Hi All,
We had a hive of wild bees in an old barn here, for years. They didn't bother us, and we didn't bother them. I started noticing last summer, that fewer and fewer bees were showing up at the site on the barn wall, where they had the "entrance" to their hive. Now, after the normal winter die-off, they are almost completely gone.
Apparently this is a problem in many parts of the U. S, and now it's spreading into Canada. This doesn't bode well for many fruits and vegetables, (and other crops), that rely on bees for pollination. I'm not aware of any new chemicals that have been used in this area - in fact, there are far fewer chemicals used here, than at any time in probably the past 50 years. The only insecticides used around here, are used for cotton production, (which is completely state regulated, as far as chemical use is concerned), and the nearest cotton field is well over a mile away.
I'm guessing it's a mite or bacteria, that cause some sort of neurological damage, which confuses their navigation systems, and they just can't find their way back to the hive, but that's just a WAG.
http://www.guelphmercury.com/breakingne ... 57598.html
Tex
Why Are The Bees Disappearing?
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Why Are The Bees Disappearing?
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MaggieRedwings
- King Penguin
- Posts: 3865
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 3:16 am
- Location: SE Pennsylvania
HI Tex,
Very timely since I just had someone send me an article that the bees were disappearing due to cell phone usage. Whatever it is, it is serious. The last article I read prior to the cell one is that they feel it is probably a mite.
Sorry I deleted the e-mail with the cell phone link or I would post it. Nothing is too far fetched these days.
Love, Maggie
Very timely since I just had someone send me an article that the bees were disappearing due to cell phone usage. Whatever it is, it is serious. The last article I read prior to the cell one is that they feel it is probably a mite.
Sorry I deleted the e-mail with the cell phone link or I would post it. Nothing is too far fetched these days.
Love, Maggie
Maggie Scarpone
___________________
Resident Birder - I live to bird and enjoy life!
___________________
Resident Birder - I live to bird and enjoy life!
Hi Tex,
I think a lot of the pollinators are disappearing, not just bees. Check out Wikipedia on "pollinator decline". They mention factors such as insecticides (especially spraying from planes for gypsy moths, etc.), loss of habitat (hedgerows, meadows), mites and other parasites, etc. Last year was the first year we didn't have enough honey bees and had to import them.
Do you need bees for corn?
Love,
Polly
I think a lot of the pollinators are disappearing, not just bees. Check out Wikipedia on "pollinator decline". They mention factors such as insecticides (especially spraying from planes for gypsy moths, etc.), loss of habitat (hedgerows, meadows), mites and other parasites, etc. Last year was the first year we didn't have enough honey bees and had to import them.
Do you need bees for corn?
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
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barbaranoela
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 5394
- Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 6:11 pm
- Location: New York
Maggs---thats cus nobody has the cell phone Number of the BEEZ!!! In order to alert them that its time to BUZZZZ!!!
Again---sorry had to say -----
Anyway---we had a hive right in our *drain* spout,above the front door --cant say if its active yet---cus I think we are too early for Beez Buzz now???
Or maybe they need a *GARMIN*
No, I am not drinking
Luve Barbara
Again---sorry had to say -----
Anyway---we had a hive right in our *drain* spout,above the front door --cant say if its active yet---cus I think we are too early for Beez Buzz now???
Or maybe they need a *GARMIN*
No, I am not drinking
Luve Barbara
the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control
I saw an item on t.v. in reference to exactly what Maggie is referring to - cell phones.
Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?
Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees
By Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross
Published: 15 April 2007
It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail.
They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe - was beginning to hit Britain as well.
The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees' navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) occurs when a hive's inhabitants suddenly disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers, like so many apian Mary Celestes. The vanished bees are never found, but thought to die singly far from home. The parasites, wildlife and other bees that normally raid the honey and pollen left behind when a colony dies, refuse to go anywhere near the abandoned hives.
The alarm was first sounded last autumn, but has now hit half of all American states. The West Coast is thought to have lost 60 per cent of its commercial bee population, with 70 per cent missing on the East Coast.
CCD has since spread to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. And last week John Chapple, one of London's biggest bee-keepers, announced that 23 of his 40 hives have been abruptly abandoned.
Other apiarists have recorded losses in Scotland, Wales and north-west England, but the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs insisted: "There is absolutely no evidence of CCD in the UK."
The implications of the spread are alarming. Most of the world's crops depend on pollination by bees. Albert Einstein once said that if the bees disappeared, "man would have only four years of life left".
No one knows why it is happening. Theories involving mites, pesticides, global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have drawbacks.
German research has long shown that bees' behaviour changes near power lines.
Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a "hint" to a possible cause.
Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: "I am convinced the possibility is real."
The case against handsets
Evidence of dangers to people from mobile phones is increasing. But proof is still lacking, largely because many of the biggest perils, such as cancer, take decades to show up.
Most research on cancer has so far proved inconclusive. But an official Finnish study found that people who used the phones for more than 10 years were 40 per cent more likely to get a brain tumour on the same side as they held the handset.
Equally alarming, blue-chip Swedish research revealed that radiation from mobile phones killed off brain cells, suggesting that today's teenagers could go senile in the prime of their lives.
Studies in India and the US have raised the possibility that men who use mobile phones heavily have reduced sperm counts. And, more prosaically, doctors have identified the condition of "text thumb", a form of RSI from constant texting.
Professor Sir William Stewart, who has headed two official inquiries, warned that children under eight should not use mobiles and made a series of safety recommendations, largely ignored by ministers.
Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?
Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees
By Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross
Published: 15 April 2007
It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail.
They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe - was beginning to hit Britain as well.
The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees' navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) occurs when a hive's inhabitants suddenly disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers, like so many apian Mary Celestes. The vanished bees are never found, but thought to die singly far from home. The parasites, wildlife and other bees that normally raid the honey and pollen left behind when a colony dies, refuse to go anywhere near the abandoned hives.
The alarm was first sounded last autumn, but has now hit half of all American states. The West Coast is thought to have lost 60 per cent of its commercial bee population, with 70 per cent missing on the East Coast.
CCD has since spread to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. And last week John Chapple, one of London's biggest bee-keepers, announced that 23 of his 40 hives have been abruptly abandoned.
Other apiarists have recorded losses in Scotland, Wales and north-west England, but the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs insisted: "There is absolutely no evidence of CCD in the UK."
The implications of the spread are alarming. Most of the world's crops depend on pollination by bees. Albert Einstein once said that if the bees disappeared, "man would have only four years of life left".
No one knows why it is happening. Theories involving mites, pesticides, global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have drawbacks.
German research has long shown that bees' behaviour changes near power lines.
Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a "hint" to a possible cause.
Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: "I am convinced the possibility is real."
The case against handsets
Evidence of dangers to people from mobile phones is increasing. But proof is still lacking, largely because many of the biggest perils, such as cancer, take decades to show up.
Most research on cancer has so far proved inconclusive. But an official Finnish study found that people who used the phones for more than 10 years were 40 per cent more likely to get a brain tumour on the same side as they held the handset.
Equally alarming, blue-chip Swedish research revealed that radiation from mobile phones killed off brain cells, suggesting that today's teenagers could go senile in the prime of their lives.
Studies in India and the US have raised the possibility that men who use mobile phones heavily have reduced sperm counts. And, more prosaically, doctors have identified the condition of "text thumb", a form of RSI from constant texting.
Professor Sir William Stewart, who has headed two official inquiries, warned that children under eight should not use mobiles and made a series of safety recommendations, largely ignored by ministers.
Well-
Over spring break, they must have all come to California!!! A huge hive appeared in a tree in front of the elementary school - like the size of 2 basketballs!! The kids had to enter and exit through the back doors, and they had a bee keeper come and get it down. A few are still hangin' around wondering where their house went!
Mary
Over spring break, they must have all come to California!!! A huge hive appeared in a tree in front of the elementary school - like the size of 2 basketballs!! The kids had to enter and exit through the back doors, and they had a bee keeper come and get it down. A few are still hangin' around wondering where their house went!
Mary
Polly,
I suspect that this is one situation where Albert Einstein was wrong. I can't think of any grain crops that are not self-pollinating. Maize, (corn), sorgham, wheat, oats, rice, etc., are all self-pollinating. Otherwise we would have been in trouble years ago, because of insufficient numbers of pollinating insects. Cotton, clover, and many vegetables and fruit, could be affected, of course. Even soybeans self-pollinate, (unfortunately). LOL.
There could possibly be something to the theory about radiation from electronic communications devices, as a possible culprit. I often park near the spot where that colony lived in the barn, and I have often made phone calls while sitting there. (Sometimes within 12 to 15 feet of the colony). I've been using cell phones for 18 years, now, but I don't remember if the bees moved in before I started parking there.
Love,
Tex
I suspect that this is one situation where Albert Einstein was wrong. I can't think of any grain crops that are not self-pollinating. Maize, (corn), sorgham, wheat, oats, rice, etc., are all self-pollinating. Otherwise we would have been in trouble years ago, because of insufficient numbers of pollinating insects. Cotton, clover, and many vegetables and fruit, could be affected, of course. Even soybeans self-pollinate, (unfortunately). LOL.
There could possibly be something to the theory about radiation from electronic communications devices, as a possible culprit. I often park near the spot where that colony lived in the barn, and I have often made phone calls while sitting there. (Sometimes within 12 to 15 feet of the colony). I've been using cell phones for 18 years, now, but I don't remember if the bees moved in before I started parking there.
Love,
Tex
