Posted by Bill Chambers on April 25, 2007 at 5:01 PM
I've been doing a lot of reading on this lately and, as usual, have found a lot of information, misinformation, and just plain hype. Most of the "news" stories are alarmist in nature and generally agenda and ratings driven it appears (certainly no surprise there).
Some of the more interesting items were:
This may not be a new syndrome at all. There are similar reported occurrances going back as far as 1896, albeit more limited. It isn't known if the more limited nature of occurrances is due to lack of reporting and records or actual fewer occurrances.
Similar occurrances have indeed increased in recent decades, but have been known by several other names. Some of the increase in occurrances are due to the introduction of mites in the 1980's. No one has been able to finger the possible cause of this particular occurrance (as of now).
Possible causes under consideration:
Nutrition related
Mites
Bee Rental
Pesticides
Pathogens
Genetically modified foods
Poisonous plants
Electromagnetic radiation
It is not limited to the US. Cases have also been reported in Europe.
Bill, thanks for posting this info. I do believe it is a valid issue to be investigated. However, as usual, the conventional media have selectively reported the most sensational slant to the issue.
Posted by Carol Hyman on April 26, 2007 at 12:57 AM
I first learned about this two and a half years ago when I was traveling to Silicon Valley on route 5.
I stopped to get a gift at a roadside stand and noticed all of the boxes used for transporting bees and learned that the bees were being imported for the almond trees in the area.
After I read Bill's post, I found another interesting article.
Evidently the bee losses each year are becoming significant.
The bee losses are ranging from 30 to 60 percent on the West Coast, with some beekeepers on the East Coast and in Texas reporting losses of more than 70 percent; beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20 percent in the offseason to be normal.
Additional causes listed include both the low cost of honey and insufficient sources of nectar for the bees.
It's possible we're engineering honey bees out of our lives.
Posted by John W. Wall on April 26, 2007 at 12:53 PM
"It's possible we're engineering honey bees out of our lives."
It would be ironic since we apparently engineered them into our lives. An piece on the Jamestown colony in National Geographic pointed out that honey bees are not native to the U.S. I found that pretty interesting. Some of the Indian tribes supposedly became glum when they noticed honeybees coming into their territory because it meant the white man was not far behind.
Discussion
4 repliesSome of the more interesting items were:
This may not be a new syndrome at all. There are similar reported occurrances going back as far as 1896, albeit more limited. It isn't known if the more limited nature of occurrances is due to lack of reporting and records or actual fewer occurrances.
Similar occurrances have indeed increased in recent decades, but have been known by several other names. Some of the increase in occurrances are due to the introduction of mites in the 1980's. No one has been able to finger the possible cause of this particular occurrance (as of now).
Possible causes under consideration:
Nutrition related
Mites
Bee Rental
Pesticides
Pathogens
Genetically modified foods
Poisonous plants
Electromagnetic radiation
It is not limited to the US. Cases have also been reported in Europe.
Some interesting links for anyone who's interested:
http://www.ento.psu.edu/MAAREC/pressReleases/ColonyCollapseDisorderWG.html
http://www.ento.psu.edu/MAAREC/pressReleases/FallDwindleUpdate0107.pdf
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0404/p13s01-sten.html
http://www.entm.purdue.edu/Entomology/research/bee/ccd.html
http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/plantinsp/ccd.html
I stopped to get a gift at a roadside stand and noticed all of the boxes used for transporting bees and learned that the bees were being imported for the almond trees in the area.
After I read Bill's post, I found another interesting article.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0227-01.htm
Evidently the bee losses each year are becoming significant.
The bee losses are ranging from 30 to 60 percent on the West Coast, with some beekeepers on the East Coast and in Texas reporting losses of more than 70 percent; beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20 percent in the offseason to be normal.
Additional causes listed include both the low cost of honey and insufficient sources of nectar for the bees.
It's possible we're engineering honey bees out of our lives.
It would be ironic since we apparently engineered them into our lives. An piece on the Jamestown colony in National Geographic pointed out that honey bees are not native to the U.S. I found that pretty interesting. Some of the Indian tribes supposedly became glum when they noticed honeybees coming into their territory because it meant the white man was not far behind.