Posted on 05/27/2009 5:03:33 PM PDT by GiovannaNicoletta
On a number of occasions in the past I have documented the disappearing act our honeybees are performing, commonly referred to as colony collapse disorder, and the impact it may have in relation to bible prophecy. It's time to revisit that issue.
I've heard it said that one of out of every three bites of food we eat in a day exists because of honey bees. If that's correct, we have a lot to be concerned about where the survival of the honeybee is concerned and beekeepers are sounding the alarm once again. Something is wrong, they're telling us.
The Future of Earth's Food Supply
As we look into the prophetic future, particularly inside the Tribulation Period, it is clear that the world's food supply is going to become scarce.
Revelation 6:5-6: And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
Walvoord states the passage above (and below) describes “a time of famine when life will be reduced to the barest necessities.”
Revelation 6:7-8: When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
Current and recent events of interest
A mysterious illness is killing tens of thousands of honeybee colonies across the country, threatening honey production, the livelihood of beekeepers and possibly crops that need bees for pollination.
Go to work, come home. Go to work, come home. Go to work -- and vanish without a trace.
Billions of bees have done just that, leaving the crop fields they are supposed to pollinate, and scientists are mystified about why.
Unless someone or something stops it soon, the mysterious killer that is wiping out many of the nation's honeybees could have a devastating effect on America's dinner plate, perhaps even reducing us to a glorified bread-and-water diet.
Honeybees don't just make honey; they pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest flowering crops we have. Among them: apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash and cucumbers. And lots of the really sweet and tart stuff, too, including citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and other melons.
Breakfast for me this morning was fresh cantaloupe. It makes you think, doesn't it?
THE world's honeybees appear to be dying off in horrifying numbers, and now consensus is starting to emerge on the reason why: it seems there is no one cause. Infections, lack of food, pesticides and breeding - none catastrophic on their own - are having a synergistic effect, pushing bee survival to a lethal tipping point.
And what are we hearing now, three months after that?
Dave Hackenberg, a beekeeper who winters his bees in Florida, criticized the survey for not asking the right question. He said his hive numbers dropped from 3,500 in October 2008 to 2,800 this January, within the time period of the survey. But by February, he had lost 300 more hives.
Will colony collapse disorder play any role in the fulfillment of bible prophecy? I don't know, but it well could if God doesn't intervene, especially when we take into consideration the fact no one but God seems to know why so many of our bees are dying.
Matthew 24:7: For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
The end times drama continues...
They have found the problem.
Interestingly enough a large swarm of honey bees temporarily shutdown an business in NYC this weekend when they swarmed near the entrance. I thought this odd giving the disappearance of so many over the past few years. Could they be making a comeback?
Has anybody checked in “Galt’s Gulch?”
Mark
Shhhh.....
Don’t ruin a good panic!
I bought it from the Sears catalog.
I had to be the only beekeeper in the City of Detroit. It was great, until a horrible winter killed them all after 4 years.
I really hope they find out what the hell is going on here, 60% of our crops depend on it.
I’m seeing honeybees and there seems to be a population explosion of the big ole bumble bees.
Perhaps. Also, a virus found in healthy Australian honey bees may be playing a role in the collapse of honey bee colonies across the United States. The virus identified in the healthy Australian bees was discovered by Hebrew University researchers. Although worker bees in colony collapse disorder vanish, bees infected with IAPV die close to the hive, after developing shivering wings and paralysis. The Australian bees seem to be resistant to the virus. Scientists discovered that the was present in bees that had come from colony collapse disorder hives 96 percent of the time.
Breakfast for me this morning was fresh cantaloupe. It makes you think, doesn't it?
It makes me think this is truly a job Americans won't do.
This is a legitimate way to get the illegal alien landscape and drywall contractors out of the industries and into a specified allowable trade for "migrant workers"...pollinating crops.
Really? I read it was a new insecticide. What is causing this?
Now that they found the problem, they can fix it!
We’ve had stories about swarms a couple of times this year. I see bees too. They chase me quite often. I hate that!
How in heck does any of that relate to Biblical prophesy? Oy.
Let's hope so. We can't live without them!
My daughter told me today (my little 7 year old insectologist or whatever they are called) that Lady Bugs are dissapearing and “Scientists don’t know why”.
Anamnesis, clinical examination and analyses support that the depopulation in both cases was due to the infection by Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia), an emerging pathogen of Apis mellifera. No other significant pathogens or pesticides (neonicotinoids) were detected and the bees had not been foraging in corn or sunflower crops. The treatment with fumagillin avoided the loss of surviving weak colonies. This is the first case report of honeybee colony collapse due to N. ceranae in professional apiaries in field conditions reported worldwide.
At the end is the good news. Treatment with fumagillin saved the colonies.
Oh my gosh! Is someone panicking? Let’s get them some help!
sometimes it just be's that way.
With more people planting gardens the bumblebee population would go up especially with the (temporary) decline of the honey bee population.
Prior to 1492 honey bees were unknown to the Americas and yet somehow crops managed to grow just fine. The bumblebees and some flies took care of the pollinating. Nature has a lot of redundancies. If one thing fails something else moves in to take it's place.
Well, apparently the problem has been found and hopefully those who know how to fix these things will do so.
I also am seeing honeybees this year, more than in previous years.
And, interestingly, they are bigger. Usually, they would come in about the size of a horsefly. Now, they are 1/2 to 2/3 s the size of the bumblebees that live in the neighborhood. (and I have alot of those too.)
Do you know if there is a way to cure the bees of the virus?
There are something like 30 different native species of bees in North America.
Let’s send the illegals back to where they came from and have American welfare recipients pollinate our crops.
Yeah. And apparently it is you.
GiovannaNicoletta in post #13 "We can't live without them!"
Yes, we can.
That is the prophecy connection.
What is it?
In fact it was known as "The White Man's Fly" and was generally found staring about 100 miles west of European settled areas.
You took the word right out of my mouth.
If it was the same article but made no mention of the Bible-if it was just the scientific aspects of the issue- would it still be "doom"?
Obviously God is trying to prevent this famine you mention. Thanks for your concern, however.
Yeah!
...and have American welfare recipients pollinate our crops.
Yes, instead of each other.
Wow. Someone posts an article and immediately you are a mind reader.
FYI, this isn't the first time I have heard or read that we can't live without bees pollinating crops. I didn't "panic" when I heard about it the first time and I'm not panicking now.
Nice try at marginalization though.
I'll look forward to hearing on the news that the problem is over.
I'm sure they'll give God the credit for fixing it,too.
I think you have to give them a Bee I.V.
It is my understanding that they are trying to figure out how to breed the Australian bees’ resistance into domestic bees where the colony collapse is occurring. It don’t know how that could “cure” something endemic like that, but they apparently think they are close to a way of dealing with it so we don’t all starve.
Excellent.
I saw it as someone who wrote an article, based on what he had read in various publications, and, as a Christian, saw a possible link to the Biblical prophecy of famine.
I've read stuff a lot gloomier than this.
Maybe they just joined a Union and they are on break! Bail out the Bees Barak!
I still don’t see it. There are bees.
I read about this for the first time at least two years ago so it's not a recent phenomenon.
And, apparently there is a need for bees to pollinate crops to keep them growing and reproducing and if there is a huge bee die-off, then conceivably that could result in a famine.
I’m completely aware of what bees do for our food crops, however I do not see the need for the author to quote the Bible and imply that this is an end times sign. I think it’s one of the silliest things I’ve ever read.
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