Really? Agrochem blames mites!!!

[Dash12721]

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/monsanto-bayer-seek-answers-bee-losses-6C9996526

and corn growers are concerned about a couple million in lost revenues.  

Dash

[buzzbee]

This has already been posted here:
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,41333.0.html
And if you think mites are not a large part of the  multi factor equasion and can be ignored, your colonies will suffer. Read the history of bee losses since the varroa arrived.It has not been pretty.

[10framer]

This has already been posted here:
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,41333.0.html
And if you think mites are not a large part of the  multi factor equasion and can be ignored, your colonies will suffer. Read the history of bee losses since the varroa arrived.It has not been pretty.

you mean mites aren't cute and harmless pets for the bees?  how can anything not being produced by some big bad corporation be bad for anything?
thanks buzz, it's nice to hear the voice of reason on these threads now and then.  how anyone could question the role that mites as well as the hive beetle (along with many other factors including taking bees from all over the country and cramming them into one small area in california) play in the decline of the bee populations is beyond me. 

[Kathyp]

one of the long time theories has to do with mites weakening the immune systems of the bees.  there's probably some info around her on that.

[rober]

mites are definitely the one of the worst things to happen to the honey bees but monsanto & bayer with their gmo crops, herbicides, & pesticides have not exactly been the bees best friends either.

[10framer]

mites are definitely the one of the worst things to happen to the honey bees but monsanto & bayer with their gmo crops, herbicides, & pesticides have not exactly been the bees best friends either.

i'm not sold on gmo crops or herbicides but pesticides are designed to kill insects so that kind of has to be true.  but the title of this thread suggests that mites are part of some "big business" conspiracy. 
if people would show me hard data instead of trying to use this platform to whine about corporate greed i might be swayed a bit more.  i'm sick of class envy hiding behind environmental issues.
i think that the dust created by planting treated corn is part of the problem.  i think the chemical companies have admitted to that as well but i don't hear the armchair activists admitting that there is a lot more going on than neonics. etc. 

[melliferal]

Beware agrochem companies bearing gifts?

Perhaps Monsanto and Bayer might indeed be hiding behind mites in an attempt to deflect attention from themselves and their practices; but that's only possible because varroa really are a critical threat.  Make no mistake.

[Highlander]

Good to see people openly talking about the whole bee population decline being a toxic mix of what "we" do AND what "they" do.  The answers will not be easy, especially if big egos get swatted.  If this is happening to our bees, is it also happening to the other pollinators? Or can we say with total assurance that it is only happening to the honey bee?  I do not think this is an either/or situation.

[buzzbee]

Heres an article to read:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572

[10framer]

Heres an article to read:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572

60 percent of the bees in lower 48 crammed together to pollinate almonds, seems like this should raise a lot of red flags.  if you crammed 60 percent of the chickens in the united states into a tiny area what kind of outbreaks do you think would follow?  of the hives that have died what percentage are used for migratory pollination? 

[buzzbee]

10 framer,that is a legitimate question on where the big losses were. I always wonder about the validity of data on these surveys anyhow. I think keepers with large losses are more likely to respond to them,skewing the data.

[melliferal]

10 framer,that is a legitimate question on where the big losses were. I always wonder about the validity of data on these surveys anyhow. I think keepers with large losses are more likely to respond to them,skewing the data.

I agree.  Commercial and sideliner beeks that have a pretty solid overwinter don't really have much reason to look for (and thus participate in) loss studies; and a lot of those data points are therefore lost.  But, how can that be fixed?

[buzzbee]

Melliferal, I wish I knew the answer. Those doing the study are often looking for a specific outcome.

Perhaps the last knee jerk reactions are what brought us into the neonics?
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/CropNews/2009/0602tollefson.htm

And maybe the beekeepers are helping kill the bees too:
http://agrinews-pubs.com/Content/News/Latest-News/Article/Study--Sugar-diet-may-have-impact-on-honeybee-health/8/6/7139

[10framer]

buzz it seems like most people in this country that fail like to point the blame at someone else and big business is an easy target these days.  if i'm not mistaken australia is having no issues but they grow a lot of gmo crops and use neonics on a regular basis.  what they don't have is the good ole' varroa destructor to help drag them down.  now, to be fair i will agree that the problem is stressed bees.  stressed by mites, stressed by beetles, and stressed by being shipped across the country and forced to live little bee elbow to little bee elbow in california before they then get shipped across the country  all this time they can't do cleansing flights.  they go through all types of weather conditions with 60mph winds for hours on end.  this would be stressful for me so i'm sure it's tough on insects.  the simplest conclusion should be that varroa and migratory pollination are killing bees or at least facilitating the high death rate by stressing them to the point that other problems finish them.

[JWChesnut]

 Randy Oliver has an article on the spring 2013 losses.  Where he compares southern and mid-western origin bees to speculate on causes.  Oliver does state that the talc dust added to corn seed is an issue.

His article at: http://tinyurl.com/Bees-Spring-13
His website is http://scientificbeekeeping.com/

[10framer]

Randy Oliver has an article on the spring 2013 losses.  Where he compares southern and mid-western origin bees to speculate on causes.  Oliver does state that the talc dust added to corn seed is an issue.

His article at: http://tinyurl.com/Bees-Spring-13
His website is http://scientificbeekeeping.com/

thanks