4 replies to this topic

[DeeNeely]

One-Third of U.S. Honeybees died last winter, threatening food supplies

Quote

Nearly one in three commercial honeybee colonies in the United States died or disappeared last winter, an unsustainable decline that threatens the nation’s food supply.

Multiple factors — pesticides, fungicides, parasites, viruses and malnutrition — are believed to cause the losses, which were officially announced today by a consortium of academic researchers, beekeepers and Department of Agriculture scientists.

Definitely not a good thing and a really troubling sign of things to come.

[Besoeker]

DeeNeely, on 08 May 2013 - 04:37 PM, said:

One-Third of U.S. Honeybees died last winter, threatening food supplies



Definitely not a good thing and a really troubling sign of things to come.

I agree. Lose the bees, lose pollination, lose pollination..........

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Also this thread with additional links-
http://www.altenergy...opic/2237-bees/

http://www.altenergy...205-bees-links/

PBS aired Silence of the Bees in 2007. We (humans) knew about colony collapse disorder, but remained indifferent.
Now, it's becoming critical.
Full episode here-
http://www.pbs.org/w...ntroduction/38/

[DeeNeely]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 09 May 2013 - 03:54 AM, said:

PBS aired Silence of the Bees in 2007. We (humans) knew about colony collapse disorder, but remained indifferent.
Now, it's becoming critical.

It's amazing how often we ignore the peril because either we don't care or someone tells us it will be ok, don't worry about it.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

DeeNeely, on 09 May 2013 - 04:39 AM, said:

It's amazing how often we ignore the peril because either we don't care or someone tells us it will be ok, don't worry about it.

Agreed.

One of the things that stuck me from the Silence of the Bees, was the fact that Japanese pear farmers have to
pollinate their trees by hand.
All the bees are gone from that region. The double whammy was that it was being done by the elders of
the community because the young people were moving away from farms to the bigger cities; almost guaranteeing
the end of their crop.

American has been importing bees from Australia to pollinate the crops here because we don't have enough
for our farms.
And just the fact of moving the bees around from state to state is also diminishing their numbers. Stuck in
trucks, exposed to diesel/gas fumes during transport, the noise, the commotion..........

One of the chemical companies has a logo motto-better living through chemistry; in this case; just the opposite.