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Title: 'Killer bees' seem resistant to disorder
Source:
Arizona Star
URL Source: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/176000
Published: Mar 30, 2007
Author: Dan Sorenson
Post Date: 2007-04-13 17:51:11 by Tauzero
Keywords: None
Views: 299
Comments: 14
Although experts are stumped about what's causing the colony-collapse disorder die-off in U.S. commercial beehives, there is some speculation that Arizona's famed Africanized — or "killer bee" — wild-bee population is somehow immune. Dee Lusby's bees are doing fine. Actually, they're doing better than that, says the owner of Lusby Apiaries & Arizona Rangeland Honey of Arivaca. Lusby has 900 hives of "free range" organic bees spread out over ranches from Benson to Sasabe. "I've only lost one or two, maybe three (hives) out of every 30 or 40 hives," said Lusby. She's not surprised by her good fortune or the modern commercial beekeepers' hive-mortality rates. Lusby has a hunch the disorder is the result of a number of factors, including the use of pesticides, bee-growth formulas, artificial food supplements, breeding for size, inbreeding — all or some of which may make them susceptible to mites, viruses and fungi — and maybe even some strange side effects from feeding on genetically modified crops. Breeding for size is a major factor, Lusby believes. She says the commercial honeybees are now too large to feed on some of the very plants that historically may have given them immunity to diseases and parasites. They're simply too big to get into those plant's flowers, she says. And the man who takes the bees out of Bisbee, Reed "The Killer Bee Guy" Booth, says he's not surprised Africanized bees are thriving. Booth started out with beekeeping to make retail honey and honey mustard, and branched out to do bee removals after the Africanized bees invaded Arizona in the early 1990s. He says he gets one to five eradication calls a day from around Cochise County during warm weather. "It's going to be a banner year for bees," he says. "The Africanized bees are somewhat more resistant" than the European honeybees, he says of the aggressive, slightly smaller wild bees that produce bumper crops of honey and bad press. "But they're somewhat resistant to anything, probably including nuclear war." Booth says he switched from European bees to wild Africanized bees not long after they spread through Arizona. "I used to have two sets of hives," says Booth. "But I got tired of going down and either finding my European bees Africanized or dead. I gave up, so, Killer Bee Honey." But Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, research leader of the USDA's Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, is not so quick to crown the wildly enthusiastic Africanized honeybees as superior. "We don't push the African populations like we do Europeans," DeGrandi-Hoffman said of the carefully genetically controlled honeybees used by commercial beekeepers for field work. "We're putting them on trucks and taking them halfway across the country. We're stressing them in almost a feedlot situation, feeding them protein supplements. We're stressing them pretty good. And that doesn't happen with Africans."
'Killer bees' seem resistant to disorder
By Dan Sorenson
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.30.2007
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#1. To: Tauzero (#0)
Goddamn. What a collossal fuck up.
It is not a Justice System. It is just a system.
There's no time...we're dealing with a worldwide campaign to stop Muslims from dominating the planet. The herd will get what they deserve...
So will the killer bees pollinate orchards just as well?
"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes nor between parties either — but right through the human heart." — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Yes, they're just as efficient...just not *ahem* ..as friendly.
We'll all need new outfits. "The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes nor between parties either — but right through the human heart." — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
It's a burka conspiracy I's tell ya... finally, a good reason for those (I just realized they do resemble a beekeeper's suit).
"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes nor between parties either — but right through the human heart." — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The fashion trends start in Cali...you'd look radiant in azure and pink !
Who would even know if it was a bad hair day? buzzzzzzz! zap!
"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes nor between parties either — but right through the human heart." — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Time to look into buying that survivalist retreat deep in the Idaho woods I guess.
It is not a Justice System. It is just a system.
Got the mountain cabin in upstate NY...about 30 minutes to the Canadian border.
I had no idea beekeepers are in engaged in creating Frankenbees. If I was a beekeeper, I'd just keep regular ol' bees and not mess with them at all except to steal their saliva, which is what honey is.
"Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly the perils of war." -- Thucydides
When I first saw an article on "Colony Collapse Disorder", my first thought was "I wonder how the Africanized bees are doing?" As I suspected, they're doing just fine. :)
In the depth of their sorrow, they shall know; That he who held back holds back no longer.
Honey isn't saliva. It is concentrated pollen that's been bee-ified inside the bee. Saliva is an acidic substance designed to break stuff down. Honey is desiged to be a food source.
It is not a Justice System. It is just a system.
"The Africanized bees are somewhat more resistant" than the European honeybees, he says of the aggressive, slightly smaller wild bees that produce bumper crops of honey and bad press. "But they're somewhat resistant to anything, probably including nuclear war."
#2. To: bluedogtxn (#1)
What a collossal fuck up.
“Yes, but is this good for Jews?"
#3. To: Tauzero (#0)
Booth says he switched from European bees to wild Africanized bees not long after they spread through Arizona.
#4. To: robin (#3)
So will the killer bees pollinate orchards just as well?
“Yes, but is this good for Jews?"
#5. To: Eoghan (#4)
#6. To: robin (#5)
“Yes, but is this good for Jews?"
#7. To: Eoghan (#6)
#8. To: robin (#7)
“Yes, but is this good for Jews?"
#9. To: Eoghan (#8)
#10. To: Eoghan (#2)
There's no time...we're dealing with a worldwide campaign to stop Muslims from dominating the planet. The herd will get what they deserve...
#11. To: bluedogtxn (#10)
“Yes, but is this good for Jews?"
#12. To: Tauzero (#0)
Lusby has a hunch the disorder is the result of a number of factors, including the use of pesticides, bee-growth formulas, artificial food supplements, breeding for size, inbreeding — all or some of which may make them susceptible to mites, viruses and fungi — and maybe even some strange side effects from feeding on genetically modified crops.
#13. To: YertleTurtle (#12)
#14. To: YertleTurtle (#12)
If I was a beekeeper, I'd just keep regular ol' bees and not mess with them at all except to steal their saliva, which is what honey is.
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