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Wither thou goest, bees? So far, it’s a mystery for the ages: in territories across Canada, Europe and more than 25 states in the U.S., around 40% of bees have simply disappeared. There are no dead bodies left behind to tell the tale; they’re just gone. “Colony Collapse Disorder” (or “Vanishing Bee Syndrome,” as the BBC calls it) is thus far an unexplained phenomenon, though malnutrition, pesticides, pathogens, immunodeficiencies, mites, fungus, genetically modified crops and electromagnetic radiation have all been cited as possible causes. The bees have disappeared before, of course, but never to this scale. So what’s the big deal? First, there’s the pocketbook factor: the U.S. produces more than $15 billion in crops every year that depend solely on bees for their pollination. More frightening still is the idea that bees are a cornerstone of our cycle of life. An (unverified but infamous) quote from (possibly) Albert Einstein: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” Stay tuned, and we’ll let you know when it’s time to panic.
This is troubling, but the sky is not falling.
Don’t forget, Honey bees are only one pollinator out of myriads. There are wasps, butterflies, moths, some birds, bats, flies, wind and even other species of bees (such as the mason bee). There are a few crops for which mechanical pollinators have been developed (alfalfa).
There are two reasons that honey bees are usually used:
1) The are the hardest working pollinator that is active through most of the growing season.
2) They have a commercial byproduct - honey.
posted by n2y2 on 5-2-2007 at 11:52 am
I’m willing to bet they’re all in my backyard… messing with me.
Last week, I had an incredibly huge, enormous, very big swarm in the backyard. They were hanging in a large mass from a tree branch. I called a pest company and was told they were going to send out someone to collect them. According to them it sounded like a swarm, which means a bunch of bees following a queen looking for a place to establish a colony.
They showed up almost an hour later, but missed the bees by about twenty minutes. They all just sort of took off as if on cue and flew away. Creepiest (and loudest) thing ever…
posted by Jason! on 5-2-2007 at 11:57 am
Maybe the bee’s all know something. I’ve hear about how some animals can sense an earthquake coming and prepare for it. Perhaps the bee’s are doing the same thing on a much larger scale. Cliche of the week: “Storms ‘a brewin…”
posted by Rexmons on 5-2-2007 at 12:41 pm
Actually they think they figured this one out. They used a microarray to look for a variety of pathogens, and they found two - a fungus called nosema ceranae, and a virus called iflavirus. I’d give you a link, but your comment system is lame. The researchers are DeRisi and Ganem at UCSF, if you want to search.
posted by Platypus on 5-2-2007 at 12:43 pm
I think the bees volunteered to die after all the animals of the Earth got together and decided man has to go.
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 5-2-2007 at 12:54 pm
Undoubtedly, the global warming kooks (er… excuse me, I meant “climate change kooks”) will find some way to rationalize the bee depletion as a byproduct of too many SUVs. I’m just waiting to hear this argument. You just KNOW it’s coming.
posted by SId on 5-2-2007 at 1:15 pm
I am sure it is Bush’s fault.
posted by Jerry on 5-2-2007 at 1:57 pm
Oh, and according to Snopes.com, Einstein probably never said that.
posted by lleachie on 5-2-2007 at 2:08 pm
Ok… so… has anyone checked the dolphins lately? I’m just waiting for the message that says “So long and thanks for all the fish.”
posted by zale on 5-2-2007 at 3:26 pm
Had to be the honey bees…couldn’t be any vespidae. Oy.
posted by Meg on 5-2-2007 at 3:27 pm
There was a post about this on Neatorama not long ago (April 17); one of the theories cited there was that cell phones were to blame.
Maybe it’s just a bee’s holiday.
posted by Dave on 5-2-2007 at 4:19 pm
USA Today online says;
“Radiation from cell phones and other wireless devices might be behind the destruction of honey bee colonies across the United States, which is posing a major threat to agriculture, according to research cited yesterday by The Independent in London.
So-called colony collapse disorder happens when bees vanish suddenly, leaving behind only queens, eggs and a few immature worker bees that are not capable of sustaining the hive. The Independent writes that the missing bees are never found, but thought to die singly far from home. The parasites, wildlife and other bees that normally raid the honey and pollen left behind when a colony dies refuse to go anywhere near the abandoned hives.
Some scientists are advancing the theory that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees’ navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives.
The die-offs were first reported last fall. Now, half the states have reported the phenomenon. The East Coast reportedly has lost 70% of its commercial bee colonies; the West Coast, 60%. Die-offs also are being reported across Europe.”
posted by Pam on 5-2-2007 at 4:45 pm
It’s an omen…an omen..
Of what, I’m not sure, but mark my words, something wicked this way comes. We’ve been too long without a major catastrophe. Mankind has been lucky so far, but knocking on wood will only last you so long…
(Besides, the Mayans say that we only have what? Less than six years left before the world ends?) (Try googling if you don’t beleive me. It’s supposed to be somewhere around 12/22/2012, I think.)
posted by Pointy-Hatted Geek on 5-2-2007 at 5:05 pm
I believe that when we find the colonists who disappeared from Roanoake, then we will also find the bees along with Amelia Earhart.
posted by Ernie on 5-2-2007 at 8:02 pm
The bees, Roanoake colonists, and Earhart are hiding out with Judge Crater under a boardwalk in Coney Island.
posted by Sid on 5-3-2007 at 6:45 am
Jimmy Hoffa and all the missing socks in the world are there as well…
posted by Jason! on 5-3-2007 at 8:35 am
They are not gone - they are all in my yard! And Zale, loved the Hitchiker’s reference. 42
posted by JaneM on 5-4-2007 at 2:16 pm