Where are the bees?
Apr 11
The US honeybee population is dying off, and nobody knows why.
“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” – Albert Einstein
A study referenced in the source article points to genetically modified corn as a potential culprit, but the study in question provided far greater concentrations of the toxin than the bees would ever experience in the real world. That doesn’t rule it out of course, but I’m no where near ready to jump on the anti-science bandwagon when it comes to food. Also, Germany is also seeing a dramatic decline in honeybees, and genetically modified food is banned in Europe, isn’t it?
When I saw this in my feeds, I thought your title was “where are the beers?”. How disappointed I was to find out this was about bees.
If the bees all die we won’t have honey for beer. I used pure honey as a substitute for brewing sugar many times back in my homebrew days.
I came up with my own recipe for a “honey pale ale” that was really good the first time I made it. I tried to re-create it a couple times and it just didn’t come out the same. Still have the recipe if you want it.
I blogged about this too
http://yedies.blogspot.com/200.....-bees.html
It’s a huge problem for this country..
It affects so much of our agriculture..
I think this is a bigger problem then “global warming”
Something is making the hives toxic such that the bees abandon them.. the hives are like mini-Jamestowns, and no one seems to know where the bees are disappearing to, or if the bees are flying off to establish new hives or just go off to die somewhere.
Hmm, an animal population disappearing without a trace…Anybody heard anything about an interstellar bypass being built in the neighborhood?
Maybe it’s the bees, and not the mice, that are really in charge here.
I blame this girl…..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Rain
Blind Melon – nice. I saw their lead singer in his bar band days when he was fronting a hair metal cover band in Lafayette IN.
Is “global warming” in doubt? And why do I have to choose between being worried about bees and the fact of global warming? Might the two not be connected?
Or maybe it’s all DH’s fault. He has a cell phone.
(I have a cell phone too but it couldn’t be MY fault.
)
Nance
I saw this post on an entomologist’s blog. Passing it along without comment.
http://www.biotunes.org/bioblog/bioblog.html
Sorry — direct link to that post:
http://www.biotunes.org/bioblo.....-bees.html
Some of my own thinking here. . .
How about movement in the earth’s magnetic poles as a cause for this bee dilemma. The bees go out, get lost, become exhausted and die. Look for dead bees far from their hive. If this is true then look for anomalies in migratory species, like Swallows, not going to Capistrano or many birds floating in the sea. Why? The polar magnetic characteristic of the migratory mechanism is no longer the same and therefore natural, instinctual response to such stimulus will resonate with those magnetic anomalies resulting in “DBS” or “disappearing bee syndrome”. I’m making this up. Maybe late night “Coast to Coast” radio program will call me up to be a guest. Let’s continue.
The phenomena is appearing over too broad of an area with similar events, unexplainable disappearance of bees from their hives. Chemicals are not that well distributed and used. H mm. dog food melanin? I might have to take that back.
Cell phones? Homing devices? Whatever. How many have you see in areas near bees? Don’t live near bee hives? Use your imagination.