Lots of horror film scenarios possible from this. Real life ones, too.
Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril
David Bradshaw has endured countless stings during his life as a beekeeper, but he got the shock of his career when he opened his boxes last month and found half of his 100 million bees missing.
In 24 states throughout the country, beekeepers have gone through similar shocks as their bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation’s most profitable.
[…]
The sudden mysterious losses are highlighting the critical link that honeybees play in the long chain that gets fruit and vegetables to supermarkets and dinner tables across the country.
Now, in a mystery worthy of Agatha Christie, bees are flying off in search of pollen and nectar and simply never returning to their colonies. And nobody knows why. Researchers say the bees are presumably dying in the fields, perhaps becoming exhausted or simply disoriented and eventually falling victim to the cold.
[…]
Researchers are also concerned that the willingness of beekeepers to truck their colonies from coast to coast could be adding to bees’ stress, helping to spread viruses and mites and otherwise accelerating whatever is afflicting them.
Now that’s scary. Sooner or later someone’s going to ask – have they looked for spilled-out GM influences? Not saying it’s the fault of those evil GM scientists, but insects are pretty specific in what drives their behaviors. Gotta suspect the law of unintended consequences at play here somewhere.
Earlier info, FYI.
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=9714
Not only fruits and veggies…but also think of the alfalfa fields grown to feed the cattle. This touches just about everything in the food chain.
Not everything depends on the bee though. For instance, corn is pollinated via the wind mainly.
The INS is deporting them.
#3
For that they don’t rely on domesticated honeybees, they use a non social bee known as Alkali bee, they are much more efficient.
More on this subject here.
http://tinyurl.com/352fkr
I’m really disappointed. Half a dozen comments and no one has blamed Karl Rove. You guys are losing your edge.
8. How come no one has stated the obvious. KILLER BEES!!!!!
sorry, I know this is a serious subject, but sometimes I just get tired of hearing bad news, and I have to watch Fox News for more Anna.
Karl Rove? This is obviously a side effect of global warming.
So long, So long, So long, and thanks for all the pollen.
Keep a towel handy.
This is a very serious problem. My Dad started keeping his own Bee’s again after the mite infection’s a few years back.
While not all bee keepers are having a problem, enough are that it could effect prices and yield next year and maybe for a couple of years, IF they figure out why soon.
We aren’t having a problem, which makes me want to stick my head out and say….it’s due to all the various chemicals that are put into the soil and onto our food. If it’s due to GM, I don’t know, we grow only 100% organic food and raise organic beef, chicken and pork and our bee’s are coming home after sowing their wild pollen.
We report…….You decide!!!! 🙂
There’s a good feature-style article on the honeybee decline in OnEarth Magazine. Freaky.