disappearing bee populations?

[blackhorse]

Has anyone here been following the major decline in bee populations? This can't be a good thing. The question is; why is it happening, and is man the cause of it??? From the research that I have done on the internet it would seem that this is the first time this has happened, and it's causing some serious alarm not just among farmers, but the US gov't, too.

[Matus1976]

Has anyone here been following the major decline in bee populations? This can't be a good thing. The question is; why is it happening, and is man the cause of it??? From the research that I have done on the internet it would seem that this is the first time this has happened, and it's causing some serious alarm not just among farmers, but the US gov't, too.

I'm surprised this hasn't been blamed on global warming yet and that's not beeing splashed all over the headlines. It is an interesting and potentially worrisome thing.

[BaalChatzaf]

Has anyone here been following the major decline in bee populations? This can't be a good thing. The question is; why is it happening, and is man the cause of it??? From the research that I have done on the internet it would seem that this is the first time this has happened, and it's causing some serious alarm not just among farmers, but the US gov't, too.

My guess is that it is some nasty micro-organism that has evolved to be fatal to bees. I think the problem will be solved scientifically and some kind of immunization will be worked out. Bees from other parts of the world may have to be imported and immunized to restore the bee population. Also natural selection should produce a subpopulation of bees that are immune to whatever it is that is killing the bees. It is possible that an immune population may be developed in the laboratory and then placed in the field. Eventually the problem will be solved.

In the meantime airborne pollination may be to be used. It is not as effective or efficient as bee pollination, but we will have crops. I do not think starvation is imminent.

Other species have been plagued (sic) by harmful micro-organisms, including the human species. One third of Europe's population was killed by some variant of the bubonic plague back in the late middle ages. But our race survived.

When the Spaniards conquered the Aztecs, about six million Aztecs perished from smallpox carried by Spaniards. The Spaniards lived in an environment populated by animals that carried a sub-lethal version of the pox. In effect, most of the Spaniard grew up covered with shit (to use a Monty Python-esque phrase). They developed a partial immunity. The Aztecs, alas for them, had not exposure so the Pox did a number on them. Even so a sub population of the Aztecs survived the pox and they too developed a partial immunity to the disease.

Here is my guess and predictions: 1. some of the honey bee population will survive. 2. a technological fix to the problem will be developed. 3. We will not starve.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Jody Gomez]

As a beekeeper(a couple of hives for sheer fun) this is distrurbing to me. There are a few reasons for the decline. They are man-made. Pesticides are one, and there are legitimate reasons for believing that electro-magnetic inteference from electronic devices( i.e., cell phones) which intefere with the bee's "homing mechanisms", are culprits. I suppose this brings us to the question, "what should be done?" Nothing "should" be done. Let science and the free market figure it out.

Edited April 21, 2007 by Jody Gomez

[Jody Gomez]

In the meantime airborne pollination may be to be used. It is not as effective or efficient as bee pollination, but we will have crops. I do not think starvation is imminent.

Do me a favor and plant two tomatoe plants beside each other, and see how much airborne pollination takes place.

[BaalChatzaf]

In the meantime airborne pollination may be to be used. It is not as effective or efficient as bee pollination, but we will have crops. I do not think starvation is imminent.

Do me a favor and plant two tomatoe plants beside each other, and see how much airborne pollination takes place.

Been there and done that. I got enough for tomatoes to go with my salad. I did a no bee scenario with hand pollenation Worse comes to worse pollen can be gathered by hand and spread by airplane. Bees are better, but something is better than nothing. Other pollenators are wasps and ants and hummingbirds. Neither as good as bees. Nature took a quarter of a billion years to make bees. It is a hard act to follow.

BTW Do you expect to starve to death? What are the chances that a mutation producing an immune strain of bees will happen? I am inclined to bet on it. Here is why. When a pathogen starts killing a host or carrier it is undoing itself. Therefore when a milder version of the pathogen arises (by mutation) it is selected to survive because enough of the host/victim population survives to spread the pathogen. A really totally lethal pathogen is doomed. When it runs out of victims it is finished. Natural selection will eliminate such a pathogen.

Ba'al Chatzaf.

[blackhorse]

If man is the cause of this dilema then my question is; how do we SOLVE the problem? What can be done to re-invigorate the bee populations to return and remain strong?-are we past the proverbial "point of no return"? What are the solutions? Certainly man can pollinate through technological means, but I think it wise not to lose the natural ally we have in bees (seeing as they serve many other valuble functions as well.) Something on the order of 1 in every 4 things that we eat or drink is directly related to bee pollination. And now, it appears that the problem has spread to the UK, too. 'IF' man is the cause, then man needs to be the solution as well.

[BaalChatzaf]

As a beekeeper(a couple of hives for sheer fun) this is distrurbing to me. There are a few reasons for the decline. They are man-made. Pesticides are one, and there are legitimate reasons for believing that electro-magnetic inteference from electronic devices( i.e., cell phones) which intefere with the bee's "homing mechanisms", are culprits. I suppose this brings us to the question, "what should be done?" Nothing "should" be done. Let science and the free market figure it out.

Science, the free market -AND- natural selection.

The government is no help in this situation.

What is possible and perhaps likely to happen is a queen with mutant genes that is immune or partially immune to whatever it is that is causing sickness among the bees. She will breed a race of immune bees. When you have a lethal pathogen, the totally lethal version kills all the victims which can further spread the disease. A less lethal form is therefore selected to survive, since some of its victims can live to spread the pathogen and then recover. In the victim population mutations will arise that are immune or partially immune to the pathogen.

We have an example of this with sickle cell anemia which is a disease that provides immunity against malaria. In an environment with the malaria spreading mosquito this disease is actually a survival characteristic.

Ba'al Chatzaf