U. S. Honey Bee Deaths Increase Again

[1776Forever]

U. S. Honey Bee Deaths Increase Again

© 2010 by Linda Moulton Howe

http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1672&category=Environment

“The reports that I have gotten from beekeepers is that
about 30% of the healthy colonies that have gone to California -
for this 2010 almond pollination to fulfill pollination contracts -
have died in two or three weeks” - Jerry Hayes, Asst. Chief,
Apiary Inspection, Florida Dept. of Agriculture

(More at link)

................

This is truly a very scary thing! I was hoping it would get better but it appears to have gotten worse!
:scared:

[L0oniX]

1. Monsanto?

[1776Forever]

5. NY TImes reported E.P.A. to Order Pesticide Testing in April '09 - Couldn't find any more on that.

By MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: April 16, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/us/16brfs-EPATOORDERPE_BRF.html

The Environmental Protection Agency said it would order the manufacturers of 67 pesticides to test whether their products disrupt the hormonal system of humans or animals. Congress passed a bill mandating such tests in 1996, but the agency took years to develop them and ensure their validity, officials said. The agency said that the 67 pesticides were chosen because humans and animals are widely exposed to them, not because they are necessarily the most likely disruptors of endocrinal functions. About 1,000 substances will eventually be tested, said James J. Jones, acting assistant administrator for prevention, pesticides and toxic substances. The results are due back from manufacturers around the end of next year.

............

Long been asked about Bayer pesticides - wonder what will come out of this for sure!

[L0oniX]

19. Genetically modified seeds have built in insecticides ...maybe killing bees ?

[1776Forever]

34. Yes - I am very anxious to see the EPA report when it comes out at the end of 2010.

I am going to see if I can sign up for email alerts from them on their site.

Go here if you want to do this also:

http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/email_signups.htm

[SpiralHawk]

71. Lots of people think its the GE mutant crops

And they probably are a big factor...we shall see.

We shall also see what impact the GE mutant foods have on human beings -- after years of having the crap occultly shoved down our gullets.

[KittyWampus]

2. How freaking weird is it that industrialized nations have industrialized Bees. And seedstock.

I live in an area that used to be agricultural and still has a residual amount left.

But we just use native bees.

If you need to cart rented Bees around to pollinate your fields you are doing something wrong.

[1776Forever]

3. Good information on transporting of bees & colony collapse from wikipedia - common practice now:

Beekeeping
Main article: Beekeeping

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_bee


...Two species of honey bee, A. mellifera and A. cerana, are often maintained, fed, and transported by beekeepers. Modern hives also enable beekeepers to transport bees, moving from field to field as the crop needs pollinating and allowing the beekeeper to charge for the pollination services they provide, revising the historical role of the self-employed beekeeper, and favoring large-scale commercial operations.

Colony collapse

Colony collapse disorder
Beekeepers in Western countries have been reporting slow declines of stocks for many years, apparently due to changes in agricultural practice and unpredictable weather caused by climate change. In early 2007, abnormally high die-offs (30-70% of hives) of European honey bee colonies occurred in the U.S. and Québec; such a decline seems unprecedented in recent history. This has been dubbed "Colony collapse disorder" (CCD); it is unclear whether this is simply an accelerated phase of the general decline due to stochastically more adverse conditions in 2006, or a novel phenomenon. Research has so far failed to determine what causes it, but the weight of evidence is tentatively leaning towards CCD being a syndrome rather than a disease as it seems to be caused by a combination of various contributing factors rather than a single pathogen or poison, though the Israel acute paralysis virus has recently emerged as a significant candidate.<3>

Recent research (2009) has found that an indicator for an impaired protein production is common among all bees affected by CCD. It is conjectured that Dicistroviridae like the IAPV may influence the genetic material of the ribosomes, which are responsible for protein production of cells.<4><5>

[HopeHoops]

4. It is actually a huge industry and not as weird as it sounds.

The pollination period for most crops is relatively short. Bee keepers will haul around hundreds of hives at a time to cycle through various crops. Until recent years, this has worked very well and provides the hive with a continuous supply of crops to harvest. The colony collapse problem is far beyond simply alarming. Because of the dependence on what I guess could be called "migratory hives", a large portion of our food supply is in danger. Obviously, once upon a time, there was no such migratory bee keeping industry. Sadly, we depend on it now. The agricultural scale has grown so large that the number of bees required to sustain a field wouldn't be able to survive if they were stationary. There's just aren't enough alternate crops within range of where the hives would be.

It is definitely sad that we've come to this point, but that's how it is. I'm convinced the problem is caused by herbicides and other field sprays. I've got one of the only yards in the neighborhood that isn't poisoned once a week. Even still, three and four years ago I didn't see a single honey bee. My garden still produced, but not as well. We do have bumble bees and other insects that frequent the blossoms. Two years ago I saw maybe two dozen all year. Last year there were countless honey bees on my ample supply of clover in the yard and my garden produced huge quantities.

As I walk around the neighborhood, I'm sickened by the lack of bees in other yards. Perhaps the most disturbing part is finding a bumble bee writhing around on the sidewalk. Sure, that can be natural death, but not for the large number of them I see. Pure green weed-free yards aren't attractive to me. I find them unnatural and personally think that the chemicals are largely if not entirely responsible for colony collapse. They don't find dead bees in the hive. The bees just vanish. If chemicals mess with their sense of direction, how would they find the hive?

I love having honey bees and plant as many flowers as I can to attract them (and butterflies and hummingbirds). Curiously, basil is one of the best plants I've found for that purpose. It produces flowers all season and the bees are so thick sometimes it makes it hard to collect leaves without risking a sting. Since my wife, kids, and I all love pesto, there's another good reason to grow it.

[Peace Patriot]

12. Thanks for the tip on Basil. Borage grows wild in my yard, flowers early and attracts many bees.

I've also got a big wild clover field nearby. Both of those things help. We get lots of bees, of every kind including the very small native bees. But you really can't have enough bees, given the ravages of pesticides worldwide. We all need to think how to attract more bees. I've got some Basil starts. I have no Basil in the yard and didn't know about their all-season flower production. I will be sure to take care of the seedlings and plant them around, upon your advice.

[HopeHoops]

33. On a funny note: we planted too much basil last season.

I made my wife a raised bed - 16x4' and 2' high (plywood and support wood). There are cross beams at each 4' interval. We dedicated one 4x4 section to basil and figured 16 plants would be good. E-FUCKING-GADS! They turned into HEDGES! No matter how much we cut, dried, ran through the blender for pesto base, etc., there was still way too much of it. We just let it go because there where, and I'm not shitting you, HUNDREDS of bees on those 16 plants at any given time. There had to have been a good forty different kinds, but we did get a lot of honey bees. Native bees do pollinate well, which is good, but you have to attract them. This year we are planning on 9 basil plants for that 4x4 section.

On Edit:

The raised bed is for her herbs. Our main garden is a 25'x10' perennial bed with a 25'x4' vegetable plot (mounded raised), about 8'x4' of asparagus, 8'x4' of onions, and a full 16'x4' of potatoes. I grow sunflowers with the potatoes. If they manage to escape the canopy quickly enough, they do great (as they did last year). Otherwise the potatoes choke them out.

[pipi_k]

62. I had a Butterfly Bush for a few years until the weather killed it...

About once a week I'd go out and clip off the spent flowers, and each time I would be surrounded by happy bumblebees. They took no notice of me...their interest was focused on climbing over all the beautiful white flowers.


I do still have clumps of Bee Balm that I planted 10+ years ago in my front garden/pet cemetery. Those attract everything...bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and these cute little insects called "Hummingbird moths" that look like hummingbirds with antennae.

The bigger problem around here is the white-nose disease killing off bats. Most of the deaths have been in colonies found in the local caves. I have a couple of bat houses and always get them each year and haven't seen any little bat bodies on the ground or anything. I love bats...they eat tons of mosquitoes during the summer. :)

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. Well, the factory farms pretty much have to cart around the bees

because one week they're pollinating, and the next they're saturating the area with pesticides, which of course will kill any local pollinators.

THAT is what they're doing wrong.

[trotsky]

8. Sure, what you're "doing wrong" is feeding a lot more people.

It's far more efficient, economical, and better for beekeepers to do pollination on demand. If you haven't noticed, we have a lot of people to feed - both here and around the world. Single family organic farmers with their own bees would never be able to keep up with the demand - it's sad but true.

[KittyWampus]

9. don't try and argue that our current agricultural model is the only one that will feed millions.

You will lose. And badly.

[FedUpWithIt All]

15. Agree. It is certainly not the only model. It is likely not even the most efficient.

:hi:

[trotsky]

17. Naw, I'm sure wishful thinking will work too.

You just gotta believe.

[Hekate]

56. We have a local organic farm smack in the middle of the suburb that feeds 250 families, plus the...

... roadside stand. It's been going on for years. It's all of 12 acres big.

It CAN be done.

Hekate

http://www.fairviewgardens.org/index.html

>> Based on one of the oldest organic farms in California, the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens is an internationally respected model for small-scale urban food production, agricultural preservation, farm-based education and community supported agriculture ( CSA ) for Santa Barbara and Goleta.
>>
>> We produce a vast variety of fruits and vegetables, feed approximately five hundred families, and employ over twenty people. We support a 250 member CSA, attend two farmers markets and a farm stand.

[trotsky]

58. Look, the common thing that all of you yelling at me on this thread have...

is the strawman you're arguing against. I'm not saying that organic farming isn't important, or can't contribute, just that there is no possible way it will be "THE" solution for feeding the soon-to-be 7 billion people on this planet.

[cliffordu]

10. I really wish you knew what you are bloviating about.

Small organic farms in the suburbs and rooftops of the cities as well as all over the countryside might the ONLY thing that saves us.

[trotsky]

16. LOL

I feel the same way about you. :hi:

[cliffordu]

22. I'm gladd you think it's funny.,

Where I live I can count three large family owned organic farms that can feed most of this area.....

And their bees are just fine..

Sam goes for a huge organic wheat operation over in central Wa.

I know these things because I eat their food


You'd be surprised how little is actually needed from safeway.....

[trotsky]

31. That's absolutely fantastic.

But you do realize that not everyone has the luxury, the ability, or convenient access to organics that you do in your sheltered low population area, right?

You'd be surprised at how life is for 95% of the population.

[handmade34]

42. think - outside - box

http://www.verticalfarm.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/opinion/24Despommier.html

http://www.grist.org/article/vertical-farms-and-future-cities

[trotsky]

47. Wonderful brainstrorming.

Let's see one work.

[handmade34]

48. my point is

there are ways. I know how people live. My work puts me in neighborhoods all over the United States and I work in cities (I am in Baltimore City right now) and I work in rural areas. We cannot limit ourselves by saying 'it can't be done' or 'you don't understand'. I know that people working together can do wonderful things. Let's not limit ourselves.

[trotsky]

59. Look, the common thing that all of you yelling at me on this thread have...

is the strawman you're arguing against. I'm not saying that organic farming isn't important, or can't contribute, just that there is no possible way it will be "THE" solution for feeding the soon-to-be 7 billion people on this planet.

[cliffordu]

44. Having lived in the worst parts of PDX Or, 20 years before gentrification and

hustling drugs on the streets of Seattle at 16, your comment about mer and 95% of the population is as ignorant as the comments about small scale farming.

But that's alright, you just keep coming back.

[trotsky]

45. Yeah, sure.

And I lived in a shoebox on the side of the freeway.

Next time come with facts instead of personal attacks - you might just make a point.

[cliffordu]

53. Circular thinking?

Still waiting for your point.....Odd you cannot make one.

[trotsky]

60. Look, the common thing that all of you yelling at me on this thread have...

is the strawman you're arguing against. I'm not saying that organic farming isn't important, or can't contribute, just that there is no possible way it will be "THE" solution for feeding the soon-to-be 7 billion people on this planet.

[cliffordu]

66. And you are incorrect.

Completely and utterly wrong.

Instigator of a bogus posit.

willfully ignorant.


Fulla shit.

:hurts:

[laughingliberal]

32. +1 nt

[handmade34]

39. Not true

[trotsky]

46. Whoa, can't argue with that well-thought-out response. n/t

[handmade34]

51. hard to argue with such passion, huh?

:-) it is not inability to feed everyone, the problem is getting over our thinking that we can't. We have let corporate interests convince us that we need them.

[trotsky]

61. Look, the common thing that all of you yelling at me on this thread have...

is the strawman you're arguing against. I'm not saying that organic farming isn't important, or can't contribute, just that there is no possible way it will be "THE" solution for feeding the soon-to-be 7 billion people on this planet.

[handmade34]

63. I'm not yelling...

no easy answers but lots of possibilites

http://www.foodfirst.org/node/1778

"Looking at 293 examples comparing alternative and conventional agriculture from 91 studies, a group of University of Michigan researchers were able to demonstrate that current scientific knowledge simply does not support the idea that a switch to organic and sustainable agriculture would drastically lower food production and lead to hunger. Instead, we found that current knowledge implies that, even under conservative estimates, organic agriculture could provide almost as much food on average at a global level as is produced today (2,641 as opposed to 2,786 kilocalories/person/day after losses). In what these University of Michigan researchers considered a more "realistic" estimation, organic agriculture could actually increase global food production by as much as 50% (to 4,381 kilocalories/person/day)... if it is to address world hunger, it cannot avoid food sovereignty: people's right to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, no matter how much is produced. This implies the democratization of our food systems—not their further industrialization."

http://usfoodcrisisgroup.org/node/15 "How can we possibly feed the world with unsustainable agriculture?"

...years ago I worked on an organic root crop farm in Michigan(approx 20 acres). Michigan State University conducted studies at the farm and concluded that this farm (in relation to surrounding farms with same soil types using standard chemicals/fertilizers) produced more with less environmental impact and long term cost.

[trotsky]

64. That doesn't dispute a thing I've said.

Look at the qualifiers in your first quote:

organic agriculture could provide almost as much food on average at a global level

And regarding both quotes, the part of the equation rarely considered (or if it is, mentioned) in such studies is the labor cost. Organic farming is far more labor-intensive and quite frankly, you simply will never convince most people that they need to work for their food. Society has moved on.

[handmade34]

67. the quote says...

"...a more "realistic" estimation, organic agriculture could actually increase global food production by as much as 50% (to 4,381 kilocalories/person/day).

Social and scientific research and experience time and time again show that not only can we change our methods of food production (to feed people), but we must. A more sustainable method of food production here in the United States and elsewhere will require changes and new ways of thinking about things, but will not require 'most' people to work for their food. If "society has moved on", we need to reassess where it's headed. The only information/studies/opinions that I find claiming that sustainable/organic farming cannot feed the world are presented by those who benefit (or can benefit) from the status quo. ...and an editorial in Cosmos Magazine by a Craig Meisner, who seems reputable but has ties to agri-business and corporate interests http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/online/1601/why-organic-food-cant-feed-world And at this point, regardless of work in third world countries (which I believe to be important), the U.S. has the land and the means to establish a healthy sustainable system to feed ourselves. I understand that you are determined to believe what you believe and I will not change any minds today. For the health of and opportunity for my kids and grandkids and yours, I work to do my part and encourage everyone I come in contact with to do the same. ...and hope that people more powerful than me, are more open minded than you.


http://www.i-sis.org.uk/organicagriculturefeedtheworld.php
"Both models show that organic agriculture could sustain the current human population. In terms of daily caloric intake, the current world food supply after losses provides 2786 kcal/per/day. The average requirement for a healthy adult is between 2200 and 2500. Model 1 yields 2641 kcal/day, above the recommended level (94.8 percent of current level). Model 2 yields 4381 kcal/day, 157.3 percent of what is current available. Thus, organic production has the potential to support a substantially larger human population than currently exists"

http://www.wri.org/publication/content/8456
“Ultimately, reducing health risks from agriculture will require a shift to a more environmentally benign form of agriculture, one that uses fewer agricultural chemicals overall, minimizes ecological disruption, and reduces agriculture’s heavy demand for water”

[SpiralHawk]

72. untrue propaganda

That's just parroting agribusiness propaganda.

Lots of studies show otherwise - small, clean, healthy farms can feed the world

[mikelgb]

7. I have seen lots of dying/dead bees in the last 5 years or so

[Peace Patriot]

11. Somebody should write a book called "BIG vs small," cuz I think research will show that

BIG anything goes haywire and small doesn't.

SMALL farm plots, each with their own fields of wildflowers nearby, all tenderly tended for SMALL profit, by a SMALL unit--family, commune--producing SMALLER but tastier food, organically, all connected to a SMALL local community, with SMALL local businesses--farm supply, clothes, books, movies, theater, music, fuel, machine repair, hardware, furniture, medical, farmer's market, retail food, wifi--whatever the community wants/needs--all or most locally owned and run for a SMALL profit, will produce healthy bees.

Nature is made up of very SMALL things that NATURALLY aggregate into a beautiful whole, if we don't let the nazi part of our brains interfere too much and try to force it to be BIG--BIG crops forced out of the ground by BIG corporations selling BIG amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides for BIG profits into the pockets of people far from the wild bees in BIG cities with offices at the tops of BIG, BIG skyscrapers, with BIG lobbyists in Washington DC, where they buy BIG government to protect BIG business and even create BIG horrors like the U.S. "war on drugs" to pesticide spray small organic farmers (campesinos) in Colombia and kill them or drive them from their lands if they don't like it, and to slaughter a million innocent people in Iraq to steal their oil to fuel BIG globalisation and military domination of the world by BIG, BIG, BIG multinational corporations.

The BIGNESS kills the bees.

Nature can't be forced to be BIG. It is made up of very SMALL things that NATURALLY aggregate into a beautiful, intricate, complex, colorful, variegated, totally interdependent, LOCAL web of life, in which each SMALL thing is hooked inexorably to the next small thing, and if you try to force it to be BIG, these tiny chains between SMALL thing and SMALL thing will break.

This is true of Nature. I think it also true of people and human organization. Think of a pre-school. Now think of a BIG pre-school for orphans--say, a sea of a hundred thousand 3 year olds and 4 year olds. Can you impose strict rules, aimed at BIG profit--staff cuts, poor salaries, dull surroundings, bad food poorly prepared, militaristic order, no individual attention, no love, etc.-- on a hundred thousand 3 year olds and 4 year olds, and produce happy, well-adjusted, loving, creative, intelligent, life-long learner adults?

No, you can't. Same with bees. They are incapable of adjusting to your BIG PROFIT plans. They will fail to thrive, sicken and die, because BIG violates what they are and what they need.

We all have a three year old still inside of us who needs individual attention, love and play--the wild, the spontaneous. If we don't get it, we suffer. We can understand this. We all have a wild bee inside of us that has its own particular needs. Restrict us and nazify us too much, and we are miserable. As adults, we can tolerate quite a bit of restriction--and lack of attention, love and play--because our memories and ability to project into the future become long, as we grow up. Small children cannot tolerate similar restrictions without suffering gross malformation. It stunts their brains. It permanently damages their ability to learn and their emotional makeup. And many would actually die in the conditions I described above.

And it is not as if wild nature is wild. That is a misnomer. Ever study a bee colony and you will know this. Nature has its own order--intricate beyond our understanding but nevertheless orderly, to the purpose of fostering life. We know how to foster life, learning and love in a three year old. Individual attention in a SMALL unit--family, SMALL school. Respect for the child's inherent intelligence and uniqueness. Opportunities for "wild," unsupervised (non-adult oriented) play. Gentle cultivation--reading to the child, encouraging expression. Daily loving care--good food, hygiene, learning different tasks. Providing many experiences of art, music, interaction with others, variety, fun--showing it the big world. Guiding not forcing because forcing will almost always produce inner or outer resistance. Gaging the balances in a small child--rules vs freedom, freedom vs security, necessary limits, unnecessary limits--letting the child GROW. And knowing that, at the heart of it all, is a mystery that we will never understand and cannot nazify or force: how Nature works to produce beauty and intelligence.

Humanity, like Nature, is made up of very SMALL things that NATURALLY aggregate into a beautiful whole, if we don't let the nazi part of our brains interfere too much and try to force small children to be uniform copies of ourselves. We must let them become themselves or they may, quite literally, die, and certainly humanity will atrophy and go extinct. And the same respect for a child's uniqueness, in a context of loving care, on a SMALL scale, must be applied to bees and their inherent order, and the rest of Nature and its inherent order, for Nature to continue producing life, sustenance, beauty, love and intelligence.

Corporate BIGNESS violates all of these principles. BIGNESS itself is the problem.

[librechik]

13. Absolutely--wish more communities would go all in for the Small is Beautiful Lifestyle

before we are forced into it by Mama Nature.

[handmade34]

50. E. F. Schumacher's book

"Small is Beautiful" influenced many of my views.

Bill Mckibben and many of these writers put voice to it

http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/publications.html

[comrade snarky]

14. Oh good, Linda Moulton Howe

I'm sure it's that aliens are harvesting tiny little bee organs to power their crop circle generators.

This may be happening but Howe is not a source I'd trust if she said the sun is rising in the East.

[1776Forever]

20. Maybe you don't "trust" her but read her references - I have no problems with these:

http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1672&category=Environment

Jerry Hayes, Asst. Chief,
Apiary Inspection, Florida Dept. of Agriculture

Websites:

January 7, 2010, Congressional Research Service, "Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder":
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33938.pdf

Colony Collapse Disorder: http://maarec.psu.edu/pressReleases/FallDwindleUpdate0107.pdf

http://maarec.psu.edu/ColonyCollapseDisorder.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder

http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572

CCD, Bees and Pollination, Ohio State University: http://oardc.osu.edu/agnic/bee/ccd.htm

Univ. of Calif. Agriculture and Natural Resources: http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=2170

Apiary Inspectors of America: http://www.apiaryinspectors.org/

Natural Resources Defense Council: http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/0809.asp

Bee Alert Technology, Inc.: http://beealert.blackfoot.net/~beealert/index.php

[comrade snarky]

23. Colony collapse is a real problem

but Linda Howe will damage the credibility of anything she associates herself with.

Quite unfortunate. It's like having a creationist publish articles warning of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The problem is real but....

[1776Forever]

26. Linda does do some different reporting but all in all you cannot say she can't back most of it up.

She is mostly interested in things that are reported before she goes in to take a better look. I looked over her site and most of it concerns NASA flights and reports from around the world with references and pictures that seem to show at least some reality. I do believe in UFO's and I have no problem with those that say they have seen something they cannot explain. I have seen a couple in my life that were reported also seeing from others.

[comrade snarky]

28. Her work on cattle mutilations and crop circles

Don't meet my standard of basic journalistic integrity. I do say she doesn't back up her (I hesitate to call them) theories. Loudly. In public.

She goes in with an agenda and looks for explanations to fit with no consideration of alternatives. Might there be aliens? Yes, but going to aliens and trans-dimensional beings shouldn't be the first explanation before trying anything else.

[WeDidIt]

18. I know lots of smaller bee keepers and none of them have Colony Collapse Disorder

They have the same Varroa and Nosema problems that everybody has these days, but nothing like the CCD.

I think CCD is really Nosema infestations or poor colony management. When you have tens of thousands of hives being managed, you miss a lot that smaller numbers being managed will pick up in the way of fungus, parasites, and even reproductive behavior. Hell, a colony could swarm and the remaining hive not have a viable queen cell formed, ending up with workers laying drone eggs until there's nothing left. That could be called CCD and the people managing the hive just never saw queen cells or drone cells because the colony died so wuickly after the swarm.

[1776Forever]

24. This article speaks to smaller bee keeper's are dwindling & the influence of pesticides:

THE PLIGHT OF THE HONEYBEE
By Niki Hayden
March, 2010

http://www.frontrangeliving.com/cooking/Honeybee.htm

........Tom can remember when North America was covered in honeybees, even though this continent was not their native home. American colonists brought hives to the new country because beeswax was essential for candles. Bees often broke loose and formed colonies in the wild. These wild bees are extinct now because of a tiny, deadly mite. Homegrown colonies can be inoculated from the mite. But all bees face extinction from pesticides.

Apple growers in the state of Washington call in beekeepers when crops need to be fertilized. Afterwards, beekeepers scramble to remove their bees when pesticide spraying begins. "In the 1970s we had massive pesticide losses," Tom laments. That’s because honeybees are particularly susceptible. And they must live in close quarters to large fields such as alfalfa or clover. In a difficult year, beekeepers may lose 40 percent of their bees.

"It’s baffling. Raising bees is the most beneficial, essential job around," he says, "yet, it’s under constant threat. I think it’s too abstract for people to understand. So, we won’t see any changes until the industry collapses. And, then, it’s not easy to bring back."

That’s because the work is physically demanding, the business isn’t very lucrative and it takes aptitude. Tom believes the numbers of community beekeepers are dwindling: "We’re increasingly endangered, along with the honeybee," he says, "just like the whooping crane."

[surrealAmerican]

21. Transporting bees causes them a lot of stress ...

... and leaves them less able to resist disease, parasites, fungi, and even pesticides.

If we were serious about maintaining honeybees in this country, we would place our crops to meet their needs.

[Brother Buzz]

25. My almond trees were pollinated by a ton of bees this year

Feral colonies are thriving, and as soon as beekeepers learn to tap into this old school gene pool their headaches will decrease. That's a fact.

[1776Forever]

27. Good for you but that is not the case in all areas of the country and world.

Here is a good link to look over:

Around the world bee colonies are disappearing in huge numbers. A remarkably different trend appears in the Beekeeping project defies global trends

by Farooq Ahmad, Ph.D.,
Coordinator, conservation apiculture programme
international centre for integrated mountain development

http://bees4livelihood.icimod.org/home/?q=node/98

The recent disappearance of honeybees without a trace in various regions of the globe has generated both curiosity and alarm among conservation groups and action-oriented grassroots organisations around the world. The phenomenon has been reported in Europe, North America, and parts of Latin America, where bees have been disappearing in large numbers threatening the heretofore profitable pollination and associated industries. It is also threatening the pollination services for entomophilous plants - plants primarily pollinated by insects. Yields of the tastiest varieties of crops and fruits such as apples, pears, all types of nuts – dependent on pollination by these bees – have been declining in the last few years as a result, and many companies involved in their production and processing are going bankrupt. Beekeeping operations are closing down, further aggravating the crisis. The beekeeping team of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) based in Kathmandu, Nepal, suspects a direct connection between the introduction and expansion of genetically modified crops and indiscriminate use of pesticides on large scale in these regions, and the bees’ mysterious disappearance, although more studies are needed to reach a more definitive conclusion. We have not observed this phenomenon engulfing the bee industry in various parts of the world in the HKH region in South Asia, but the situation is fluid in areas where genetically modified crops and high value cash crops are being promoted by agencies and institutions. This is leading to landscape changes and reducing the space and scope for all types of pollinators and honeybees. In the region, the European honeybees Apis mellifera is under severe attack by Varroa Jacobsoni and Varroa destructor – parasitic mites which have virtually destroyed more than 50% of bee populations of this species in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pardesh, India. The same destruction is happening to these bee species in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The beekeeping team in ICIMOD calls for better understanding the importance of the indigenous Apis cerana and other wild bee species of the region to achieve the goals of improved productivity through perfection in pollination services, and livelihoods improvement through honey and other high-value bee products. The Asian hive bee, Apis cerana, is resistant to Varroa Jacobsoni and Varroa destructor attacks and there is no report of African hive beetle attack on this species in this region which is devastating the US pollination industry.

[Hekate]

57. I got a baby almond tree last year which has lovely blossoms just now. Should I try hand pollinating

... just to be sure? I don't think I really need to, as the many citrus and avocado trees in the neighborhood are loaded with fruit at all seasons....

Hekate

[Brother Buzz]

65. Have you looked for bees visiting the tree? Honey bees only work above 54 °F

and then only sluggishly and don't travel far.

Baby almond tree? Cool! My trees were planted by sloppy scrub jays. They planted pecan and Deodar cedar trees, too.

The honey bee is not native to America so the avocado is not dependent on the bee for pollination.

[Hekate]

68. Temps here are above 54F much of the time here in Santa Barbara county. Cool foggy nights...

... June Gloom (foggy days), and hot summer and fall.

Thanks for the info. This is my first venture with a nut tree, and I had mixed info going in -- the nurseryman convinced me that we have a good-enough climate for almonds, and showed me a bearing one on his property.

Hekate

[upi402]

29. I harp on this! Thanks for posting it!

I tell my kid about the hundreds of bees in everybody's yards when I was a kid. Now we jump for joy when we see a honey bee on our clover.

We don't mow the grass when there's clover blooming. And zero pesticide and fertilizer for us too.

[1776Forever]

30. Thank you for caring! It takes all of us - check out the pesticide report I listed.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7800341#7800561

The EPA is going to come out at the end of 2010 with their report. Should be interesting!

[1776Forever]

36. I just signed up for emails from the EPA site - if you wish go here to do that also:

http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/gogreen/

[upi402]

38. cool

Done, thanks. Now I'm also on monsanto's blacklist by default.

[1776Forever]

41. Good place to be! I am right beside you!

:hi:

[Mike 03]

35. I adore Linda Howe, all the more because she disagrees with that moron Noory more and

more.

This is a tragedy for bees and beekeepers that has been brewing for years.

All I can say is: Stock up on almonds, especially organic ones.

EDIT: Kick and Rec. Howe is a serious journalist. She is often marginalized because of her reports on Coast, but she is way more serious than Noory.

[1776Forever]

37. Thank you I couldn't agree more! Just because she tackles some different topics she is attacked.

She can back her work up too with good references! More then most!

[RedCloud]

40. I am blessed with bumblebees. They make their home between the house and the chimney.

So we don't use the chimney to avoid hurting our dear friends. And they reward us with bountiful harvests of blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, peaches, cherries, apricots, etc. Hopefully plums, apples and chocolate flavored persimmons this year too. And other stuff I forgot. And we have all kinds of flowers for them to enjoy at their leisure as well.

[1776Forever]

43. Oh you are very lucky & make me hungry for such wonderful food!

Wow! Yummy!:loveya:

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

49. Lots of people die from bee stings every year.

Oh wait those weren't the kind of deaths you were talking about.

[heartbeatjay]

52. Bee deaths.

I am a Pest Control Operator and have been studying this problem as I use pyrethrin natural based products to minimize non-target pests when treating exterior of homes.
I am also aware of a parasite that is killing honey bees called the Tracheal Bee Mite, which infests the bee's bronchials and lungs located in the abdomen. And now there is also a fungus that is attacking bees.
There is posibly an indirect cause to the weakening of bee imune systems from other pesticides in the Organophosphate genre which was heavily used for decades and slowly being phased out since the mid-90s.Organophosphates are relatives to DDT and maybe are having saturation environmental effects now trickling up through the food chain of bees.
But maybe the damage had already been done, now it will take decades for it to correct it's self.

[Zoeisright]

54. So long and thanks for all the fish!!

We're heading for the end.

[Nikki Stone1]

55. Didn't they trace this to a Swiss insecticide firm?

http://beecharmers.org/

[Divine Discontent]

69. not good. I saw this coming in '06. I told you back then lots of life would start disappearing for

whatever the reason. Within a year massive amounts of bees had been announced as 'vanished'. I believe I read that 2/3 of all animal life is getting close to becoming 'endangered'. Gotta be the pesticides/chemicals in the soil/water.

I think it will start affecting us badly in the next couple years with skyrocketing prices on food ($4-5 a pound fruits, for example, instead of a buck or two)
:(

[upi402]

70. Ok, there are billions of crows swarming this area recently

For decades here there were just of little groups of them from time to time.

Now there are hundreds and hundreds flocking west in the AM and back east in the PM. Scary. And it's not in the news!

Note: I saw the bees disappearing years before the media mentioned it. Are the crows telling us something now? Is it a known phenomenon?