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

Originally posted by magneticelectric

For a different take on the causes of Colony Collapse Disorder, check out the documentary "Resonance: Beings of Frequency". It touches on how it could actually be the result radiation interference from cell phone towers m

I just read an article that commented on the idea that there could be more than one
detriment, so this could be a secondary problem...perhaps.

The pesticides have been nailed to the wall though, and I think GMO is
next up, due to the fact that nearly all GMO have pesticides built in...
so its in the plant, not just on it, and in a transgenic mutated fashion.

Originally posted by woodsmom
I have been watching this happen in my own gardens over the years.

This may be another good reason to plant an heirloom garden, or even just a few good food plants for the bees in the corners of our yards. Maybe we can do our part by continuing on old, true varieties of plants. This simple act, though not much more than a bandaid, could go far in starting to heal things.

Pockets of vegetation may be able to help sustain local viable populations of bees. It would also serve the purpose of putting real food into our families and removing money from the pockets of the corporations that put us in this mess to begin with.

Yes, yes I think everyone has to act, and do it quickly!

Also, everyone please stop using the pesticides!
Let the weeds grow, and especially the clover!

reply to post by dc4lifeskater


Sarcasm, well said there.
Sometimes it drives it home, does it not!

Originally posted by Iwinder

10 years ago we had a honey bee nest under our back wood border for the veggie garden, they were there for 5 years then zip/nadda/ziltch.

They never bothered us even when we were working in the garden about 4 feet from their nest.

We miss them......

I bet, the question I have is ....I know that honeybees and bumblebees
are pollinators. I guess that yellowjackets / hornets / wasps are too,
though I dont think they will be enough if we lose the others?

reply to post by burntheships

In the last couple of days, there’s been a sharp turn toward the status quo. As I reported yesterday, Obama plucked Islam “Isi” Siddiqui from the nation’s most powerful agrichemical lobby group and made him our chief negotiator on ag issues in global trade talks. This is a major coup for Big Ag. Ramming open foreign markets for our cheap food commodities and pricey ag inputs is critical to the industry’s future profits–and perilous for global food security and the environment.

And today, Obama’s Big Ag side got the best of him again. He tapped Roger Beachy, long-time president of the Danforth Plant Science Center, as chief of the USDA’s newly created National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

grist.org...

The USDA approved Monsanto's corn even though it received only 23 comments in favor of it and nearly 45,000 public comments opposing it. It can now be freely released into the environment and American food supply, without any governmental oversight or safety tracking.

"This is just the latest in a string of approvals of GE crops. It's clear the Obama Administration doesn't have the courage to stand strong against the powerful agribusiness and biotechnology lobbies," says Mark Kastel, of The Cornucopia Institute.

Dow's 2,4-D

As for 2,4-D, a key ingredient in "Agent Orange," which was used to defoliate forests and croplands during the Vietnam War, it's widely associated with increased cancer risks. Four US studies report a correlation with its use and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, for example.

Researchers find that babies born in areas where high rates of 2,4-D are applied to farms are 60-90% more likely to be born with birth defects, especially if they're conceived in the spring, when application rates are highest.

www.sustainablebusiness.com...

These are the very same crops that bee's are dying from, is it any wonder?

Originally posted by magneticelectric
t touches on how it could actually be the result radiation interference from cell phone towers messing with the bees' inherent navigation abilities. Pretty interesting, and worth the watch.

I believe that the natural frequency of water (of which most living creature are made of) is somewhere around 2.4GHz. 2-2.6GHz has become a very noise part of the spectrum over the last 10 years due to rise in various types of wireless communication, including wifi, bluetooth and cell tower transmitters.

This problem won't get the attention and all out funding and planning it needs until someone like US Prez Obama starts talking about it and throwing some cash at it. Maybe Bill Gates, some Hollywood actor, what's needed is for a major "name" to start funding large bee farms by the thousands all across the world as well as taking on the pesticide companies directly. Yes, if Einstein was alive he'd probably be leading the charge.

Originally posted by intrptr
reply to post 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.

Typically wasps are carnivores. Bees eat the nectar and frequent the crops where the pesticides are used. Wasps are searching for insects more than pollen. If you see wasps in the fields it is because that is where they find the bugs for their brood. They don't seek the flowers and wallow in their pollen or feed it to their young. They are not more immune, just exposed less than the bees to toxins.

] You make important points, I was wondering if they would come in to the rescue if the bee's completely died off. It would be a better bet to hand pollinate than to rely upon what little may stick to them and be dropped onto other plants...

Originally posted by SaneThinking


Are we at that precipice in life where we have come to a time in humans history, where we get to see if these words ring true, do we now stand with a future ahead of us that becomes self fullfilling to his words. Does man get to see the true nature of the cancer we are to the earth, have we through advances also pushed ourselves so far backwards that fixing the problem is a mountain in itself.

I think your right, indeed we are at a precipice.

Look on the news tonight, if this is not on it, were headed for disaster.
Dancing With The Stars, and all that...whats on peoples minds.

That is the really scary part, its like they dont want people to know!

reply to post by burntheships


And stop swatting them, as someone else pointed out!
I get weird looks from people all the time for sticking up for them too.

The clover is actually a good point, not only are the pesticides doing their damage, so are the herbicides.
Too many people will dump weed and feed for a pretty lawn and destroy real food in favor of an invasive species, that probably doesn't like it's adopted environment to begin with. I know people who are actually harassed for some clover growing in their lawn, and they have the prettiest yard on the block in my humble opinion.

Last year I noticed the same thing as many other posters, the wasps are more plentiful. I have wondered if they are moving into the bee hives. I only had bumble bees around my yard for the first 2 months of the season before the honey bees finally started to show, and when they did they were already so far and few between that we got excited every time we saw one.

Antar raised a good point about cross contamination as well, it could well mean that our heirlooms may even be tainted. I figure any positive action has to be better than nothing though, and I really hope mine happen to be far enough in the woods to be safer. I have also come across building plans for a wild bee hive. This thread has guaranteed it's construction this year. For anyone interested, I found it in Mother Earth News a few years ago, I don't remember what issue though, I will go look for it.

Nevermind on the plans.... that is the worst part of being a hardcopy person, sometimes I just can't find a specific article when I search for it. Sorry

Originally posted by intrptr

I have gardened before. I have never needed pesticides. No pests or blight of any kind. A proper compost added to the soil and turned under, then used as fertilizer (mulch) during the growth cycle insures that the plants have all the necessary natural nutrients. A healthy crop generates its own natural pest deterrents.

A crop that is fed on chemical fertilizer is lacking and that weakness is what attracts the pest. I have proven this to myself enough times to know the truth of this.

Heres the problem. Major corporations control the farms on a mega scale and to save on cost they use chemicals and insecticides. Its cheaper from their mega viewpoint. The pesticides kill the pollinators as well.

The weakened immune systems of the crop attract even more pests which require even more pesticide. The insects become ever more immune and the insecticides more potent. The poor honey bee is caught in the middle.

Thanks so much for your comments. As an organic gardener myself I can appreciate all of
the work you must have done over the years, and its not in vain.

What you describe above is crucial if we are going to turn this around...
with the release of more and more pesticides, and GMO things are never going
to repair. Thanks again, I hope everyone reads your comments, and takes them to heart.

Ive already given my info and etc onthe plethora of other threads concerning bees and the fallout over the past few yrs... and you all have a bunch of good info on this thread..but I have a little something to add.

My grandmother was and is a nut concerning her plants and was in a garden club, etc. Mainly back in the 70's when I was younger Id go with her. They hand pollinated with little paintbrushes. I used to laugh at her for being an anal retentive obsessed lunatic.. not so much now that Im older and a gardening lunatic myself, and confronted with bee pop reduction and death Its an easy skill to learn and one we might want to keep in mind.

reply to post by freebornman


Good points, really. Perhaps the forests can be a bee refuge, might
need it if this keeps up. Good to know too, for those who live in wooded areas,
as some of us do!

Originally posted by antar
The GMO's and roundup ready crops, their poison 'is' killing our bee's but unless every agriculture farm stops, then the bee's will continue to be infected.

What about the damn GMO mosquitoes! What is to keep that from crossing over? I mean there is no end to the irresponsibility! (

Antar,

Thanks for your comments, as we see it, its imperative that the GMO mess is put to
a stop. To hear they are now going to release 2, 4-d, thats maniacal.

Agent Orange has no place in the gardens, and they know it. Yet, they have NO
choice, as the super weeds are going to take over.

I wish they had to eat this poision they grow!

And yes, argh!!! The GM mosquitos, and even they are working on the bees!

I wonder if the disappearing of bees has something to do with GMO crops - do GMO crops need pollinating? Does anyone know?

Also, it's a theory that's been discussed before, but beekeepers advise that when they place hives near wireless towers, the hives die out pretty fast.

Originally posted by Advantage

My grandmother was and is a nut concerning her plants and was in a garden club, etc. Mainly back in the 70's when I was younger Id go with her. They hand pollinated with little paintbrushes. I used to laugh at her for being an anal retentive obsessed lunatic.. not so much now that Im older and a gardening lunatic myself, and confronted with bee pop reduction and death

Its an easy skill to learn and one we might want to keep in mind.

Advantage,

Good videos, very good comments, your grandma was wise. ...thanks for posting
Its not a bad idea now to start collecting some paintbrushes.

reply to post by Advantage


Watching now, I do love to learn, have had to hand pollinate for a few years myself, the trick is getting it done before the bee's carry the gmo dust over from neighboring farms. My corn looked like something out of Deliverance 2 years ago, weird weird weird!

This is the only way to keep the GMO off your garden veggies!

blog.seedalliance.org...

reply to post by antar

] You make important points, I was wondering if they would come in to the rescue if the bee's completely died off. It would be a better bet to hand pollinate than to rely upon what little may stick to them and be dropped onto other plants...

Wasps do pollinate when searching for bugs, I guess. Their wings push the pollen round in the air and it does stick to them. But their actions are not directed at pollination, it is circumstantial. They kill pests. Thats their job. A healthy garden has a ton of wasps buzzing around it. They are natural pesticide.

On pollination by hand? The Chinese are barely able to pollinate their apple pear crop from year to year. It takes hundreds of people on ladders gathering the pollen and "brushing' it onto every flower. Every flower. We take it for granted that busy little bees do this for us all_day_long. There are not enough people on the planet to make up for that. Heres a look...

Chinese hand pollination of crops

Some plants don't need help, like corn for instance. A gentle breeze is all the plant needs. I don't have a list of self pollinators, others might have better data on the crops we depend on bees for.

Originally posted by KaiserSoze

“If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live.” ― Albert Einstein

I can add nothing following so profound a statement.

according to snopes and books full of einstien's quotes there is no proof einstien said that
just sayin
I was going to post that quote but I thought I'd check it first

not trying to shoot you down, I agree with the sentiment and all

also thanx to Int for the post re wasps
sounds logical

I recently read a book called a spring without bees, it links neonicitinoid pesticdes with ccd and after banning these pesticides in france the bees began to bounce back. but in parts of the eu and north america these pesticides are considered safe and the governments belive the companies. there needs to be an immediate ban on these pesticeds
www.wired.com...