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Honeybee deaths - Corn Insecticide Poss Link

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

  1. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Mini-survey - my own front yard - pear tree in full (smelly) bloom.
    Armed with the new knowledge that honey bees are non-native, so I am now willing to celebrate any bees.

    Good news - the tree is alive with many bees! mostly of smaller size than the honey bee. A few bigger bumble bees. Possibly a honey bee in the mix but too far away for positive ID.

    Hey that was enjoyable I will continue survey every day.
     
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  2. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    That side comment actually got my attention. Since when have every studied any chemical compound for multi-decade effects prior to releasing it for full scale use? Most all the complaints I hear are how regulatory requirements can take years to navigate. My thought is all that can be done in that time frame is show that it does not kill you directly via some fast mechanism.
     
  3. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    That's the crux of it FL, the EPA always had a bee safety test, looking for quick bee kill as a negative result. The newer systemic insecticides are basically capable of faking-out the EPA bee safety test. The bee keepers position is the EPA testing is out-dated.
     
  4. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

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    Any guess how much corn would cost if we used human pollinators? You know, people with feather brushes doing what bees used to do.

    I don't think it will matter how hardy the corn is if the pollinators get killed off.
     
  5. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Whatever happened to the Africanized killer bees?
     
  6. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    Africanized honeybees confirmed in Ga.; one man stung to death - Related stories - Macon.com
     
  7. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    My impression is also that CCD is very difficult to pin down. Disease, hive parasites and agricultural chemicals may all be involved, along with tantalizing hints that the nectar of some invasive plants has negative effects on bees. A friend of mine* is facing some hurdles getting his work on that published :)

    Having been tasked with spraying a 'killer bee' colony in the past, I can confirm that they are angry little guys. I won't do that again without a proper bee-keeper suit. Possibly body armor. They do poorly in places with 'winter', because they don't stockpile much honey. Somebody else can talk about cliamte-change implcations there :)

    RobH if you mean that corn is insect pollinated, no. It is all by wind. There is a good compliation (somewhere) of what fraction of ag $$ results from bee pollination, As I recall about 1/4. That is, 1/4 of 'big'. In some cases, substitution would not be easy.

    *He is also allergic to bee venom and it seems to me that he has made an unwise choice of research topics.
     
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  8. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    ...me too allergic. When I lived in Louisiana I ended up in hospital after a fire ant got me. In hospital they just gave me intravenous Benadryl and a tablet of Pepcid AC, so always try to carry Benadryl. Had an epi pen for while but bees do not get me quite as bad as those darn fire ants.
     
  9. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Continuing the bee survey earlier today.
    Documenting a honey bee!
     

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  10. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Hopefully the next gen of FrankenCorn will be self pollinating.
    ;)

    .
     
  11. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    lol hill, the majority of corn is wind pollinated and does not require any insects. Good old fashioned natural and selective breeding not gmo took care of that one. Extreme Heat and/or drought - agw anyone - can cause poor polinatioin. Maybe gmo or tradtional selective breeding can help there:D

    There is a picture of what corn would look like without human genetic manipulation.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/science/25creature.html

    Now lets get rid of these invasive European honey bees:D No wait, lets continue to figure out what is killing them and see if we can do about it. We are living in the anthrocene.
     
  12. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Here's an update to the bee story. It seems pesticides are indeed part of the problem.