BELTSVILLE, Md., April 23 ??? What is happening to the bees?More than a quarter of the country's 2.4 million bee colonies have been lost -- tens of billions of bees, according to an estimate from the Apiary Inspectors of America, a national group that tracks beekeeping. So far, no one can say what is causing the bees to become disoriented and fail to return to their hives.As with any great mystery, a number of theories have been posed, and many seem to researchers to be more science fiction than science. People have blamed genetically modified crops, cellular phone towers and high-voltage transmission lines for the disappearances. Or was it a secret plot by Russia or Osama bin Laden to bring down American agriculture? Or, as some blogs have asserted, the rapture of the bees, in which God recalled them to heaven? Researchers have heard it all.The volume of theories "is totally mind-boggling," said Diana Cox-Foster, an entomologist at Pennsylvania State University. With Jeffrey S. Pettis, an entomologist from the United States Department of Agriculture, Dr. Cox-Foster is leading a team of researchers who are trying to find answers to explain "colony collapse disorder," the name given for the disappearing bee syndrome."Clearly there is an urgency to solve this," Dr. Cox-Foster said. "We are trying to move as quickly as we can."Dr. Cox-Foster and fellow scientists who are here at a two-day meeting to discuss early findings and future plans with government officials have been focusing on the most likely suspects: a virus, a fungus or a pesticide.About 60 researchers from North America sifted the possibilities at the meeting today. Some expressed concern about the speed at which adult bees are disappearing from their hives; some colonies have collapsed in as little as two days. Others noted that countries in Europe, as well as Guatemala and parts of Brazil, are also struggling for answers."There are losses around the world that may or not be linked," Dr. Pettis said.READ MORE ABOUT THIS CRAZY ASS SCHITT RIGHT HERE:
http://reference.aol.com/article/_a/bees-vanish-and-scientists-race-for/20070425104909990002
Phill_Most
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http://www.chow.com/grinder/2677
also keep in mind, this will affect agriculture on an immense level. Many bee farmers rent out their bees to crop farmers for pollination.
ps: I love using honey for cooking.
Researchers are not finding dead bees. Most likely if the culprit was a virus, fungus or pesticide they would be finding dead bees.
Instead what they are finding are hives where all but the queen and some immature bees are living. This suggests that the other bees have left or failed to return. This suggests some kind of disturbance such as the cell phone theory. I would love the cause to be geneticaly engineered crops, but I am betting on cell towers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder
RAER BUSY BEE DEADSTOCK GOLD.
WE ARE ALL DOOMED
who, me?
how do they 'rent' their bees out? do the bees come back to the bee farmers?
They return to their hives. They live in tightly knit colonies. You bring the hive out, let em go about their business. When they're done, take em away.
ive been biting my nails about this one for a while now. bees are crucial. i actually plan to raise bees on the roof of my house when it gets finished up, but who knows if that would be possible. theres a dude in west phily (and he is REALLY the motherfuckin dude) who trains people to keep bees if they commit to reading a short book about it.
just another repercussion to the out of control human race. we do too much shit that we really don't know about at all. thank you, scientists (for making life so comfortable and ushering in the apocalypse)
Why is it that humans WANT to blame other humans for all the world's problems?
Not only is there some history attached to this Bee phenomenom, the two above "human causes" have been virtually ruled out.
Am I the only one who thinks it's very strange that someone would "love the cause to be geneticaly engineered crops"......as if our self created demise might justify some "I told you so" ish.
Don't worry....if it proves to be fungus and/or mites I'm sure some nut will come up with a reason why the problem was "Man-Made".
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CHICAGO - 6:30AM 4/26/07
A fungus that caused widespread loss of honeybee colonies in Europe and Asia may be playing a crucial role in the phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder [/b] that is wiping out bees across the United States, researchers in California said Wednesday.
The new findings represent the first solid evidence pointing to a potential cause of the disorder.
Other researchers said Wednesday that they, too, had found the fungus, a single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae, in affected hives from around the country -- as well as in some hives that have survived. Those researchers also have found two other fungi and a half-dozen viruses in the dead bees.
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HONOLULU ??? A tiny mite that has devastated mainland honeybee populations showed up in Honolulu hives for the first time this month and has now been confirmed in bee colonies across Oahu.
The infestation by varroa mites has led the state to ask beekeepers to restrict transport of bees around the islands. There are concerns it could threaten the Big Island's thriving queen bee export industry, which has so far tested free of the mites.
"This is going to be for us a nightmare," said Michael Kliks, head of the Hawaii Beekeepers' Association and owner of Manoa Honey Co. "When I saw that mite I knew exactly what it was. I knew exactly what it meant and I fell to my knees and almost began to weep because it's inexpressible what that sea change is for us in Hawaii."
The parasites are blamed for destroying more than half of some mainland beekeepers' hives and wiping out most wild honeybees there.
Heads need to quit smoking that
Don't believe any doomsday hype. Do you really think it could get much more difficult than caveman steez? We're good at surviving. For all we know bees are beginning to live underground, or beginning to turn invisible. It seems foolish to jump to conclusions when we have such limited data, although that is basically the weather of science.
Plants are pollenated by means that don't necessarily include bees. But bees are probably the main pollenators.
NPR ran a story on this about two years ago, and they were talking about government funded/subsidized bee farms.
umm, thanks for the thought. it never occurred to me. in general, your quote doesnt make a hell of a lot of sense...even on the level of water cooler chatter.
yeah i was being a little jokingly apocalyptic, but this bee thing is pretty serious. i'd imagine that the republicans and tom delay are behind the whole thing.
what happened to the banana situation? i remember hearing about a widespread collapse of heavily monocropped breeds of nanas.
we are making it much easier for asian mites and funguses or whatever to spread quickly across the world. one downside of globalization.
I'm just trying to relay th fact that our evidence consists of a very slim portion of reality. Science is quite myopic. We take a slim amount of information, and apply it in a broad context, and wind up with wack facts. It seems that there is evidence of insufficient data gathering more than anything else. Unfortunately no answers is interpreted as bad news, rather than bad questioning.
As far as globalization's effects on the spread of fungus and mites its only a downside if we suffer from it. Its an upswing for the mites and funguses.
If anyone's gonna save us from the environmental mess, it will be the scientists.
Or the bees.
american scientists just published a paper on the danger of pregnant women eating too many american beef steaks. the cattle is being fed with growth hormones and those hormones will affect the babies potency.
the genetically manipulated corn is also worrying me. the people producing manipulated corn are EVIL. did you know that the corn is determined to die? farmers HAVE to buy new seeds each year. it's crazy!
Humans have been genetically manipulating/engineering corn for thousand(s) of years before the advent of modern science. The original plant modified for years to make corn was originally the size of half your pinky finger. Now, large. The scare tactics of GMOs are not helpful to people starving around the world and in need of heartier crops.
I'm pretty sure that the corn dies every year any way. It doesn't grow on tress, it grows on stalks.
true, corn and other crops have been bred since humans were practicing agriculture. but we were crossing within same species and propagating best traits.
genetic engineering is doing unchartered DNA engineering across specie lines with mixed results. "Terminator" seeds are bred so that farmers cannot "Seed save" from one crop to use the following year. in effects, the starving third world that Non is so concerned about will be eternally dependant on corporations for their patented seeds, patented fertilizers, etc. Besides us not knowing the consequences of these GMO experiments, the economic dependence this fosters (to companies designed solely to make profit) is NOT A GOOD LOOK.
why do you think these countries refuse GMO donations and burn down GMO crops?
Better/equitable distribution will reduce hunger, not more food controlled by corporations and fucked up governments.
and hemol, your last few posts are idiotic. but thank you for informing me that dissent is simply fashionable and that corn doesnt grow on trees. thanks for contributing.
gotta go back to work, but i'll check in tonight. peace
Tony, thank you for that knowledge jewel. It paints a pretty grim picture.
Hemol, are you a farmer?
Chill 32. That was definitely a response to honkeyfipple's comments on farmers' corn plants dying every year.
nah. it's something different. the original plant was modified, but not in an approach that modern scientists chose. it wasn't as bad as nowadays.
starving people all over the world? son, we have enough food. it's not a matter of plant size. suppliance is the issue!
you're a biologist, right?
It can't be the bees. They masterminded 9/11. I am currently working on a Flash movie that will totally prove it.
i though the_non was a biologist... but it might have been you. i'm confused.
i agree with you. great post. thanks.
one of the biggest problems with genetically modified crops is that they will mix with natural crops. so most big fields with modified corn will endanger fields with natural corn.
did you know that most tofu is heavily genetically modified?
shoking news to most vegetarian, health-food concerned people.
heck, 50% of all the food we eat is genetically engineered. although it's not really necessary.