Bees Are Dying, Scientists Have Found Out Why

[zumbledum]

So I guess we should try our best NOT to killed a lone bee when entering our home or in out area?

What is the reasons in the whole "no more bees mean doom for us all"? Yes I know bees make honey and most importantly collect pollent from plant to plant helping them grow but is there more to it than that?

around 3/4 of the worlds crops require pollination. now honey bees aren't the only ones of course, in fact their actually pretty bad at it comparing to wild bees and other insects but we know and monitor honey bees because that's what the man made hives are full of. and ofc the stuff killing the honey bee off is affecting the "natural" vectors to.

 

[michael87cn]

Yep. Chemicals are doing all kinds of screwed up stuff to humans too, but who cares. $$$$ is all that matters!

MON-AY!

*takes a bite of chemically preserved food*

*takes a sip of chemically 'enriched' Vitamin Drink* (basically sugar water! + icky chems!)

YUM! POISON! \

ARGH! MAH HIVE IS COLLAPSIN!

 

[SinisterGehe]

Ok Stop using that fungalside then? No? Too expensive to use alternatives? Well... Your loss... EU and specially Finland are going to ban that in their next meeting, soon as they get Greece and Italy out shunned out of the room, being the lead weight that they currently are.

Also, it was fun to hear that something was dying and it was not related to global warming.

 

[Sir Pootis]

What's this? A rapid mass-murder of bees?
My briefcase full of BEES ought to put a...

A large influx of BEEEEEEEEES ought to assist this situation!

God dammit, ninja'd.

 

[llafnwod]

Stop using PESTICIDES! Plenty of evidence suggest that the benefits of gmos and pesticides are middling at best and nonexistant at worst. We have countries that are producing more without pesticides. Countries that have gone full organic and flourish because of it.

Which ones? I'm honestly curious, because that would be pretty big.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

bahh, as much as i hate bees with a passion, we do need them...

*sigh*

help the bees...something i never thought i would say.

 

[MorganL4]

I remember when Doctor Who found that the reason bee's were disappearing was because they were really aliens and they were leaving earth due to it's impending doom. Good times.

And my first thought is this:

But no seriously.... Best thing we can do, is contact our Senators/congressmen..... I know it sounds like a long shot, but at this point the only thing that will fix this problem is legislation outlawing the use of those chemicals in pesticides/fungicides.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

In a related story; that honey you buy in stores is not honey, but sugar and food coloring.

This is somewhat accurate. Most low cost honeys are either a blend of actual honey and a sugar substitute or just plain artificially flavored syrup. It is still perfectly possible to purchase pure honey but it tends to cost significantly more than the average person is willing to shell out.

It is, as a result no more scandalous than the situation with olive oil. In most parts of the US, you have to go out of your way to buy something that was significantly derived from olives of any stripe but because it's "close enough" people don't seem to care.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Wow, you Americans are only figuring this out now? Europe and Australia figured this out years ago.

 

[marurder]

Honey don't leave me!

 

[Gilhelmi]

It is good we finally figured this out. Now we just need to develop new pesticides that will limit or stop CCD.

Oh yea, Elephant in the room, We can not (as in not physically possible) stop using pesticides. Unless you do not mind famine and starvation. America is doing very well in food production, but it is only because of high-tech measures, advanced 'no-till' techniques, and pesticides and highly specialized herbicides. 2% of Americas population are feeding everyone right now. I honestly can not think of a workable way to not use pesticides and maintain food production levels.

I think America could still feed itself, but quite a number of other countries who buy from the US or are given grain as part of international aid, would suddenly see America no-longer able to help them.

 

[Gilhelmi]

"Scientists have struggled to pinpoint a single cause of the disorder, identifying malnutrition, pesticides and habitat loss as potential suspects. However, scientists at the University of Maryland and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have found that CCD is caused by a combination of factors."

I would like to congratulate said scientists on discovering the source of every human problem ever: Lots of things. But in all seriousness this is sad/distressing. I'm somewhat curious if there's a way to attack the parasite, since it's unlikely the US is going to ban multiple pest/fungicides simultaneously.

It's likely we will take the same route as we did with DDT and ban it. Of course, then that means chemical companies have to find another fungicide that works, and then we'll find out how bad it is for another species within the next few decades.

Hopefully they don't 100% ban everything as with DDT or we'll have a lot of other problems to deal with. Bedbugs are a prime example of what happens when you just stop using things altogether, rather than strictly controlling/regulating them.

Not too mention that our food production would be unsustainable. If they banned pesticides, America 'might' be able to feed itself but would have little in the way for exporting food elsewhere.

 

[Lilani]

Silly scientists, they aren't dying, they're flying back to their home on the planet Melissa Majoria.

 

[Syzygy23]

Yeah, this is pretty serious. Bee's don't just make delicious honey, they pollinate pretty much everything for us.

We should probably look in to some sort of artificial pollination machine to replace the bees if and or when they go extinct. And these machines won't friggin' STING people.

 

[Syzygy23]

Stop using PESTICIDES! Plenty of evidence suggest that the benefits of gmos and pesticides are middling at best and nonexistant at worst. We have countries that are producing more without pesticides. Countries that have gone full organic and flourish because of it.

Cite sources or GTFO. Not to be rude, buuuuut... Those are some pretty big claims there. If there were affordable, non-harmful methods of pest control, wouldn't the farm conglomerates already be using them?

 

[McMullen]

Stop using PESTICIDES! Plenty of evidence suggest that the benefits of gmos and pesticides are middling at best and nonexistant at worst. We have countries that are producing more without pesticides. Countries that have gone full organic and flourish because of it.

I'm curious to know where you got that information; pesticides improve crop yields. That's one of the reasons organic produce is so expensive: they have lower yields and thus farmers have to charge higher prices for them.

I'm willing to believe the bit about indeterminate results for the benefits of pesticides in terms of health; to date, no solid evidence has been found to determine whether organic or conventional food is safer. What they have found is that the lack or presence of pesticide residue is likely to be a negligible factor next to other factors that are independent of organic vs. conventional methods, like bacteria and mycotoxins that can be present in both types of crops.

The crop yield issue though is definitely in conventional farming's favor. Serious questions have been raised on whether enough food can be grown organically to keep up with demand, and whether most people will be able to afford it.

Of course, this bee problem reveals that there is an issue with certain pesticides, but it should be possible to phase out the culprits and stick to those pesticides which are safer.

 

[mad825]

Damn, it is worst then we thought.

We're going to have to ask people to be environmentally conscious.

That's not the problem.

The problem is that now we're going to have fungus-ridden hives until we find a usable fungicide... assuming abandoning current fungicides will even reverse the problem. There's a good chance it won't.

And there's the rub... "Be environmentally conscious" is not a cure all. At this point, it may be like offering sunscreen to someone with their skin peeling off from third-degree sunburn.

That isn't a problem either, Australia seemed to be free from CDD and Nosema and they've been selling bees which has been earning quite a bit of money for them.

Stop using PESTICIDES! Plenty of evidence suggest that the benefits of gmos and pesticides are middling at best and nonexistant at worst. We have countries that are producing more without pesticides. Countries that have gone full organic and flourish because of it.

Listen here, just because the food is organic doesn't mean pesticides aren't being used. In fact, they are [http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~lhom/organictext.html] being used.

 

[Padwolf]

In Europe we are already taking steps to help prevent bee's from going extinct. Hopefully more can be done. It's sad that bee's are dying, we need them. One big problem is finding people who care enough about it.