Honeybee Hearing Today - does anyone here know how it

[texpatriot2004]

went? Was it on C-SPAN? I heard just a little bit about it on NPR this evening. I wasn't able to catch it but I am curious. The report I heard indicated they were mostly testifying to the magnitude of this problem. I also heard that they think that the bees either a) mysteriously left the hives because they sensed some problem there, some danger; or b) something, some chemical possibly, has disoriented the bees and they cannot find their way back to the hive, and since they are social beings, they die alone.

Save the honeybees.

[mike_c]

1. there was a live audio feed, but it's over, of course....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=228&topic_id=28868&mesg_id=28868

[Mojorabbit]

2. This is the first

I've heard of hearings on it. I only have one hive and am an amauteur beekeeper but would be interested to know what was said.

[Lint Head]

3. I think Einstein said...

the human race would last about four years honey bees. They are responsible for many foods including fruits, vegetables and even milk to just name a few. :dem:

[truedelphi]

25. It's funny/sad that business people have so often

Scoffed at those of us who present environmental concerns

A honeybee saved is a food crop preserved

[patrice]

4. Here's an article

http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/29/news/honeybees/

My Dad used to keep bees when we were kids. I have good memories of the honey harvest.

[texpatriot2004]

7. thanks for the link nm

[earth mom]

5. This is truly frightening. I haven't seen any honeybees this year.

Only big black bumblebees and wasps. :scared:

[tnlefty]

6. Thus far I've seen 1,

and in the past they were busily buzzing about.

[devilgrrl]

11. saw a few in LA

:(

[hatrack]

8. There was some discussion of Gaucho - a Bayer insecticide

Apparently, it's been suspected of causing disorientation and colony breakdown by beekeepers in France, Canada and elsewhere. I don't know if this is a smoking gun, since God knows there are plenty of other stressors working on bees, but it's certainly possible.

The pathology noted here does match the symptoms I've read about, and what I saw in my first colony, which just up and disppeared just last summer. They just left - whether absconding or what, I don't know.

This is a fairly short article from Agence France-Press

Seed Treated Corn affects French bees

Agence France Presse
11 August 2002
Machine translation of AFP article
The insecticide Gaucho, put in question by French bee-keepers, who have seen sunflower pollen cause mortality of bees, may equally contaminate the pollen of corn, according to one scientific study published Thursday by the specialist agency Agra. This study was undertaken by the National Institute of Research Agronomic (INRA) and the Centre for National Scientific Research(CNRS) within a European framework, to measure the toxic effects of these substances on the bees. It confirms that "the bees are still exposed to the molecule of Gaucho, imidacloprid, via pollen of the corn treated with this insecticide ", writes the agency specializing in agriculture and agrifood.

"The news is significant for bee-keepers, because it could explain why the mortality of the bees continues, whereas Gaucho is suspended in France for the treatment of the sunflower since January 1999", continues Agra.

Samples of the pollen transported by the bees were taken at the entrance of the hives. All reveal the presence of imidacloprid in pollen of corn treated with insecticide, a value average ranging between 3,3 and 3,7 parts per billion (ppb, is between 3,3 and 3,7 micrograms per kilo). The plant health companies affirmed at one time that the poison did not penetrate the flowers, and even less in pollen. We showed the opposite, whether it is for the sunflower or corn ", specified one of the authors of the study, Jean-Marc Bonmatin (Center of molecular biophysics of Orleans, CNRS).

"The corn has the same behavior in terms of metabolism as the sunflower ", according to this researcher. The problem remains of the threshold at which the product is dangerous. Several preceding studies of the INRA established thresholds of toxicity between 3 and 6 ppb, a study having even established a very weak threshold, 0,1 ppb, for a chronic exposure resulting in the death of the insect at the end of an about eight days.

On the other hand, a spokesman of the Bayer company told AFP that studies by the group for corn pollen established a toxicity of 20 ppb. "It is estimated that, up to 20 ppb, there is no risk for the bees. The danger becomes mortal only beyond 100 ppb ", specified Gaëlle Curé, of the chemical products group.

http://www.honeycouncil.ca/users/folder.asp?FolderID=4973

[texpatriot2004]

13. How bizarre and mysterious that your bees just disappeared ?

And apparently it is happening in droves.

[hatrack]

16. It's not unheard of - there's a phenomenon known as "absconding"

It's when the hive just up and leaves. It isn't swarming, the normal reproductive cycle, since that leaves about half of the colony behind.

It can and does happen when the hive is in a spot that's too hot, too far from water, or one that bees just don't like for whatever reason.

In my case, I was worried that the hive had too much exposure to the sun during a Midwestern summer, but I talked with an experienced beekeeper. His answer was, in effect, "I don't know." He'd seen bees in Arizona, California and other western states far hotter than here, and they never absconded.

So, who knows? But I'm trying again this year, with two hives instead of one - one at our place, the other down at my parents' house which is somewhat out in the country. Not exactly a controlled experiment, but maybe of some interest.

[texpatriot2004]

17. How interesting. I hope that your two hives will flourish nm

[Canuckistanian]

19. Just curious - how does one start a hive?

Is it a "build it and they will come" scenario or do you have to have 'starter larvae'?

[hatrack]

23. You buy or build a hive, buy a package or packages of bees, each with a queen

And these days, close your eyes, cross your fingers and hope for the best, it would seem!

http://www.dadant.com
http://www.mannlakeltd.com
http://www.mdbee.com/mail_order.html

These are just for starters - there are many more companies, clubs, associations & groups.

[Canuckistanian]

24. Thanks!

I live in the country and many of my neighbors keep bees.

I could never do it, I have a phobia of bees and wasps.

[texpatriot2004]

26. thanks for the links nm

[texpatriot2004]

20. Where do you suppose they go when they "abscond"? Where

do you suppose they have disappeared to now?

[Eurobabe]

27. They've had enough of Bush too. No not to make light

I wanted to watch or listen to this hearing on C-SPAN, I think it was televised, it was on the schedule for Thursday. I missed it, and it is not in the C-SPAN archives, at least not yet?

If anyone sees a link to the hearing, would you please pass along? TIA. :hi:

I can't imagine the world without bees. They are the most amazing creatures (although when they swarm they scare the hell out of me, I would never ever harm one; in fact, when we were on vacation in Northern Italy last summer, we hand fished many a disoriented bee out of the pool to save it from drowning!!)

BTW, the best honey I've EVER had in my entire life I bought from Pike Place Market in Seattle, from a small family owned beekeepers: Mech Apiary.

[IDemo]

14. More info on Imidacloprid

This is a pretty good page about Imidacloprid, put togther by "Bayer experts from different scientific fields", although the potential for bee impact isn't discussed directly, considering this is from a beekeeping site (2001).

-- Imidacloprid works differently to other insecticides presently being marketed (i.e. carbamates, organophosphates and pyrethroids). The mode of action is based on interference of the transmission of impulses in the nerve system of insects.

-- Imidacloprid can be used as a seed dressing - trademark Gaucho® - as well as for foliar, soil and stem treatment - trademarks Confidor®, Admire®.

-- Under the trademark Advantage® it has been used commercially as a veterinary medicinal product for flea control on cats and dogs in the USA since 1996 and in Europe since 1997.

more-> http://www.beekeeping.com/articles/us/imidacloprid_bayer.htm

edit to add: it is found as the sole active ingredient in the Bayer Advanced Garden - Tree and Shrub Insect Control product

[hatrack]

9. K & R, folks

I'm sure we'll be talking about impeachment and Anna Nicole and the Red Sox in three of four years if 30 to 40% of our food supply vanishes, right?

[fed-up]

10. this needs just one more rec nt

[texpatriot2004]

15. kick it for the bees nm

[live love laugh]

12. "...honeybees ... will cease to exist in the United States by 2035."

O...M...G

No bananas and no bees. :wow:

[Digit]

18. This is serious folks.

Big Kick

[nicknameless]

21. K&R

[InvisibleTouch]

22. K & R n/t

[Eurobabe]

28. Here's an older article from the WaPO from February '07

Mystery Ailment Strikes Honeybees (WaPo)
Sunday, February 11, 2007; 11:17 PM

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- A mysterious illness is killing tens of thousands of honeybee colonies across the country, threatening honey production, the livelihood of beekeepers and possibly crops that need bees for pollination.

Researchers are scrambling to find the cause of the ailment, called Colony Collapse Disorder.

Reports of unusual colony deaths have come from at least 22 states. Some affected commercial beekeepers -who often keep thousands of colonies -have reported losing more than 50 percent of their bees. A colony can have roughly 20,000 bees in the winter, and up to 60,000 in the summer.

"We have seen a lot of things happen in 40 years, but this is the epitome of it all," Dave Hackenberg, of Lewisburg-based Hackenberg Apiaries, said by phone from Fort Meade, Fla., where he was working with his bees. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/11/AR2007021100650_pf.html