Pacific Spirit Marine Institute
Bee T Phone Home. Honey Bee’s Are In Real Peril!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Back in January PennState College of Agricultural Sciences issued a warning to growers in Pennsylvania to contact beekeepers and arrange for pollination services well ahead of time.
Why? During the last 3 months of 2006 the college began receiving reports from commercial beekeepers that an alarming number of honey bee colonies were dying the the eastern united states. Since the beginning of the year beekeepers from all over the country had been reporting ‘unprecedented losses’ of bee colonies.
More than 100,000 honey be colonies have been lost in Alberta over the past several months and there is great concern there are not enough pollinators for farmers dependent upon honey bees for pollination.
Alarming losses of the honey bees are not just a North American problem. Enormous losses have also occurred in 9 European Countries.
There are nearly as many theories as to what may be causing the die-off as there are dead bees. Varroa Mites, pesticides, tracheal mites, Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus, fungus and an array of bacterial disease are only a few of reasons being vestigated.
Once scientists started investigating the puzzling die-off many were surprised to discover the bees were in fact stricken with a large variety of problems; not just one.
There has even been heavy speculation that the dramtic increase in ‘genetically modified crops’ could even be a contributing factor. One more therory is that an increase in UV radiation has degraded the quality of pollen being produced for the bees consumption and they are becoming malnourished leaving them succeptable to disease and…perhaps even causing them to have problems with their vision.
One study done in Germany even suggested Cell phone may be at the bottom of the disappearing honey bees. Could cell phone signals be interfering with the bees ability to navigate their way back to their hives? Bees refused to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. This theory is being called unlikely.
What about wireless phones? Geman bees may have a highly developed sense of design aesthetic and merely taken offense at having a wireless phone base inserted into their decor.
Regardless of the reasons for the alarming disappearance of the honey bee one thing is certain. Life as we know it will come to a sudden and disruptive change without them.
It feels odd that so little coverage about this new threat to the worlds food supply has been presented in the news. There are suggestions a media moretorium was placed on reporting about the loss of the bees. Color me dubious on that one. A media moratorium would suggest several nations were in colussion to keep the seriousness of this situation away from the public.
This is a big story with even bigger consequences. Check back, there will be more to come!
Photo credit: USDA
Labels: Disappearance, Honey Bee, Honey Bee's, gentically modified
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Bee T Phone Home. Honey Bee’s Are In Real Peril!
