Vanishing Honeybees Will Affect Future Crops 322
daninbusiness writes "Across the US, beekeepers are finding that their bees are disappearing — not returning while searching for nectar and pollen. This could have a major impact on the food industry in the United States, where as much as $14 billion worth of agriculture business depends on bees for crop pollination. Reasons for this problem, dubbed 'colony collapse disorder,' are still unknown. Theories include viruses, some type of fungus, poor bee nutrition, and pesticides."
Re:please... (Score:2, Interesting)
As the article stated, bees are very important for polination on many species of plants. In english: The bees help the plants have sex.
Severly reduce the bees, and you have less seeds. Less seeds means less plants. Oh, and most fruits are just elaborate seed casings, so fewer bees -> fewer seeds -> lower fruit output of such plants -> lower crop.
Re:It's Global Warming! (Score:5, Interesting)
I kept bees for quite a few years (in NJ) but stopped because of a mite that destroyed my colonies. My last extraction (in 2001) produced less than six pounds from each super, I had been getting 22-25 pounds in the early 90s. The Beekeepers Quarterly had an article at the time suggesting that the red mite was limited in it's northern expansion due to temperature, but that a succession of a few warm winters allowed it to reach nearly all the continental US -- only a harsh winter will kick it back down south.
None of this, by the way, provides any insight into why a slashdotter would keep bees, which is a mystery better left unexplored.
Inbreeding (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Bee Monoculture (Score:3, Interesting)
A proven cause of the decline in Europe (Score:2, Interesting)
80% die-off due to beetles (Score:4, Interesting)
Some species do benefit ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyway, the local wildlife people have long considered the honeybee an alien invader, much like English sparrows and starlings. They were introduced to North America by humans, and have crowded out many native species.
The natives are doing much better with the honeybees mostly gone. Now if we could find something that kills off English sparrows and starlings in large numbers. Honeybees at least provide honey, but nobody can think of anything that those two kinds of birds are good for.
Small Hive Beetles and Varroa mites (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I realize that this post is supposed to be a jo (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:It's Global Warming! (Score:5, Interesting)
I know it is offtopic, but the same thing was happening in East Texas. The pine beetle was devastating the forests there. However, a control method was found that stopped the problem cold. Whenever you found a tree that was infected, you cut the tree down. Unfortunately, the Clinton administration banned cutting down tree on national forests to prevent logging. While his intentions were well meaning, it ended up destroying forests. Like in the west where forest fires had no breaks to stop them, the pine beetle wiped out many national forests in East Texas. It was almost humorous to be driving along and see an empty field surrounded by wooded areas. I asked my uncle what happened and he told that the clear area was a national land while the area around it was privately owned. The private owners would spot the infected trees and cut them down, but since that was illegal in the national forest, the whole plot was wiped out.
Re:Simpler explanations for bee losses .... (Score:2, Interesting)
You need to read at least 1/2 way through that article to get to the interesting stuff, but it basically says that radio waves in the 250Hz range [hypertextbook.com] will misdirect the navigation [springerlink.com]al function of bees. It talks about Russian bee studies and and the possibility of foul play by said Russians with mind control devices (250Hz also causes agitation in humans) and the like.
Though that explanation is satisfying to me I'm sure there are people out there that would instantly deem this a conspiracy theory and reject it out of hand. In order to thwart those attempts I'll include a second theory - 240Hz is a subharmonic of our 60Hz power system and as electrical consumption increases so do the electromagnetic fields produced by the system... i.e. we've reached the consumption point of overhead power transmission that generates enough EM to dislocate the bees.
If you'd like to keep bees you'll need a bigger Faraday cage.
Re:Could it be Bt Corn? (Score:3, Interesting)
I am very much against the use of genetically modified corn, in large part because it's likely to render one of the best weapons in an organic gardener's (or farmer's) arsenal ineffective with a decade. But the bacterium is specific to one particular family of pests - bees will not be affected by this.
Re:It's Global Warming! (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm a big fan of the hugely bold honeys, like buckwheat -- sick of the watered-down tasting almond honey in the supermarkets.
Blueberry is also a big one in NJ, nice flavor.
I've a few friends in Connecticut who brew nice strong ales, they like using my buckwheat honey just before bottling for a little extra bottle fermentation. As soon as they figure out that it's more than twice as potent as sugar, they'll get the carbonation under control and win some of those contests they've been entering.
Thinking of a buckwheat honey porter for next Christmas...
Re:So Are Africanized bees affected too? (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, Africanized bees are more heat-tolerant. The red mites are one of the factors limiting their penetration into most of the US. However, non-Africanized bees in colder climates are also affected by the red mites -- and a streak of warm winters means these bees are having more problems with the mites. It just so happens that Africanized bees and red mites are two species affected by the climate.
That said, the problems I experienced with mites likely has nothing specific to do with the subject of TFA -- it's just an example of how climate change can affect species viability.
Re:American honeybees... (Score:2, Interesting)
The collapse of bee colonies has something to do with Russia? Well, here's an email to ponder from a bee-keeping reader: "Hello George, Just a comment on the honey bee problems in the US. I agree that genetically modified plant-life may be causing many problems for the bee population. There is also another possible cause that non-beekeepers probably wouldn't know about. Over the years the honey bee population in the US has been greatly reduced due to attacks of Tracheal mites, Varroa mites, and Hive beetles. Two years ago, in an effort to replenish the bee supply, the government introduced a program to give away "Russian" honeybees. In the US, most beekeepers keep "Italian" honeybees. The "Russian" bees were supposed to be more resistant to the Varroa mites. The original deal was that selected beekeepers would receive (free-of-charge) 2 packages of "Russian" bees and 2 hives. In exchange the beekeepers agreed to not sell the hives for 3 years and to allow regular inspections by government officials. Due to an overwhelming response by beekeepers the deal was later changed to 1 hive of "Russian" and 1 hive of "Italian" bees. I did not take part in the program but I did keep watch on the results in my state. Within the first year (2005) all 250 hives of "Russian" bees that were introduced into this state were dead. I personally know two beekeepers who took part in the program. By the end to 2006, one had lost 43 hives to "Colony Collapse", the other had lost 200 hives (his entire operation) to "Colony Collapse" I don't know if there is a connection or just a horrible coincidence but perhaps the plants aren't the only things being "modified".
Re:GMO! (Score:4, Interesting)
GMO organisms are artificial. These are DNA sequences and protiens that have been created in a way they never would have been in nature. Perhaps nature has a way of coding DNA in certain manners, and perhaps there are complex interdependancies between genes we dont know about, where if one gene is altered, it may have implications throughout the organism. Scientists claim to know what genes do, but they only know the tip of the iceberg, a gene may have numerous additional functions that they have no idea about.
It could be that GMOs are fundamentally different in someway from natural food that makes them difficult to digest. Perhaps it causes a weakening of bee colonies.
bees, humans, and so on have evolved for millions of years eating natural foods with DNA produces through natural processes. The further we get from those natural nutrition sources that are body is equipped to handle, the less efficiently your body may be able to use those foods. GMO food is unnatural food that has an unacceptably high risk. Usually i say it should be the choice of the consumer. This is so with food colours and additives. However, GMOs by their nature can contaminate non GMO crops where they are not wanted, endangering consumer choice and our right to whole, natural, and healthy foods. I do think GMOs should be banned for this reason, and the fact that non-GMO foods are natural and what we have been eating for millions of years.