Honey Bee Population
- Thread starter Uncle Bob
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
quicksilver
Washing Up
If I'm correct, I think I remember it's some kind of intestinal parasite?
expatgirl
Master Chef
yes, they do have a deadly mite decimating their populations as well as just the usual man-made deforestation of their habitats. I can remember 15 years ago instructing the neighborhood kids to just shut their eyes and come to the front door and not be afraid of the bees that were flocking to my flowers. Most of them did........not one bee sting ever......if I was slow in my movements i could work amongst them with no trouble.......oh, how I miss their busy hummings...there are so few now
mcnerd
Head Chef
Unfortunately the parasite and other causes have not been proven and I don't know what "deforestation" has to do with commercial honey bee populations that are moved on a regular basis from customer to customer. It is that population that has declined over 70% and is trackable. There are still a lot of wild bees out there but, as people are noticing, they seem to be declining also even though there is no way to make accurate counts.
What is known is they are declining and there is no expected solution within the coming years. Fortunately farmers know how to pollinate the old fashion way by hand, which is how most of the Japanese farmers do it, but it does not result in mass food production.
OP
OP
Uncle Bob
Chef Extraordinaire
mcnerd said:
Just a thought...I wonder if it is this constant moving of the hives from customer to customer (Big $$$$$$$$) that is the culprit. Or plays a role in the stress on the bees??? Surely no one would put a natural resource in danger for profit!!
{Bee returning to hive}
Darn, the family moved and didn't leave a forwarding address!
And I imagine that regularly waking up in a different place could take a toll.
Yeah, Never.
{/sarcasm}
bethzaring
Master Chef
Just a thought...I wonder if it is this constant moving of the hives from customer to customer (Big $$$$$$$$) that is the culprit. Or plays a role in the stress on the bees??? Surely no one would put a natural resource in danger for profit!!
UB, or Billy Bob, this is happening to the stationary hives as well.
OP
OP
Uncle Bob
Chef Extraordinaire
UB, or Billy Bob, this is happening to the stationary hives as well.
Billy Bob??...
Sir Robert Of 'Misippi', Lord Of The Realm, Duke Of The Swamp, Baron Of The Bayou, Knights Templar, Jedi Knight, Keeper Of The Coals, or Watchman Of The Woods...but not Billy Bob thank youSeriously...an old bee man of 40+ years did suggest this to me the other day...Maybe the stationary hives are grieving themselves to death over the loss of their "traveling" cousins...
Is this a world wide "syndrome"...or is it just a USA and close neighbors phenomenum? What about Brazil...Germany....Russia....Australia???
expatgirl
Master Chef
I'm not thinking of domestic kept hives----but rather wild bees.......our area has cut down so many trees that their natural habitats are gone........same story for the butterflies .....I used to have so many visit my yard along with the bees but it's so rare to see them now...it's sad
licia
Executive Chef
We don't see many here either. We used to have so many on the Wisteria that you had to walk way around it, but only bumble bees now. However, the people who sell honey not far away still have it to sell.
Constance
Master Chef
Our local people still have honey to sell also, Licia.
mcnerd
Head Chef
Sorry, no big worldwide $$$ conspiracy. Commercial bees have been transported for many years as a means to ensure fast and efficient pollination of a farmer's field(s). It also a good way to get very specific tasting honey because the bees are only working on one type of flower. Honey bees have good homing instincts to return to their hives and their Queen, but something now is interfering with that. They are not returning.Just a thought...I wonder if it is this constant moving of the hives from customer to customer (Big $$$$$$$$) that is the culprit. Or plays a role in the stress on the bees??? Surely no one would put a natural resource in danger for profit!!
The farmer is the loser with a reduced or no crop. The bee keepers are at a loss because all their bees are not returning to their hives. And the consumer is a loser because products relying on the pollination and honey are no longer available in the quantities available, resulting in no product and/or high prices. Multiple this world wide......
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LMJ
Senior Cook
It's happening everywhere.
A statistic that I stumbled across: not only the bees have declined, but the number of small hobbyist BEEKEEPERS has declined nationwide.
Since the European bee was domesticated, they've been kept as an integral part of agriculture, a healthy and essential part of the working farm. Maintaining a small population of bees free to roam at their leisure was a model that worked for centuries.
Increasingly today, almost to the exclusion of the traditional model, bees are kept on a commercial scale, the hives loaded on to trucks and driven from state to state to pollenate commercial crops. A week on oranges only, a week on almonds only, etc... Every time they can leave the hive, the landscape is completely different, the sights and scents completely alien. Is it any surprise that these colonies are collapsing en masse? A foraging bee on its own would visit many different species of plant in a day. If a human being ate nothing but chicken for a week, then nothing but lettuce another week, etc, wouldn't they be suffering from some nasty dietary deficiencies?
I think those concerned with the decline are just gonna have to roll up our sleeves and take matters into our own hands to keep honeybees around.
I'll probably have a top bar hive built and an order for Russian bees in for next spring.
A statistic that I stumbled across: not only the bees have declined, but the number of small hobbyist BEEKEEPERS has declined nationwide.
Since the European bee was domesticated, they've been kept as an integral part of agriculture, a healthy and essential part of the working farm. Maintaining a small population of bees free to roam at their leisure was a model that worked for centuries.
Increasingly today, almost to the exclusion of the traditional model, bees are kept on a commercial scale, the hives loaded on to trucks and driven from state to state to pollenate commercial crops. A week on oranges only, a week on almonds only, etc... Every time they can leave the hive, the landscape is completely different, the sights and scents completely alien. Is it any surprise that these colonies are collapsing en masse? A foraging bee on its own would visit many different species of plant in a day. If a human being ate nothing but chicken for a week, then nothing but lettuce another week, etc, wouldn't they be suffering from some nasty dietary deficiencies?
I think those concerned with the decline are just gonna have to roll up our sleeves and take matters into our own hands to keep honeybees around.
I'll probably have a top bar hive built and an order for Russian bees in for next spring.
SixSix210
Senior Cook
Very cool, inforamtive, and entertaining site about this issue here...
Häagen-Dazs - Help the Honey Bees
Häagen-Dazs - Help the Honey Bees
meshoo96
Senior Cook
there was something on discovery last week, too...something about how the population of honey bees has decreased about 30% and it can affect crops and such and there are actually people that are trying to breed them so that they won't die off.
Humm .. organic farming is up - bee population is down ... ergo - organic farming (especially the use of organic pesticides) is killing the bees!
LMJ
Senior Cook
Humm .. organic farming is up - bee population is down ... ergo - organic farming (especially the use of organic pesticides) is killing the bees!
If the organic farmers kept bees, they'd increase at the same rate.
If the organic farmers kept bees, they'd increase at the same rate.
Actually - no. Although what I originally said was a little "tongue-in-cheek" there is the fact that some "organic" pesticides are made from citrus oils - which smell like something safe ... so if there is an increase in the use of "safe smelling" perticides replacing the obvious noxious chemical pesticides ...
Maybe I'm not totally crazy - I just need a large grant to do the research to test my thesis ....
quicksilver
Washing Up
or..... research to TASTE your thesis..................
