Honey Bees Disappearing!

[InternationalSpaceAgency]

Ever here of a thing called, DYSLEXIA?

 

Sadly, many people with high I.Q., have this affliction.

 

I am one who has this! When I interact on forums like this, I have little time to spell & grammer check, as I would in a professional publication or letter.

 

This affliction is terrible, and when I was in my precollege years, they branded me as dumb because of this. I could be in MENZA if I wanted, and my I.Q. is in the top 10% of the general population.

 

If you met me in person, and carried out a verbal conversation, you would never know I have DYSLEXIA.

 

I am well versed in hundreds of professional and scientific fields, and have great applied real world experience far beyond the average person.

 

Spelling, although important in a professional sence, is not more important than the information presented. What about non-english speakers, who are Drs. and PhDs., and mispell numserious words, and have poor grammer. Does that mean what they know or what they have to say has less meaning because of a misspelling!

 

Can language professors build rockets or mnipulate mathmatical forumulas that fill multiple black boards? I think not!

 

Because a Professor or Doctor of language cannot do these things, does it make them dumb or irrelivent!?

 

Hmm?!

 

 

Not to over-nitpick, but the word you mean to use Mr/Ms ISA is 'affecting', not 'effecting'. Oh, and it's 'navigation', not 'navagation', and 'immune', not emune.

 

Since you haven't got my confidence by virtue of your spelling, perhaps you have some links to proffer that suffort your points? :hyper:

[HappytheStripper]

I only recently heard of 'colony collapse disorder' and it sounds as if it is getting serious. A quick web search of 'colony collapse disorder' nets about 25,000 hits. Here's just one: News | Telegraph

 

Any of you heard of this? Noticed bee loss in your locale? Ever tried to pollinate an apple tree by hand?

 

Hey Turtle..

 

Yes.. in New Zealand I have heard of "colony collapse disorder".. and just like the next person.. I certainly hope honey doesnt disappear.. as honey is for many reasons.. a medicinal necessity.. and one of natures true wonders..

 

Active UMF Manuka Honey found only in New Zealand.. has naturally occurring properties which can assist your body against harmful bacteria..

 

Honey New Zealand : Manuka Honey and healthy honey bee products

 

New Zealand have had many problems in recent years with the Varroa Mite.. an insect which has effectively wiped out the bee population in NZ.. mostly the South Island at this point.. although it is heading North..

 

New Zealand beekeeper groups are concerned that unregistered beekeepers in the Nelson region may jeopardise the varroa identification enterprise currently underway in that area..

 

In studying the effects of the varroa mite among many other problems the honey industry face.. Scientists are said to have cracked the bee code to honey pot.. what this means is..

 

Bees' have a biological clock to tell the time of day.. using a sophisticated navigation system to locate food miles away.. and can produce the sweetest natural substance on earth simply by chewing up pollen grains..

 

The secret life of the honey bee is about to be revealed.. after the success of an international effort to decipher the full genetic recipe of the most economically valuable insect...

 

Scientists have published the results in the journals Nature and Science.

 

An early analysis of the genes has shown that the honey bee's ancestors originated in Africa and migrated at least twice in the distant past to populate Asia and Europe..

 

Another finding is that the honey bee has an unusually high number of genes devoted to smell.. making a bee better at detecting a scent in the air than fruit flies or mosquitoes..

 

Scientists hope that more secrets will be explained at the molecular level with the help of the full DNA sequence of the only social insect to be partially domesticated by man..

 

A study of the bee's genome has shown that the molecular machinery of its internal body clock more closely resembles that of a mammal than of other insects.. said Guy Bloch of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

 

The bee can learn to reach flowers at nine different times of the day with an accuracy of 20 minutes.. the clock is essential for its navigation system - based on the movement of the sun in the sky - which can locate a food source up to 9.6km away..

 

Dr Bloch states.. Discovering that molecular characteristics of the biological clock in bees is closer to the biological clock of mammals than that of flies was a big surprise..

 

Scientists also announced the discovery of the world's oldest bee.. a 100-million-year-old specimen preserved in amber that had evolved from a wasp-like ancestor.. It was about 40 million years older than the previous oldest known bee fossil.

 

Honey bees evolved millions of years later alongside flowering plants in a symbiotic relationship.. said Hugh Robertson.. professor of entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign..

 

Today bees pollinate billions of dollars worth of agricultural crops..

 

Scientists had hoped that the honey bee genome would also explain how it evolved into being a social insect with a caste of sterile female workers.. male drones and a fertile queen.

 

"However.. we didn't find much diversification of such social genes."

 

The scientists hope that by selectively silencing certain honey bee genes.. they will be able to work out which ones are involved in the genetic programming necessary for the evolution of castes within the hive..

 

 

Honey Bee Facts

 

* Some 20,000 bee species exist.. on every continent except Antarctica.

 

* They carry an electrostatic charge.. which helps pollen stick to their bodies.

 

* Despite their sometimes painful sting.. bees are one of the few insects used on advertisements.. mostly to promote honey or in Sanitariums case.. HoneyPuffs which I love the most..

[Turtle]

Ever here of a thing called, DYSLEXIA?

 

Because a Professor or Doctor of language cannot do these things, does it make them dumb or irrelivent!?

 

Hmm?!

 

 

GETE (Grinning Ear To Ear) ;) Simma down nah. :hyper: We're all bozos on this bus Doc; we all have our peccadillos & brash claims & poor speeling are a couple of mine.

 

So, got any links to support what you presented as scientific analysis of the bee colony disorder that has folks studying it stumped? No hurry; I'm a turtle through & through.

 

Honey Bee Facts

 

* Some 20,000 bee species exist.. on every continent except Antarctica.

 

* They carry an electrostatic charge.. which helps pollen stick to their bodies.

 

* Despite their sometimes painful sting.. bees are one of the few insects used on advertisements.. mostly to promote honey or in Sanitariums case.. HoneyPuffs which I love the most..

 

Wow! I never heard about the electrostatic charge on bees. I have seen reports of people using bee-stings as therapy for arthritis & such. I keep a 6 pound jug of honey in my survival supplies; I hear it stores indefinately.:doh:

[Michaelangelica]

Einstein is reputed to have said that if bees die out so too will humans within 4 years.

Happy days:)

[HappytheStripper]

Einstein is reputed to have said that if bees die out so too will humans within 4 years.

Happy days:)

 

Woooohooooooo.. that looks like my bus stop..

 

if you're happy and you know it.. clap your hands

[kmcolo]

It seems to me that the "Independent" has a bit of a checkered history of playing up limited studies and initial findings. Here is the key phrase in thier piece:

 

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.

 

I suppose now is a time for an unlimited study and maybe figure out if the bee's refusal to go home had anything to do with the cell phone signal (or maybe it was due to the cell phones, placed in front of their door, were a bit intimidating. :doh: )

[Turtle]

...

I suppose now is a time for an unlimited study and maybe figure out if the bee's refusal to go home had anything to do with the cell phone signal (or maybe it was due to the cell phones, placed in front of their door, were a bit intimidating. :cup: )

 

Good point km. In reviewing the thread I am modestly surprised we have yet no sources linking colony collapse disorder to global warming. In the current political climate, I imagine making such a link in a study proposal will have the money flowing like honey. :doh: :doh:

[Michaelangelica]

My understanding is that bees navigate by the sun.

I have not heard of them navigating by the earth's magnetic 'waves'?

But then pigeons do, so it could be possible.

If there was a shift in the earth's magnetic poles something should be happening in Oz too but I have not heard of anything yet- except that some bees may be sent to the USA to replenish hives. I will take more notice.

Here is the only local article I could find by goggling. Most of what has already been said

Bee-ing near mobile phones | Herald Sun

 

When a bee goes to a food source they only carry just enough food for the journey. Some hot days you find tired, thirsty bees near a tap or hose - looking a bit lost.

 

We too have native bees. I had a hive once. They are about the size of bar flies don't sting, and make hives in logs.

Native and other plants that can be pollinated by the European bees have been given a 'leg up' in the survival stakes while those plants that can only be fertilised by the native bee are languishing.

[gribbon]

I hope they dont die off, I love honey

 

:hyper: Really?:D :eek: I never knew that....:D

 

I heard that since October 2006, 35 per cent or more of the United States' population of the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) - billions of individual bees - simply flew from their hive homes and disappeared...

[InfiniteNow]

Here's a study that suggests that Radio Waves are the source . .

 

Mobile phones 'killing bees' - 17 Apr 2007 - Computing.co.uk

 

Kind of makes you wonder...

 

Wow, it sure is a good thing you posted that. After post #13 (of this monster 28 post thread) none of us may have known.

[pgrmdave]

Infinite - there's no need to be so rude about it. Orb was just trying to provide information.

[InfiniteNow]

Infinite - there's no need to be so rude about it. Orb was just trying to provide information.

 

Thanks for your input dave. I already saw your comments when you neg repped me for it.

 

Cheers. :hihi:

[gribbon]

Wow, it sure is a good thing you posted that. After post #13 (of this monster 28 post thread) none of us may have known.

 

..and

 

Thanks for your input dave. I already saw your comments when you neg repped me for it.

 

Cheers.

 

Your welcome. Perhaps this could explain why you get into so many fights.

 

***********************************************

Anyway....

 

CCD is mainly because of collapse in their immune systems, caused by long tracks across the country that introduces them to new pesticides and parasites/viruses/bacteria.

 

CCD has been observed as far back as 1896, and so is nothing new. Since about 1970, though, the population has been declining and not just collapsing at sporadic intervals. A tiny Asian mite, known as Varroa destructor to scientists and the 'vampire mite' to beekeepers, are tiny parasites that have been destroying Apis cerana in Southeast Asia for millennia, but now appear to have spread and are wreaking havoc elsewhere.

 

Another problem appears to be a fungal growth in the bee’s digestive system. The fungi may be from the genus Aspergillus, a group of fungi that produce toxins which can kill young adult bees, often causing them to fly away from their colonies before they die.

 

Other theories include a suspicion that transporting colonies across vast countries is introducing them to new diseases. Furthermore, HFCS could mean a nutrition problem.

 

:)

[InfiniteNow]

Your welcome.

Why are you saying "You're welcome" for something in which you weren't even involved? :D

 

Perhaps this could explain why you get into so many fights.

Well, considering you're one of like 5 people who ever neg repped me, and those that have just do so repeatedly, I find your statement laughable.

 

You may notice that I have earned quite a high score in the reputation system of this site. This speaks clearly to the fact that the great percentage of my posts are more appreciated than not. There's only one neg rep I've received that caused me to change my thinking on something, and that was from another member who has my respect. He raised a valid point, and did so using the tone of a teacher, not a tantrum throwing reactionary. The rest of my neg reps were mostly just from morons who don't know their *** from their elbow and felt offended by some truthful but rib-poking comment I made... in other words, I couldn't care less about their opinions. :)

 

CCD has been observed as far back as 1896, and so is nothing new.

I'd bet that it happened well before that even, but we may not have recorded it. I'm not sure that this is being presented as some "new" problem. I understood the concern to be around the breadth and frequency of the decline, that it's practically epidemic. Is that not the case? Are we concerned unecessarily? ;)

 

Furthermore, HFCS could mean a nutrition problem.

Yes indeed, but mostly for the animals which benefit from the successful pollenation of plants... If we don't figure out a) if we can slow the decline in bee population effectively, or :) an alternate method of pollinating our crops consistently, we may have some "base of the food chain" sustainment problems heading our way.

[GAHD]

Things like this often make me wonder at the genetic diversity left in te species. This honey bee dieoff could be related to the Cheetah and Panda; extinction by inbreeding.

[gribbon]

Why are you saying "You're welcome" for something in which you weren't even involved?

 

I have far better things to do than argue with you. I suggest we drop this. Immediately.

 

Are we concerned unecessarily?

 

Well, the U.S economy is going to suffer big time if you don’t take care of this, in particular the multi-billion dollar nut and almond industry. I would also point out to you that 30% of the U.S food supply is dependent upon these animals.

 

On many occasions, a 30% loss has been recorded as a result of the Asian parasite nicknamed the “vampire mite”. Whether this has had more impact than neonicotinioid pesticides (such as imidacloprid, clothianiden and thiamethoxam, which intoxicate the bee while it collects nectar and pollen), I don’t know, but it’s worth figuring out when you consider the impact we are witnessing.

 

Yes indeed, but mostly for the animals, which benefit from the successful pollenation of plants...

 

Um...HFCS has nothing to do with pollination…. That’s “High Fructose Corn Syrup”…these are very convenient to use, but appear to provide inadequate nutrition.

[InfiniteNow]

I have far better things to do than argue with you. I suggest we drop this. Immediately.

:D

 

Um...HFCS has nothing to do with pollination…. That’s “High Fructose Corn Syrup”…

Ah... Thanks for clarifying. I thought you were still referring to the CCD. TMAFS - Too many acronyms for sure. Please see my current sig quote. :hihi: