Honeybees Are Dying All Over the United States, and Nobody Knows Why
The honey-production industry is threatened by these losses. In addition, there are many crops, notably apples, but also many others, whose growers rely on commercial honeybee fertilization, and their production could be impaired as well.
"One beekeeper who traveled with two truckloads of bees to California to help pollinate almond trees found nearly all of his bees dead upon arrival," the Associated Press has reported.
The Associated Press said that beekeepers in 22 states have reported dying colonies. Some have lost more than half of their bees.
Scientists do not know why the bees are dying, but they are working at finding an answer. Organizations that have joined forces to try to unravel the mystery, dubbed "Colony Collapse Disorder," include the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Penn State University, the agriculture departments in Pennsylvania and Florida, and Bee Alert Technology Inc.
Researchers are examining the dying colonies, looking for clues, and they are interviewing beekeepers to find out how the beekeepers managed their colonies. While the researchers have uncovered several things that may be contributing to the disorder, they have not been able to pinpoint a single underlying factor as the cause.
Dennis vanEngelsdorp of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture said that mites and their associated diseases, some unknown pathogenic disease, and pesticide contamination or poisoning are likely factors that could be causing or contributing to the disorder.
He said that initial studies found a large number of disease organisms present, with no one disease being identified as the culprit. And while studies and surveys have found a few common management factors among beekeepers with affected hives, no common environmental agents or chemicals have been identified.
Many crops depend on pollination services provided by commercial beekepers. Besides apples, crops that depend at least in part on honeybee pollination include peaches, soybeans, pears, pumpkins, cucumbers, cherries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. In Pennsylvania alone, according to a press release from Penn Sate, honeybee pollination contributes about $55 million to the value of crops in the state.
Sources
Mystery ailment strikes honeybees, by Genaro C. Armas, Feb, 11, 2007, Associated Press
Honey bee die-off alarms beekeepers, crop growers and researchers, Jan. 29, 2007, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences News Releases, maarec.cas.psu.edu
Fall Dwindle Disease (Now renamed Colony Collapse Disorder) Preliminary report, maarec.cas.psu.edu
Colony Collapse Disorder Working Group, Penn State Department of Entomology, www.ento.psu.edu
Published by May Monten
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11 Comments
Post a Commentthat's a bit exagrated and harsh don't you think? why is it that whenever something bad or strange happens it's always blamed on the goverment get over it! i highly doubt this!
I think there are many reasons why the honey bees are dying. The scientist are saying they can not find any bodies. I have lived in Iowa for 55 years and never saw a praying mantese before. I have a Sedum plant that use to have so many bees on it. Two years ago I saw my first praying mantese on the plant and thought it was cool. Well that bug ate every bee and I have not seen any bees since. The praying manteses are now all over here, i see them everywhere, so I think they are a big cause on what is happening to the bees.
Our government will not find a cause for the bees dying off! Because they already know why they are dying!
They are dying because of the poison that our government is spraying in our air. All over the country "chemtrails" are poisoning the air, our water and our food. We are dying off as well. These Chems are causing many ailments.
Visit www.chemtrails911.com and investigate for yourselves!
Is everyone completely blind? They are spraying chemicals on us every day. People argue with me that contrails are the same as chemtrails THEY ARE NOT. When I was a kid, I remember seeing contrails and remember how they would disappear within a couple of minutes after the plane flew by. This is NOT the case anymore. I have personally witnessed hundreds of long streaming trails of white "Lines" that disperse over 60 to 120 minutes staying aloft WAY longer than normal contrails. These trails merge and become "clouds" in a sky that was completely blue just a couple hours earlier. I have taken pictures on numerous occasions and am mostly disturbed that they fly over my house constantly, everyday, several times a day. There cannot possibly be THAT much air traffic. After all I live deep in a secluded redwood forest. What are they spraying? There are stories ALL OVER THE INTERNET attesting that this spraying is going on nationwide. THIS IS KILLING THE BEES! WAKE UP AMERICA! GET READY!
It is amazing how much we depend on the bees for pollination. But it's also amazing how much we depend on clean air and food supply or electricity and gasoline. For as long as we have been around, we have been fearful of this or of that. What will we do when......?? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for being a responsible individual, but all these gloom and doom comments crack me up. Yes it is an issue and perhaps the researchers will determine the cause. If not, God- who created all things, is still in control. I'll put my trust in Him to take care of the bees and..... to take care of my family.
bees are a necessary part of food production. we need to find a way to help the honeybee. it's good to be knowledgeable - it's not fear! but there will certainly be a breakdown in the food chain without them.
I hope someone can figure this out soon . I have three teens . They are the ones that will suffer .
The media and this new "disappearing bees" crap are both just tactics to keep the general public alarmed and attentive. oh no be afraid! so uch of what people base their knowledge on is fear. Why do people wear sunscreen? FEAR!!! I recently had the misfortune of overhearing a news cast about the BENEFITS of not wearing sunscreen, but actually getting a good amount of Vitamin D from the sun. People need to turn off their TVs and think for themselves. Stop being afraid!
The real reason bees are dissappearing is because of radiation from Cell phones, WI fi, HAARP and other radiation devices.
The associated press knows this.. and the cell phone industry will try to shut this up.
But either way socital collapse is two years in the making.. "Man cannot survive on the planet for more than 4 years wit hout bees" Albert Einstein...
CELLPhone radiation and the frequencies that bees use to navigate is the REAL PROBLEM.. PLEASE REPORT the rtuth unless you want to die from starvation or cannibalism REPORT THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the comments. As far as more info, I'll keep an eye out for any new developments, but at this point, the scientists appear to be stumped. They've found a number of things that could be contributing to the problem, but no one single thing they could point to. There are a lot of people working on this now, and there is a lot of stake, so maybe they will be able to figure it out pretty soon.