Basically honey bees colonies are dying en masse and this not only affects the precious Bee industry that Gob had dreams of entering but also anything that relies on bees to pollinate plants/crops (different reports suggest the crops bees polinate rane in value from 30 billion to 200 billion). Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) was first noted in 2006, but the cause of it has remained a mystery, but the working assumption is that some kind of pesticide or fungicide could be the culprit.

http://science.time.com/2013/05/07/beepocalypse-redux-honey-bees-are-still-dying-and-we-still-dont-know-why/

[video=youtube_share;5J2kc4oZTVU][/video]

Ex. of 25k dead bees (most were bumble bees but some honey bees in the body count as well):http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/bees-dead-oregon-target-_n_3472870.html

While the reports of CCD are accurate as in bee mortality rate is up significantly, the numbers of bees and the effect on pollination hasn't been felt as bee keepers have been actively cultivating their colonies to help rebuild them which has kept the population relatively stable. (http://qz.com/101585/everyone-calm-down-there-is-no-bee-pocalypse/)

And finally, scientists have reportedly determined what the cause of CCD is. It isn't one specific cause but a cocktail of poisons (pesticides, fungicides, etc.) that collectively weaken the immune system of bees and then they are easily infected with a parasite called Nosema Ceranae. (http://qz.com/107970/scientists-discover-whats-killing-the-bees-and-its-worse-than-you-thought/)

Just doing my best to keep everyone here updated on the latest honey bee news.

Yep.

LOL.

dead bees.

this is none of my beeswax.

If the bees go, humans will be right behind them!

Albert Einstein - "If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live."

xKoToVxSyNdRoMe;1479079 wrote:Albert Einstein - "If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live."

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/einstein/bees.asp

[URL="http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/einstein-bees"]http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/einstein-bees

[/URL]The quote sounds good, just didn't come from Einstein.

redstreak one;1479076 wrote:If the bees go, humans will be right behind them!

Oh well, as long as we all go out together!

I don't mind bees but yellow jackets can go find themselves.

I thought this thread would be about the guy who burnt down the swing set killing all those bees

So wait a minute....Are you telling me that all the doomsayers panicking over bees dying...that we just made some more hives? In other words, capitalism found a simple solution?


It actually does seem like a pretty good little business, although maybe not that simple.

gut;1479124 wrote:So wait a minute....Are you telling me that all the doomsayers panicking over bees dying...that we just made some more hives? In other words, capitalism found a simple solution?


It actually does seem like a pretty good little business, although maybe not that simple.

That seems to be what one article suggests. But since bee mortality rates are abnormally high, some still believe that one particularly harsh winter could have a devastating effect on the worlds bee population.

But also, on the note of bee keepers having to put in more time and effort trying to produce new colonies because the mortality rate is higher could likely drive up prices down the line.

Fly4Fun;1479129 wrote: But also, on the note of bee keepers having to put in more time and effort trying to produce new colonies because the mortality rate is higher could likely drive up prices down the line.

I'm sure, if for no other reason than the exposure to the chemicals/pesticides might yield a relatively finite life of a hive. I don't know what it costs, but it must be a very tiny percentage of the revenue yielded from a crop/field.

gut;1479130 wrote:I'm sure, if for no other reason than the exposure to the chemicals/pesticides might yield a relatively finite life of a hive. I don't know what it costs, but it must be a very tiny percentage of the revenue yielded from a crop/field.

This very well could be true; for the most part we're just speculating since I'm no bee expert and it doesn't sound as if you are one either.

Fly4Fun;1479140 wrote:This very well could be true; for the most part we're just speculating since I'm no bee expert and it doesn't sound as if you are one either.

Found this link:
http://scientificbeekeeping.com/2012-almond-pollination-update/

So 1 colony of bees can yield @ $2600 of almonds. At $150 rental rate, that's about 5.5%. A lot steeper than I expected. Although note this includes substantial transportation costs.

The price has roughly quadrupled since 2005 when the disease started piling on hive losses. But also consider the price of fuel has increased significantly...I'd peg the marginal impact at @3%.

Hardly insignificant, but easily handled by the market and not remotely a "disaster" predicted by the doomsayers.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=135103771&page=1