Bee population dying off

[Bitcoiner333]

An estimated 25,000 bumblebees have been found dead in a Target parking lot in Wilsonville since Saturday, the largest known incident of bumblebee deaths in the United States, according to the Xerces Society. Preliminary information suggests pesticides may be at fault.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture received reports of bees and other insects falling out of 55 blooming European linden trees Monday from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

The bees were still dying on Wednesday. Yellow-faced bees fell from the trees, twitching on their backs or wandering in tight circles on the asphalt. Some honeybees and ladybugs were also found dead. A few dead bumblebees even clung to linden flowers, while hundreds littered the lot.

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/06/25000_bubblebees_killed_droppi.html#/0

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[Bees Brothers]

Looks like someone is going to get busted for not following the label laws while applicating.

Dinotefuran is pretty mean stuff on bees.  The label specifically says not to spray in the presence of bees.

Hopefully it was hot enough that the bumble bees died before bringing the chemical back to the hive.

Maybe the hives will recover despite loosing all its workers.

[Bitcoiner333]

Looks like someone is going to get busted for not following the label laws while applicating.

Dinotefuran is pretty mean stuff on bees.  The label specifically says not to spray in the presence of bees.

Hopefully it was hot enough that the bumble bees died before bringing the chemical back to the hive.

Maybe the hives will recover despite loosing all its workers.

Yes as bees provide earth with most of the food on it if they die off so woould alot of things.

[mindtomatter]

I don't really think this story warrants the topic title, and I see similar ones quite a bit around the internet.... When you say "population dying off" it implies that... they're dying off.  What you described here were a couple of specific instances where specific hives have experienced catastrophic loss due to local conditions.  It might sound like a scary number to say "25,000 bees" but a mature hive has 20,000-80,000 workers depending on local conditions.   

Am I crazy?  If I see this title I expect to see hundreds or thousands of hives worth.

Here's the headline "Americans Dying Off"
Here's the story: "Last week, a tour bus containing the entire Smith family (48 members) careened off of an overpass, exploding in a ball of fire.  Some have attributed this catastrophic incident to dangerous chemicals applied to the road which led to the loss of control and subsequent fiery demise."

Tragic yes, accurate no.

[PrintMule]

If we ever see bee population DRASTICALLY drop - most governments will criminalize ALL pesticides, and everything will go back to normal.

I do not follow this topic much, but I think there was some temporary ban on certain pesticides in EU?

[Lethn]

I vaguely recall here in the UK there was a big fuss from farmers about pesticides from the big farms etc. poisoning their livestock when they drank from the water but I think that was a long while ago and all I know about this sort of thing really, but it does happen, usually it's just a few twats who make life a misery for everyone else by not disposing of things properly.

[Bees Brothers]

I don't really think this story warrants the topic title, and I see similar ones quite a bit around the internet.... When you say "population dying off" it implies that... they're dying off.  What you described here were a couple of specific instances where specific hives have experienced catastrophic loss due to local conditions.  It might sound like a scary number to say "25,000 bees" but a mature hive has 20,000-80,000 workers depending on local conditions.   

Am I crazy?  If I see this title I expect to see hundreds or thousands of hives worth.

Here's the headline "Americans Dying Off"
Here's the story: "Last week, a tour bus containing the entire Smith family (48 members) careened off of an overpass, exploding in a ball of fire.  Some have attributed this catastrophic incident to dangerous chemicals applied to the road which led to the loss of control and subsequent fiery demise."

Tragic yes, accurate no.

I agree that the title was misleading, I thought it was going to be about CCD or something.

Pesticide kills are a common thing.  It often happens that an apiary with 50-100 hives gets sprayed and wipes out almost every hive.  Can be pretty devastating to the beekeeper who usually has very little recourse for restitution.

What is interesting about this article is that it was bumble bees that were dying.  Bumble bees generally have 50 individuals in a strong nest.  We have some bigger nests with observation windows in them and they sometimes get over 100 individuals in them.  So 25,000 bumble bees dying is a lot of nests.

[legitnick]

This has been a mystery for years. Bee poppulations have also been dropping for about a decade now. Hopefully we can find out the reason soon.

[xxjs]

This has been a mystery for years. Bee poppulations have also been dropping for about a decade now. Hopefully we can find out the reason soon.

Don't worry. Bees are livestock, just like chicken and cows. Wild bee population is right-sized depending on available biotopes suitable for bees, and pressure from other species. yes, it's called evolution.

This bee-thing is a plot by bee-owners to force other people to pay, and to beg the government for protection from competition.

[TECSHARE]

Its not pesticides (in general, this may be pesticides in this instance). The main reason all the bees are dying is GMO BT corn, and other BT products by Monsanto. Classically the pesticide is sprayed on crops, but since this is a GMO product the pesticide is created by inserting part of a bacterial DNA chain into the corn, it is then part of the FLESH of the plant, including the POLLEN. This toxic pollen is then exposed to the bees and they react to it as intended. Monsanto KNEW this would happen, and in fact they were counting on it. Somewhat recently a paper was released exposing this fact. In addition to them knowing the result, they planned to profit from it by creating and selling a BT resistant GMO BEE! Their business strategy - destroy nature & sell harmful synthetic life.

[xxjs]

Someones will get taxpayer funding to counter this, and thus will be happy.

[TECSHARE]

This has been a mystery for years. Bee poppulations have also been dropping for about a decade now. Hopefully we can find out the reason soon.

Don't worry. Bees are livestock, just like chicken and cows. Wild bee population is right-sized depending on available biotopes suitable for bees, and pressure from other species. yes, it's called evolution.

This bee-thing is a plot by bee-owners to force other people to pay, and to beg the government for protection from competition.

[sarcasm] Yes because apiaries are big corporate agribusinesses in general right? Certainly not usually run by independent operators usually on a small scale. If that were the case then that would mean thousands of bee keepers all over the nation have been cooperating in a plot to destroy their own valuable livestock in a grand conspiracy to hopefully trick the government into spending money excessively (as if they need help). Makes sense to me. [/sarcasm]

[cryptoanarchist]

Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see.

[FoBoT]

the bees know
they are being killed to silence them?

[sabahgamemaker]

I keep bees, have 2 hives in my back yard. Ain't nothin killin them yet...

[PerfectAgent]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1GadTfGFvU

[cryto4rig]

R.I.P. Bumblebees

[cryto4rig]

Chemtrails, the damn government is killing them

[carnitastaco]

This has been a mystery for years. Bee poppulations have also been dropping for about a decade now. Hopefully we can find out the reason soon.

it's not a mystery whatsoever.  It's a combination of neonicotinoid pesticides, varroa, nosema, and monoculture farming practices that leave hives without a source of sustenance for much of the year.  The idea that CCD is an unexplainable mystery is propagated by those who defend imidacloprid and the other big systemic pesticides, who claim that these pesticides are 100% bee safe when used properly, which is 100% bullshit.  These pesticides are known as "systemic" because they get taken up by the plant and dispersed throughout the foliage, pollen, and nectar.  Direct contact with imidacloprid will INSTANTLY kill a bee, but even at sublethal levels, imidacloprid tremendously weakens colonies, making them susceptible to mites and diseases.  If bees forage on plants that have been dosed with systemics, they bring trace amounts back in the pollen and it accumulates in the hive.

[tacoman71]

Apparently, according to the USDA, a ton of bees died over the winter. If more bees keep dying off, it'll have severe repercussions on farms. Without enough bees to pollinate crops, less food is grown. In essence, to use their words, we're one bad winter away from an agricultural meltdown.