Bee numbers plummet as billions of colonies die

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1270698/Bees-face-extinction-billions-colonies-die-worldwide.html

Bee numbers plummet as billions of colonies die across the world
By Mail Foreign Service

Last updated at 8:10 AM on 3rd May 2010
Comments (76) Add to My Stories The world faces a future with little meat and no cotton because of a catastrophic collapse in bee colonies, experts have warned.

Many vital crops are dependent on pollination by honeybees, but latest figures show a third failed to survive the winter in the U.S.

More than three million colonies in America and billions of bees worldwide have died since 2006.

Cattle are primarily fed grasses and grains (counting corn and sorghum), all of which are wind pollinated and don't need bees for anything. I'm not hearing much on the entomological boards about this, either, which is somewhat surprising. Thirty percent colony loss over winter does not strike me as extreme, frankly, although I'll need to do some digging to find out the usual background rates.

are even better pollinators, and seem to be doing well (at least if my backyard is any indicator!). They've been using my potting shed door for their "home", so I've ordered a mason bee nest from Gardner's Supply Co, but it is backordered until 5/31, so I'm guessing I'm not the only one interested in keeping them around.:hi:

PS: They don't sting, either.

I'll bet Monsanto's poisons like Roundup and other herbicides/pesticides have contributed to the 'phenomena' of 'mysterious' bee colony deaths.

Edit:recced

Some GM crops produce their own pesticides. I suspect these may be causing problems for bees.

why ccd appears where no monsanto products are used, i know it,s "hip" to lay this at the door of mansanto but the data just does not show this to be a single company issue.
friends of ours lost 23% of his hives to ccd last year in the powder river basin and bees foraged on only what was growing wild up and down the river, no planted crops anywhere in the area being it was on the great plains and the nearest neighbor is over 9 miles away.
kinda blows the lid of that conspiracy theory.

die after they sting something. Still have a welt. Poor little bee. :(

There, it continues pumping its toxin until it's removed or it runs out. Meanwhile, the bee dies. Bumble bees can sting many times, though.

I always figure that when a reporter consumes what's produced by scientists, digests it for 24+ hours, and then releases it back into the environment it can't be very good. Or smell very good.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2010/100429.2.htm is the ARS digested version.

http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators/news/losses-2009-10 is the abstract for the preliminary study.

Key points from the abstract:

A total loss of 33.8% of managed honey bee colonies was recorded. This compares to total losses of 29%, 35.8% and 31.8% recorded respectively in the winters of 2008/2009, 2007/2008 and 2006/2007.

Responding beekeepers attributed their losses to starvation (32%), weather (29%), weak colonies in the fall (14%), Mites (12%), and poor queens (10%). Only 5% of beekeepers attributed CCD as the major cause for their losses.

It is also important to note that this survey only reports on winter losses and does not capture the colony losses that occurs throughout the summer as queens or entire colonies fail and need to be replaced. Preliminary data from other survey efforts suggest that these “summer” losses can also be significant. All told the rate of loss experienced by the industry is unsustainable.

Comparing the last three years to determine bee stability is like comparing the last three years to determine whether there is climate change.

:eyes:

Sometimes they are the first to get it right and in this case they have. Bees have been enslaved by Big Ag and now they're being "Raptured." Makes perfect sense to me! What was it Einstein said again? ;-) :loveya:

1) Bees die. Row Crops do not get polinized. Soy Beans and Cattle feed hardest hit.

2) CONgress passes laws against Farmers Markets and Home grown Food. (It's for your own good)

3) Gulf of Mexico Closed by BP and Oil Lobby.. no more Sea Food. Viet Nam Shrimp now selling for $100 per pound... BP and Shell shipping tons of foreign shrimp to highest bidder.

4) Climate change wipes out winter tomato crop and strawberries. Tomatoes selling for $10 a pound...Monsanto Super Markets report record profit.

5) Summer floods in some parts of U.S and droughts in other parts.. wipe out Soy Beans and Corn...Squash, winter staples... Republiicans cheer free market subsidies for cronies...

6) Goldman Sachs estatic.. trading crop futures at an all time high... no legislation..no oversight..Select Families getting rich. CONgress afraid to say anything for fear of losing campaign money.

7) Hungry Americans roam streets looking for food. Crowds beat back by BlackWater Thugs hired by Monsanto. BlackWater Police report record profit year thanks to Govt contracts.

"the little people".

...because we discovered that some honeybees had made a nest in our garage last week, and given the problems, we don't want to kill them - but sure don't want them making honey between the wood and the brick, which I'm told will attract not just bees but ants, rodents, etc. for years.

Called some local beekeepers, they're not hastening to get back to us... doesn't seem any other option to get rid of them besides killing them

hardly anything ever goes unclaimed there.

you need to be persistent and find someone who can move them, or leave them be.

wish I was there... get a hat and bee veil and gloves, wear enough clothes to cover your body and smoke the bees lightly... all you have to do is find the queen and take her out to a bush or tree away from the house... the rest of the bees will follow :hi:

I heard this on NPR last week. A fellow in Maine (I missed his position and the reason why they interviewed him) was saying that honey bees are an invasive, non-native species that are beneficial mostly to large agrabiz organizations. His position was that the native bumble bee would adequately handle the needs of family farms were they not being crowded out by the imports. Sounded interesting.

Oh. And the worms. He said that many South Eastern forests had too many worms. That another imported species was reducing the leafmold that forest floors need to bare dirt and worm pellets, I cherish the little critters in my compost but can see the problem.