The Question: To Bee or Not To Bee?
Another entry in our Human Factor series.... much like the Great Auk, (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).
One quarter of all mammal species face extinction in 30 years. (United Nations)
90% of all large fishes have disappeared from the world's oceans in the past half century. (Nature Magazine)
If current trends continue, one half of all species of life on Earth will be extinct in 100 years.
Oft mis-attributed to Albert Einstein: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."
Alarmist you say?? Only 2% of feral bee populations remain and since October 2006, at least 35% of the US domesticated Honeybee population have disappeared.
Guess what? Apis mellifera pedigreed from a 35 million year old ancestor in Northern Africa - the feral and domesticated Western honey bee populations are now facing possible extinction.
North America is the bread basket of the world, and bees are the only known source of pollination of one third of our crops. (Estimated at $14 Billion annually in fruits, nuts and vegetables).
Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks honey bees. Varroa can only replicate in a honey bee colony. A significant mite infestation will lead to the death of a honey bee colony.
Varroa mites were accidentally introduced into the United States in the mid 1980s. Before this time, honey bees were found coast to coast across the United States.
Varroa have led to the virtual elimination of feral bee colonies in many areas and is a major problem for kept bees in apiaries.
Now only an estimated 2% of the feral honey bee population remains, and even this derives annually from honey bee swarms from beekeeping operations.
Practically speaking, as a result of Varroa mite infestation, wild or feral honey bees have become extinct in the United States.
As if the virtual extinction of feral bees was not bad enough and the fact that Queen bees are only living about half as long as they once did....domesticated or apiarie bees are now disappearing at an alarming rate.
Since last October, the US has seen a decline in bee populations so dramatic that it eclipses all previous incidences of mass mortality.
The ferroa mite may be a contributing factor to what is being called Colony Collapse Disorder, which is threatening hives throughout North America and Europe.Without explanation and virtually overnight... 30% to 90% of the populations in North American bee husbandry hives have disappeared. East coast colonies are down 70%, west coast are down 60%.
In the past unexplained disappearance disorders have been localized events, and it would be bad enough if this was just a localized phenomenon... however...
The CCD phenomenon (with similar mortality rates), has since spread to Europe. Wiping out bee populations in Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece and has been reported in the UK.
Since most of the world's crops depend on bees for cross-pollination, CCD could have a huge impact on global food supplies.
Various theories for the disappearances have been bandied about such as varroa mites, mobile phone electro magnetic radiation, pesticides, mercury contamination, global warming and the farming of GM (genetically modified) crops.
"The Martians had no resistance to the bacteria in our atmosphere to which we have long since become immune. Once they had breathed our air, germs, which no longer affect us, began to kill them. The end came swiftly.
All over the world, their machines began to stop and fall. After all that men could do had failed, the Martians were destroyed and humanity was saved by the littlest things, which God, in His wisdom, had put upon this Earth."
War of The Worlds - 1953
The Nattering One muses... Apiary Aids induced in this specific order:
1. genetically modified crops (engineered to contain insect resistant toxins).
2. alteration of intestinal flora and bacteria (bees ingest genetically modified pollen)
3. immuno suppression and cellular breakdown (side effect of bacterial toxin)
4. parasitic infestation runs wild (as a result of weakened resistance).
Much in the same way that prolonged exposure to ACE inhibitors causes immuno deficiency, anemia and nutritional malabsorption in humans.
Read here on how BEES were used to prove that altered genes can jump species. I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here....
One quarter of all mammal species face extinction in 30 years. (United Nations)
90% of all large fishes have disappeared from the world's oceans in the past half century. (Nature Magazine)
If current trends continue, one half of all species of life on Earth will be extinct in 100 years.
Oft mis-attributed to Albert Einstein: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."
Alarmist you say?? Only 2% of feral bee populations remain and since October 2006, at least 35% of the US domesticated Honeybee population have disappeared.
Guess what? Apis mellifera pedigreed from a 35 million year old ancestor in Northern Africa - the feral and domesticated Western honey bee populations are now facing possible extinction.
North America is the bread basket of the world, and bees are the only known source of pollination of one third of our crops. (Estimated at $14 Billion annually in fruits, nuts and vegetables).
Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks honey bees. Varroa can only replicate in a honey bee colony. A significant mite infestation will lead to the death of a honey bee colony.
Varroa mites were accidentally introduced into the United States in the mid 1980s. Before this time, honey bees were found coast to coast across the United States.
Varroa have led to the virtual elimination of feral bee colonies in many areas and is a major problem for kept bees in apiaries.
Now only an estimated 2% of the feral honey bee population remains, and even this derives annually from honey bee swarms from beekeeping operations.
Practically speaking, as a result of Varroa mite infestation, wild or feral honey bees have become extinct in the United States.
As if the virtual extinction of feral bees was not bad enough and the fact that Queen bees are only living about half as long as they once did....domesticated or apiarie bees are now disappearing at an alarming rate.
Since last October, the US has seen a decline in bee populations so dramatic that it eclipses all previous incidences of mass mortality.
The ferroa mite may be a contributing factor to what is being called Colony Collapse Disorder, which is threatening hives throughout North America and Europe.Without explanation and virtually overnight... 30% to 90% of the populations in North American bee husbandry hives have disappeared. East coast colonies are down 70%, west coast are down 60%.
In the past unexplained disappearance disorders have been localized events, and it would be bad enough if this was just a localized phenomenon... however...
The CCD phenomenon (with similar mortality rates), has since spread to Europe. Wiping out bee populations in Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece and has been reported in the UK.
Since most of the world's crops depend on bees for cross-pollination, CCD could have a huge impact on global food supplies.
Various theories for the disappearances have been bandied about such as varroa mites, mobile phone electro magnetic radiation, pesticides, mercury contamination, global warming and the farming of GM (genetically modified) crops.
"The Martians had no resistance to the bacteria in our atmosphere to which we have long since become immune. Once they had breathed our air, germs, which no longer affect us, began to kill them. The end came swiftly.
All over the world, their machines began to stop and fall. After all that men could do had failed, the Martians were destroyed and humanity was saved by the littlest things, which God, in His wisdom, had put upon this Earth."
War of The Worlds - 1953
The Nattering One muses... Apiary Aids induced in this specific order:
1. genetically modified crops (engineered to contain insect resistant toxins).
2. alteration of intestinal flora and bacteria (bees ingest genetically modified pollen)
3. immuno suppression and cellular breakdown (side effect of bacterial toxin)
4. parasitic infestation runs wild (as a result of weakened resistance).
Much in the same way that prolonged exposure to ACE inhibitors causes immuno deficiency, anemia and nutritional malabsorption in humans.
Read here on how BEES were used to prove that altered genes can jump species. I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here....
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