Scientists Discover What's Killing the Bees and it's Worse than You Thought

I study ecology, and yes, all signs point to the fact that we are in serious trouble, far more than most people understand. But Phage is right, none of this is new and pesticides/fungicides aren't the only cause. Other major factors are mono-cropping and the domestication of bees. The agricultural industry, and its love for turning large swaths of lush ecosystems into mono-cropping wastelands, is a huge issue. It collapses the surrounding ecosystem and destroys the diversity of life that helps sustain the bees and strengthen their genetics. And speaking of genetics, the domestication of bees is the single most detrimental factor that is weakening the Bees genetics and rendering them unable to adapt to the changing environment. This is well documented.

So yes, these mega-corps who sell pesticides are a huge problem, but so are the millions of beekeepers around the world. Both are severely altering the landscape, weakening the genetics of these Bees (and other species), and they're doing this because they see nature (and the species that inhabit it) as a commodity to be exploited, not understood and respected.

Funny thing, these bee deaths are primarily on U.S. soil kings of Monsanto, Glyphosate, Bayer, Roud-up, etc....

What else did you expect????

I have some friends in Europe, South Africa, and Australia all of which tell me their bee population is thriving as ever.......

This is the result when your Government turns into a Corporate Fascist Lobbyist-Sell-Out Industrial Military Complex where Profits and Corruption are Kings!!!!!

This is only the beginning. All the cities will crumble like detroit, majority will be on Gov help, no jobs, dollar collapse, homelessness through the roof.....with just a few hundred at the top watching it all go down.

U.S. is dying

Originally posted by Realtruth

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


― Albert Einstein

But hey wth did he know.

I agree what did he know since the honey bee is not native to north America...I guess pollen transfer didn't happen until we brought bees here hehe

Originally posted by dominicus
Funny thing, these bee deaths are primarily on U.S. soil kings of Monsanto, Glyphosate, Bayer, Roud-up, etc....

I have some friends in Europe, South Africa, and Australia all of which tell me their bee population is thriving as ever.......

That is not entirely true. Both Europe and Australia are facing similar issues, as are other places like India, Egypt, Japan and China. Basically, every industrialized nation is seeing their bee population decrease. Some places just more than others. Either way, pesticides and fungicides are causing huge problems.

www.abc.net.au...

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by cheesy

 

do you know why mr.einsten say only 4 years?

There is no evidence he did say it. It's a nice internet myth that he did.

edit on 7/25/2013 by Phage because: (no reason given)

A pamphlet distributed [in Brussels] by the National Union of French Apiculture quoted Albert Einstein. "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination ... no more men!" [From Chris Mclaughlin's "Fearful Beekeepers Plead for Curbs on Honey Imports," The Scotsman, 25 January 1994.

Seems legit.

AAC

reply to post by Realtruth

If anyone would like info on how to start your own hive, I can actually do a "How to Thread" if enough people are interested on ATS.

That you always can do , never know how many people will pick this up and actually gonna do it themselves.
It's something that constantly need attention because it's so important for all of us.

Originally posted by openlocks

Originally posted by dominicus
Funny thing, these bee deaths are primarily on U.S. soil kings of Monsanto, Glyphosate, Bayer, Roud-up, etc....

I have some friends in Europe, South Africa, and Australia all of which tell me their bee population is thriving as ever.......

That is not entirely true. Both Europe and Australia are facing similar issues, as are other places like India, Egypt, Japan and China. Basically, every industrialized nation is seeing their bee population decrease. Some places just more than others. Either way, pesticides and fungicides are causing huge problems.

www.abc.net.au...

I just watched a documentary on Aboriginal tribes in AU as well as NZ that are still bee keeping according to thousands year old techniques of using dug out logs as Hives, all organic farming, and their bee's are thriving. They actually had some scientists come and visit to learn their techniques and do some testing on why the bee's are thriving there..... Interestingly enough, those Bee keepers have their hives amongst farms that are filled with a multitude of various crops.

Then there's the Southern IL beekeeper who had hives that were basically Pesticide resistant, FDA comes in w/ no warrant, takes his hives, says it's because they have brood, when he could have clearly proven in court that they didn't.... So something is definitely up.

I'll be starting some hives next spring and will be testing out certain theories including experimenting with Nano-Silver, Immune stimulating flowers/herbs/extracts like Olive Leaf extract and various natural chelators just to see what the effect is.

Originally posted by dominicus
I just watched a documentary on Aboriginal tribes in AU as well as NZ that are still bee keeping according to thousands year old techniques of using dug out logs as Hives, all organic farming, and their bee's are thriving. They actually had some scientists come and visit to learn their techniques and do some testing on why the bee's are thriving there..... Interestingly enough, those Bee keepers have their hives amongst farms that are filled with a multitude of various crops.

Then there's the Southern IL beekeeper who had hives that were basically Pesticide resistant, FDA comes in w/ no warrant, takes his hives, says it's because they have brood, when he could have clearly proven in court that they didn't.... So something is definitely up.

I'll be starting some hives next spring and will be testing out certain theories including experimenting with Nano-Silver, Immune stimulating flowers/herbs/extracts like Olive Leaf extract and various natural chelators just to see what the effect is.

I would love to see that documentary, I also believe the domesticated bees being used are getting inbred and weak. I actually have a wild hive that I tend, and the farmer that I bought my house from years ago tried to kill the hive with virtually everything. He gave me names of pesticides that are now actually banned, but he still couldn't killed this hive, so I inherited the hive.

I have never disclosed where the hive is for fear of someone, or group taking it. The bees are slightly smaller and darker than their Italian cousins, but are the most productive little buggers I have ever seen.

Anyhow here is the link to that poor soul that got his hives taken. It really pissed all of us beekeepers off too.

www.pacc-news.com...

double post

reply to post by dominicus


Nice, keep us informed to how it goes. The best option is always the most natural one. Many beekeepers buy their bees from retailers who sell GMO breeds, or at least highly domesticated breeds. Its like sending you dog back out into the wild, it will not survive very long. Best option is to create an optimal environment for them (healthy and diverse plant system) and build natural dwellings to attract them naturally. Also, if you are surrounded by GMO farms or heavily sprayed areas, you're pretty much out of luck. There is really nothing you can do to stop the contamination.

I also have seen many successful examples. As with anything to do with nature, though, it's all a process of trial and error, observing what is happening and making minor alterations to bring it back to a balanced state. Have fun!

PS. Have you looked into Permaculture at all? Might be a good thing if you haven't.

reply to post by openlocks


Agreed about the monoculture crops being intensely destructive. However, I would not say that this isn't "new". While ecosystem failure (what we're basically seeing) has been a long time in coming, the wipe out of the honey bees and bats is something that is relatively new. Wild bumblebee populations, due to a variety of things, have also been in decline. www.celsias.com... Absolutely agree as well that one of the issues has been the homogeneity of the domesticated honey bee. In a way, they are like a monoculture while in nature, there would've been a great amount of genetic diversity in play. Part of the problem is that, when one has a large group of something that is getting wiped out, then there will be spillover into bordering populations.

www.plosone.org...:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002771

P.S. Majored in biology and botany with a minor in geology with courses in limnology, forest ecology, and climatology as well. Nice to see another who followed a similar track.

reply to post by dominicus


Concerning Bees and Silver, I have a high end Colloidal Silver generator and I have used it for years. When using any type of silver make sure you know what your PPM are and that the color of the distilled water is clear, when the batch is done.

If you have anything other than clear, it is toxic to the Bees. 10ppm is what I have used with great success, and anything higher they don't seem to use it. Start with low ppm and work your way up.

reply to post by Realtruth


Yeah the silver maker i have, when the process is done, the color of the coloidol silver distilled water is crystal clear and even brighter, clearer, more luminescent than when I started. Thought about using that for the hives water supply or just maintenance sprays to keep them nice and disinfected.

I would love to buy a hive from your wild batch if that's even a possibility. Its actually the route I want to go down instead of being from the mass production places.......

Let me know if we can work something out. Im looking to close on a property by the end of sept, small farm with abou 23 acres in East Tennessee

We're discussing this thread on ATS Live tonight! - click the link for more details
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by WhiteAlice


Well said. I actually studied Neuropsychology and Philosophy in school, but if I could do it again I would definitely go into more ecological related studies. Nature is the most fundamental and yet profound teacher in life. Now I just study this stuff on my own, volunteer on farms, and enjoy hanging out in nature.

Originally posted by grey580
reply to post by Realtruth

 

And to combat the issue companies will build a GMO Bee to be resistant to the pesticides.

Right?

Why worry nothing could go wrong there right?

Who needs the bee when we have GMO food?

second verse, same as the first

reply to post by Realtruth


Einstein was a genius in some areas, but he didn't know what he was talking about regarding bees. It would be devastating for the planet were bees to be wiped out, but it would hardly kill off humanity in a few years.

Explain to future generations, that is was good for the economy,
when they can't farm the land, breathe the air, nor drink the water...

reply to post by Realtruth


It's rather frightening to see this happening. There are other also important mammals, insects, amphibians etc that are important to our eco system having difficulties as well. If we keep screwing up our environment the consequences will be devastating.

Here is some new research on this problem. It seems that they don't test stuff on wild bees, only the honey bees that are tame.

www.sciencedaily.com...