Anyone else worried about the bees?

[beacooker]

Have you seen the articles recently about how bees are disappearing/dying off in huge numbers all of a sudden, in the US, Canada, and Europe? Scary, scary stuff. :eek:

A few articles:

http://www.celsias.com/blog/2007/03/15/bee-colony-collapse-disorder-where-is-it-heading/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F10B1FF8355A0C748EDDAB0894DF404482

[funnybone]

I don't think they are disappearing - they've moved to Illinois. :rolleyes: :( I had never been stung by a bee, until I moved to IL. In the last four years, probably have been stung as many times. We have a lot of bees for whatever reason in our neighbohood and everyone complains about them. Some people have said it's because we have cedar roofs and there is some cedar siding on our houses too and that attracts them.

[avariell]

we literally just had an article about this in our local paper...
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/science/science.php?story=dispatch/2007/03/13/20070313-03000.html

i love honey bees... they are part of summer to me. i hope they figure out what iis going on with them :(

[cindy47031]

Yes! I am worried about the bees... to a point.

I am a hobby beekeeper. From my understanding, hobbyists (at least in my area) aren't being affected by this. It's mainly the BIG migratory pollinators who are facing this. Unfortunately, many of these operations aren't extremely vigilant at minding their colonies (note, I have a hard time keeping up with 10 colonies, so please don't think I'm casting a stone. Many of these outfits have thousands of colonies.) Losing a colony isn't a significant loss to these to these guys, as they will easily make back the cost of a new colony (~$60-70 for a 3 lb. swarm) on one pollination job, which will typically last a couple of weeks. Then they can move the new colony on and everything else they make that year is profit. So why put a lot of labor (=$$) into managing their colonies?

So, I am not intensely worried about my own bees getting this syndrome. My BIL & I work together (lately he's been stuck with the lion's share of the work) to monitor our colonies and take good care of them.

What IS scary (and is probably your concern and should be) is that those migratory beekeepers are responsible for providing pollination services for a large portion of our food supply. Without these bees, feral bees and other insects will be all that are left to pick up the slack. The result could definitely be smaller crops, which will of course mean higher food prices.

The good news is.... Mother Nature is smarter than we are. The bees are stronger than we think they are.

When I was a little barefoot kid in the 70's, I can't tell you how many bees I stepped on that stung my little feet. These were feral bees, as no beekeepers lived within 10 miles of our property. In the 1980's, when varroa mites first appeared, the decline in feral bees was rapid, and domestic bees also suffered. Beekeepers responded in 2 ways. We turned to our scientists who developed chemicals with which we could treat our hives. This is tricky. You are basically using an insecticide to kill the insects (mites) in order to save insects (bees)! The other thing we did (and I say we although I was a little girl still 20 years away from her first beehive, so please don't mistake this for personal experience) was good old fashioned selective breeding. We looked at which hives were surviving mite infestations, and produced new queens from those hives. We looked to feral colonies that had survived and stole eggs from them with which to breed. And now varroa mites are still very much a concern but a manageable one. Feral colonies have made major comeback, and little barefoot hoosier kids are getting their feet stung again!

In our apiary, we monitor the number of varroa mites in our hives, and only treat when the mites reach what feel is a threatening threshhold.

My point in telling you this is to say that honey bees have faced threats in the past. I don't think there is cause at this point for major alarm. Jim Tew from Ohio State U and Tom Webster at KY State are VERY intelligent men. They are only a few of the bee scientists who are currently researching this problem. I have faith in them and their abilities, but more than that even, I have a deep and abiding faith in the will and strength of the honeybees. Your almonds might get expensive for a few years, but the honeybees will survive this.

Thanks for bringing it up on this board.

[honeygirl1971]

I've been reading about this too and AM quite concerned. It's yet another sign of the massive, dangerous changes we've wrought in the ecosystem on a global scale!! :eek:

Like Cindy said, I've read that it's not so much small beekeepers' bees that are facing the worst problems, but larger scale operations and also wild bees, and that's a problem for the pollination of food crops as well as numerous other plants. I've actually read that it is in areas that don't have a lot of artisan beekeepers that are facing the worst problems.

I guess I have less faith than Cindy does in the ability of nature to bounce back in the face of all the damage we've done to the ecosystem. I do hope that now that people are starting to talk about this problem, though, more will be done to protect the bees...

[cindy47031]

I'm glad people are talking about it, too. I wanted to also mention one other thing...

Besides reading and talking about these important issues, what can YOU do to help to honeybees?

The most important thing I can think of is avoiding the use of pesticides (including herbicides.) If you feel you MUST use them, then please try to use them at times when plants are not blooming. You may think the lowly dandelion is a weed in your yard, but to honeybees, it is a major food source. If you are going to kill the dandelions and other weeds, PLEASE do so before or after they flower.

But really, how can look at those lovely little yellow buttons all over your yard and not smile? ;)

[erinl]

Oddly, two days ago, a bee was following my daughter around. I have never, ever seen a bee in March before!

[colleency]

There are about a hundred dead bees lying on the sidewalk in front of my office. It's really strange.

[charley]

Heard about that on a recent newsmagazine (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/11/tech/main2458519.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_2458519). Pretty frightening stuff!

Honeybees are always a welcome sight in my yard even when they swarm the hummer feeders.

[Canice]

I'm glad people are talking about it, too. I wanted to also mention one other thing...

Besides reading and talking about these important issues, what can YOU do to help to honeybees?

The most important thing I can think of is avoiding the use of pesticides (including herbicides.) If you feel you MUST use them, then please try to use them at times when plants are not blooming. You may think the lowly dandelion is a weed in your yard, but to honeybees, it is a major food source. If you are going to kill the dandelions and other weeds, PLEASE do so before or after they flower.

But really, how can look at those lovely little yellow buttons all over your yard and not smile? ;)

I wouldn't say I'm worried per se, but it is troubliing. It's been getting a fair bit of air time, and as I type I'm listening to a segment on a local NPR affiliate Native Bees Buzz Again (http://www.kqed.org/programs/program-landing.jsp?progID=RD83) about efforts to restore bee populations in the Bay Area. I was in the next room when they were talking about residential gardens, but it sounds like there's going to be an effort to get people to plant flowers that attract the bees. Hmmm, sounds like they need a good PR firm to help with that! I myself love watching the bumble bees, but they're not the ones in trouble.

[Libra20]

It's really scary what would happen if the bees continue to disappear. Most of the fruits and veggies we eat are pollinated by bees. The other night I met a filmmaker doing a documentary on why the bees are disappearing. If you want to check out the trailer, the link is http://www.vanishingbees.com/trailer.html