Bee's disappearing
 

This could have a huge effect on the farming industry.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US beekeepers have been stung in recent months by the mysterious disappearance of millions of bees threatening honey supplies as well as crops which depend on the insects for pollination.

Bee numbers on parts of the east coast and in Texas have fallen by more than 70 percent, while California has seen colonies drop by 30 to 60 percent.

According to estimates from the US Department of Agriculture, bees are vanishing across a total of 22 states, and for the time being no one really knows why.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070407...s_070407020928

Maybe somebody let loose some giant japanese hornets and they are eating the bees. :eek:

Global warming? Who knows.

They've been under a lot of pressure from mites but they think its something else maybe a pesticide that screws with their mapping.

Okay folks, everything is under control now. Scientists have devised an acronym to deal with this problem.

Between global warming, pollution, overfishing, and overbuilding, does anyone else here think we're starting the slide to extinction?:thepain:

Maybe I should start reading those 'left behind' books. Do I have to have my circumcision reversed before I buy one, though?;)

.

:D

If this keeps up, next year's fruit is going to be really slim. Bees for no one, scurvy for all!

Apparently some of the newer GMOs have built in pesticides. Spuds with BT have been around a long time and how great an idea that was for about fifteen seconds. Now we've got BT resistant caterpillars. (duh) But the good news is a bunch of CEOs were able to earn giant ass loads of coin, so all is not lost.

I am not sure if the newer pesticide enhanced GMOs may be involved or, in fact, target bees, even as collateral damage. Some Organic approved pesticides will whack bees and growers and beekeepers coordinate placement of the hives and applications of pesticide. In the case of built in pesticide this is hard.

I would be shocked if a GMO was developed and released that the makers knew was harmful to bees. Bees pollinate 1/3 of our food supply, and account for BILLIONS of dollars of food supply. E.g. fruits, grains, cukes, peppers, etc.

I would be less shocked if a GMO was released for use which wasn't adequately tested, and therefore no one knew...


riiiiiiight. /dr.evil

I see nothing in the pork bills for the bee folks, wonder how that happened?? :2cents:

They must have weak Lobby or maybe Bee Keepers are Republicans. :D

I'm waiting for the strident condemnation of the Bush administration for failing to solve this problem in a timely manner, failing to allocate enough tax dollars to reimburse farmers and others who will likely lose their collective shirts, ignoring the problem, hoping it will go away, lying about the effects of GMOs and cronies of the President raking in millions while the common people starve.

Any day now...

Well that's all true, but it could be a sting operation.

It has been noted that the suspected GMO crops have been banned from and never imported into many EU countries (Germany, etc), but those countries are also seeing declines in honeybee populations.

OUCH! That's gonna leave a mark.