• Bee Experts Baffled as their Buzzing Insect Colonies Continue to Disappear
    90 replies, posted
[Quote]A mysterious malady that has been killing honeybees en masse for several years appears to have expanded drastically in the last year, commercial beekeepers say, wiping out 40 percent or even 50 percent of the hives needed to pollinate many of the nation’s fruits and vegetables.[/Quote] SOURCE: [url]http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/science/earth/soaring-bee-deaths-in-2012-sound-alarm-on-malady.html?hp&pagewanted=all&_r=0[/url] If this the case, and bees keep dying at an accelerated rate, then we need to come up with an artificial method of pollination, and soon, before this issue snowballs into a crop shortage
It's the Medusa Cascade! Quick, somebody call the Doctor!
[QUOTE=The golden;40085154]Shouldn't the first fingers be pointed at pesticides?[/QUOTE] Why blame something so obvious and profitable?
I wouldn't be surprised if nothing was done about it, unfortunately. We always wait until it's too late.
I thought we already found out it was because of a special species of bot fly or some smaller insect controlling the bees?
[QUOTE=Rangergxi;40085173]Why blame something so obvious and profitable?[/QUOTE] [quote]But beekeepers and some researchers say there is growing evidence that a powerful new class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, incorporated into the plants themselves, could be an important factor. The pesticide industry disputes that.[/quote] of course they do
[QUOTE=The golden;40085247]What the balls did you get this from? The bot fly is only found in very specific parts of the world.[/QUOTE] There's actually a virus or fungus I can't remember which but it causes the bees to leave the hive but unable to return, eventually all the workers leave and the colony dies. But it's not believed to be the main culprit of CCD.
[QUOTE=The golden;40085193]We have a horrendous habit of not acting until something is actively affecting us. Almost 100% of the time it's too late by that point.[/QUOTE] If bees go extinct we're royally fucked
If the Bees go extinct then we and a lot of other animals do too.
[QUOTE=andololol;40088022]If the Bees go extinct then we and a lot of other animals do too.[/QUOTE] People don't care though because they'd rather make a quick buck and doom an entire species permanently than cut their profits and be more environmentally considerate. Especially because they won't be alive to feel the effects of their actions
[QUOTE=andololol;40088022]If the Bees go extinct then we and a lot of other animals do too.[/QUOTE] No. If honey bees go extinct we'll have massive crop shortages and food rationing as well as insane inflation on food products. Humanity would adapt and survive and likely breed a new strain of bees to replace them.
[QUOTE=Murkrow;40085287]If bees go extinct we're royally fucked[/QUOTE] You seem to be implying that we're reliant on bees for something very important, besides honey. Aware me please
Its really sad that we're just allowing this to happen
Technically, if bees go extinct, the entire ecosystem would collapse. I don't remember when, but there was an investigation on the extinction of the species which said this. Any source to back this up?
[QUOTE=JaegerMonster;40088134]You seem to be implying that we're reliant on bees for something very important, besides honey. Aware me please[/QUOTE] You're kidding right? You should perhaps read the thread, even googling 'bees' tells you their vital role in our ecosystems
[QUOTE=JaegerMonster;40088134]You seem to be implying that we're reliant on bees for something very important, besides honey. Aware me please[/QUOTE] best polinators
And that's how we run our capabilities to grow food into the ground.
[QUOTE=The golden;40085247]What the balls did you get this from? The bot fly is only found in very specific parts of the world.[/QUOTE] I remembered wrong, someone found that in one instance it was caused by a parasitic phorid fly (sources [url=http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0029639]here[/url] and [url=http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/01/03/parasitic-fly-spotted-in-honeybees-causes-workers-to-abandon-colonies/]here[/url])
This reminds me of the time frog experts were baffled by the frogs disappearing. Turns out the reason for the massive decline in population was all the researchers going out to find out why they were dieing were spreading bacteria (fungus? It was one of the two) that killed them.
If this escalates, Action has to be taken, not just in that cute little internet discussion way. We need to step in with our voices and disposable income, because without the pollinators, basically everything else slowly dies out.
[QUOTE=The golden;40088605]If you ever want to do something then you can buy a little bee-house and get some Mason Bees. They're hardy, totally harmless, and don't have giant colonies. They'll just use your bee-house for their eggs and will pollinate things in the area as they collect food.[/QUOTE] Well if i set up a beehive in my apartment garden-to-share, i think id get in trouble. But if i had the space i would.
[QUOTE=The golden;40088650][t]http://img3.etsystatic.com/000/0/5271760/il_fullxfull.114822563.jpg[/t] They're the size of bird houses. Mason bees are harmless and don't sting unless you're trying to kill them or something.[/QUOTE] Still, its something id have to pitch to my landlord. Ill see if the situation gets worse, the bee population could still adjust itself, if everything turns to shit, ill do my part.
[url]http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-bee-facts.html[/url] bees are cool fuck
[QUOTE=The golden;40088831]Bumble bees are the best. They're fuggin huge and very fuzzy. I've watched those things land on flowers and the flowers sag and then snap off the stem. Fatasses.[/QUOTE]Bees are bros.
[QUOTE=The golden;40088831]Bumble bees are the best. They're fuggin huge and very fuzzy. I've watched those things land on flowers and the flowers sag and then snap off the stem. Fatasses.[/QUOTE] Also those things dont sting, they bite. And even then, they will hardly give a fuck about crawling around on your hand, unless you squeeze them.
[QUOTE=The golden;40088831]Bumble bees are the best. They're fuggin huge and very fuzzy. I've watched those things land on flowers and the flowers sag and then snap off the stem. Fatasses.[/QUOTE] They're tasty as well. [video=youtube;rwPaUma6R_k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwPaUma6R_k[/video]
[QUOTE=andololol;40088886]They're tasty as well.[/QUOTE] That is not a bumblebee though, But that is fascinating though, i like how it just started eating its face.
[QUOTE=The golden;40088831]Bumble bees are the best. They're fuggin huge and very fuzzy. I've watched those things land on flowers and the flowers sag and then snap off the stem. Fatasses.[/QUOTE] Suburban ants and bees are the best insests all others I'm like "FUCK YOU CUNT" but bee's land on me and it's like "Its all cool man". Which is opposite to most people. I even put my hand near a active hive to grab something, absolutely calm about it, because I knew, if I was slow and calm, everything would be cool. If you respect bees 99% they don't fuck with you, so long as they aren't the "asshole" kind of bees.
[QUOTE=The golden;40088519]I don't mean to be rude, but did you at any point in time take some sort of a basic science class? Without bees, a HUGE amount of vegetation simply would not exist. Neither would a substantial amount of agriculture. And that's not even counting the animals that feed on bees or the plants they pollinate. Without bees the ecosystem would basically collapse.[/QUOTE] Lmao a lot of elitist cunts in this thread Bees aren't the only insect capable of pollinating. They are the best, but they aren't the only insect that fills that role. [editline]30th March 2013[/editline] Saying the entire ecosystem would collapse is rather dramatic. More likely it would take a hit and adapt, as nature always has and always will. It's hardly the stuff of "we're fucked" though.
[QUOTE=JaegerMonster;40089149]Lmao a lot of elitist cunts in this thread Bees aren't the only insect capable of pollinating. They are the best, but they aren't the only insect that fills that role.[/QUOTE] Without bees the vast majority of pollenation will not occur, this is a huge ecologic problem. The lesser pollenators simply cant handle that work load, as they arent in competition with the bee's spot in the biossphere they wont take it over. Tl:dr, bad shit. Have fun with no crops, therefore no farmed foodstuffs and animal feeds, global starvation.
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