Why the fuss over bees? Is the U.S. in the midst of a bee-pocalypse? The science says no. Bee populations in the U.S. and Europe remain at healthy levels for reproduction and the critical pollination of food crops and trees. But during much of the past decade we have seen higher-than-average overwinter bee-colony losses in the Northern Hemisphere, as well as cases of bees abruptly abandoning their hives, a phenomenon known as "colony collapse disorder."
Citing this disorder, antipesticide activists and some voluble beekeepers want to ban the most widely used pesticides in modern agriculture--neonicotinoids ("neonics" for short)--that account for 20% of pesticide sales world-wide. This would have disastrous effects on modern farming and food prices.
h/t Kevin B
Since sympathy for a few dead honeybees doesn't carry the cause, the fear-mongers offer the "we're all gonna die" scare, along the lines of "no bees, no food". This is patent nonsense, of course. Most of the plant food we survive on is pollinated by the wind, with a majority of the rest being done by a large assortment of wild insects.
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/6843/20140511/honeybee-killer-neonicotinoids-caused-colony-collapse-disorder-harvard-study.htm
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2014/05/12/the-cause-of-colony-collapse-disorder-disappearing-bees-becoming-more-clear/
The science is not settled on this one either
The EPA has now become Mother Bee Keeper?
I can't wait to see what Wyle E. Coyote (Super Genius) is
going to write about this!
Unlike John Galt (North of 60,) I am going from memory
because I read books.
Chemical pesticides have been one of the greatest boons
to mankind. The man who invented DDT as a chemical pesticide,
was awarded the Nobel prize for medicine because it was very
effective at killing mosquitoes and nearly eradicated Malaria
wherever it was used.
In WWI, Typhus killed more soldiers than bullets. In WWII,
not a single allied soldier died of Typhus. The difference?
Our soldiers were getting sprayed in the crotch, armpits and
hair with DDT. Plus millions of Europeans and Asians were
saved by being "Dusted" with DDT.
Sri Lanka (Then Ceylon) started using DDT. They had about
225,000 new cases of Malaria a year. The use of DDT caused
their crop yields to increase by 50% and new DDT cases fell
to 17 per year on average. When America and the rest of
the developed world stopped using DDT under pressure from
the tree-huggers, Ceylon followed suit. Their crop yields
plummeted and the Malaria rates skyrocketed to over 200,000.
I have to paraphrase P.J. O'Rourke Because it would take an
hour to dig out his book All The Trouble In The World: When
you can go from more than 200,000 to 17 in a tropical Hell-
hole like Sri Lanka, it is a BIG deal. The pinko tree-
huggers have the deaths of tens of millions on their hands!
Still not convinced? Charles Wursta (Then chief environmental
scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund said this:
"It's as good a way to get rid of them as any," in a direct
reference to little brown people in third world countries
and the ban on DDT.
There is not, nor has there EVER been any ill effects
associated with the use of chemical pesticides or chemical
fertilizers outside the delusional rantings of Rachel
Carson and her ilk. These substances have made us all
healthier and better fed.
I used to see honeybees all the time on my small acreage. Not so anymore. For the past 5 years the decline has been very noticeable. I asked a local commercial bee keeper why. His explanation did not include sprays. In fact I do not think anyone sprays in our area.
The beekeeper's explanation was the revenue from bee keeping was not that lucrative. As a result beekeepers were not taking as good care of their hives as needed. Disease was a issue but good housekeeping was more the problem in his opinion.
Same old anti-progress bullshit from the eco-weenie crowd...they are the TRUE Luddites. See their rant about the effects of GMO corn on monarchs:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/science/monarch-butterflies-threatened-by-gm-crops-in-us-study-says/article18994894/
Most of the "info" in this GMO article is unsubstantiated opinion versus fact and science.
The pinko weenies seem to forget there are 7 billion people to feed. They have their economic cake and drive their Beemers and Audis to Whole Foods to shop and immorally now want to impose their yuppie beliefs on the masses. Bah! ☺
"Never let a crisis go to waste."
Very well said once again.
"It's as good a way to get rid of them as any," This is exactly what it is all about, and this is why this same bunch wants the extraction of fossil fuels stopped. They do not want to left up the living standards of the Second and Third World countries, and as well, want to reduce our living standard to that of the Third World.
@Occam: Indeed, the science is not settled. However, the sources you site are of studies so poorly designed that they are almost anecdotal: "I had some bee hives and some of them died off..... it was probably do to the fact that I treated them with pesticides."
I've said it before on this site and I'll say it again: There are many factors which contribute to bee death. But rather than repeat myself, I give you this, another opinion (which I also don't agree with entirely but which certainly puts a different perspective on bee deaths):
"Bayer believe that the a ban on neonicotinoids will not improve the health of bees. Dr Julian Little says that politicians are drawing the wrong conclusions from the research that has been carried out.
"We have two controls for all of this. One is France; we've had massive restrictions on these products for over 10 years, have we seen any improvement in bee health? No.
"The other control is Australia where neonicotinoids are used in exactly the same way as in the UK, same formula same crops and they have the healthiest bees on the planet. The difference there is they don't have varroa."
Varroa is a parasitic mite that has also played a role in the decline of bees over the past decade. They help spread a range of viral infections that are lethal to the animals.
"The varroa mite is key," says Dr Little.
"If you don't have varroa you have healthy bees regardless of whether neonicotinoids are used. Varroa and bee health are inextricably linked."
Thanks again for your comment Ken. This IS all about
shivering in the dark with no chemical fertilizers or
pesticides. I have read too many quotes by these neo-
Luddites describing their future vision as subsistence
farming and hunter-gathering in the tradition of pre-
industrial "Native American's" There would be no fuels,
no medicines, no machinery, and no economy save bartering.
Back in the 90's I actually used to purchase and read their
periodicals from a local book store. Their world view is
INSANE!
Reading a book, what a novel concept North of 60. Try it
sometime!
Cooking dinner with a pile of Buffalo dung and watching
women dying in childbirth. What a great idea!
I just copied something from Wikipedia. But I had an excuse
because I knew who Thomas Hobbes was and have read this
quote before. He was responding to the types people who were
romanticizing the noble savage:
"In such condition, there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving, and removing, such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Very good points David. I do not cut and paste, I read.
Living here on the left coast in Southern California, I
lost track of the times the beaches were closed due to
high bacteria levels. After a few years of the neo-Luddite
green-weenies screaming pollution, chemicals, man made
toxins, etc., it was discovered that (And I forgot the
exact cause,) but it was a natural phenomenon.
There was also a story involving frogs or toads, where
they were growing these little extra limbs on their
bodies, like Thalidomide babies. (Look that one up
North of 60) For years the environmentalists blamed
toxic chemicals and pollution. Biologists discovered
that it was caused by a parasitic organism.
In almost every one of these "Scary cases," there is
almost always a natural cause.
Clive, more good points. I recently read one of North of
60's rants about GMO's. He made it sound like they were
splicing human genes with vegetables. (Or something to
that effect) Anyway, this whole "Frakenfood" stuff is
horse-crap! This is from people who believe that two
biologically incompatible organisms can produce some
kind of hybrid, like some Sci-Fi rant by Art Bell.
Brundlefly was fiction North of 60. As I told you in
my response to that post cats cannot impregnate dogs and
ears of corn will never be sporting human testicles.
All that is going on here is that researchers are doing
the same thing that humans have been doing all the way
back to prehistoric times. About 400 years ago, the
Dutch produced a hybrid carrot with orange color.
They used nothing but other carrots to create a
carrot in their national color.
Here's a non-paywalled article regarding the bees and the chemicals: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2013/04/30/the-politics-of-bees-turns-science-on-its-head-europe-bans-neonics-while-local-beekeepers-scientists-say-action-is-precipitous/
Here's my question. How have bee colonies fared in regions that have had large installments of wind turbines?
Poor winter survival rate? I wonder if that could have anything to do with the longer and colder winters over the last 15 years? Perhaps they ran out of food and starved. Sorry, that's outside the global warming narrative. I remain amazed that the little buggers stay alive at - 40 by eating sugar and buzzing their wings. They do not hibernate.
Far less honeybees in the Edmonton area this year. My crab apple and cherry tree blossoms used to hum with honeybees. Lots of cats, though, equaling fewer robins
There is so much BS being spread around about neonicotinoids that it is plain to anyone paying the least bit of attention, these compounds are being mythologised to suit the narrative of the usual suspects.
One such myth being promoted in the quasi-scientific crowd of civil service bureaucrats and their tech groups. It goes something like this:
Part one of the myth - The neonicotinoids are genetically bonding with the plants that are exposed to them. The plants then self generate neonicotinoids becoming permanently toxic.
Part two of the myth - The bees having been exposed to the neonicotinoids infect the food supply hive causing destruction in the existing hive population.
Part three of the myth - The bees exposed to the neonicotinoids become genetically modified and carry the genetic mutation into following generations which subsequently become incapable of reproduction.
This was explained to me by a technologist in the CFSA .... who believes all of it to be true. Of course he is also a 9/11 truther.
First they set up giant choppers to kill bats faster than they can reproduce, in the name of the environment.
Then they want to reduce pesticide use, in the name of the environment.
I imagine the inevitable mass starvation of humans is part of the plan - you know, in the name of the environment.
Of course the bee's had to have some sort of disorder. Now we need bee psycologists.
Why not "bee wisperers"?
We'll send in Turduea & Suzuki, Naked with thimbles & tambourines.
OMMAG, I stayed away from commenting on neonicotinoids for one
simple reason: I did not know a damn thing about them. But, I
smelled another environmentalist hoax. Well, I finally looked
it up on the Internet, and it was defined as a chemical
pesticide.
If there are people who actually believe that any chemical
is capable of mutating the genes of plants and animals, they
possess a kind of stupid that it reserved for the idiots who
believe in radioactive gigantism. And we all know how many
12 foot Japanese there were after Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
To say nothing of Godzilla!
The worst thing a chemical can do is kill plants or animals,
it cannot modify their DNA!
I am reminded of this classic hoax, that actually fooled a
few otherwise intelligent Bloggers. I live a few miles down
the coast from Santa Monica so I would have smelled a rat
even if I never saw the photoshopped image:
http://www.lightlybraisedturnip.com/giant-squid-in-california/
The most obvious way the decline of the honey bee population is shown to be a lie is at the supermarket.
If the supply of honey was diminishing due to reduced numbers of bees, the price would be increasing. It is not.
For the last three years the price of a squeeze bottle of honey in the 1kg size has been ten dollars. The last purchase I made at a local store the price actually decreased to $7.95
A price drop indicates either reduced demand, or increased supply. Note that the price of orange juice and coffee as two examples has varied based on changing supply owing to weather events.
David, you reminded me of when a local beekeeper told me about the mites at least ten years ago.
The attack on neonicotinoids is just an excuse to attack pesticides in general.
bee skeptical of the WSJ on this one-the health of non agricultural(feral) bees has been bad for some time before introduction of neonicotinoids. The varroa mite is likely the most important problem bees have. The number of bees produced by breeders doesnt matter if they are vulnerable to the mites. "killer" bees are tougher- maybe they will take over!
Anyone saying these new chemicals have no effect on bees and anyone who is sure they are wiping out the bees probably cant prove their assertion. The people making and using these chemicals have much more clout than a few beekeepers.
True, but a price drop could also be due to an appreciation in the value of the buyers currency.
Always pays to remember the mantra of the radical left: " BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. " Lying - about anything; about everything, is a subset of these means.
You are being deceived. What you're buying isn't real honey. Simple supply and demand logic isn't valid in this case. Honey is becoming more scarce and it's being imported from Asia and diluted with corn sugar and other additives to keep the price low like all other junk food.
the vast majority of the major labels of honey sold in the U.S. aren’t real honey. ...According to the FDA (as well as the food safety divisions of the World Health Organization and the European Commission), the one test that authenticates honey is the presence of pollen. If the liquid gold doesn’t contain pollen, it isn’t honey. ...76% of grocery store “honey” had no pollen in it! ... Elimination of all pollen can only be achieved by ultra-filtering and this filtration process does nothing but cost money and diminish the quality of the honey,” Jensen said. “In my judgment, it is pretty safe to assume that any ultra-filtered honey on store shelves is Chinese honey and it’s even safer to assume that it entered the country uninspected and in violation of federal law,” he added. ...Chinese honey is cheap, diluted with high-fructose corn syrup and sweeteners, and tainted with crazy chemicals and antibiotics.
In 2001, Chinese beekeepers experienced an epidemic of the foulbrood disease that ransacked their hives. They fought off the disease with strong animal antibiotics, including chloramphenicol — a carcinogenic antibiotic that’s been banned by the FDA. As recently as 2010, the FDA confiscated $32,000 worth of imported Chinese honey that was contaminated with this drug. The FDA only tests about 5% of imported honey. So who knows how much more of this tainted honey is being smuggled into the U.S.? Chinese honey is also high in heavy metals.
www.foodrenegade.com/your-honey-isnt-honey/
"there are 7 billion people to feed."
Assuming that we are responsible for feeding any of that 7 Billion other than ourselves and family is socialist bullsh!t. Those who can't feed themselves will starve and die. That's a basic Law of Nature that determines how everything living on the planet survives or dies.
art is correct, the article misses key points. Bee populations were declining before widespread use of neonicotinoids, likely due to mites. Neonicotinoids are nerve agents and non lethal dosages reduce the bee's resistance to other debilitating factors. Alcoholics and drug addicts have ongoing health problems because the self administered non-lethal dosages of the poisons they consume. An analogous situation is happening with bees.
Honey bees are not native to North America. A friend of mine (NDP-CBC type) claims that her bees (South Central Saskatchewan) travel to nearby fields of canola and get poisoned by pesticides. I argue that the bees are trespassing on to the farmer's field, no different than if her sheep were in a farmer's wheat. I also argue that honey bees were imported here from all over the world; there are no native honey bees in Saskatchewan, correct me if I'm wrong. That's why they can't resist diseases.
How many bees die from birds or bats?? How about sudden cold, hail or rain?? True, some will die from chemicals such as Carbofuran, but it's a trade off.
As for diseases such as mites, who knows? Maybe they've got hives!
Domesticated Honey bees are not native to North America, the white settlers brought hives from Europe. So the domestic honey bees are immigrants just like most of the rest of us.
There were of course native bees that did produce honey before the Europeans arrived, so it's a matter of semantics regarding what constitutes "honey bees".
Thanks Lennie, I'm always pleased when you acknowledge that you read my messages, even though you obviously misinterpret them to fit your agenda. That's OK, everyone else who can read and comprehend knows better than your interpretation of what anyone states. The important thing is that reading my messages challenges your mind with new and unfamiliar concepts, even if you don't understand them. The main thing is that you're reading and learning new stuff. As a senior you should now how important that is to slow the onset of dementia beyond the level it's at now. Best of luck with that.