Posted By: Avalee
Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 04/10/07 11:43 PM
From reading this and other articles about this I assume this is a very serious thing that is happening. You can read about it here: Bees are leaving
Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril
Posted By: crater
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 04/11/07 02:26 AM
Originally Posted By: Avalee
From reading this and other articles about this I assume this is a very serious thing that is happening. You can read about it here: Bees are leaving
Avalee, I do wonder if some of the "end time signs" will be man made. Consequence of man's greed in the stewardship of the earth. Are these two quotes applicable?
Quote:
Are these ills visited upon the race through God's providence? --No; they exist because the people have gone contrary to his providence, and still continue rashly to disregard his laws.-- R. and H., 1884, No. 31. {HL 52.3}
God is not responsible for the suffering which follows the non-conformity to natural law and moral obligations to him.-- H. R. {HL 53.2}
God is not responsible for the suffering which follows the non-conformity to natural law and moral obligations to him.-- H. R. {HL 53.2}
Agribusiness has gotten so far from nature in the treatment of animals, fish, birds and bees, that it is little wonder that we are seeing the types of disease in them that we are. To me it is a "sin against nature".
Juliette de Bairacli-Levy is one of my favorite herbalist. She lived very close so nature. Besides raising her dogs, and farm animals, she kept bees. She said about bees.
Quote:
Bees respond very well to nature beekeeping, because they themselves are, “instinctive and highly skilled herbalists. . . . .
Leave the bees alone to manage their own kingdoms (in which management they are perfection in every detail) and the healthy hives will produce enough surplus healthy honey to justify the small amount of care required from the bee keeper. (Such as painting and whitewashing the hives, supplying combs, and what should be done - the planting of a garden of bee herbs. pg. 345
Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable, by Juliette de Bairacli-Levy
Leave the bees alone to manage their own kingdoms (in which management they are perfection in every detail) and the healthy hives will produce enough surplus healthy honey to justify the small amount of care required from the bee keeper. (Such as painting and whitewashing the hives, supplying combs, and what should be done - the planting of a garden of bee herbs. pg. 345
Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable, by Juliette de Bairacli-Levy
Here is an article on Herbal Beekeeping
http://www.richters.com/newdisplay.cgi?page=InfoSheets/d9001.html&cart_id=81.1496
Wikipedia has a info on Colony Collapse Disorder, Just a couple of interesting quotes from the article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder
Quote:
Honey bees are not native to the Americas, therefore their necessity as pollinators in the US is limited to strictly agricultural uses. They are responsible for pollination of approximately one third of the United States' crop species, including such species as: almonds, peaches, soybeans, apples, pears, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, and strawberries; many but not all of these plants can be (and often are) pollinated by other insects, including other kinds of bees, in the U.S., but typically not on a commercial scale. While some farmers of a few kinds of native crops do bring in honey bees to help pollinate, none specifically need them, and when honey bees are absent from a region, the native pollinators quickly reclaim the niche, typically being better adapted to serve those plants (assuming that the plants normally occur in that specific area). On the 30% of crop types where honey bees are used -- even though many other creatures are actually more efficient at pollinating, on a per-individual basis -- most native pollinators cannot be mass-utilized as easily or as effectively as honey bees, if they will visit the plants at all. Beehives can be moved from crop to crop as needed, and the bees will visit many plants in large numbers, compensating via sheer numbers for what they lack in efficiency. The commercial viability of these crops is therefore strongly tied to the beekeeping industry.
Quote:
The Sierra Club Genetic Engineering Committee recently published a letter to Senator Thomas Harkin on the web with the title "GE and bee Colony Collapse Disorder -- science needed!".[18] They are of the opinion that "highly respected scientists believe that exposure to genetically engineered crops and their plant-produced pesticides merit serious consideration as either the cause or a contributory factor to the development and spread of CCD." Nine literature references which might support this theory are cited
Posted By: crater
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 04/11/07 04:33 AM
Now if I was, say an evangelical, I might think the bees had been "Raptured"!
Sorry, After rereading the the title, I just had to throw that in.
Sorry, After rereading the the title, I just had to throw that in.
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 04/11/07 06:54 PM
Can't fault you for that one! 
Posted By: crater
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 04/18/07 01:33 AM
Originally Posted By: Avalee
From reading this and other articles about this I assume this is a very serious thing that is happening. You can read about it here: Bees are leaving
Here is the latest theory on colony collapse disorder (CCD).
Cell phones hurting bee populations?
Bees are suddenly and mysteriously dying off worldwide. Now some scientists blame RADIATION FROM CELL PHONES and cell phone towers, which they say interferes with bees' navigation, so worker bees go out to find pollen, and never find their way back to the hives.
http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/...57a1d77&k=86662
Apiculture world abuzz over theory that cellphone radiation may be killing bees
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2449968.ece
Posted By: Redfog
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 06/20/07 06:26 AM
Just for the record, the person who came up with the cell phone idea for Colony collapse Disorder admits his idea was based on junk science and he didn't even use a cell phone in his "research".
The question going around bee keeping circles is CCD real or just part of a cycle of die offs we've been seeing on and off for years? Or media hype? Apparently it is real but no one knows why. Same with the media hype)
The latest theory is that it's a combination of things, new groups of insecticides that are synthetic nicotine based (that the best I can explain), varroa mites that live on the bees and maybe most of all stress from moving the bees. In order for a bee keeper to stay in business, at least in the US he/she must keep the bees moving for the pollination money. Our bees are on the road a lot, in the fall from Michigan to Georgia, then in winter to California for almonds, then back to Georgia in very early spring, then to SW Michigan for blueberries and finally to Central Michigan for the honey crop. That is a lot of travel and it is hard on the bees. We figure with each move we might lose up to 10% of the bees. Thankfully not all is doom and gloom. We should expect at this time of year to find about 10% hive loss since the last time we opened the hive, instead we are finding maybe 4 or 5%, and for the 2nd year in a row we're getting a spring honey crop. Something we only get about one time in three. And at least here in Michigan other bee keepers are reporting good results as well. We are hopeful that our 17-18 hundred hives will continue to do well.
Redfog
The question going around bee keeping circles is CCD real or just part of a cycle of die offs we've been seeing on and off for years? Or media hype? Apparently it is real but no one knows why. Same with the media hype)
The latest theory is that it's a combination of things, new groups of insecticides that are synthetic nicotine based (that the best I can explain), varroa mites that live on the bees and maybe most of all stress from moving the bees. In order for a bee keeper to stay in business, at least in the US he/she must keep the bees moving for the pollination money. Our bees are on the road a lot, in the fall from Michigan to Georgia, then in winter to California for almonds, then back to Georgia in very early spring, then to SW Michigan for blueberries and finally to Central Michigan for the honey crop. That is a lot of travel and it is hard on the bees. We figure with each move we might lose up to 10% of the bees. Thankfully not all is doom and gloom. We should expect at this time of year to find about 10% hive loss since the last time we opened the hive, instead we are finding maybe 4 or 5%, and for the 2nd year in a row we're getting a spring honey crop. Something we only get about one time in three. And at least here in Michigan other bee keepers are reporting good results as well. We are hopeful that our 17-18 hundred hives will continue to do well.Redfog
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 06/20/07 03:16 PM
That, being the case, what then are you doing that the others are not doing?
Posted By: Redfog
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 06/21/07 01:10 AM
Nothing that I know of. Maybe it's just worse in some areas than others, but really while some are having problems with CCD, many, and I dare say the majority are not. A lot of it has been overblown my the media, but of course that is easy to say when our bees are healthy.
We do wonder though about where we got the majority of our queens this year. Most came from Australia, maybe we just happened upon a good strain of bees that are resistant to CCD.
Really no one has any real idea of what the problem is, or even how wide spread it is. It might be that some apiarists have a little die off (we did two years ago) and they hear about other bee keepers having CCD so they jump on the band wagon and assume they have it as well.
Richard
We do wonder though about where we got the majority of our queens this year. Most came from Australia, maybe we just happened upon a good strain of bees that are resistant to CCD.
Really no one has any real idea of what the problem is, or even how wide spread it is. It might be that some apiarists have a little die off (we did two years ago) and they hear about other bee keepers having CCD so they jump on the band wagon and assume they have it as well.
Richard
Posted By: Redfog
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 06/26/07 11:35 PM
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 06/29/07 10:09 PM
Interesting article, Redfog.
In what way does it affect you?
In what way does it affect you?
Posted By: Redfog
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 06/30/07 05:25 AM
Well the price of honey is about the same as it was 20 years ago. Back when diesel fuel was $1 a gallon. Workers were happy to get $4 an hour and a one ton truck could be bought for 15 grand. The demand for honey has risen but is being filled by the imports, thus a lot of bee keepers have gone out of business and the ones that have stayed in can only make it by trucking the bees 1000's of miles per year to rent out their bees for pollination. I'm guessing our semi runs about 60-80,000 miles per year. And the smaller trucks even more. All that trucking is very hard on the bees and might be a factor in the disappearing bees that have been in the news so much lately. I guess the bottom line is that the bees are being put in jeopardy by cheap imports. When the bees all die say goodbye to blueberries, apples, almonds, cucumbers etc etc. Many people look at the bee problems and see the loss of honey, but in fact the bees are so much more than honey. I'd say that Canada is having the same problems as we are here in the states.
Redfog
Redfog
Posted By: crater
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 10/23/09 07:31 AM
Formation of Hydroxymethylfurfural in ...Apis mellifera)
Quote:
In the United States, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has become a sucrose replacement for honey bees and has widespread use as a sweetener in many processed foods and beverages for human consumption. It is utilized by commercial beekeepers as a food for honey bees for several reasons: to promote brood production, after bees have been moved for commercial pollination, and when field-gathered nectar sources are scarce. Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is a heat-formed contaminant and is the most noted toxin to honey bees. Currently, there are no rapid field tests that would alert beekeepers of dangerous levels of HMF in HFCS or honey.
High-Fructose Corn Syrup Produces Toxic Chemical "HMF" When Heated
Quote:
What these USDA researchers discovered is that when HFCS is heated, it forms hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a chemical that can kill honey bees. The production of HMF during cooking rose in parallel to the temperatures to which HFCS was exposed.
To put it plainly, when you cook HFCS, it becomes contaminated with HMF. And according to the research, levels of HMF "jumped dramatically" when temperatures rose above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (which isn't very hot, by the way).
This is similar to the way in which browning or frying carbohydrates produces acrylamides, a cancer-causing chemical that's also ubiquitous in the food supply.
To put it plainly, when you cook HFCS, it becomes contaminated with HMF. And according to the research, levels of HMF "jumped dramatically" when temperatures rose above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (which isn't very hot, by the way).
This is similar to the way in which browning or frying carbohydrates produces acrylamides, a cancer-causing chemical that's also ubiquitous in the food supply.
Posted By: kland
Re: Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril - 10/23/09 06:59 PM
Reading the article, there is something that seems odd to me which maybe Redfrog or others could help clarify. It hypes and mystifies the disappearance. Do beekeepers come to their hive and open up the box and see or expect to see dead bees in the hive? The limited knowledge I have of them is that the bees clean out the dead bees so one would expect to find very few dead bees in the box. As in, the last one dead can't sweep the floor.
In light of what crater just posted, could that be the reason? I mean, how much sense does it make to give bees that of which they are intended to do -- make sweetness? Almost seems as if it were possible, they would give them steroids and burn them out early for a profit.
There was a local writer of the newspaper which this was the first year of her having bees and she described how she fed them sugar water. I questioned her if that was wise. She said "they" told her to feed them it and that's what everyone traditionally does. The bees are dead, now. Could be the problem.
Originally Posted By: Article
To give bees energy while they are pollinating, beekeepers now feed them protein supplements and a liquid mix of sucrose and corn syrup carried in tanker-sized trucks costing $12,000 per load.
In light of what crater just posted, could that be the reason? I mean, how much sense does it make to give bees that of which they are intended to do -- make sweetness? Almost seems as if it were possible, they would give them steroids and burn them out early for a profit.
There was a local writer of the newspaper which this was the first year of her having bees and she described how she fed them sugar water. I questioned her if that was wise. She said "they" told her to feed them it and that's what everyone traditionally does. The bees are dead, now. Could be the problem.