The Bees Are Disappearing Again (seattletimes.com) 77
"Honeybee colonies are under siege across much of North America..." reported the New York Times last week. [Alternate URL here.] Last winter beekeepers across America "began reporting massive beehive collapses. More than half of the roughly 2.8 million colonies collapsed, costing the industry about $600 million in economic losses..."
America's Department of Agriculture says "sublethal exposure" to pesticides remains one of the biggest factors threatening honeybees, according to the article — but it's one of several threats. "Parasites, loss of habitat, climate change and pesticides threaten to wipe out as much as 70% or more of the nation's honeybee colonies this year, potentially the most devastating loss that the nation has ever seen." Some years are worse than others, but there has been a steady decline over time. Scientists have named the phenomenon colony collapse disorder: Bees simply disappear after they fly out to forage for pollen and nectar. Illness disables their radar, preventing them from finding their way home. The queen and her brood, if they survive, remain defenseless.
The precise causes remain unknown.
Bee colonies have become even more vulnerable because of the increase in extreme weather conditions, including droughts, heat waves, monster hurricanes, explosive wildfires and floods that have damaged or destroyed the bees and the vegetation they pollinate. If that isn't bad enough, parasites — and other creatures researchers refer to as "biotic" threats that prey on bees — proliferate when there is damage to ecosystems.
All that means that the U.S. beekeeping industry has contracted by about 2.9% over the past five years, according to data collected by IBISWorld, a research firm. Annual loss rates have been increasing among all beekeepers over the past decade with the most significant colony collapses in commercial operations happening during the past five years.
The article notes that "compounding the troubles for the bee industry are recent federal cuts" proposed by DOGE to America's Department of Agriculture, "where researchers were studying ways to protect the nation's honeybees." And while federal policies like tariffs could make farming more expensive, "Beekeepers also often depend on immigrants to manage their hives and to help produce commercial honey..."
America's Department of Agriculture says "sublethal exposure" to pesticides remains one of the biggest factors threatening honeybees, according to the article — but it's one of several threats. "Parasites, loss of habitat, climate change and pesticides threaten to wipe out as much as 70% or more of the nation's honeybee colonies this year, potentially the most devastating loss that the nation has ever seen." Some years are worse than others, but there has been a steady decline over time. Scientists have named the phenomenon colony collapse disorder: Bees simply disappear after they fly out to forage for pollen and nectar. Illness disables their radar, preventing them from finding their way home. The queen and her brood, if they survive, remain defenseless.
The precise causes remain unknown.
Bee colonies have become even more vulnerable because of the increase in extreme weather conditions, including droughts, heat waves, monster hurricanes, explosive wildfires and floods that have damaged or destroyed the bees and the vegetation they pollinate. If that isn't bad enough, parasites — and other creatures researchers refer to as "biotic" threats that prey on bees — proliferate when there is damage to ecosystems.
All that means that the U.S. beekeeping industry has contracted by about 2.9% over the past five years, according to data collected by IBISWorld, a research firm. Annual loss rates have been increasing among all beekeepers over the past decade with the most significant colony collapses in commercial operations happening during the past five years.
The article notes that "compounding the troubles for the bee industry are recent federal cuts" proposed by DOGE to America's Department of Agriculture, "where researchers were studying ways to protect the nation's honeybees." And while federal policies like tariffs could make farming more expensive, "Beekeepers also often depend on immigrants to manage their hives and to help produce commercial honey..."
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But you sound worse by dismissing it out of hand because you don't want to hear about it.
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Re: Climate Change (Score:2)
musketeers.
check to see if they were hanging around the hive.
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I am by no means a fan of pure EVs, but do keep in mind this refers to production, not the long-term.
The long term was break even at 8 years. And that is only considering the CO2 and not the other pollution mentioned.
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Sounds like a touchy subject for you.
Re:Climate Change (Score:5, Insightful)
I get it, science is difficult. Those science guys are constantly changing their story when new information arrives. And how can an ordinary person be expected to keep up. The lack of eternal, absolute truths makes science totally worthless compared to the warm comfort of cult thinking.
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Those science guys are constantly changing their story when new information arrives.
That's not really true.
While some minor tweaks in the models do happen, the story on the global warming has not changed in decades.
More importantly, all measurements confirm that we've decided to go for the worst case.
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Whether you like him or not, Trump is right that Greenland will provide a long-term means of securing natural resources
Whether you like him or not, your ignorance is on par with his.
Most of Greenland is covered by a kilometer of ice. Until that is gone, which will take a while, all you have is a few hundred square kilometers of mostly stony beach.
While it is melting, it will create a large, widening zone of floods and landslides from the edge of the glacier to those stony beaches.
Most (like over 90%) of that melting water will just flow back into the ocean, where it will be totally useless to you.
Even when most of it is gon
Chicken Little. (Score:4, Insightful)
without the chicken littles blaming it on "muh climate change".
You ... do know chicken little was right all along in that movie ... right?
European honeybees are not a native species (Score:5, Informative)
The European honeybee is not native to north America.
The honeybees used in modern commercial agriculture are actually migrant farm workers. Companies specialize in supplying pollination services and truck the bees all around to different farms to assist with pollination as needed by the farmers.
The collapse of honey bee colonies, by itself, does not represent an ecosystem collapse. It is more of a crisis for commercial agriculture (which is still a very important thing). But the factors thought to be contributing to this collapse are also mostly commercial agriculture practices. This seems to be a problem for commercial agriculture caused by commercial agriculture.
There are plenty of other native pollinators for native plants. They just aren't as efficient at pollinating commercial crops as the European honeybee is. Also, many of the native pollinators are also in jeopardy because of lack of habitat.
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Oblig OrangeGPT (Score:2)
"Illegal bees, I toldja they cause problems, they are too lazy to make honey, spending all day on gang stuff, like spray-painting daisies and pooping on Teslas, terrible terrible stuff, everyone sees it, and the woke commie Dems do nothing, let illegal bees flutter around like Kim Guilfoyle's lips, so sad! Let's get real alpha male American bees and make American honey again! Not Pooh Bear shi
Re:European honeybees are not a native species (Score:5, Funny)
Human beings aren't a native species to North America either. They walked here thousands of years ago, and then ate all the mammoths.
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Human beings aren't a native species to North America either. They walked here thousands of years ago, and then ate all the mammoths.
And ate all the horses.
And one wave of ancient migrants killed off the preceding wave of ancient migrants.
And some of the ancient migrants came by boat long before Europeans.
History, its more complicated than most realize.
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Europeans used all the true penguins (Great auk) as firewood.
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Good parallel. And just like with honey bees, overpopulation of a single species is causing environmental collapse.
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Don't mention wheat and cows...
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"The honeybees used in modern commercial agriculture are actually migrant farm workers."
So they didn't die, they got deported?
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There are plenty of other native pollinators for native plants. They just aren't as efficient at pollinating commercial crops as the European honeybee is. Also, many of the native pollinators are also in jeopardy because of lack of habitat.
The other pollinators are good at pollinating certain non-commercial plants. The issue is that these other pollinators aren't as easy to control as honeybees (and some other bees), so they're not of much use for commercial farms. Of course, maybe some smart scientist will figure out how to domesticate one of these wild pollinators so that they'll be commercially viable. Then again, it's been many centuries since humans have domesticated a wild animal species.
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Interesting. The most non-native species? Cows, wheat and maybe humans?
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Smallpox? Rabies? there are a lot of things we have in the New World that the Old World is free to take back. (syphilis is probably ours though)
Re: European honeybees are not a native species (Score:2)
Ecologically, this is important because commercial bees and even amateur beekeepers endanger native pollinators by encroaching on their territories and exposing them to disease.
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Gay bees, who knew?
The cause is obvious (Score:2)
They can't afford the tariffs.
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They can't afford the tariffs.
No tariffs, they are domestic producers.
Re:The cause is obvious (Score:4, Funny)
They're European honeybees - they've been told to self-deport immediately.
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They're European honeybees - they've been told to self-deport immediately.
Nah, they are socialists and decided to leave entirely on their own.
Hardly a bee so far (Score:5, Interesting)
Flowers have been in bloom here (north of Seattle) for three weeks now, and I've so far only seen two bees.
I'll know we're in real trouble if I don't see bees swarming the cotoneasters later this year.
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At least in the case of Phoenix, this is total BS. Wild bees are basically everywhere there, to the point that they're often considered a pest. While I rarely see any bees here in California, it's hard to miss them this time of year in Arizona. When you see them, you'll find their hives not too far away, typically in trees, sometimes in somebody's attic, shed, etc. It's to the point where bee removal companies advertise on the radio, billboards, etc. California, at least the LA area, basically everything he
Re: bees are a domestic species (Score:2)
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I'm north of you, just across the border. I'm seeing more bumblebees then I have in a decade or so.
We have tried changing nothing and its not worked (Score:1)
Thank goodness for the robotic bees ... (Score:3, Interesting)
"Robot bees: The future of pollination?
MIT researchers are working on tiny robotic bees, capable of helping pollinators. But should we invest in robot bees, or focus on saving the real ones?"
https://environmentamerica.org... [environmentamerica.org]
I mean that's cute and all (Score:2)
One of the things you need to be careful about is when you see a crisis to not just assume some magic science is going to solve the problem. Especially in this day and age when we are constantly pulling resources and funding away from scientists or just plain actively attacking them because of various political nonsense
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One of the things you need to be careful about is when you see a crisis to not just assume some magic science is going to solve the problem.
You mean like every other Malthusian crisis that science and engineering has avoided? :-)
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Walkable cities only work in good weather.
Some places don't have good weather most of the time.
Re: Bees would be saved by (Score:2)
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I have seen an episode of the black mirror that started like this.
STOP THIS NONSENSE: There's *too many* honey bees (Score:3)
Honey bees are not native to the United States. Humans brought them here, we overbreed them, and transport them all over the country to crowd-out other pollinators. We were immensely successful at this for a time, but that time has changed. We have reached an ultimate limit where the environment can't sustain any more honey bees, and we need to stop pretending it is crisis. We make it worse by telling people in urban areas to put bee hives in their backyards, surrounded by a hostile pavement forest.
It isn't cool to raise wasps, flies, and beetles because they aren't "cute" and we can't steal their tasty bodily fluids and eat it If you look up graphs of honey bee population over time, it's been declining at a similar rate to other pollinators and insects. We are complaining that this particular insect is dying off, while ignoring the fact that the other insects are dying off too.
The expectation that honey bees are the primary way to pollinate crops is a fragile short-term fix. The fundamental design of our agricultural system needs to change. Crops planted in massive single-species tracts eliminate habitat for wild pollinators, so then we “need” honey bees to step in. Fix the root cause: Stop relying on honey bees, stop crowding out native species, stop deleting native crops and planting 100 acres of corn. Studies have shown that the bees themselves get sick of one single crop too!
We’re compensating for environmental degradation with industrial beekeeping — and it has caught up to us. The public narrative that bees are dying needs to catch-up to the current state of science which is this: we are not acting sustainably and we aren't going to save the bees by finding some parasite/virus/bacteria and applying chemical Z and the problem will go away. Sadly, there's no quick fix.
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Honey bees are not native to the United States.
True. They were brought here to pollinate crops that are not native to The Americas either. It so happens that they are easier to domesticate than native pollinators.
We make it worse by telling people in urban areas to put bee hives in their backyards, surrounded by a hostile pavement forest.
Not just people in urban areas. How many times have you driven by farms and seen all the hives lined up at the end of crop rows adjacent to the highway?
What is wrong with legal immigrants? (Score:3, Interesting)
> "Beekeepers also often depend on immigrants to manage their hives and to help produce commercial honey..."
1. I doubt many of the 20 million illegals that were allowed to flood into the US are beekeepers.
2. What is wrong with using *legal* immigrants?
3. What is wrong with US citizens doing the jobs?
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1. I would presume when they talk about "beekeeping" especially on the scale of millions of hives that it is likely a very different and far more labor intensive job of many tasks than doing it as a hobby or some local honey operation. And like most ag jobs I imagine is hot, sweaty and backbreaking.
2. This is a pointless distinction. Find the folks tending the bees already, get their info, work permit, boom, they're legal. If they're here and working then good enough, what more do we want? Or I guess set
Re: What is wrong with legal immigrants? (Score:2)
Self-inflicted by public health (Score:2)
I noticed a decade or more ago when Zika virus was a thing, various municipalities blew pesticides all over the place to kill mosquitos. One unfortunate side effect was it (apparently) killed the bees. In one place I was living in South Texas, the bee population appeared to disappear overnight. It still hasn't recovered. Bees appear to be quite fragile insects.
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They have the disadvantage of being a social organism that can't survive without a community but other than that they not particularly weaker.
These bugs are designed to soak up pollen and maximize exposure to the upward facing flowers exposed to rain/poisons. Others don't purposely rub against every plant and eat from the surface.
If your food source was covered in poisons you touched and ate from new locations each time (all poisoned) then you had to do heavy labor and use all your concentration to navigate
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Exactly. Which is why it was a bad idea to indiscriminately blow pesticides all over the place. Even today, I still get fliers from companies like TruGreen trying to get me to buy into a mosquito fumigation which will, of course, kill more than just mosquitos. Even if I don't do it, if enough of my neighbors do it decimates the population of beneficial insects.
Blame the Queens (Score:1)
Re: Blame the Queens (Score:1)
This is not hard (Score:2)
People plant invasive ornamentals that do not support local insects. People spray pesticides to kill undesirable insects. Problem is, those pesticides kill the bees too. This is simple common sense. In nature you have to take the bad with the good.
Re: This is not hard (Score:2)
I lost mine (Score:1)
Didn't Paul Stamets solve this problem in 2018? (Score:2)
\o/ (Score:1)
Is the department with responsibility for ensuring water remains wet, also under attack from team orange-doge ?
One might question how the status quo can be maintained under these conditions!
Re: \o/ (Score:2)
Why commercial hives are collapsing (Score:2)