Something is wiping out bees......

[Nikijad4210]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/02/12/bees.reut/index.html

Mysterious ailment wiping out bees

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -- A mysterious disease is killing off U.S. honeybees, threatening to disrupt pollination of a range of crops and costing beekeepers hundreds of thousands of dollars, industry experts said on Monday.

Beekeepers in 22 states have reported losses of up to 80 percent of their colonies in recent weeks, leaving many unable to rent the bees to farmers of crops such as almonds and, later in the year, apples and blueberries.

"It's unusual in terms of the widespread distribution and severity," said Jerry Bromenshenk, a professor at the University of Montana at Missoula and chief executive of Bee Alert Technology, a company monitoring the problem.

Dave Hackenberg, a Pennsylvania beekeeper who reported the so-called Colony Collapse Disorder to researchers at Pennsylvania State University in November, said he had lost about 2,000 hives, which can each contain around 50,000 bees during the summer months.

He estimated that he will lose as much as $350,000 after accounting for lost income and the cost of replacing bees.

Researchers from state and federal agriculture agencies have been frustrated in their search for a cause because affected hives are often empty except for the queen and a few bees.

The number of bees in a hive typically diminishes over a period of days to the point where there are very few or none left, Hackenberg said. There is no indication of where the bees have gone or what drove them away, he said.

"The rate of loss is startling," said Jeff Pettis, a bee researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland.

Pettis said the bees may have been killed off by a combination of factors including parasitic mites and a lack of nectar in pollen. Scientists are also looking into whether there is a link with significant recent bee losses in some European countries, particularly Spain.

Bromenshenk of the University of Montana said the symptoms are similar to "Dwindling Disease" that affected the U.S. bee population during the 1960s. Some beekeepers have told him that they have been seeing the problem for up to two years but have not reported it to authorities.

"It remains to be seen whether this is something new," he said.

Is this maybe a sign of things to come? As we know, a good number of our food crops are pollenated by bees, and a significant drop in the bee population could have drastic & far-reaching consequinces in terms of food shortages.....

 

[Deft]

I see more and more hornets and less and less honey bees, even though my neighbor has 4 bee houses.

 

[Nikijad4210]

I noticed that, too. I'm seeing a LOT more wasps, hornets & yellow jackets down here in FL than bees anymore. Evolutionary bee extinction on the horizon, maybe?

 

[PazVerdeRadical]

um... i wonder what could it bee?

 

[Pinball Wizard]

um... i wonder what could it bee?

...

 

[NserUame]

Well as far as I can see most of the states effected our places with large populations, and over pollution. Perhaps it's finally built up to a point where it is now an issue for them? I'm no bee scientist, but I think we can all but zero out natural causes. Are bee keepers in Europe (and for that matter the rest of the world) experiencing any similar difficulties?

 

[Deft]

There are just less flowering plants year round maybe? Who knows, but a lot of wasps eat garbage and love human structures to make their nests on.

 

[treble]

I think it is very widespread in other parts of the world as well. There has also been reports of serious thefts.... but I assume that happens by stealing the hives at night rather than luring the bees away like this seems to be

I think they underestimate the bees interaction with its normal environment. Despite the bee keepers hiring out their bees I think the bees still rely somewhat on natural food or nectar from the native environment they are in rather than man made crops

I wonder how much canola or gm corn is grown in those affected areas? I don't think Monsanto crops polinate despite flowering. Maybe there is something there. It's a worry as honey is a very powerful healer and food source

treb

 

[INDODRO]

I was watching Discovery channel and they were talking about African and European bees. They said that the African bee doesn't spread pollen around like the European bee and when the African bee came over it started mating with the European bee and now these A/E bees doen't spread around the pollen very well. Weird how everything seems to have a place in our world and we don't figure it out until it starts to effect us.

 

[Verite]

Something is wiping out bees......

Ok, so its not Charmin?

 

[HCSmyth]

I have been following this story and I understand they are dying for various natural causes, so some scientists are suspecting it is some kind of immune deficiency similar to AIDS in humans.

 

[Nikijad4210]

AIDS-stricken bees....There's a new one....I wonder how many species of bee this is going to end up wiping out either way, though.
Kinda scarey when you think about it, we may be witnessing the begining of a mass specie-wide extinction. Not saying that's the actual case, but even in the most remote potential for it, it's a little unsettling to think about.

 

[NserUame]

Why did it have to be honey bee's. Why the fuck couldn't it have been mosquitos. WHY GOD, WHY?

 

[HCSmyth]

I think the likelihood of an asteroid, comet or super volcano is much, much more likely to wipe humanity off earth then this bee problem. But this could be bad for the US's food supply. How bad we will see.

 

[diggle]

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/206326/10_giant_japanese_hornets_vs_10_000_honey_bees/

Mysterious epidemic....or freakish killing machines? As I understand it the honeybee population is relatively passive and focuses mainly on the pollenation of plants as a means to their survival. Other winged insects with stingers are not so useful.

 

[demonicaardvark]

I think the likelihood of an asteroid, comet or super volcano is much, much more likely to wipe humanity off earth then this bee problem. But this could be bad for the US's food supply. How bad we will see.

its true that if honey bees disappeared we would probably be fine, but the problem is this is turning into a disturbing pattern, more and more frequently whole species of plants and animals are getting some sort of disease and are getting wiped out. just take a look at the fungus that is killing off frogs everywhere.


now if you think that humans can survive without nature, you'd be wrong... if this pattern continues, there may be a huge die off sooner than you'd think

 

[Guest]

the scientist's are saying that every bee that they have tested was infected with every disease know to affect bees and that it is most likely caused by a weak immune system (hence bee AIDS).

 

[Pinball Wizard]

...everything I have read about it...said parasitic mites are killing the bees

...and some kind of fungus is killing all the frogs too...sad...shit is changing...nothing good lasts forever....

 

[Verite]

Imo its evolution.. where do you go after your species delivers it deadly version of killer bees?


Answer? .. suicide bees.

 

[killa-bud]

i think bee's should grow the fuck up,dumb lil basterds