Albert Einstein on bees:
“If honey bees become extinct, human society will follow in four years.”
No need to worry or for government involvement. Free Market will fix it.
Who is John Galt?
I’m no biologist, but if it happened in California, I would suspect union organizers. Immigrant activists if they’re Mexican bees. Or maybe some state Nectar for Pupae and Larvae program is sapping them of their work ethic.
I guess we need Mexican Bees - to do the job American bees don’t want to do ...
They have been outsourced to India.
Looks like the price of ( Bee wax ) toilet seal rings are going to go up.
Damn good thing I'm not a vegetarian, eh?
I have a pretty good imagination, the bees have a pretty good navigational system, maybe this is a result of the polar change from north to south and they are disoriented. Or, I wonder if God hasn’t called them somewhere. When Jesus was on earth He knew where the fish were in the lake. Have we done something to deserve no fruit on our cereal? Are we spoiled?
"...There have been other fluctuations in the number of honeybees, going back to the 1880s, when there were "mysterious disappearances without bodies just as we're seeing now, but never at this magnitude," she said..."
Haunting [these last few months] the Bee-L listserve discussion board hosted by the UNY Albany, I've seen more than a few of the long-time commercial beekeepers mention this.
Another little factoid associated with some of these bee disappearances, is that other bees colonies, hived in the same yard wouldn't "rob out" the abandoned hives, for a week, or perhaps two. This was noted as other than normal, though "robbing" characteristics can and do vary to an extent among bloodlines, or lineages of bees. It suggests something about the hives, or the stores didn't "smell right', which may have been the reason the bees left, en masse, (though NOT "swarming") in the first place.
I do wonder what the temperatures were during this time of absconding (leaving, disappearing), and the time it took other bees to discover the "loot" in hives abandoned in the same yard. Though with all this reasoning, and the line of questioning and pondering it produces in mind, in light of normal honeybee behaviors, there remains still the question, where's the queen? They are finding hives COMPLEtely empty? If foragers went through a time of brief warming, a 'false spring', then maybe some of them could have left, and been unable to make it back. If there was something causing die-offs while in winter cluster, there would be dead bees there, to indicate it. Though honeybees do 'swarm' when there is a nectar flow on, and the hive is getting crowded, they leave behind a good portion of the bees, along with capped brood, including multiple queen "cells", when they do so. And it's unheard of for bees to swarm after a period of dearth! it doesn't happen...
Of all the "disappearances", none have been referred to by "bee" folks as classic "absconding", for what it's worth. Though it does resemble in many ways, the absconding traits of one of the "african" races of bees, though the time of year is damn peculiar for absconding.
Other reports have some of the big disappearances occur AFTER the migratory move to California in early March, for almond pollination.
Then we've had some gal (whom i cannot recall either the name, or qualifications of) recently testify before congress, sharing that she thought there a link to this "CCD" [a.k.a, we don't know WTF it is] and a few different fungus.
The French beekeepers had an experience recently with a "systematic" herbicide/pesticide(?) marketed there under the tradename "Gaucho", and in their case, were able to prove it. So far, the conditions don't appear to be identical enough to warrant anyone being able to safely (or should I say "accurately") pin the blame on systematics, or "nicitoids", as I've also seen them referred to.
In the French cases, these nicitoids, it seemed to be strongly indicated, interfered with the bee's orientation abilities, causing them to become unable to find their way back to the hive, and thus die. If enough bees die before their time, then the hive can't keep up, in raising more brood. Though individual bees live 6 weeks or so during their prime and busiest season, they don't hatch out knowing how to forage for nectar. Besides, when they are newly hatched, they have other, also crucially important hive chores to do. It's the middle aged, and elderly among them that do most of that portion of the foraging work.
Hives wintering over, can have bees live for many months, since they are mainly at rest, moving only to 'shiver' to build up heat in cluster, or move slowly over the combs, venturing onto combs holding honey and pollen stores, to take back to the cluster (if not moving "in cluster", en masse, if they can) but sometimes they cannot even do that, and can starve in winter, even with honey stores in the next super up, since they have to break cluster to get at it. When it's cold, they don't want to, really can't afford to become separated, since it's the collective heat of all of them, that keeps it warm enough (somewhere above 40 degrees F, if memory serves).
Swiss researchers have found 5 different viruses present in hives. Some hives would have one, or two. Some, all 5. How these viruses affect bees, if it is known, certainly isn't widely known...I've been searching.
There has been in (fairly) recent years, trouble with (first, it was) tracheal mites, then the varroa mites, along with various fungus, brood diseases, and other past, somewhat rare, pesticide induced die-offs. With the pesticides, the evidence is clear enough (usually), though there are some various plant and blossom treatments which could find their way into pollen stores in the hive, and show up, mainly "later", than when they were first gathered. So far, direct pesticide contamination has been ruled out. That may change, but I'll not say here, that it WILL, or even SHOULD.
It's been broached by some, that the varroa mite can weaken the bees enough, for them to become more susceptible to either viral or fungal infections, or a combination of both. It's been mentioned by others that they are suspecting tracheal mites to be still a strongly possible cause...in part...because since the arrival of the varroa mite (from an Asian bee), attention has been diverted towards controlling varroa, and in some cases, perhaps resulting in less attention to the tracheal mites, since one cannot SEE the tracheal mites, except by careful dissection of the bee, and the use of a good microscope.
Whatever it is, large scale, widely experienced bee die-offs are not brand-new news. Even if this latest one, if there really is such a thing as this CCD, is from brand new causes.
Soy proteins can be a problem, if the soy isn't properly "toasted" (I kid you not). Soy might harbor systematics, too. Since I'm not large scale commercial, I think I'll try to avoid soy altogether...even though it does appear that there are some pretty good supplemental honeybee feeds available which contain soy proteins, that by (most?)all accounts, have been used safely.
HFCS (high frutcose corn syrup) though delivered to bee yards literally by the tractor-trailer tanker load, I harbor some suspicions of, too...how much of this has been GM'd? In what way? And no, typical hybridization does NOT = "genetically modified", so if any lurkers want to jump on that one, expect a filthy and foul freepmail, if you even dare trying going there, with me.
I do hope that enough beekeepers have kept careful records of what they've fed (supplemented) their bees with, [so those inputs can be traced, to look for any possible 'pattern'] where they kept and moved them to [so that careful investigations can occur of the ag lands, concerning use of fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, and fungicides} and what they, the keepers "treated" their stocks with in the efforts to control the different mites, and keep certain fungus, from ever becoming spores, and thus one of the "old" problems.
Who knows? There might be some subtle chemical reaction between various supplement, treatment, and pesticide/herbicide/fungicides that bees are exposed to while pollinating cotton, soybeans, almonds (the blossoms are treated with various "stuff"), etc.
Meanwhile, it's 5.1 mm foundation, followed by 4.9 mm, for me. If anybody around here knows what THAT means...
They've gone to Canada: to do the work the Canadian bees won't do!
It appears that it has specialized...
Apis Shrugged.
Bee Rustlers!
Another Missing Bee Freeper Article , & I Sent You A Ping for another bee article a couple days ago too :)