Bees, maybe a dying species!

Mike Lucey · 13 May 2008, 15:53

Hi Guys,

As many or you may know, the World bee population is in terminal decline.
Over that past couple of years we are seeing more and more empty hives
all over the World.

It appears there are a number of causes, various viruses and parasites
have been identified but the latest theory that I've learned about is
that mobile phones could be one of the culprits!

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2452949.ece

If this is the case, I'll gladly drop my mobile phone in the bin. I
managed for over 30 years without one and could quite easily do so again.

The more I think about it, bees are far more important to Nature than
we are. I really don't think Nature would miss humans for one second
whereas bees are a different matter!

All hope is not lost however. It may be possible to introduce some of
the traits of the African bee to the European bee in order to toughen
the species ..... I hope so

Mike

Daniel · 13 May 2008, 16:10

Mike, I'm with you on that. I hardly ever use my cell phone - and half the times I do, I find I had let my battery run down. It amazes me how people have become so dependent on the gadgets. Even my generation, who grew up without them.

Hive Collapse is a serious issue, especially when one considers how important the bees are to food crops. It's been years since I have even seen a honey bee! But if it is connected to cell phones, I don't see any hope, for people will chose not to believe rather than be inconvenienced, I am afraid.

Daniel · 14 May 2008, 11:18

You can't lay all the blame on the corporations and their desire for profit. There wouldn't be a supply if there wasn't a demand. No one is forcing people to buy gas guzzling SUV that they drive in all by themselves, going to places they don't need to. No one is forcing people to walk around with their cell phones perpetually glued to their ears.

Mike Lucey · 14 May 2008, 12:01

Yep! I imagine there is really lots of ways we could cut back
if we really wanted to. This put me thinking that I should
make a personal list of all the S&^t that I really don't need
.... and Oh Boy! is there a lot of it.

Back to the bees .... I like my apples, oranges, pears, plums,
cherries, blue berries, bananas etc ..... If it came down to a
bloody mobile phone or my fruit, it would be fruit every time!

I have seen some bees around over the past few weeks but I will
now be much more aware of them especially the Bumblebees which
I believe are are in big trouble.

Now that I think of it, we used to be plagued with wasps a few
years ago. They were always buzzing around the place but I have
noticed far fewer in recent years.

Daniel · 14 May 2008, 14:18

We've no shortage of wasps, hornets, or even carpenter bees; it's just the honey bees that seem to be disappearing. Regarding your comment about African bees, I hope it doesn't come to that - it seems in most cases when humankind "introduces" an alien species to an environment, it leads to an ecological disaster. Besides, I don't relish the idea of being attacked by "killer bees".

perk · 15 May 2008, 13:15

I saw a report about the decline in the bee population and they said that if bees were to become extinct humans would follow 5-10 years later. I dont remember where I saw this report but I do know that it was a somewhat reliable show.

watkins · 15 May 2008, 15:36

This appeared on the BBC website last September

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6978848.stm

tim · 17 May 2008, 23:02

@perk said:

I saw a report about the decline in the bee population and they said that if bees were to become extinct humans would follow 5-10 years later. I dont remember where I saw this report but I do know that it was a somewhat reliable show.

While bees are very important pollinators they are hardly the only ones. Rather a large fraction of insects are involved in pollination. A number of bird species are pollinators - some are the exclusive pollinators of commensal species. Some mammals are pollinators. Huge numbers of species of plant are pollinated by wind.

Bee colony collapse is not a new thing. Just this morning I was listening to the BBC 'Material World' show and the had a question about the issue and the presenter said that he recalled having spoken about the problem - and then admitted that he had discovered on checking that it was seven years ago.

There are a number of things that would cause the rapid extinction of humanity (large asteriod strike, airborne AIDS/Ebola/etc, solar flare of larger than typical power, supernova/gamma-ray burster too near, election of another republican dictator, to name a few) but commercial bee colony collapse is likely not on the list.

jeff hammond · 17 May 2008, 23:28

@unknownuser said:

bee population is in terminal decline

good.. i've developed an allergy to them along with fire ants and other insects with ass stingers...

excuse me, gotta go make some phone calls..

Mike Lucey · 20 May 2008, 12:50

LOL, I hope you are joking? But again I imagine you must be
The more important to humanity? Jeff v Bees, Jeff v Bees? Mmmm
a tough call ..... not

jeff hammond · 21 May 2008, 18:07

@mike lucey said:

LOL, I hope you are joking? But again I imagine you must be
The more important to humanity? Jeff v Bees, Jeff v Bees? Mmmm
a tough call ..... not

haha