See other Science/Tech Articles
Title: Bees dropping like flies
Source:
http://www.latimes.com/
URL Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/science ... 2658.story?coll=la-home-center
Published: Jun 9, 2007
Author: http://www.latimes.com/
Post Date: 2007-06-09 22:28:41 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 4674
Comments: 218
Mysterious deaths of bees take broad toll By Jia-Rui Chong and Thomas H. Maugh II June 10, 2007 The dead bees under Dennis vanEngelsdorp's microscope were like none he had ever seen before. He had expected to see mites or amoebas, perennial pests of bees. Instead, he found internal organs swollen with debris and strangely blackened. The bees' intestinal tracts were scarred, and their rectums were abnormally full of what appeared to be partly digested pollen. Dark marks on the sting glands were telltale signs of infection. "The more you looked, the more you found," said VanEngelsdorp, the acting apiarist for the state of Pennsylvania. "Each thing was a surprise." VanEngelsdorp's examination of the bees in November was one of the first scientific glimpses of a mysterious honeybee die-off that has launched an intense search for a cure. The puzzling phenomenon, known as Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, has been reported in 35 states, five Canadian provinces and several European countries. The die-off has cost U.S. beekeepers about $150 million in losses and an uncertain amount for farmers scrambling to find bees to pollinate their crops. Scientists have scoured the country, finding eerily abandoned hives in which the bees seem to have simply left their honey and broods of baby bees. "We've never experienced bees going off and leaving brood behind," said Pennsylvania-based beekeeper Dave Hackenberg. "It was like a mother going off and leaving her kids." Researchers have picked through the abandoned hives, dissected thousands of bees, and tested for viruses, bacteria, pesticides and mites. So far, they are stumped. According to the Apiary Inspectors of America, 24% of 384 beekeeping operations across the country lost more than 50% of their colonies from September to March. Some have lost 90%. "I'm worried about the bees," said Dan Boyer, 52, owner of Ridgetop Orchards in Fishertown, Pa., which grows apples. "The more I learn about it, the more I think it is a national tragedy." At Boyer's orchard, 400 acres of apple trees — McIntosh, Honey Crisp, Red Delicious and 11 other varieties — have just begun to bud white flowers. Boyer's trees need to be pollinated. Incompletely pollinated blooms would still grow apples, he said, but the fruit would be small and misshapen, suitable only for low-profit juice. This year, he will pay dearly for the precious bees — $13,000 for 200 hives, the same price that 300 hives cost him last year. The scene is being repeated throughout the country, where honeybees, scientifically known as Apis mellifera, are required to pollinate a third of the nation's food crop, including almonds, cherries, blueberries, pears, strawberries and pumpkins. Vanishing colonies One of the earliest alarms was sounded by Hackenberg, who used to keep about 3,000 hives in dandelion-covered fields near the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. In November, Hackenberg, 58, was at his winter base in Florida. He peeked in on a group of 400 beehives he had driven down from his home in West Milton, Pa., a month before. He went from empty box to empty box. Only about 40 had bees in them. "It was just the most phenomenal thing I thought I'd ever seen," he said. The next morning, Hackenberg called Jerry Hayes, the chief of apiary inspection at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and president of the Apiary Inspectors of America. Hayes mentioned some bee die-offs in Georgia that, until then, hadn't seemed significant. Hackenberg drove back to West Milton with a couple of dead beehives and live colonies that had survived. He handed them over to researchers at Pennsylvania State University. With amazing speed, the bees vanished from his other hives, more than 70% of which were abandoned by February. Hackenberg, a talkative, wiry man with a deeply lined face, figured he lost more than $460,000 this winter for replacement bees, lost honey and missed pollination opportunities. "If that happens again, we're out of business," he said. It didn't take researchers long to figure out they were dealing with something new. VanEngelsdorp, a sandy-bearded 37-year-old, quickly eliminated the most obvious suspects: Varroa and tracheal mites, which have occasionally wrought damage on hives since the 1980s. At the state lab in Harrisburg, Pa., VanEngelsdorp checked bee samples from Pennsylvania and Georgia. He washed bees with soapy water to dislodge Varroa mites and cut the thorax of the bees to look for tracheal mites; he found that the number of mites was not unusually high. His next guess was amoebic infection. He scanned the bees' kidneys for cysts and found a handful, but not enough to explain the population decline. VanEngelsdorp dug through scientific literature looking for other mass disappearances. He found the first reference in a 1869 federal report, detailing a mysterious bee disappearance. There was only speculation as to the cause — possibly poisonous honey or maybe a hot summer. A 1923 handbook on bee culture noted that a "disappearing disease" went away in a short time without treatment. There was a reference to "fall dwindle" in a 1965 scientific article to describe sudden disappearances in Texas and Louisiana. He found other references but no explanations. VanEngelsdorp traveled to Florida and California at the beginning of the year to collect adult bees, brood, nectar, pollen and comb for a more systematic study. He went to 11 apiaries, both sick and healthy, and collected 102 colonies. A number of the pollen samples went to Maryann Frazier, a honeybee specialist at Penn State who has been coordinating the pesticide investigation. Her group has been testing for 106 chemicals used to kill mites, funguses or other pests. Scientists have focused on a new group of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, which have spiked in popularity because they are safe for people, Frazier said. Previous studies have shown that these pesticides can kill bees and throw off their ability to learn and navigate, she said. Researchers have yet to collect enough data to come to any conclusions, but the experience of French beekeepers casts doubt on the theory. France banned the most commonly used neonicotinoid in 1999 after complaints from beekeepers that it was killing their colonies. French hives, however, are doing no better now, experts said. Sniffing out the culprit Entomologist Jerry J. Bromenshenk of the University of Montana launched his own search for poisons, relying on the enhanced odor sensitivity of bees — about 40 times better than that of humans. When a colony is exposed to a new chemical odor, he said, its sound changes in volume and frequency, producing a unique audio signature. Bromenshenk has been visiting beekeepers around the country, recording hive sounds and taking them back to his lab for analysis. To date, no good candidates have surfaced. If the cause is not a poison, it is most likely a parasite. UC San Francisco researchers announced in April that they had found a single-celled protozoan called Nosema ceranae in bees from colonies with the collapse disorder. Unfortunately, Bromenshenk said, "we see equal levels of Nosema in CCD colonies and healthy colonies." Several researchers, including entomologist Diana Cox-Foster of Penn State and Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, a virologist at Columbia University, have been sifting through bees that have been ground up, looking for viruses and bacteria. "We were shocked by the huge number of pathogens present in each adult bee," Cox-Foster said at a recent meeting of bee researchers convened by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The large number of pathogens suggested, she said, that the bees' immune systems had been suppressed, allowing the proliferation of infections. The idea that a pathogen is involved is supported by recent experiments conducted by VanEngelsdorp and USDA entomologist Jeffrey S. Pettis. One of the unusual features of the disorder is that the predators of abandoned beehives, such as hive beetles and wax moths, refuse to venture into infected hives for weeks or longer. "It's as if there is something repellent or toxic about the colony," said Hayes, the Florida inspector. To test this idea, VanEngelsdorp and Pettis set up 200 beehive boxes with new, healthy bees from Australia and placed them in the care of Hackenberg. Fifty of the hives were irradiated to kill potential pathogens. Fifty were fumigated with concentrated acetic acid, a hive cleanser commonly used in Canada. Fifty were filled with honey frames that had been taken from Hackenberg's colonies before the collapse, and the last 50 were hives that had been abandoned that winter. When VanEngelsdorp visited the colonies at the beginning of May, bees in the untouched hive were clearly struggling, filling only about a quarter of a frame. Bees living on the reused honeycomb were alive but not thriving. A hive that had been fumigated with acetic acid was better. When he popped open an irradiated hive, bees were crawling everywhere. "This does imply there is something biological," he said. If it is a pathogen or a parasite, honeybees are poorly equipped to deal with it, said entomologist May Berenbaum of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The honeybee genome has only half as many genes to detoxify poisons and to fight off infections as do other insects. "There is something about the life of the honeybee that has led to the loss of a lot of genes associated with detoxification, associated with the immune system," she said. Bee conspiracies In the absence of knowledge, theories have proliferated, including one that Osama bin Laden has engineered the die-off to disrupt American agriculture. One of the most pervasive theories is that cellphone transmissions are causing the disappearances — an idea that originated with a recent German study. Berenbaum called the theory "a complete figment of the imagination." The German physicist who conducted the tiny study "disclaimed the connection to cellphones," she said. "What they put in the colony was a cordless phone. Whoever translated the story didn't know the difference." Another popular theory is that the bees have been harmed by corn genetically engineered to contain the pesticide B.t. Berenbaum shot down the idea: "Here in Illinois, we're surrounded by an ocean of B.t. pollen, and the bees are not afflicted." And so the search continues. Many beekeepers have few options but to start rebuilding. Gene Brandi, a veteran beekeeper based in Los Banos, Calif., lost 40% of his 2,000 colonies this winter. Brandi knows plenty of beekeepers who sold their equipment at bargain prices. Scurrying around a blackberry farm near Watsonville, Brandi was restocking his bees. Dressed in a white jumpsuit and yellow bee veil, the exuberant 55-year-old pulled out a frame of honeycomb from a hive that had so many bees they were spilling out the front entrance. "When it's going good like this, you forget CCD," he said. Hackenberg, who has spent his whole life in the business, isn't giving up either. He borrowed money and restocked with bees from Australia. In April, the normally hale Hackenberg started feeling short of breath. His doctor said he was suffering from stress and suggested he slow down. Not now, Hackenberg thought. "I'm going to go down fighting." jia-rui.chong@latimes.com, thomas.maugh@latimes.com
As scientists try to explain why colonies are vanishing, worried beekeepers and farmers add up their losses.
Times Staff Writers
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: robin (#0)
Why is there no mention of chemtrails? Maybe we could consult the ghosts of the mysteriously murdered and/or missing microbiologists.
"It is the very nature of violent censure to give credibility to the opinions it attacks." ~ Voltaire
when conspiracies converge
"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism." ~George Washington
I'm guessing that it's something in the chemtrails that's killing the bees. Notice how that's not mentioned? Why?
"It is the very nature of violent censure to give credibility to the opinions it attacks." ~ Voltaire
Illegal Immigration? Paris Hilton? What about the fucking AIR we're breathing?
"It is the very nature of violent censure to give credibility to the opinions it attacks." ~ Voltaire
http://www.rense.com/general18/five.htm http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/02_14_02_microbio.html "It is the very nature of violent censure to give credibility to the opinions it attacks." ~ Voltaire
she is a little buzzy
"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism." ~George Washington
Notice how that's not mentioned? Why? http://j.l.navarro.tripod.com/jlnavarro/id23.html
"It is the very nature of violent censure to give credibility to the opinions it attacks." ~ Voltaire
she is a little buzzy lol :^)
"It is the very nature of violent censure to give credibility to the opinions it attacks." ~ Voltaire
"It is the very nature of violent censure to give credibility to the opinions it attacks." ~ Voltaire
Cell phones and pesticides have about as much to do with missing honeybees as Osama Bin Laden and Al Quaeda had to do with 9/11. imho
"It is the very nature of violent censure to give credibility to the opinions it attacks." ~ Voltaire
poor little bees
I don't really like bees, but this is kinda sad.
Holy shit, that is funny.....
Swimming around in my bourbon highball..... How can you not like honey bees??? Unless they are the mad African type. They will not sting unless you are assualting them. I kept them for pets in one house I lived in and fed them by hand. I cannot prove it, but do believe they recognized me some kinda way. Yellow jackets are a different creature.
Maybe we could consult the ghosts of the mysteriously murdered and/or missing microbiologists. Two very interesting and pertinent observations. The two could even go hand and hand so to speak.
I just had bee people at my house. There was a swarm in the neighbors tree that over hangs my property. I called a bee keeper to come get them. They said they have about 3000 hives. Well now they have 3001.
It's not Global Warming, it's Ice Age Abatement.
Is there an absence of chemtrails in your area?
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! i just had to kill a scorpion that got inside !!!!!
http://www.stevequayle.com/dead_scientists/UpdatedDeadScientists.html (Posted by TT previously today)
"It is the very nature of violent censure to give credibility to the opinions it attacks." ~ Voltaire
LOL! Yeah, in an eerie sort of way. ;^)
"It is the very nature of violent censure to give credibility to the opinions it attacks." ~ Voltaire
a scorpion??????? isn't that a poisonous spider? I don't believe I've ever seen one, or would know what it was if I did. eeeewwwwww. glad you got it before it got you :)
Yellow jackets are a different creature. I don't know the difference. beyond paying an exterminator monthly, I pay very little attention to bugs. but if you say honey bees are cute pets, I believe you.
We don't eat without honey bees.
It's not Global Warming, it's Ice Age Abatement.
A scorpion? Wow. That's a mean insect but also one of those critters whose populations have declined dramatically over the decades due to pesticides and other unknown environmental factors. They, along with turtles, praying mantises, walking sticks, horny toads, frogs and crawdads have almost disappeared in the "urban wild"...especially the once teaming rural areas that bordered suburban areas.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition horned toads, horned toads.
Called 'em horny toads since I was old enough to talk ;)
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (Posted by TT previously today) Wonder what it was that they knew that needed to be erased?
FF, are there any chemtrails in your area? You know what they are right?
A big'un or a little one? The big ones are bad the little ones, the Vinegaroon, are badder - their venom is more toxic.
Liberals want the government to be your Mommy. Conservatives want government to be your Daddy. Yes I know what they are. I not only had the bees swarming in the tree outside but I have plenty of fruit on my trees so they must have been around to polinate. We also get a lot of praying mantis on the deck.
Hopefully his mama isn't mad at you... :) So do you see chemtrails in your area or not?
No I don't see chemtrails.
Now that's interesting. I've spoken with several people on LP concerning this topic, and those that experienced bees dying off in their areas ALSO witnessed heavy CHEMTRAIL activity. I think that's the connection, and the cause.
I agree with BrerRabbits idea that it is systemic pesticides. He mentions ones that has been shown to damage bee memory. A bunch of bees will Alzheimer’s won't return to the hive.
FL That was one post. I have not seen any "chemtrails" and do not believe there are any other than contrails. And the research are of the North American Beekeepers Association begs to disagree also. As does the North Carolina Beekeepers Association in their meeting last month. There are nuclear physicists in this BA and they are not privy to your theory.
A bunch of bees with Alzheimer's don't have suppressed immune systems. And from what I've read, there are immunosuppressive elements in the substances that form CHEMTRAILS. The article specifically states that they cannot find any significant levels of pesticides, and that the agent appears to be biological in nature, as the hives that were irridated prior to allowing bees to settle in them florished, where the hives that were simply disinfected with chemicals or left alone altogether had very few bees that survived. The agent that I suspect is the cause is called MYCOPLASMA , and is also found in Gulf War veterans with Gulf War Syndrome. MYCOPLASMA PNEUMONIAE INFORMATION Unfortunately, Bromenshenk said, "we see equal levels of Nosema in CCD colonies and healthy colonies." Now THAT was a really useful study !
Yes.
If Mad Dog calls, I'm not here.
So what do you think about the possibility of weaponized mycoplasma, or some other Mollicute, as the cause of CCD?
Comments (41 - 218) not displayed.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestSo far, they are stumped.
#2. To: WTF? (#1)
Maybe we could consult the ghosts of the mysteriously murdered and/or missing microbiologists.
#3. To: robin (#2)
#4. To: All (#3)
Why?
#5. To: robin (#2)
mysteriously murdered and/or missing microbiologists.
#6. To: WTF? (#4)
Paris Hilton?
#7. To: All (#3)
I'm guessing that it's something in the chemtrails that's killing the bees.
#8. To: robin (#6)
Paris Hilton?
#9. To: robin (#6)
(Edited)
#10. To: All (#9)
#11. To: WTF?, robin (#10)
Instead, he found internal organs swollen with debris and strangely blackened. The bees' intestinal tracts were scarred, and their rectums were abnormally full of what appeared to be partly digested pollen. Dark marks on the sting glands were telltale signs of infection.
#12. To: robin (#0)
#13. To: WTF? (#9)
#14. To: kiki, mike ferret (#12)
I don't really like bees, but this is kinda sad.
"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men" Plato
#15. To: WTF? (#1)
Why is there no mention of chemtrails?
You appear to be a major trouble maker...and I'm getting really pissed. - GoldiLox, 7/27/2006
#16. To: FormerLurker, WTF? (#15)
#17. To: farmfriend (#16)
I just had bee people at my house. There was a swarm in the neighbors tree that over hangs my property. I called a bee keeper to come get them. They said they have about 3000 hives. Well now they have 3001.
You appear to be a major trouble maker...and I'm getting really pissed. - GoldiLox, 7/27/2006
#18. To: kiki (#12)
#19. To: FormerLurker (#15)
#20. To: PercyDovetonsils (#13)
Holy shit, that is funny.....
#21. To: christine (#18)
#22. To: tom007 (#14)
How can you not like honey bees???................
#23. To: kiki (#22)
if you say honey bees are cute pets, I believe you
#24. To: christine (#18)
(Edited)
#25. To: IndieTX (#24)
horny toads
It's not Global Warming, it's Ice Age Abatement.
#26. To: farmfriend (#25)
#27. To: WTF? (#19)
http://www.stevequayle.com/dead_scientists/UpdatedDeadScientists.html
You appear to be a major trouble maker...and I'm getting really pissed. - GoldiLox, 7/27/2006
#28. To: farmfriend (#16)
You appear to be a major trouble maker...and I'm getting really pissed. - GoldiLox, 7/27/2006
#29. To: christine (#18)
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! i just had to kill a scorpion that got inside !!!!!
Libertarians want it to treat you like an adult. - Andre Marrou
#30. To: FormerLurker (#28)
You know what they are right?
It's not Global Warming, it's Ice Age Abatement.
#31. To: christine (#18)
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! i just had to kill a scorpion that got inside !!!!!
You appear to be a major trouble maker...and I'm getting really pissed. - GoldiLox, 7/27/2006
#32. To: farmfriend (#30)
Yes I know what they are.
You appear to be a major trouble maker...and I'm getting really pissed. - GoldiLox, 7/27/2006
#33. To: FormerLurker (#32)
So do you see chemtrails in your area or not?
It's not Global Warming, it's Ice Age Abatement.
#34. To: farmfriend, WTF? (#33)
No I don't see chemtrails.
You appear to be a major trouble maker...and I'm getting really pissed. - GoldiLox, 7/27/2006
#35. To: FormerLurker (#34)
I think that's the connection, and the cause.
It's not Global Warming, it's Ice Age Abatement.
#36. To: FormerLurker (#34)
Now that's interesting. I've spoken with several people on LP concerning this topic, and those that experienced bees dying off in their areas ALSO witnessed heavy CHEMTRAIL activity.
#37. To: farmfriend, WTF?, JCHarris, Original_Intent, robin (#35)
I agree with BrerRabbits idea that it is systemic pesticides. He mentions ones that has been shown to damage bee memory. A bunch of bees will Alzheimer’s won't return to the hive.
You appear to be a major trouble maker...and I'm getting really pissed. - GoldiLox, 7/27/2006
#38. To: christine (#11)
UC San Francisco researchers announced in April that they had found a single-celled protozoan called Nosema ceranae in bees from colonies with the collapse disorder.
#39. To: FormerLurker (#37)
there are immunosuppressive elements in the substances that form CHEMTRAILS.
#40. To: JCHarris (#38)
You appear to be a major trouble maker...and I'm getting really pissed. - GoldiLox, 7/27/2006
.
.
.