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Author Topic:   bees worldwide
pire
Knowflake

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posted October 21, 2009 07:15 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for pire     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
in france, beekeepers complain about the disapearance of bees, like in the US; how is going in other parts of the world? what about australia, germany, england, india, south africa and so on... please share.

quote:
Mystery Bee Disappearances Sweeping U.S.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070223-bees.html
(Stefan Lovgren in Los Angeles
for National Geographic News
February 23, 2007)

Without a trace, something is causing bees to vanish by the thousands. But a new task force hopes to finger the culprit and save the valuable crops that rely on the insects.

Pennsylvania beekeeper Dave Hackenberg was the first beekeeper to report to bee researchers what's become known as colony collapse disorder (CCD).

October Hackenberg had delivered honeybees to a Florida farm to pollinate crops. The bees typically return to their boxed hives when their work is done. But this time was different.
"I came to pick up 400 bee colonies and the bees had just flat-out disappeared," Hackenberg said. "There were no dead bees, no bees on the ground, just empty boxes."
"In almost 50 years as a beekeeper, I've never seen anything like it."
CCD has spread throughout 24 states and ruined hundreds of thousands of bee colonies.
Hackenberg has lost roughly 1,900 of his 2,900 hives. Other operators have lost up to 90 percent of their hives.
Researchers are scrambling to find answers to what is causing the commercially important honeybees to abandon their hives and disappear.
The epidemic could put a strain on fruit growers and other farmers who rely on the insects to pollinate their crops.

An estimated 14 billion U.S. dollars in agricultural crops in the United States are dependent on bee pollination.
"A lot of people think honeybees are only important for the honey they produce," entomologist Maryann Frazier said. "But much, much more important are their pollination services."

The Pennsylvania State University professor is part of the 12-person task force looking into the crisis.

Large commercial beekeepers each keep up to 10,000 colonies. A typical colony has about 20,000 bees in the winter and up to 60,000 in the summer.
The colonies are moved around the country and used for pollinating agricultural crops, including seeded fruits such as apples, citrus crops, and almost anything that grows on a vine.
When a hive is afflicted by CCD, most adults abandon the hive and disappear.
They leave behind only the queen bee and some younger bees. Uncapped brood—young bees in the pupa stage that are still developing—are also abandoned.
No carcasses are found near the hive—the bees are just gone.
"It's a total mystery where they're going and why they're leaving," Frazier said.
Normally, honey-hungry pests or bees from other colonies would quickly overrun a failing bee colony. But when CCD attacks, the hives are left untouched.
Unknown Pathogen
Epidemics of disappearances like the current one have been documented as far back as 1896. But no cause has ever been established, scientists say.
The United States' bee population had already been hit in recent years by a tiny, parasitic bug called the varroa mite, which has destroyed more than half of some beekeepers' hives.
Some experts say bee deaths that have been blamed on mites or poor management may actually have resulted from the mystery disorder.
The CCD epidemic "may have started at least two or three years ago," said Jerry Bromenshenk, a University of Montana entomologist who leads a company called Bee Alert Technology, Inc.
In the meantime, viruses carried by mites may have become more virulent to the bees.
"There might be some new pathogen that has been introduced and we don't know it's there," said Frazier of Penn State.
She and other scientists are worried that the disorder could be a contagious disease. Using contaminated equipment or combining survivors of CCD outbreaks with healthy colonies might spread the supposed disease further, Frazier said.
Researchers are also looking into the effects that pesticides might be having on bees.
In Florida, beekeepers say citrus growers are compounding the problem by spraying pesticides to kill off a fruit-tree pest known as greening disease. The pesticides likely wipe out bees at the same time.
All Eyes on California
The task force is now conducting chemical and genetic analysis of hives hit by CCD.
"We have to find out where and when this has happened, how the bees were managed, and what difference, if any, there is between beekeepers with the problem and beekeepers who have not experienced the disorder," said Bromenshenk of Bee Alert Technology.
Researchers are closely watching what is happening to bee colonies currently pollinating California's 1.4-billion-dollar almond crop. Almonds are 100 percent dependent on bee pollination.
Already some beekeepers have reportedly seen their colonies in California collapse during the almond pollination.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania beekeeper Hackenberg is working on replacing the bees he has lost. On Thursday night he was on his way to Miami, Florida, to receive a shipment of almost six million bees imported from Australia.


i have heard a radio show where a woman beekeeper gave an explanation. firstly she noticed how much we are dependent on bees for our survival, or at least for divesrity in our world. she said that without bees, the world would be completely empty without flowers, fruits or plants.
she also said that bees are not dead but gone, like if they were telling us something. are they complaining about pesticides or about the entire way we treat the earth?

i would love to hear from other parts of the world. so far this phenomenon is happening in the US and in france.

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hippichick
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posted October 22, 2009 03:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for hippichick     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
In South Texas Honey Bees have seemed to have gone away,..

And submitted to the terrible Africanized "honey bees."

Terrors, they are, been hunted by them more than once.

To see a real, fine, quaint honey bee, as in the olden days...

I dunno....

As I continue to duck from the Africanized brand that hopped on some ship and made themselves home here many years ago.

t~~~

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pire
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posted October 26, 2009 05:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for pire     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
i don't know what type of bees it is in france; i would think that african bees are better than no bees.

i like the idea that they are meeting somewhere in the clouds, bees from all over the world.

this woman on the radio show was saying that bees were working in order among chaos, it reminded me of angels.

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hippichick
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posted October 27, 2009 10:27 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for hippichick     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
africanized bees do not make honey, some genetic evolution of the honey bee, they live to live and to kill.

they attacked my black lab i used to have, i was wearing black when they attacked me, more than once till i researched and learned they like black, they are stimulated by vibrations and will launch their attack....and they attack in hundreds and they kill many, amimals and humans alike.

i am remembering now, tho, south of town, i have seen (on my way to the coast) a bee keeper, that is still in operation...

last friday my love and i traveled to a quaint hillcountry town and there were big, fat bees, friendly bees. lurking round the beers...

SO....seen a few of the good, the bad and the ugly, here deep in the heart of texas!

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pire
Knowflake

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posted October 29, 2009 03:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for pire     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
SO....seen a few of the good, the bad and the ugly, here deep in the heart of texas!

lol

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Eleanore
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posted March 25, 2010 03:08 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Eleanore     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100324/ap_on_sc/us_food_and_farm_disappearing_bees

Just saw this. Wasn't there another topic(s) on bees in here? In a hurry but wanted to share.

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Randall
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posted March 30, 2010 03:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Got bees everywhere around my front door--busy like bees--making flowers. BTW, thanks for your contribution, Eleanore. It was very generous.

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"I have found a desire within myself that no experience in this world can satisfy; the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." -C.S. Lewis

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Randall
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posted January 03, 2011 09:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Is the bee problem over now? Haven't heard much about it.

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"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." Charles Schultz

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Randall
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posted May 13, 2011 12:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Has to be over, since bees were everywhere around here this yaer.

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Stawr
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posted July 19, 2011 11:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Stawr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My sister told me that bumble bees are not in areas anymore where people use cell phones a lot. Something about the cell phones messes up the way bumble bee's communicate or something.

I really don't notice bumble bees around where I live any more. But I did up north. (less people there, ya know)

But plenty of wasps and hornets still around. Ugh...I don't like them....why can't it be the wasps...that get thrown off by cellulars?

I actually like bumble bees, they are cute...and less death threatening. (sorry to offend those who care about wasps and hornets)

I'll have to find a link that talks about this more.

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Stawr
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posted July 20, 2011 11:51 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Stawr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
http://www.fireandknowledge.org/archives/2007/04/16/are-cell-phones-bee-killers/

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juniperb
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posted July 23, 2011 08:15 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I notice a lot of the smaller bumble bee looking types. Not the big fat "oh my how do they fly" bumbles but a more aggressive smaller variety.

They pack a mean punch for a small bee.They had a nest in the woodshed and I stepped on a board that covered their nest and an army came out & got me. .

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Christian, Jew, Muslim, Shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the Mystery, unique and not to be judged. Rumi

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abcd efg
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posted July 23, 2011 09:26 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for abcd efg     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
MY GOODNESS! They sting like hell. If an army of them got you then it must have been real bad. Then what did you do?

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juniperb
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posted July 23, 2011 02:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Luckly I only got 3 stings out of it but they chased me to the house and a couple got in. Very agressive and indeed they hurt like h2ll!!

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Christian, Jew, Muslim, Shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the Mystery, unique and not to be judged. Rumi

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Randall
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posted September 25, 2011 03:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
They just thought you were attacking them. Bumblebees ae normally very docile. They are very focused on work. They (along with ants) are the workaholics of nature. I watch them really closely as they gather pollen, and they fly all around me.

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I have CDO. It's like OCD, but the letters are in alphabetical order, as they should be.

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Mblake81
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posted September 26, 2011 12:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mblake81     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Randall:
Has to be over, since bees were everywhere around here this yaer.

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Randall
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posted November 12, 2011 12:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My biology professor said that without bees, the human population would thin in just a few years.

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"Life is like a box of crayons. Most people are the 8-color boxes, but what you're really looking for are the 64-color boxes with the sharpeners on the back. I fancy myself to be a 64-color box, though I've got a few missing. It's okay though, because I've got some more vibrant colors like periwinkle at my disposal. I have a bit of a problem though in that I can only meet the 8-color boxes. Does anyone else have that problem? I mean there are so many different colors of life, of feeling, of articulation...so when I meet someone who's an 8-color type...I'm like, 'hey girl, magenta!' and she's like, 'oh, you mean purple!' and she goes off on her purple thing, and I'm like, 'no - I want magenta!'"
-John Mayer

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