What is happening to America's honey bees?

lanfranco

The Chicago Tribune published a story the other day saying that whole colonies were disappearing. (Note the headline writer's awful attempt at cuteness.) As for why this is happening, that question, so far, is a matter of speculation. The phenomenon could have occurred before, when reporting by beekeepers wasn't extensive: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703270579mar28,1,4079291.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed Apr 04 07, 4:34 PM

star_gazer

Although the writer is trying to be cute this is no laughing matter. Farmers depend on honey bees to polunate many of their crops, less bees means more expensive produce which means another blow to the US economy. And no one, none of our top scientists, know what the problem is so we can begin to even try to solve it. Apr 04 07, 4:58 PM

What-A-Mess

The majority of Commercial Crop Pollination comes from cultured farmed bees. Wild bees pollinate only a fraction of the Countries Crops. "Species of Apis are generalist floral visitors, and will pollinate a large variety of plants, but by no means all plants. Of all the honeybee species, only Apis mellifera has been used extensively for commercial pollination of crops and other plants. The value of these pollination services is commonly measured in the billions of dollars." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeybee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeybee "According to entomologists and other experts, over the past decade populations of pollinators available to service California agriculture have fallen steadily. At the same time, demand for pollination services, especially during the peak period of February and early March, has risen and seems poised to rise even further. One reflection of this situation and outlook is that, from 2004 to 2006, the price of honeybees to pollinate California almonds has jumped from about $54 per colony to about $136 per colony. This article examines the forces behind these market adjustments and some of the consequences for California agriculture." http://aic.ucdavis.edu/research/bee-conomics-1.pdf"> Bee Link Without sounding ugly.......This is more ALARMIST propaganda. Honey bees are bread, cultivated and leased for profit in order to propagate Commercial (which means Money) Crops. Yes there exists a problem due to foreign insect and disease infestations but, like all things in Nature, it is Cyclical! Apr 04 07, 6:31 PM

zbeckabee

What-A-Mess...you have a bee on your nose...RUN!!! "Massive disappearances of honey bees have been reported in 25 states over the past six months. One beekeeper said he has lost 96% of the 13,000 healthy, full hives he once had. So far, experts still do not know what's causing the honey bee die-offs. Entomologist Dr. Diana Cox-Foster analyzed some honey bees from a deserted hive and found twice the usual amount of pathogens in them. This could imply that their immune systems have been seriously damaged by something in the environment leaving the honey bees more susceptible to disease." "The rise of genetically modified crops and resulting herbicide-resistant weeds has led farmers to use increasing amounts of poison to deal with the problem. This accumulation of herbicides, fungicides and pesticides in the environment could be what's to blame for the declining population of honey bees." http://www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1223&category=Environment Apr 04 07, 8:18 PM