We're losing all our bees!, So? Why should I care? Options

[GreyFlcn]

Sure you kill 1 bee, no big deal.
But currently you got billions of bees dying across the country, and they don't know why.

So What? Why should I care about bees?

You like eating food? So do I.

Bees provide the pollinantion for most of our vegetables.
And in turn, the plants that our cattle eat.

So not having enough bees could be a really serious threat to our food supply.

_______________________________________________________________

Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril

"VISALIA, Calif., Feb. 23 — David Bradshaw has endured countless stings during his life as a beekeeper, but he got the shock of his career when he opened his boxes last month and found half of his 100 million bees missing.

In 24 states throughout the country, beekeepers have gone through similar shocks as their bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation’s most profitable.

“I have never seen anything like it,” Mr. Bradshaw, 50, said from an almond orchard here beginning to bloom. “Box after box after box are just empty. There’s nobody home.”

The sudden mysterious losses are highlighting the critical link that honeybees play in the long chain that gets fruit and vegetables to supermarkets and dinner tables across the country.

Beekeepers have fought regional bee crises before, but this is the first national affliction.

Now, in a mystery worthy of Agatha Christie, bees are flying off in search of pollen and nectar and simply never returning to their colonies. And nobody knows why. Researchers say the bees are presumably dying in the fields, perhaps becoming exhausted or simply disoriented and eventually falling victim to the cold.

As researchers scramble to find answers to the syndrome they have decided to call “colony collapse disorder,” growers are becoming openly nervous about the capability of the commercial bee industry to meet the growing demand for bees to pollinate dozens of crops, from almonds to avocados to kiwis.

Along with recent stresses on the bees themselves, as well as on an industry increasingly under consolidation, some fear this disorder may force a breaking point for even large beekeepers.

A Cornell University study has estimated that honeybees annually pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the United States, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts. “Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food,” said Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation.

The bee losses are ranging from 30 to 60 percent on the West Coast, with some beekeepers on the East Coast and in Texas reporting losses of more than 70 percent; beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20 percent in the offseason to be normal."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/business...amp;oref=slogin

This post has been edited by GreyFlcn: Feb 28 2007, 01:46 AM

[Liku]

Good things bees don't polinate my lovely cattle.

[TychoCelchuuu]

Looks like my patented Robo-Beez ® will come in handy! I'm gonna be rich.











(I'm the one killing the bees)

[GreyFlcn]

Good things bees don't polinate my lovely cattle.

Good thing cattle don't eat plants.

[Private_Coleman]

I'm not surprised

[Liku]

Most don't, they eat produced crap with tons of hormones and vitamins. Makes my burger a lot better.

[GreyFlcn]

Most don't, they eat produced crap with tons of hormones and vitamins. Makes my burger a lot better.

And where does this produced material come from?

Are they eating vitamin flavored plastic?

[Zig]

I'm not surprised

That's one of the best things ever.

[Petco]

I'm not surprised

That's one of the best things ever.

Indeed.

[Liku]

^Agreed. That was hilarious.

[Moquiao]

bump for that SA link alone.

[Rover]

I lol'd at the link.

[cshank4]

My grandfather and I were LOLing at the SA post.


Why didn't the buggers go and rape that guy though?

[TychoCelchuuu]

My grandfather and I were LOLing at the SA post.
Why didn't the buggers go and rape that guy though?

Contrary to what science fiction may claim, large numbers of insects don't generally form sentient hive minds from which they direct their unfeeling wrath against humans.

[Xyth]

Contrary to what science fiction may claim, large numbers of insects don't generally form sentient hive minds from which they direct their unfeeling wrath against humans.

90% of the made-for-tv movies on Sci-Fi argue otherwise, and who can argue with bad CG?

[cshank4]

Contrary to what science fiction may claim, large numbers of insects don't generally form sentient hive minds from which they direct their unfeeling wrath against humans.

Nonsense. I know from first hand experience the danger of...



Dundundun....


BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!

[DiscoZombie]

that IS a pretty cool link, though what I would have done would have been sprayed the bees themselves with the flammable liquid and lit them directly on fire, cutting out the middle man.

back on topic, how mysterious. I wonder if it has anything to do with the unseasonable warm winter we were having (until recently, in the east at least)...

[eediot]

Iran's secret weapon reveals itself...

[Lofung]

flamethrower ftw!

[Xyth]

Guys, this article is totally the Bees Knees

m i rite?

This post has been edited by Xyth: Feb 28 2007, 07:08 AM