Posted on 07/03/2013 9:51:03 AM PDT by Fawn
Shortly after 50,000 bees were found dead in an Oregon parking lot (read more here), a staggering 37 million bees have been found dead in Elmwood, Ontario, Canada. Dave Schuit, who runs a honey operation in Elmwood has lost 600 hives. He is pointing the finger at the insecticides known as neonicotinoids, which are manufactured by Bayer CropScience Inc. This also comes after a recent report released by the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) that recorded its largest loss of honeybees ever. You can read more about that here. The European Union has stepped forward, having banned multiple pesticides that have been linked to killing millions of bees. You can view the studies and read more about that here.
The loss comes after the planting of corn. Neonicotinoid pesticides are used to coat corn seed with air seeders. This results in having the pesticide dust blown into the air when planted. The death of millions of pollinators was studied by Purdue University. They discovered that Bees exhibited neurotoxic symptoms. They analyzed dead bees and found that traces of thiamethoxam/clothiandin were present in each case. The only major source of these compounds are seed treatments of field crops. You can view that study here (1).
Bee deaths are increasing exponentially. An international team of scientists led by Holland’s Utrecht University has concluded that, “large scale prophylaxic use in agriculture, their high persistence in soil and water, and their uptake by plants and translocation to flowers, neonicotinoids put pollinators at risk. This is some of the research that led to the European Unions ban of the pesticides, as mentioned and referenced earlier.
(Excerpt) Read more at collective-evolution.com ...
I’ve seen some bees, but not as many as I usually do...
Low bee count means low amount of food to eat. I’m planting some flowers in my garden to help lure the bees in. I have to get food growing to have fresh food along with long term stored food. When I picked my own tomatoes, I knew no other human had handled them and no chemicals were sprayed on them. These days you don’t know what has happened to fresh food you buy at grocery.
I just started trying to grow food plants and I’ve been a pest asking questions to those on the weekly gardening thread.
Yep...you're right. There's no such thing as hive colony collpase...there really weren't 30 million bees dead and numerous data hasn't been shown that CCD appears to be linked with insecticides...and that big-food is doing some pretty aweful things to the food we eat.
Glad so many here on FR know everything and keep us from making mistakes.
That’s the way it was here last year. Wait till next year.
I’ve had a lot of strawberry blooms that just didn’t get set this year. I’ve never had that happen before. Ditto blueberry blooms and raspberries. Haven’t seen that before. And I’m pushing 50.
The ‘old world’ foods are in trouble without the honeybee. And if the lack of native pollinators is also a widespread the new world foods (squash, etc) will be in trouble too.
They come and go. They’re rebounding around here but even in bad honeybee (honeybees aren’t native to America) years, the native pollinators themselves tend to rebound.
What’s scary to me is the lack of honeybees.
Usually in late spring when my cilantro and dill bolt they are covered, just covered, in pollinators of all sorts.
This year, none. And not just ‘no honeybees’. No pollinators at all.
Actually I think you need to eat some more paint chips.
And I noticed it this year too with my squash. That's one reason I now have a hive. Fortunately there are no big ag fields around to kill off my bees.
Honeybees have taken over an old birdhouse at the far end of my yard. Given these recent developments, I think I won’t disturb them.
Yes, I realize that honeybees aren’t native to the Americas.
I haven’t seen any normal native pollinators this year either.
And I’m already having issues with bloom set on things that rely on honeybees.
And the new world foods too like squash. I’ve never had to play squash pimp before.
Usually my garden is a hive of pollinators. Since the beginning of June i’ve seen just 2 pollinators of any kind in my garden. Usually even my tomatoes are covered.
“Something’s getting them.”
I read a long research article on what is doing this and it is the chemical coating on corn seed that is killing the bees. They die from the chemical on the corn, then the chemical is in the ground and whatever is planted next also kills the bees as that chemical goes into those plants.
I believe I read England and other EU countries will no longer use that seed.
Make them happy. You might have a treasure.
Hubby is looking into beekeeping just ensure we have adequate pollination for our stuff. It’s been an issue this year.
I spent a few days camping in a national forest earlier this month. The location was at least 10 miles in all directions from any commercial agriculture and there was no phone service.
The wild honeybees were thick as flies at the campsite.
You might plant flowers for them. So they don’t wander too far abroad and contact ‘bad stuff’. They love cilantro in bloom, dill, etc. Read up on that.
If they all die, we all die.
Me, either, but it's very appealing to a certain ideology and been used to great effect in the past. Ayers had similar ideas.
Hmmm...are we a part of a man caused disaster, maybe caused on purpose?
The loss of 30+ million honeybees is enormous cause for alarm.
I’m into gardening. I’m stocking up on fertilizer supplies and soil amendments. Most everything is thriving at the moment. I have way too much squash but the green beans didn’t set as many blooms as normal. My FIL gave me 55 tomato plants, so we’ll be canning those before long.
Well, at least there might be a source of replacement bees if things get really bad.
We live fairly far away (2 or 3 miles at least) from any commercial agriculture and this is the first year we’ve had a problem. My parents, 60m away, have a problem this year too. My mother has grown squash there for 60 years and this is the first year she’s ever had problems with pollination. I had to explain squash sex to her and she’s having to pollinate by hand now too. And she lives in the country.
None of the little old people who garden can remember having to hand pollinate their squash.
Not many moths or butterflies either. I’m thinking lawn chemicals.
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