alpentalic
05-09-2007, 02:05 AM
People I know in Minnesota farm country say there are no bees this year. In fact major bee populations have disappeared raising concerns about crops not getting pollinated. No one knows why but theories abound: Virus? Unintended consequences of genetic modification? Cell phones?
The problem, says Haefeker, has a number of causes, one being the varroa mite, introduced from Asia, and another is the widespread practice in agriculture of spraying wildflowers with herbicides and practicing monoculture. Another possible cause, according to Haefeker, is the controversial and growing use of genetic engineering in agriculture. As far back as 2005, Haefeker ended an article he contributed to the journal Der Kritischer Agrarbericht (Critical Agricultural Report) with an Albert Einstein quote: "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." http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,473166,00.html
Epidemics of disappearances like the current one have been documented as far back as 1896. But no cause has ever been established, scientists say. The United States' bee population had already been hit in recent years by a tiny, parasitic bug called the varroa mite, which has destroyed more than half of some beekeepers' hives.
Some experts say bee deaths that have been blamed on mites or poor management may actually have resulted from the mystery disorder.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070223-bees_2.html
Pulitzer Prize-winning insect biologist E.O. Wilson of Harvard said the honeybee is nature's "workhorse -- and we took it for granted."
"We've hung our own future on a thread," Wilson, author of the book "The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth," told The Associated Press on Monday.
Beginning this past fall, beekeepers would open up their hives and find no workers, just newborn bees and the queen. Unlike past bee die-offs, where dead bees would be found near the hive, this time they just disappeared. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070502/bees_pollination_070502/20070502?hub=SciTech
The problem, says Haefeker, has a number of causes, one being the varroa mite, introduced from Asia, and another is the widespread practice in agriculture of spraying wildflowers with herbicides and practicing monoculture. Another possible cause, according to Haefeker, is the controversial and growing use of genetic engineering in agriculture. As far back as 2005, Haefeker ended an article he contributed to the journal Der Kritischer Agrarbericht (Critical Agricultural Report) with an Albert Einstein quote: "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." http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,473166,00.html
Epidemics of disappearances like the current one have been documented as far back as 1896. But no cause has ever been established, scientists say. The United States' bee population had already been hit in recent years by a tiny, parasitic bug called the varroa mite, which has destroyed more than half of some beekeepers' hives.
Some experts say bee deaths that have been blamed on mites or poor management may actually have resulted from the mystery disorder.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070223-bees_2.html
Pulitzer Prize-winning insect biologist E.O. Wilson of Harvard said the honeybee is nature's "workhorse -- and we took it for granted."
"We've hung our own future on a thread," Wilson, author of the book "The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth," told The Associated Press on Monday.
Beginning this past fall, beekeepers would open up their hives and find no workers, just newborn bees and the queen. Unlike past bee die-offs, where dead bees would be found near the hive, this time they just disappeared. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070502/bees_pollination_070502/20070502?hub=SciTech