Colony Collapse Disorder, Honeybees are dying!!!
There are tens of thousands honeybee colonies being killed off by a mysterious disease all over the country, which is actually affecting honey production. Researchers are trying to find the reason behind the ailment affecting the honeybees and are calling Colony Collapse Disorder.
Reports from more than 22 states are claiming that they are seeing honeybee deaths, some reporting over 50% of their colonies dying off. If more than 50% of the honeybee population is dying, their starts to become a cascading effect for local agriculture surrounding the hives of the honeybees. The honeybee is one of the main sources of pollination for local agriculture, along with birds and some insects. A report by the National Research Council had reported that in order to bear fruit, three quarters of flowering plants rely on pollinators for fertilization.
Upon dissection of the dead honeybees, abnormally high number of foreign fungi, bacteria and other organisms have left there immune systems weakened. Other researchers think that pesticides might have something to do with it.
In my opinion, we are the tipping point where eco-systems will all come crashing down due to our inability to be balanced with nature. Our pesticides, our greenhouse gas emissions, our pollution, our negligence is starting to affect EVERYTHING. A cascading effect has already starting on different parts of the web of life. My recent blogs have indicated this, and I am also trying to prove how global warming is affecting all walks of life. According to national geographic, species that endure harsh weather conditions, are already at their limit of survival. People often wonder what 1 degree warmer does to the earth, but that 1 degree is literally pushing species into extinction and mass deaths. Research has been conducted that can show the stresses of what 1 degree can do to certain species. Hopefully our honeybees will survive the stresses we may have induced upon them.
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I lived in Davis California for 6 years, from 1974 to 1980. We had a real good thing going, we started Earth Day, we had community organic gardens, we rode bicycles. We did everything possible to prevent environmental disaster. I personally worked on the problem of overpackaging and waste. We were steamrollered by corporations and big bucks. And the Military Industrial Complex selling guns and ammunition, and chemicals, and rocket fuel. We tried to lobby against spray planes over fields and alternative pest controls. Nobody can outrun a steamroller. I went back to Davis California in 1995 and the bikes were replaced by cars. Hey, we tried. It's their environmental disaster now. When people gas up, it never occurs to them they could walk or ride a bike. I can walk across a considerable part of any city. The problem with that is industry puts time constraints on employees and locates workplaces so people have to commute. Rapid transit just doesn't go where people need to go either. As far as the bees - Univ. of California Davis is the agricultural school where they invented all those pesticides and sold us out to the corporations that make the stuff. You couldn't even drink the local water in Davis without getting runoff from the big growers. Congress is responsible for the steamroller and you see how much they care. They're the biggest bunch of stupid idiots in one room. Gov. Jerry Brown was the environmental leader- where did that go? Nowhere. Don't hold your breath waiting for Ralph Nader either. Big talker. He's had 30 years to file a Federal Lawsuit and hasn't done diddly squat. The only way this will reverse is when it gets really really bad. I'm buying a small farm in a remote place where other disgusted old hippies live. Then we'll be sustainable when the rest are raiding the shelves for packaged frozen foods. There's a food crisis coming, that's for definite. They can't eat a Hummer. I also cannot believe the amount of meat these people eat and corporations are in the big business of providing it. We never ate this much meat. No cow, chicken, or fish is safe. I hate to think what kind of meat they will come up with when the cows and chickens and fish all die off. We should have an active soy replacement program right now. But they wont. I honestly am shopping right now for a small remote farm where I can cluster with a few hundred other people for mutual support. Forget trying to change things or talk to them. We already tried that. Al Gore is running all over using up jet fuel and living in a big house he doesn't even need. His utility bills I understand are huge. E.F. Schumacher wrote a book called "Small is Beautiful". Where is that book today? In the trash - that's where it is.
Thanks for taking the time to write all that. I know what you mean about Davis, I have several friends attending school there. I grew up in the Bay Area, and recently moved out to Eugene...a lot more progressive in my mind and not as crowded. I love the small town feel and like having everything within walking distance of my place, I too would love to buy a place in a remote area, and particularly build an earth sheltered home with solar and wind generators for energy, I have a degree in electronic engineering...so these are my little side projects I hope to finish by next year. Let me know if you find a farm anytime soon and I appreciate your response.
I have a dying honeybee. Are there any researchers looking for specimens of field bees to examine to help determine the source of the sickness afflicting honeybees?
Bill,
Where do you live? Just out of curiosity, how badly have you been affected?
JT
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