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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: What’s the buzz about all our missing bees? Site Logo What’s the buzz about all our missing bees? 8:53am Friday 11th July 2008 The disappearing bees was a great Doctor Who storyline. With the universe teetering on the abyss - courtesy, naturally, of the Daleks - and the Doctor literally lost in space, he suddenly came to the conclusion that the bees had not been disappearing at all, but fleeing the Earth because they had sensed it was time to make a swift exit. Dig deep into the internet and similar stories abound; the bees are getting out before doomsday. That there are fewer domestic honeybees and their feral cousins, wild bees - bumblebees - worldwide is not in dispute. The reasons why, though, are much more prosaic. "It's the varroa mite," said Peter Inson. "It came into the UK, Australia and New Zealand about 15 years ago, probably on the bodies of live bees brought in illegally. The mite lives on the bees' body fluids and eventually kills them." The mite attacks all bees, both domestic and wild, and can decimate hives. While beekeepers can ensure their honeybees take anti-varroa drugs via a sugary paste, bumblebees are on their own. "But the mites are already developing a resistance," said Mr Inson, "so scientists are having to adapt the drugs. Still we have learnt a lot about how to cope with the problem facing domestic bees. Unfortunately, that is not helping the bumblebees. There are fewer feral colonies today than there were a decade ago." Mr Inson is a beekeeper (an apiarist) and a member of Colchester Beekeepers' Association. He has seven hives in the garden of his home at East Mersea. Each hive contains a single colony and the number of bees in the colony can be as high as 50,000 in the summer, when the bees are actively collecting pollen and making honey, to no more than 4,000 in the winter. Mr Inson doesn't just keep bees to sell honey. He is finding he is more and more in demand from local farmers who want his domestic bees to pollinate their crops because there are fewer bumblebees. The wild bee may be more attracted to crop flowers than the honeybee (honeybees prefer nectar-rich plants) but where needs must, the honeybee will rise to the occasion. "My bees have already pollinated bean plants," said Mr Inson, "and the farmer was so pleased he is thinking of planting borage and hiring my bees again." It isn't only the varroa mite which has reduced bumblebee numbers. Intensive farming and a cut in the number of insect-pollinated crops (more cereal crops, fewer bean crops) have also led to decline. Three of the UK bumblebee populations are already extinct and another nine are on the endangered species list. Brian Finnerty, spokesman for the East Anglia branch of the National Union of Farmers (NFU), said pollination by bees is worth £200 million a year to the agriculture and horticulture industries. A further decline in bumblebee numbers could have a serious economic impact on the farming industry, which is why the Department for Food and Rural Affairs' (Defra) National Bee Unit is looking at ways to give the bumblebee a fighting chance. "They (bumblebees) play a very important role," said Mr Finnerty. "They are the best pollinators. That is why so much effort is going into trying to reverse their decline." Then there is the UK's intensive house-building programme, particularly in north Essex and the Thames Gateway (east and south-east London, parts of Kent and Essex - 120,000 new homes by 2016) which conservationists claim is "decimating" the bumblebees' habitat. Ben Darvill, of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, revealed four types of bumblebee, amongst the most endangered species in the UK, thrive on wild flowers in the Thames Gateway area. "We recognise they are rare and yet they (the Government) still seem determined to let developers build on these sites," said Mr Darvill. "Without bumblebees you are talking about reduced crop yields and sweeping changes to the countryside." Meanwhile, America has a more perplexing bee problem. Colonies there really are disappearing. There is even a name for it - collapsing colony disorder (CCD) - and it is getting worse. "There is no explanation for it as yet," said Mr Inson. "The bees just abandon their hives and vanish. There is no sign of disease, no sign of anything. "Oh, there have been theories. Climate change hasn't been dismissed, but the notion that electrical impulses from mobile phones were affecting the bees' navigation was quickly dismissed." Which makes it all very definitely more Doctor Who than Defra. WHY ARE BUMBLEBEES IMPORTANT? * Bumblebees work on plants with no nectar, so play a crucial role in the pollination of farm flowers and vegetables * The farming industry relies heavily on insect pollination. Few, if any, bean flowers, for example, would set pods unless they were pollinated by insects, particularly bumblebees, which the Department for Food and Rural Affairs' (Defra) National Bee Unit says are the most efficient pollinators * Many apple, pear and plum trees rely on bumblebees for good harvests. BUMBLEBEES AT RISK Britain and Ireland have 25 native species of bumblebee. Five are currently listed in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan because of their rapid decline - bombus distinguendus (great yellow bumblebee), bombus humilis (carder bumblebee); bombus ruderatus (large garden bumblebee), bombus subterraneus (short-haired bumblebee) and bombus sylvarum (shrill carder bee).
Poster Comment: Apollonius, kemptville says... 6:33pm Wed 23 Jul 08 Glad to hear that BT Genetically Modified crops have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with Colony Collapse Disorder. Nope, couldn't be that at all. Move right along folks. Nothing to see here!!! mediamadman, Dallas says... 10:46pm Wed 23 Jul 08 Genetically modified crops IS the ONLY reason for the destruction of the bee colonies. No one wants to talk about it for fear of offending Monsanto. Please read about how Transgenic Pollen affects Monarch Butterflies in the following article: http://www.mindfully .org/GE/Transgenic-P ollen-Monarch20may99 .htm _ _______________________ Puppy sayz; My friend the genius who is also a beekeeper told me 15 years ago that bees were dying, and feral colonies were almost non existent. He told me then that we were reaching critical mass because of two other villains-the Jacobi Mite and the Tracheal mite. Einstein said that within a few years after the disappearance of the bees humans would also be extinct. And yet people still do not understand their importance, any more than folks understand how the loss of plankton will cause the collapse of the food chain. Now that oceans are warming and the cold upwelling of plankton is being disrupted, we may see a collapse of the food chain so sudden (but not unexpected, at least in scientific circles) that it resembles one of those "IT CAME FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE" Sci Fi horror films. And, if beekeepers lose the battle (feral colonies are practically extinct, with the possible exception of the slow migrating Africanized bees-"Oh Great!") then Darwin's "survival of the fittest" may mean that the only humans who survive are those that can eat other people and carrion without gagging.... I tried to explain the gravity of the situation to a co-worker a few years back, and his reply was, "I don't need vegetables. I can live on a big ol' steak for dinner every night!" When I tried to explain that beef are fed different types of hay and grains that must also be pollinated, well, it, just didn't compute. And, each additional attempt to sound the Chicken Little alarm has also failed. For some reason only the hardcore greenies seem to grasp the seriousness of the looming crisis, and their natural enemies keep churning out articles ridiculing them (on admittedly weak points) in order to dismiss ALL that they are trying to tell us. In biology there are Lazarus species, that is, critters that are believed to be extinct but are suddenly found to have survived. The Coelacanth, a prehistoric fish was re-discovered in Africa in 1938 is a Lazarus species, a reference to the Biblical chap who was risen from the dead. I'm afraid that if the unfavorable conditions that are devastating bees and plankton lead to declarations that they're extinct, that it's damned unlikely either will ever pop up and pleasantly surprise us in the grim, gray future that lies ahead. It's possible that The Ivory Billed Woodpecker has managed to survive undetected deep in some Arkansas and/or Louisiana swamps. But, I hold no hope for the "resurrection" of what was once the most populous bird in North America, the passenger pigeon. "Martha", thought to be the world's last passenger pigeon, died on September 1, 1914 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Both comments about the above story were written by skeptics who put no stock in the varroa mite as the culprit in the honeybee crisis. They want to believe that genetically modified "Frankenfoods" are decimating our little friends. Others point to cell towers/microwave radiation or pollution as the singular cause. They all believe that behind their preferred cause is a powerful lobby that pressures officialdom to hide their culpability. And, still others dismiss anything that scientists say and greenies repeat as gospel, from the "George Bush Skool of anti-Intelleckshualizm" wing of the party. The end result is, the world is fiddling as the ecology burns. If it's any comfort to you, our govt has taken steps to assure the survival of our govt. What they probably haven't told us is, underneath the Greenbrier Hotel (WVA) and Cheyenne Mountain complex (COLO) there are ample provisions for the govt types, their deliciously full figured personal secretaries (and if there's any more room) their wives and kids. They may even be keeping healthy, disease and parasite-free bee colonies for their survival. (And, sunlight reaches them through 12 inches of blast proof glass) In fact the only thing that our precious govt types have to stay frosty about is, the one danger they can't minimize in advance. That is, a possible mine shaft gap. "We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day...."
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 8.
#7. To: HOUNDDAWG (#0)
I was really glad to see wild honeybees in my yard this summer.
We have a plum tree that was well tended by bees and consequently we had a bumper crop of plums this year. The tree is only about 3 years old and we were giving plums away. Heaven help us when the tree is full size.
#10. To: farmfriend (#8)
In the east rotting plums on the ground attract wasps and yellow jackets.
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