I Love Bees

[sistersintigo]

Did anyone else see the news reports I saw -- this is old news, not recent.
That, there was an outbreak of parasites so microscopic that they feed on bees the way fleas feed on dogs. Some form of mite, a really little mite, proliferating and killing off the honeybees. Anyone else hear that one?

[Sternhauser]

[quote name='memtherose' date='24 March 2010 - 10:55 PM' timestamp='1269489311' post='2079555']
From what I've seen, the bees are healthy, normal bees. They fly out each day to do what they need to do.... But they don't return back to the hive. They just disappear.
[/quote]

The bees are going Galt.

~Sternhauser

[God Conquers]

[quote name='sistersintigo' date='25 March 2010 - 11:06 AM' timestamp='1269529588' post='2079714']
Did anyone else see the news reports I saw -- this is old news, not recent.
That, there was an outbreak of parasites so microscopic that they feed on bees the way fleas feed on dogs. Some form of mite, a really little mite, proliferating and killing off the honeybees. Anyone else hear that one?
[/quote]

Man, what kind of fleas have you guys got that are killing dogs!?

[kamiller42]

[quote name='Slappo' date='25 March 2010 - 12:12 AM' timestamp='1269490369' post='2079569']
We could just build bee hives around a big magnet
[/quote]
If that doesn't work, give them all GPS units with turn by turn directions.

The cell tower theory is interesting, easy to test. How are hives doing out in nowhere land? One problem with the cell tower theory is we have had towers for at least a couple of decades. This is the fourth year for the problem.

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='sistersintigo' date='25 March 2010 - 12:06 PM' timestamp='1269529588' post='2079714']
Did anyone else see the news reports I saw -- this is old news, not recent.
That, there was an outbreak of parasites so microscopic that they feed on bees the way fleas feed on dogs. Some form of mite, a really little mite, proliferating and killing off the honeybees. Anyone else hear that one?
[/quote]

I've heard of them. I can't recall exactly what type of mite they are now... Some researchers believe that part of the problem with mites is farmers who "rent" hives (which is why I think they should just keep a hive on their property), things get shipped around and the bees get exposed to other hives/bees with mites or a disease and they catch it and expose the hive and things rapidly go downhill.

Wiki actually has a decent article on the topic of disappearing bees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder
[quote]Bee rentals and migratory beekeeping

Since U.S. beekeeper Nephi Miller first began moving his hives to different areas of the country for the winter of 1908, migratory beekeeping has become widespread in America.

Bee rental for pollination is a crucial element of U.S. agriculture, which could not produce anywhere near its current levels with native pollinators alone.[84] U.S. beekeepers collectively earn much more from renting their bees out for pollination than they do from honey production.

Researchers are concerned that trucking colonies around the country to pollinate crops, where they intermingle with other bees from all over, helps spread viruses and mites among colonies. Additionally, such continuous movement and re-settlement is considered by some a strain and disruption for the entire hive, possibly rendering it less resistant to all sorts of systemic disorder.[85]
[edit] U.S. bee rental travel extent

One major U.S. beekeeper reports moving his hives from Idaho to California in January, then to apple orchards in Washington in March, to North Dakota two months later, and then back to Idaho by November—a journey of several thousand kilometres. Others move from Florida to New Hampshire or to Texas; nearly all visit California for the almond bloom in January.

Beekeepers in Europe and Asia are generally far less mobile, with bee populations moving and mingling within a smaller geographic extent (although some keepers do move longer distances, it is much less common).

This wider spread and intermingling in the U.S. has resulted in far greater losses from Varroa mite infections in recent years.[86][/quote]

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='IcePrincessKRS' date='25 March 2010 - 11:24 AM' timestamp='1269530680' post='2079724']
Wiki actually has a decent article on the topic of disappearing bees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder
[/quote]
Hey, that is a pretty good summary of CCD. The list of 108 references and the "further reading" section both look great too. Funny, I've been reading about this off and on for a while now but never thought to scope out the wikipedia article.

[Saint Therese]

[quote]
Even Einstein is reputed to have have said: "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live."
[/quote]

So what happens if the chicken disappears?

Edited March 25, 2010 by Saint Therese

[Tony]

[img]http://newsimg.ngfiles.com/33000/33734_Beeees.jpg[/img]

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='Saint Therese' date='25 March 2010 - 03:51 PM' timestamp='1269546682' post='2079896']
So what happens if the chicken disappears?
[/quote]
Less influenza outbreaks.

[Saint Therese]

yeah, but how would I get my nuggets?

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Saint Therese' date='25 March 2010 - 03:47 PM' timestamp='1269550038' post='2079963']
yeah, but how would I get my nuggets?
[/quote]
Fish. Then you can eat it on Friday too.

[Saint Therese]

I just realized I have no idea whether or not I ate meat last Friday.

Can't remember.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='Saint Therese' date='25 March 2010 - 04:47 PM' timestamp='1269550038' post='2079963']
yeah, but how would I get my nuggets?
[/quote]
Thermoplasticized soy protein from genetically modified soybeans! - With a long list of mystery ingredients to better approximate classic nuggets.

[Saint Therese]

That's a crime against nature.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='Saint Therese' date='25 March 2010 - 05:13 PM' timestamp='1269551610' post='2080008']
That's a crime against nature.
[/quote]
Amen. Amen.