US Honeybees heading for Extinction

[lovuian]

Survey shows 31% of US bee colonies died in US and the agriculture industry have admitted pesticides are partly to blame. US agriculture admits that bees contribute 20 billion dollars to food industry. Beekeepers reported 45 % of their colonies have died from colony collapse disorder and if this continues they will be out of a job

what is not said is this continues the US Honeybee will be extinct
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/08/honey-bees-threatened-colonies-extinct-2012

I have noticed homegrown honey getting scarcer on the shelves at US grocery stores
Anybody else?

[jb5150]

1. If honeybees go extinct ....

can we be far behind?

[EV_Ares]

3. No, not al all & have seen that as well if this was to happen.

[alfredo]

11. The native Americans did OK before the Euros brought the bee to the US. They

called it the "White man's fly."



The honey bee is important for agriculture in that the honey bee travels great distances for nectar and will visit a wide range of plants.

[quakerboy]

17. I am curious what did the polination prior to their arrival?

Are those mechanisms, presumeably an alternate insect vector in many cases, still in place?

And of those alternate mechanisms of pollination, how many are similarly effected by the same pesticides?

Just because honeybees are not native does not mean this is a problem that can necessarily be ignored.

[NaturalHigh]

22. There are literally thousands of natural pollinators.

Bascially, almost any kind of insect. Birds too. Honeybees, though, are by far the most efficient. In Brazil, because of a shortage of honeybees, they are actually using bumblebees. The bumblebees, though, are far less efficient.

[quakerboy]

23. It is interesting that honeybees seem

to reach across so many plant types, when so often you have specialized organisms that participate with one one narrow section of food sources.

I wonder what it is about these pesticides that is so effective on bees, but possibly not on every other insect that might pollinate?

[lovuian]

2. I just bought the last jar of Walker Honey Farm wildflower honey

at my grocery store last week
I was shocked that the shelve was empty
it wasn't cheap either
10 bucks for 1.5lbs

anybody else notice the prices going up

[AsahinaKimi]

18. I wonder if its possible we could be looking at..

Real Pure Honey, $1000.00 a jar in the next few years?

[bunnies]

4. Ive not seen a single honey bee so far this season.

Just a few bumbles and some little teeny tiny ones. We can thank fucking Monsanto for this. Sick bastards should be in prison and fed only round-up ready food.

[alfredo]

12. Honey bees usually come out later in the season.

[MADem]

15. They are all vacationing in Utah....

http://www.wtvm.com/story/22165363/utah-cabin-had-uninvited-guests-60000-bees

The honeybees had been making the enclosed cavity their home since 1996, hardly bothering the homeowners. The cabin was rarely used, but when the owners needed to occupy it while building another home nearby, they decided the beehive wasn't safe for their two children. A few bees had found their way inside the house, and the hive was just outside a window of a children's bedroom.

[NaturalHigh]

5. I hope not. I'm raising them.

I love bees. FYI...while it's overstated to say that humans will go extinct without honeybees, the large-scale agricultural system we now know is impossible without them.

[Ednahilda]

9. I hope your bees are well!

Mine are fine so far this year, they still have lots of honey left over after the winter and lots and lots of babies.

[NaturalHigh]

21. Doing great.

They are in a great, wooded location, with access to several water sources. We also had a very mild winter, which seems to have favored them. They are also in a location where they are unlikely to be exposed to any insecticides or other chemicals. I'm lucky to have such a spot for them.

[freshwest]

6. Yes; and it turns out a lot of that honey is not really honey, sad to say.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. They returned about two or three years ago, but this year I've only seen one.

Yes, I think it has to do with pesticide spraying.

[ruffburr]

8. Cut to the chase-

If the bees go we will be but a heartbeat behind them, Not a mystery

[glinda]

10. There was a dead bee stuck to a bag of bird seed I bought today.

[lovuian]

13. I can't imagine how much a jar of honey

is going to cost in the future if the populations get lower and lower

[glinda]

16. I know but just think, China already sells fake honey in stores!

[marybourg]

14. Not to worry. Tens of thousands of hyper-defensive

(we're not supposed to say "aggressive&quot africanized bees just near my house here in AZ. Two people and a dog killed by some in separate incidents here last week. Especially now with warming, they're almost sure to spread and fill the void left by the Europeans. We had five nights of frost this past winter and they survived and thrived. They're heading your way!!

[sulphurdunn]

19. Monsanto isn't in the bee business

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

20. As has already been stated in this thread...

... this nightmare traces to Monsanto: