Disappearing Bees!

[Chemar]

I first heard of this very disturbing news about the bees a few months ago!

 

Although I know we here in central Florida have much higher pollen counts (and hence allergy symptoms) than normal because of our drought ..........yet news reports indicate the polen count around the country is at record levels

 

wondering if the disappearance of so many bees is related to more pollen being around ie the bees are not collecting as much etc etc

 

there are many news reports and articles on the bee disappearance........here is a recent one from ABC News

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2999495&page=1

[orthomolecular]

No, I heard about the problem with bees in the news. I remember thinking that this will have an effect on some plants and how they get pollenated. Produce prices will probably be effected by this. Most bee keepers are finding their nests are down by a significant percentage, 70% in some places. They don't understand why this is happening.

 

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/17022917.htm

 

The high pollen is about the whether we had this past winter all across the country. It was mild and wet I think and that creates more pollen.

[kim]

Some suspect that science/man has gone too far, with things that they really don't understand.

 

 

One theory, and a scary one.....

 

http://www.healthy.net/scr/news.asp?Id=9037

 

Mysterious events in recent months have suddenly made Einstein's apocalyptic vision seem all the more topical. For unknown reasons, bee populations throughout Germany are disappearing -- something that is so far only harming beekeepers. But the situation is different in the United States, where bees are dying in such dramatic numbers that the economic consequences could soon be dire. No one knows what is causing the bees to perish, but some experts believe that the large- scale use of genetically modified plants in the US could be a factor.

 

http://tedeboy.tripod.com/drmichaelwfox/id74.html

 

While Congressional hearings are now being called for by grieving pet owners, and class action suits put together, this debacle could have catastrophic consequences not only for conventional agribusiness, of which the pet food industry is a lucrative subsidiary, but also for the agricultural biotechnology industry, with its millions of acres of genetically engineered crops around the world.

[kim]

Hummm...Candida clear for insects?

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/science/24bees.html

 

Genetic testing at Columbia University has revealed the presence of

multiple micro-organisms in bees from hives or colonies that are in

decline, suggesting that something is weakening their immune system. The

researchers have found some fungi in the affected bees that are found in

humans whose immune systems have been suppressed by the Acquired Immune

Deficiency Syndrome or cancer.

 

I'm a bit confused by this part

 

Meanwhile, samples were sent to an Agriculture Department laboratory in

North Carolina this month to screen for 117 chemicals. Particular

suspicion falls on a pesticide that France banned out of concern that it

may have been decimating bee colonies.

 

and

 

They have also set

aside for now the possibility that the cause could be bees feeding from a

commonly used genetically modified crop, Bt corn, because the symptoms

typically associated with toxins, such as blood poisoning, are not showing

up in the affected bees.

 

Aren't pesticides or 117 chemicals considered toxins? Why would a genetically modified crop, show blood poisoning? It seems this statement in reference to the previous paragraph, makes more sense?

[Chemar]

...........and the bees' immune system is likely being compromised by all the pesticides and chemical fertilizers! Poor bees!!

 

Kim, I agree, that second part is puzzling and even more reason to avoid genetically engineered crops huh

[kim]

But...We just aren't smart enough to be informed about which foods are genetically modified, according to the FDA.

 

 

http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/index.php/?page_id=333

 

"You Can’t Trust Consumers to Make the Right Choice About GM Foods. The Truth Would Be Confusing and Misleading!"

[Caryn]

In my research on corn allergy, I stumbled on this article about Genetically Modified Food Crops potentially killing the bee population.

GM foods have been produced in US since 1996, and are now at record levels (mainly corn and soy). Bees are not the only one's dying off. I read an article that butterflies are too. They are now producing corn products with a "natural" pesticide in the DNA of the corn!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...HOG5FOH9VQ1.DTL

 

Here is a factsheet about GM foods:

http://pewagbiotech.org/resources/factshee...3?FactsheetID=2

[kim]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...QY&refer=us

 

Bats Die by the Thousands From Mystery Malady in Northeast U.S.

 

Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Thousands of bats are dying from an unknown illness in the northeastern U.S. at a rate that could cause extinction, New York state wildlife officials said

 

AND

 

The illness was identified after thousands of U.S. beekeepers found unusually large losses -- 90 percent or more in some cases -- beginning in 2006. Colony Collapse has been found in 35 U.S. states, one Canadian province, and parts of Asia, Europe and South America. Scientists haven't identified the cause and believe it may be the result of several things in combination.

 

``You have a strong parallel with the bees in that we just don't know what's going on,'' Hicks said.