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Honeybee deaths - Corn Insecticide Poss Link

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by wjtracy, Mar 17, 2012.

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  1. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Here's another downside for biofuels sustainability.
    How about let's go organic requirement on plants grown for fuels?


    Honeybee Deaths Linked to Corn Insecticides - Yahoo! News

     
    #1 wjtracy, Mar 17, 2012
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    that would be great news if that's the connection. first the biotech altered corn and now this. what next?
     
    #2 bisco, Mar 17, 2012
  3. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    The irony is the gmo portion of corn is not the problem, its the traditional insecticides applied. If true, this has become more of a problem because of the "green" distortion of farming caused by ethanol mandates leading to more and more acreage planted with these insecticide laced corn seeds.
     
    #3 austingreen, Mar 19, 2012
  4. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    One of my bee keeping friends says that the latest word on colony collapse is that it comes from fungus. That's not new, but this fungus is. Apparently this particular fungus does not grow on conventional medium, so it was not easily isolated in the lab. The good news is that it is relatively easy to kill in the hive.

    Tom
     
    #4 qbee42, Mar 19, 2012
  5. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Hope this figure this all out because I really like honey.
     
    #5 spiderman, Mar 19, 2012
  6. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    It's not just your honey at stake. ;)

    Bees are responsible for the pollination of many, many food crops around the world.
     
    #6 hyo silver, Mar 19, 2012
  7. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    My last honeybee photo...this was 2002 in Louisiana.
    Northeast have not seen any for years. Used to have millions.
    Also one of my first ultra-zoom digital photos (not the best focus but OK shot).
     

    Attached Files:

    #7 wjtracy, Mar 19, 2012
  8. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    It's events like this that put a premium on some small group of scientists. 10000 politicians and 10000 corporate spokesmen will never solve the problem whereas the lone few actually trying to find the answer might.
     
    #8 FL_Prius_Driver, Mar 19, 2012
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    so, is it insecticide or fungus? btw, we have honeybees in our yard.
     
    #9 bisco, Mar 19, 2012
  10. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Wiki does not resolve, but here is quote:

    ...so we lost the "feral" or wild ones already for the most part since 1972.
    But in 2006 the bee keepers started having serious problems even keeping hives going.
     
    #10 wjtracy, Mar 19, 2012
  11. ItsNotAboutTheMoney

    ItsNotAboutTheMoney EditProfOptInfoCustomUser Title

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    We saw a bee on Sunday, feeding on some crocuses outside a nearby florist.
     
    #11 ItsNotAboutTheMoney, Mar 19, 2012
  12. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    #12 austingreen, Mar 20, 2012
  13. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Vanishing of the Bees...if you get NETFLIX you can instantly watch the 2011 "documentary" ...just watched...makes a quite strong argument about systemic pesticides. Worth a look. Basically the beekeeper's claim is that EPA approves these pesticides but fails to properly consider residual or longer term effects or next generation or combination effects of trace non-lethal levels in bees (I must assume human impact is well-studied). It is quite a difficult lab problem to try to prove the trace level effects in bees. They say the seed coating started here around 2003.

    Its just a problem for bee-keepers who serve treated farms, unless you accept their inference that other species (frogs, Monarch butterflies, bats etc) may be having similar hidden problems.
     
    #13 wjtracy, Mar 20, 2012
  14. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    It is still being debated. I suspect there is more than one cause. In combination they are putting a lot of stress on the bees.

    Tom
     
    #14 qbee42, Mar 20, 2012
  15. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    True QBee...the low levels of pesticides thought to increase other disease vectors.
     
    #15 wjtracy, Mar 20, 2012
  16. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    How are native bee populations doing? Not the feral, which are just the introduced European honeybee, which was pushing the natives out.
     
    #16 Trollbait, Mar 20, 2012
  17. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    We have a lot of natives here, but they own casinos, not hives.

    Tom
     
    #17 qbee42, Mar 20, 2012
  18. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Since the stories of hive collapse broke a few years ago, I've noticed a huge increase in urban beekeepers. People are making an effort, and I hope it's making a positive difference.

    Is keeping mason bees in your yard a good idea?
     
    #18 hyo silver, Mar 20, 2012
  19. Corwyn

    Corwyn Energy Curmudgeon

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    Unfortunately, the majority of current GMO efforts are either at making plants more tolerant of pesticides, or including the pesticides in the plants. Neither bodes well for the bees.
     
    #19 Corwyn, Mar 20, 2012
  20. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    Not well, they have been effected too. Mites, fungus, and insecticides are taking their toll. The invasive honeybee species did hurt populations, but this negative factor appears to be declining:D

    This does not appear to be the case with honey bees, at least according to the articles. There was one gmo variety that biologists thought might harm bee populations and it was pulled from the market.
     
    #20 austingreen, Mar 20, 2012
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