Why are the bees dissapearing?
Image by ScrippsBee
A very exciting moment as the Scripps Bee medallion is being raised over the new stage.
Question by Rivers: Why are the bees dissapearing?
Einstein said that if the bees dissapeared off the face of the Earth, man would have four years left to live.
Bees are very important to us all, they pollinate plants, flowers, trees and other vegetation, but their numbers are dwindling.
No-one can quite put their finger on why… does anyone have any speculation on this matter?
Personally, I am inclinded to consider that they are choosing to limit their own numbers. Many animals are known to stop breeding and even commit suicide when their environment is too hostile to raise young in, and bees have an intricate method of communication through waving their legs, as far as I can tell.
If this was the case, the combined effects of pollution, climate change, use of pesticides, nuclear fall-out and many other anthropogenic factors could be contributing to the bees deciding to stop breeding.
Give your answer to this question below!
5 Responses to Why are the bees dissapearing?
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In I believe China there are no bees left. The local farmers have to do the pollinating by hand. They disappeared because of pesticides.
mlb
January 9, 2012 at 8:22 pm
in dr who it says they were going back home to the planet malisa majoria coz there was danger so what that means is the daleks are gonna move the planet and then they will destroy reality so we have until 2012 to live
(Doctor who Series 4: 12 (Stolent earth))
John S
January 9, 2012 at 9:02 pm
The declining bee population is baffling scientists. Nobody knows for sure what exactly is going on, however, there are a number of possible reasons.
It’s believed that a virus is to blame, although it’s possible that changes in farming methods, the use of pesticides, and global warming are involved too.
”With commercial honeybees worth an estimated $ 14bn to US agriculture, the political pressure on scientists to come up with some answers is considerable”. Bees are important to the ecosystem and world economy so it’s imperative that *something* is done soon.
Hollywood
January 9, 2012 at 9:07 pm
I have heard that the bee population is disappearing, but I’m not certain if that is a worldwide phenomena. Here in Spain we have many different types of bees, some I’ve never seen in the UK. Each morning and in the evening we see flocks of bee eaters (type of bird) feeding all over the sky. Surely if there was a problem with the bee population it would affect those birds, but for some strange reason, there are more bee eaters this year than last. I’m not saying you are not correct, I’m just curious to why we seem to be okay.
For anyone who knows nothing of a bee eater, let me tell you the birds are magnicent. Their plumage on some birds resembles that of the kingfisher.
Digame
January 9, 2012 at 9:45 pm
When I first heard of CCD my first thought was bio-engineering. I’m not a fan as I don’t think we really know what we are doing and are just utterly incapable of seeing all the implications of what we would do which nature is much better able to comprehend.
So it may be with that bias when I first read about it a couple years ago that I was pretty sure (in an “A-HA” moment) that the pesticide by Bayer CropSciences is the main reason for the immediate problems being experienced — which is something that is gaining prominence of late as being a likely culprit:
http://insects.about.com/b/2008/08/28/nrdc-sues-epa-over-bee-killing-pesticide.htm
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In 2003, the EPA gave Bayer CropScience the green light on the pesticide clothianidin. They only asked that the company submit studies regarding the possible chronic toxic exposure of honeybees to the chemical. The EPA’s own fact sheet on clothianidan lists the substance as causing such toxicity in honeybees. Clearly, the company hoping to make millions from the pesticide would provide objective research (yes, that it sarcasm you hear). Regardless, nobody seems to know, or want to admit, whether or not Bayer CropScience ever bothered to submit these studies.
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http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/19/11070/
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Clothianidin is the pesticide at the center of controversy. It is used to coat corn, sugar beet and sorghum seeds and is part of a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids. The pesticide was blamed for bee deaths in France and Germany, which also is dealing with a colony collapse. Those two countries have suspended its use until further study. An EPA fact sheet from 2003 says clothianidin has the potential for toxic chronic exposure to honey bees, as well as other pollinators, through residues in nectar and pollen.
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Nicotine is a very potent neurotoxin poison. It’s part of what makes plants (not the fruits) of the nightshade family (potatoes, tomotoes, peppers, etc) so deadly. The houseplant nicotiana can be very dangerous for children as can smoking cessation tools such as nicotine patches (why it’s so important to dispose of properly). But nicotine is especially harmful to most insects and has been used for years as a deterrent pesticide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotiana
http://www.livingwithbugs.com/organic.html
However, the Bayer CropSciences version is nicotine on steroids.
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There’s a bit more to it though. Honeybees themselves displaced other natural pollinators but also at issue here are the widespread use of GMOs, pesticides and other harmful chemicals and especially monocropping. One of the issues with Monarch butterflies is that they feed on Milkweed which has been all but eradicated from corn fields with Monsanto products.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkweed
The plant just is no longer allowed in a cornfield.
And with farm policy starting with Nixon’s administration and Earl Butz, there was a radical change in farming which took out fallow fields, buffer zones, and more:
http://www.celsias.com/article/bee-keepers-wisdom-for-human-flourishing/
Ironically though we take the honey and feed bees a High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) concoction instead, HFCS being made from GMO crops and with GMO organisms but not much different than feeding cattle corn; it’s not what they are meant to eat.
However, now we have the fear of mass grown spinach and other greens causing the loss of even more natural areas; “Spinach Security” and “sterilization” measures:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20070916/ai_n20505986/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26460426/
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Almonds would not exist really if not for packing up and trucking mass amounts of hives across the country to be there, woken up early for the blossoms. Natural pollinators don’t have enough to live off of the rest of the year. Further, the almond honey is so bitter it’s just tossed. Not even the bees get to keep it.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/14/CM2SS2SNO.DTL
This mingles 40 billion bees every year to essentially share spit and bee bed bugs and bacteria. The United States began importing bees from Australia in 2004 which coincides with the beginning of CCD but that country has a closed hive system not allowing bees from elsewhere because of Varroa mite infestations. Now with the collapse we’ve imported bees from China (I believe though I can’t find the documentation I was reading a couple weeks ago) to add to that bee instability.
http://www.physorg.com/news108307363.html
Treating mites just adds to the imbalance. We are the masters of swallowing a spider to take care of the fly rather than not partaking of the fly to begin with. If only we used as natural a remedy as a spider though:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Was_an_Old_Lady_Who_Swallowed_a_Fly
http://www.solutions-site.org/cat11_sol29.htm
Silver
January 9, 2012 at 10:04 pm