Dan Rather Reports – Buzzkill
(First 35 mins) This year marks the highest losses of honey bee populations in the U.S. Some of the country’s biggest beekeepers have lost over 60%. Some say…
24 Responses to Dan Rather Reports – Buzzkill
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see dali48 and Bees & “Flora & Fauna” since ca. 2000 etc. – “If the bees disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have 4 years left to live.” ― Albert Einstein,
see William Golding and “Man produces evil – as Bees produce honey” etc… (dali48)
“God wants us to help the animals – where ever it is necessary”… (Francis of Assisi)
“Those who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity – will deal likewise with their fellow man.” St. Francis of Assisi
Wolfgang G. Greiner
May 26, 2013 at 4:32 pm
Pero siguen alimentando la abejas con azúcar, el asesino blanco?
Ernesto Cruz
May 26, 2013 at 5:10 pm
finally they are starting to figure it out !!! the main reason the Honey Bees are dying is PESTICIDES..the choice is between the natural foods that Honey Bees help produce and the Genetically Modified Food that Monsanto produces. so the choice is to eat Natural food or oatmeal and tortillas.. in this video they are saying we have maybe 2 or 3 years to figure it out….SAD….. so even if your rich you will have to enjoy your OATMEAL and TACO SHELLS, if the Honey Bees keep dying.. . .
Randy Ledford
May 26, 2013 at 5:58 pm
Thank you. Finally someone who makes sense. We can’t just say, “It’s the neonicotinoids!” Even if we got rid of those pesticides if we didn’t address the other issues at hand, we would still be losing bees. I’m a beekeeper who is also a pest control technician. What happened to mentioning: monocropping, GMO plants, phorid flies, drier seasons, and the many other variables in CCD? Thankyou Westernwilson for going deeper than the mainstream.
Radwoem
May 26, 2013 at 6:17 pm
The inmates are running the aslyum. Its as simple as that and we are doomed.
james bond
May 26, 2013 at 6:25 pm
My worry is: can the human race survive the stupidy of people like Westenwilson and Ju Mo.
Steve House
May 26, 2013 at 6:59 pm
Stop pesticides, herbicides and shut down Monsanto is the answere
Michael Ellestad
May 26, 2013 at 7:35 pm
Someone could please transcribe the movie and put the text in subtitles? In that way become easier to translate to our languages. (Portuguese, by the way.) Thank you.
Cristiano K. Hickel
May 26, 2013 at 8:07 pm
I think that Cheguebuddha is talking about stopping the treatment of varroa (minus minor hive manipulation) in strong colonies. Treatment is like antibiotic resistance in humans–the viruses adapt, then the humans have to create new antibiotics, and the cycle continues. Yes, the weaker colonies die out, but having strong genetics in bees is important in the long run. Phil Chandler has been experimenting with treatment-free hives for a couple of years with moderate success, I believe.
Megan Krintz
May 26, 2013 at 8:20 pm
Maybe at some point when the farmers feel the pain enough in their pocket book they will wake up and stop dumping millions of tons of poisons on the crops. Things Will come back into balance at some point…
llewej7
May 26, 2013 at 9:18 pm
There are other bees that can augment the honey bee. To suggest that honey bees are the ONLY bee that assist is placing all of your bees in one bonnet. Orchard Bee Association is trying to raise as many native bees as possible to help the issue. 1 mason bee = 100 honey bees in pollination. They are better cross pollinators as well. It’s not an OR situation, but an AND situation. Both, when used together in an acre produce record breaking pollination.
Crown Bees
May 26, 2013 at 10:13 pm
Dan, got that frequency yet?
ThisnThatPackRat
May 26, 2013 at 10:21 pm
In the UK we are seeing larger colony losses over the winter. Beekeepers interviewed on TV blame pesticides? No evidence! We have not had adult bee losses from crop treatments for many years. The only losses are chemicals applied incorrectly by DIY gardeners. Insect Habitats are declining due to bad farm practices and birds are vanishing as their insect/seed food reserves disappear. Varroa, dysentry (nosema) and starvation are evidently visible signs in nearly all UK bee losses. Bad Management!
Honeybee SuppliesUK
May 26, 2013 at 11:17 pm
I am a beekeeper, and while bees do not adapt in a season, you can breed for survivor bees surprisingly rapidly. Check out the article “Producing Varroa-Tolerant Honey Bees
from Locally Adapted Stock: A Recipe” or Randy Oliver’s blog post “Choose Your Troops”. I also blogged on this at Plan Bee Project on WordPress.
Westernwilson
May 26, 2013 at 11:24 pm
I don’t think you have a complete grasp of the varroa mite issue. Unfortunately bees don’t ‘adapt to it in max 5 years.’ Yes, the mite bite creates a vector for other diseases, and the loss of bee hemolymph weakens the bee(s).
Varroa can easily overwhelm hives before they can adapt. Pesticides and insecticides are sickening and killing bees. Lack of forage, poor weather, poor beekeeping husbandry, are also factors working against the bees.
Are you a beekeeper?
Karen Johnson
May 27, 2013 at 12:18 am
This beggar’s belief. We don’t have CCD in the UK because we don’t treat bees as a commodity. Transporting bees like this with no regard at all for their lifecycle and need for a diverse range of pollens/nectar is a recipe for disaster. Why does it not occur to these keepers that they might have something to do with it.
SuperMinnie33
May 27, 2013 at 1:18 am
PS Watch “More Than Honey”
Westernwilson
May 27, 2013 at 2:17 am
It was and is lunacy to plant massive bee dependent orchards that cannot sustain their own apiaries. If every orchardist planted a strip of mixed hedgerow featuring year round forage for their own honeybees and native pollinators, they would not need pollination services and might be more motivated to choose their spray regimens with care. My local blueberry farmer friend spends $10,000 a year on pollination services. Crazy.
Plant for bees, buy organic, buy local, and buy local raw honey!!!
Westernwilson
May 27, 2013 at 2:41 am
Varroa mite is not the issue. Bees adapt to it in max 5 years. It is the weakened bee immunity which makes bees susceptible to viruses from Varroa. Their immunity is weak because of the lack of biodiverse forage, migration stress, pesticides, often hive management (stress), too many hives at one location spreading illness … This can be fixed if people look beyond quick profit.
Cheguebuddha
May 27, 2013 at 3:39 am
Another sustainable solution is to plant all year around various bushes and plants in between the almond trees so to support the native solitary bees and bumblebees. Biodiversity is the only way out of this mess and one almond farmer is doing this (cant find that video)
Cheguebuddha
May 27, 2013 at 3:50 am
Hi Steve,
immediate action has brought us into this situation. Its a profit orientated action. We must accept a long term perspective thinking ahead. The most sustainable approach is to support and encourage small scale biodiverse local organic farming. Its possible as we have seen here in Sweden but still we need more such farmers. We need a government which is aware of this and and has will to support this because conventional farmers will not change unless offered a realistic option.
Cheguebuddha
May 27, 2013 at 4:39 am
Buy from local farmers – at a farmers market or through a CSA – preferably from farms that don’t use chemicals. Buy local honey that hasn’t been treated with chemicals (may have to look a bit because most beekeepers use chemicals in their hives and that is part of the stress). Grow a garden or a wildflower patch at the very least, again without chemicals. Put a water source in your yard. Don’t spray your yard with chemicals. Let the dandelions be – as dandelions are the bees’ first Spring food.
Ju Mo
May 27, 2013 at 5:30 am
So what’s the IMMEDIATE answer then?
Currently we’ve got to transport bees so we can eat. And as a beekeeper, transporting is stressful if the bees are not cared for, but any good transporter is going to take care of their investment.
And unless YOU are willing to personally tell people YOU think they should starve, your harangue is pointless.
Steve-o Notgivnitout
May 27, 2013 at 6:16 am
Large scale farming and large scale migratory beekeeping is devastating. Not to mention the bee killing Neonicotinoid pesticiedes. Bees are not ment to travel large distances.
Cheguebuddha
May 27, 2013 at 6:19 am