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Author Topic: This year marks the highest losses of honey bee populations in the U.S.  (Read 30607 times)

Offline Jim134

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Dan Rather Reports - Buzzkill
Published on Apr 3, 2013  


This year marks the highest losses of honey bee populations in the U.S. Some of the country's biggest beekeepers have lost over 60%. Some say they won't be able to rebuild their numbers with such high losses and if these kinds of losses continue, the industry may only be able to sustain itself a few more years at most. WIth one in three bites of food we eat dependent on bees for pollination, will there be enough bees to pollinate the crops this year? The almond orchards in California are the first test where 85% of the world's almonds come from. Enter a fascinating world of the largest mass pollination event on earth.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ5riRX1_3w



        BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
« Last Edit: April 05, 2013, 03:53:19 am by Jim 134 »
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Offline hardwood

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Thanks for the link Jim. I actually just got done watching this show on tv and found it interesting although depressing. The 2013 "summit" they covered was a joke...EPA and pesticide manufacturers dancing around the issues like politicians.

Scott
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

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Offline Nimrod

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I just watched a report on BBC World News, the bee problem is world wide.  They are having the same problem in England.  I live in South Georgia and I have noticed a drastic change in animals and varmints in our area.  Last year I didn't see a single bee in our flower garden.  I know longer see frogs and toads out at night.  I no longer see tadpoles in streams or ponds.  I don't see as many snakes.  I don't catch as many fish, and I do know how to catch fish, they just are not in the rivers here any longer.  There are not as many birds as they were ten years ago.  Coons and possoms are fewer as well.  There is something wrong in our environment.  I believe it is in the water.

Offline D Coates

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I just watched it.  It was pretty depressing, but misery sells.  It seemed heavy on the sky is falling of sensationalism that uses stats and info that were anecdotal not scientifically based.  With that type of reporting you can then lead your audience to the conclusion you want to promote.  It being Dan Rather "reporting" does not help as it's been proven he's willing to ignore some obvious truths if it gets in the way of a good story.
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Offline Nimrod

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D you are right.  The news media reports things in a way that is best for them, not all but most.  I have lost faith in the national news media.  We have to do our on investigations and work with our university systems to figure out what is going on.  I can tell you from my own observations something is really wrong.  I have been raised outdoors, I have lived my life outside and I can document the changes I have seen.  Like I said above, it is in the water.  Just from things I have seen locally, things that are raised in water are on a decline.  Could it be from our local E. I. Hatch Nuclear Power Plant?  They have had some accidents there.  The plant has been in operation since 1973 and all the used fuel rods are being stored on site. 

Offline Jim134

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I just watched it.  It was pretty depressing, but misery sells. It seemed heavy on the sky is falling of sensationalism that uses stats and info that were anecdotal not scientifically based.  With that type of reporting you can then lead your audience to the conclusion you want to promote.  It being Dan Rather "reporting" does not help as it's been proven he's willing to ignore some obvious truths if it gets in the way of a good story.

   I have been doing bees for the lasts 56 years from World War II to about 1983 before
Varroa mites the USA had about 5 million hives after Varroa mites the number of hives are about 2.5 million 1984 to now.
   In 1960 to 1980 my winter losses were about 3% to 5% after Varroa mites winter losses are about 25% or so.

   I do not know if the sky falling or not just look at the numbers and you tell me but I can only tell you what happened to me and yes I have kept the bees on the same property for all these years.


             BEE HAPPY Jim 134  :)

« Last Edit: April 05, 2013, 11:19:32 pm by Jim 134 »
"Tell me and I'll forget,show me and I may  remember,involve me and I'll understand"
        Chinese Proverb

"The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways."
 John F. Kennedy
Franklin County Beekeepers Association MA. http://www.franklinmabeekeepers.org/

Offline 10framer

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jim,
i agree that the mite issue has been a big blow for honeybees and now the hive beetle but this is trying to pin everything on pesticides.  
they made one really good point, hives from almost every state are shipped into one small area at the same time then after being exposed to each other shipped back to where they came from.  bees are being exposed to problems from every part of the country.  i'm not a big fan of migratory pollination because of that and the fact that it's stressful on the bees in general.
they also pointed out that when you treat for varroa you are trying to kill a bug on a bug.  so, when people use the various pesticides designed to kill the mites what is that doing to the bees?
is there a problem? definitely.  can it be blamed squarely on agriculture?  i doubt it.  
i think one of the biggest dangers for bees is beekeeping these days.    

Offline derekm

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I just watched a report on BBC World News, the bee problem is world wide.  They are having the same problem in England.  I live in South Georgia and I have noticed a drastic change in animals and varmints in our area.  Last year I didn't see a single bee in our flower garden.  I know longer see frogs and toads out at night.  I no longer see tadpoles in streams or ponds.  I don't see as many snakes.  I don't catch as many fish, and I do know how to catch fish, they just are not in the rivers here any longer.  There are not as many birds as they were ten years ago.  Coons and possoms are fewer as well.  There is something wrong in our environment.  I believe it is in the water.
Its insects that are the problem...  so many things eat them,  frogs toads fish birds , small mammals, they are fundamental to the food chains.  We are destroying all the insects, so we are starving the frogs, toad, birds and small mammals.

Ask a motorcyclist. A bikers visor in spring samples a cross section of flying insects.

Agriculture is going to kill insects, that isnt going to change, but we need to change the amount they kill.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2013, 05:38:10 am by derekm »
If they increased energy bill for your home by a factor of 4.5 would you consider that cruel? If so why are you doing that to your bees?

Offline Finski

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What I understood, USA was last summer extremely hot. Am  I right?

It has influences of quality and amount of pollen and it has bad influences on bees wintering.
Huge losses  have appeared on areas which suffer  from dryness.

.
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Offline 10framer

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I just watched a report on BBC World News, the bee problem is world wide.  They are having the same problem in England.  I live in South Georgia and I have noticed a drastic change in animals and varmints in our area.  Last year I didn't see a single bee in our flower garden.  I know longer see frogs and toads out at night.  I no longer see tadpoles in streams or ponds.  I don't see as many snakes.  I don't catch as many fish, and I do know how to catch fish, they just are not in the rivers here any longer.  There are not as many birds as they were ten years ago.  Coons and possoms are fewer as well.  There is something wrong in our environment.  I believe it is in the water.
Its insects that are the problem...  so many things eat them,  frogs toads fish birds , small mammals, they are fundamental to the food chains.  We are destroying all the insects, so we are starving the frogs, toad, birds and small mammals.

Ask a motorcyclist. A bikers visor in spring samples a cross section of flying insects.

Agriculture is going to kill insects, that isnt going to change, but we need to change the amount they kill.

i ride 60 miles one way from my house to my farm.  there are thousands of acres of peach orchards and hundreds of thousands of acres of cotton/soybean/sunflower fields and i have to wash my windshield every day because of all the insects on it.  the problem with the frogs is definitely in the water.  there have been several studies over the last ten or 20 years about the decline of frogs.  part of that problem is fertilizer and pesticide run off but only part of it.  

Offline 10framer

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What I understood, USA was last summer extremely hot. Am  I right?

It has influences of quality and amount of pollen and it has bad influences on bees wintering.
Huge losses  have appeared on areas which suffer  from dryness.

.
yes, it was hot as well as a drought.  in late june i drove from alabama to south dakota and back.  the state of arkansas looked like it was ready to go up in flames it was so dry and the midwest and plains states were hit right after that.  there were also some very big wildfires at the time. 

Offline Finski

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We had extremely dry in 2003. Then in Finland, Sweden and in North Germany  66% hive losses were very common.  it was quite large climatic area.

2 years ago (?) I read about isle of western  coast of USA, where they lost 90% of their hives.
It was in news that it was very dry there.




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Offline derekm

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I just watched a report on BBC World News, the bee problem is world wide.  They are having the same problem in England.  I live in South Georgia and I have noticed a drastic change in animals and varmints in our area.  Last year I didn't see a single bee in our flower garden.  I know longer see frogs and toads out at night.  I no longer see tadpoles in streams or ponds.  I don't see as many snakes.  I don't catch as many fish, and I do know how to catch fish, they just are not in the rivers here any longer.  There are not as many birds as they were ten years ago.  Coons and possoms are fewer as well.  There is something wrong in our environment.  I believe it is in the water.
Its insects that are the problem...  so many things eat them,  frogs toads fish birds , small mammals, they are fundamental to the food chains.  We are destroying all the insects, so we are starving the frogs, toad, birds and small mammals.

Ask a motorcyclist. A bikers visor in spring samples a cross section of flying insects.

Agriculture is going to kill insects, that isnt going to change, but we need to change the amount they kill.

i ride 60 miles one way from my house to my farm.  there are thousands of acres of peach orchards and hundreds of thousands of acres of cotton/soybean/sunflower fields and i have to wash my windshield every day because of all the insects on it.  the problem with the frogs is definitely in the water.  there have been several studies over the last ten or 20 years about the decline of frogs.  part of that problem is fertilizer and pesticide run off but only part of it.  
but how many bugs on the visor 10 years ago?
If they increased energy bill for your home by a factor of 4.5 would you consider that cruel? If so why are you doing that to your bees?

Offline buzzbee

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We had extremely dry in 2003. Then in Finland, Sweden and in North Germany  66% hive losses were very common.  it was quite large climatic area.

2 years ago (?) I read about isle of western  coast of USA, where they lost 90% of their hives.
It was in news that it was very dry there.






Finsky, you mean these high bee losses has happened before?

Offline Finski

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Finsky, you mean these high bee losses has happened before?


yes...
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Offline 10framer

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Finsky, you mean these high bee losses has happened before?


yes...

first documented in 1869.   records of it happening at various places several times since then. 

Offline Finski

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It was Vancouver Isle of Canada 2010
 
Vancouver Island beekeepers say 90 per cent of their hives have been wiped out by a lethal combination of disease and a long summer last year.
 
Vancouver Island is home to a quarter of all the honeybees in British Columbia, but commercial operations were devastated over the winter by a high mortality rate for honeybees.
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Offline Jim134

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It was Vancouver Isle of Canada 2010
 
Vancouver Island beekeepers say 90 per cent of their hives have been wiped out by a lethal combination of disease and a long summer last year.
 
Vancouver Island is home to a quarter of all the honeybees in British Columbia, but commercial operations were devastated over the winter by a high mortality rate for honeybees.

Finski........
This is Canada not the USA.


      

           BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
"Tell me and I'll forget,show me and I may  remember,involve me and I'll understand"
        Chinese Proverb

"The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways."
 John F. Kennedy
Franklin County Beekeepers Association MA. http://www.franklinmabeekeepers.org/

Offline BeeMaster2

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Finsky, you mean these high bee losses has happened before?


yes...

I am reading The Beekeeper's Lament, only about half way through. The author documents numerous times going back as far as the written history of beekeeping of this happening over and over. Langstroth talked about it happening due to the wax moth but it goes back much further than that.
Jim
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Offline Finski

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Finski........
This is Canada not the USA.


Yes, I saw it from map.

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