caterpillar and one for 'exoskeleton' insects for which the Bees and Wasps fall into. Each pesticide works on a specific type insect, many with collateral overlapping insect damage.
There was recently, as recent as three years ago, a pesticide with an active ingredient from tobacco which was found to be highly toxic to exoskeletal insects which was wreaking havoc on bee populations, it has since been outlawed. Never the less, there are those who still have stockpiles of this toxin and readily use it knowingly without regard to Apiests.
It is this way all over the world though, disregard to the environmental impact they are having, only the crop $$$ amount bottom line important to them. They are effectively killing the Golden Goose.

Another less known fact many people are unaware of, many cannabis guerilla growers have found it popular to use banned rat poisons and insecticides from Mexico without abandon. This has proved highly destructive over long term, both to wildlife and water tables. So much so, that some of the possible penalties are up to one million dollar fines, and from ten years imprisonment to life sentences. It's Bad Stuff. These are just some of the difficulties Beekeepers face.
All I can say is, Keep it up...... and you will effectively be putting an end to agriculture as we know it, and everyone can guess the outcome of that. Crop pollination will cease to exist, and over half of our current crop species will fail. No one will be immune.

Interesting stuff, glad to have you here! Do you know anything on how to make foundation wax the "old" way? I am trying to figure this out by spending as little money as possible.

Have you had any colonies swarm, and if so did you find them?

And a couple more.. I hope you don't mind =D

Do you see many native bees around with your bees?

What bees do you think are most effected, the domesticated honeybee?

When a colony population fairly fills the hive, you either add what is called a Super' ie. another story, as in a several story hive, or transfer the queen to another hive in close proximity, one that is bare. The pheromones of that queen will entice a large quantity of the original hives bees to migrate to the new hive, leaving a smaller population in the original and within two weeks they will create a queen, but that slows the original hive down for about three weeks until it is back at full production. There are several ways of doing this beyond just this method.

In a swarm condition, you will have the bees mass the outside of the hive right before setting flight. If you catch this time, their swarm will typically fly to a tree or building or solid structure and remain for about a half to full hour. At this time you can capture the bees and transfer them into a hive, dump them in and close the entrance until a couple days have passed. By then they will have acclimated and you will find comb construction well under way, with as much as maybe 10" x 3-4"s of comb having been constructed. Our Native bees are quite different here, they are iridescent blue, and about 1/3 the size of honey bees. They also live in quite different arrangements. Rather in holes in wooden structures much as a carpenter bee, which is often mistaken for a bumble bee because of the larger size.

The Best bees are the Russian variety, followed by the Italian variety as bees were originally introduced from Europe, but later here interbred into different variations. Thus these are typically the most affected bee populations, simply because they are of the greatest populations due to their docile temperment.
You will probably find foundation sheets the easiest for constructing frames. They are plastic with imprinted octagon depressions the bees follow in their comb construction, and sanitation is also much better with these plastic sheets.

Originally posted by Plotus

Originally posted by Philippines

Originally posted by Plotus

Interesting stuff, glad to have you here! Do you know anything on how to make foundation wax the "old" way? I am trying to figure this out by spending as little money as possible.

Have you had any colonies swarm, and if so did you find them?

And a couple more.. I hope you don't mind =D

Do you see many native bees around with your bees?

What bees do you think are most effected, the domesticated honeybee?

When a colony population fairly fills the hive, you either add what is called a Super' ie. another story, as in a several story hive, or transfer the queen to another hive in close proximity, one that is bare. The pheromones of that queen will entice a large quantity of the original hives bees to migrate to the new hive, leaving a smaller population in the original and within two weeks they will create a queen, but that slows the original hive down for about three weeks until it is back at full production. There are several ways of doing this beyond just this method.

In a swarm condition, you will have the bees mass the outside of the hive right before setting flight. If you catch this time, their swarm will typically fly to a tree or building or solid structure and remain for about a half to full hour. At this time you can capture the bees and transfer them into a hive, dump them in and close the entrance until a couple days have passed. By then they will have acclimated and you will find comb construction well under way, with as much as maybe 10" x 3-4"s of comb having been constructed. Our Native bees are quite different here, they are iridescent blue, and about 1/3 the size of honey bees. They also live in quite different arrangements. Rather in holes in wooden structures much as a carpenter bee, which is often mistaken for a bumble bee because of the larger size.

The Best bees are the Russian variety, followed by the Italian variety as bees were originally introduced from Europe, but later here interbred into different variations. Thus these are typically the most affected bee populations, simply because they are of the greatest populations due to their docile temperment.
You will probably find foundation sheets the easiest for constructing frames. They are plastic with imprinted octagon depressions the bees follow in their comb construction, and sanitation is also much better with these plastic sheets.

Thanks for your insights. It is a practice requiring lots of observation and knowledge of what to do and when to do it. Harvesting honey is a huge risk for the colony if done at the wrong time and/or incorrectly.

I know of the plastic foundation sheets, and they are a great option, but hard to get here. There is a community of apiarists here who would like the plastic foundations, but the payment and transportation are difficult hehe. Do you know of any traditional ways done 100+ years ago for the foundation?

I have seen foundation roller presses and thanks to another member with a Warre hive; I have learned of starter strips, which is REALLY cool.

On the native bees, glad you have them. And in related to this thread, have your honey bees and/or native bees on a decline, incline, or are about the same population levels as 5 years ago?

While it is true that high fructose is used with commercial operations, were talking hundreds of hives even as many as a thousand hives. For the rural beekeepers, a solution of sugar water is the recipe most often used. Simply white sugar and water.

As for cell phones and the associated theories..... the jury is still 'somewhat out on that' but it appears to be a possible contributor.

The good news, bees are making somewhat of a rebound, and Verona mites are being bred out by the natural resistances the bees are forming generation after generation. A bees lifespan is typically 2-3 weeks long, with a queen several years.

Still, agricultural growers must familiarize themselves with the dangers of insecticides if they wish to continue. That education will be forthcoming I think as more people are made aware.


***** as for building the foundations, I fear you will have to find that information online, as I am ignorant of the methods. That's not to say that the old timers here don't use that method, it was the only way, some decades ago.

reply to post by exitusstatuquo
My Dad was also a beekeeper. When I am at his house we watch them, he is an avid Gardner still, and we see fewer and fewer of these life givers every year.

Every life is important. To the smallest ant, to the ladybug, to the bee, to you and me.

“Given the importance of bees in the ecosystem and the food chain and given the multiple services they provide to humans, their protection is essential”...

The protection of the corporate entity IS NOT!

Edit~ notice the lower case "corporate entity"?

reply to post by Indellkoffer


i have to really disagree.
my coworker had a beehive put in the back yard last spring and i dont believe there was any cost involved..the beekeeper comes and collects the honey and my friend gets a share of it..no problems with stings or anything like that, im allergic to beestings but im not even worried being there, bees just want to go about their business.
more people need to do this.

the bees dying off is very scary and the implacations are devastating

In addition to finding clothianidin too dangerous to use on plants pollinated by bees, EFSA's study specifically identifies as too flawed to be useful the shoddy studies provided by pesticide manufacturer Bayer as evidence of clothianidin's safety.3

It was these sham studies that EPA used to first approve clothianidin in 2003, even against the objections of EPA's own scientists.4

The pesticide, which is used to treat seeds like corn and canola, expresses itself through the plants' pollen and nectar — the honeybee's favorite sources of food. Clothianidin is in a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, which are relatively new, and their use coincides with the rise of colony collapse.

If EPA does not take emergency action now, it won't review clothianidin again until 2018.

Given the rate of colony collapse, and the indispensable role that pollinators play in our food system — pollinating one-third of our food crops and providing literally billions of dollars in economic benefit — it would be stunningly irresponsible of EPA to continue allowing the use of this dangerous pesticide for at least another five years.

I say let them die, I hate the damned things, they are always going in my house or or making me scream like a girl x.x

This is obviously a topic that deserves a lot of attention and, sorry, I didn’t have time to read through all of the posts. That said, I hope someone has been talking about what we can do to correct the problem realistically.

Lobbying our congress is one thing but collecting a fund to have farmers stop using pesticides, GMO and monoculture is a different thing. Could we all pay a “tax” to fund a farmers “back on their feet” program?

Unlikely, but it’s a dream.

I have been reading through these posts and one thing no one is talking about is the GOM seeds and Plants.

Bees are the key to plants producing good seed. the pollination is important and bees play a big part in that. But if the seed has been genetically altered so the plant cannot produce seed that reproduces it self how does that which the bees gather from these plants affect the next generation of bees which is months not years for bees?

I do believe that GMO seed produced by companies like Monsanto play a bigger role in this. Most of the loss of Bees have taken place since the late 80's when GMO or Hybrid seeds were being sold to the Markets. But the last ten years these seeds have been producing plants that cannot produce viable seed of its own to procreate. Without the purchase of new seed from the companies you cannot grow a crop the next season. Grain farmers have seen this happening. they can no longer store seed to plant the following season because the seed wont grow. and even if it does it wont produce any fruit.

I believe that the same thing that keeps the plants from producing viable seed also is affecting the bees. It is affecting the bee on a genetic level.

My theory is that the same people running this planet have there own genetic stashaways of bees and they found a strategy that can fufill their goals and their buddies goals of depopulation by ridding the environment temporarily of pollenators.

It would solve the whole issue of mass murders and repackage it as acceptable in that they can pass it off as all of our fault that it occurred and devastated the planet as far as we are concerned.

After all they have grand designs that the stupid masses could never achieve due to us all pulling in directions that are incohesive and ultimately futile and dumb.



New world order my bum

New world murder/social-environmental engineering.

There are no consequences as the worlds species can die out for so many reasons that we have learned that we must assumed control or let the world full of stupid ass humans destroy itself.

Originally posted by Danbones
I have noticed a distinct decline in the local bee population but the wasps seem OK.
so the cause is not something effecting wasps much

edit on 22-1-2013 by Danbones because: (no reason given)

Bees and other insects in Toronto have just been decimated. Twenty years ago our "Beauty Bush" which is covered in flowers in the spring would be covered in bees as well. We used to have swarms of June bugs (a fat reddish beetle) in season also. They would be all over the road and around the street lights and door lights and banging against the windows of the doors. I haven't seen a June Bug in years.

But, to your point, I have seen wasps getting nectar on the Beauty Bush. Wasps are an insect predator. I'm no expert but wouldn't that indicate a lack of prey?

Corporatism folks. That's the fungus that is going to kill us all if we don't guard against it.

We need to swarm our legislators and tell these agro giants to "Buzz off."

Matthew 24 verse 7

And there shall be famine and pestilence

The loss of the bees would definitely cause great famines throughout the world during the end times .

so then why dont bee keepers , buy a air hanger, closed the doors seal it up and grow bees and flowers in there, many ways to combat this.

most of the people experiencing bees dying are probably doing it next to peoples farms with monsantos crops on them ^^

bring it indoors seal off the outside, problem solved

Originally posted by ~widowmaker~
so then why dont bee keepers , buy a air hanger, closed the doors seal it up and grow bees and flowers in there, many ways to combat this.

most of the people experiencing bees dying are probably doing it next to peoples farms with monsantos crops on them ^^

bring it indoors seal off the outside, problem solved

It's not that simple honey bees need about a four mile range. They don't do well in small enclosed areas. Growing lots of non-gmo plants around your property can help and yeah not be near fields growing GMO's if possible. There is a growing movement for natural beekeeping.