‘Could become a death spiral’: scientists discover what’s driving record die-offs of US honeybees
Experts scrambling to understand losses in hives across the country are finally identifying the culprits. And the damage to farmed bees is a sign of trouble for wild bees too
Those who understand ecology on a level that doesn't have cheap commodities as a prerequisite understand there's a straightforward solution to this. Restore natural pollinator habitat (fuck your lawn) and stop treating them like slaves.
Lawns aren't the problem, it is agriculture. Now the problem is affordable food vs the environment.
I bought 5 pounds of clover seed this spring and spread it through my lawn... and it's amazing. I plan on getting 20 pounds this fall and doing the rest of my lawn, and probably going to get some creeping red thyme for my fence rows.
How does that fix a virus spread by parasitic mites?
There are diverse pollinators that are native. These honeybees are not native to the Americas. Having a spread of native species do the job should be more resistant to these kinds of infestations.
Did you read the article? Freeing the slaves gives them the capacity to recover.
Dave Goulson, professor of biology at the University of Sussex, says the study provided no evidence that the viral load was higher in weaker colonies. “Almost all bee colonies have these viruses, but they only do significant harm when the colony is stressed.”
I believe it would lead to fewer chances for the mites to migrate between colonies - i.e. more flowers == less bees per flower == less chance for a mite to jump from a bee to a flower to a bee/different hive.
That's just a guess tho and my gut also says that climate change isn't helping.
Scientists have been scrambling to discover what happened; now the culprits are emerging. A research paper published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), though not yet peer-reviewed, has found nearly all colonies had contracted a bee virus spread by parasitic mites that appear to have developed resistance to the main chemicals used to control them.
Varroa mites spreading disease.
Adee says: “We had mites for 20 years, and we never had over 3% losses.” He believes there is a “combination of things” that makes the bees more stressed and the mites more deadly.
He cites the use of neonicotinoid insecticides in the US, which harm bees’ nervous system, paralysing and ultimately killing them. Some researchers have warned of neonicotinoids causing another “silent spring”, referring to Rachel Carson’s 1962 book on the effects of the insecticide DDT on bird populations.
Dave Goulson, professor of biology at the University of Sussex, says the study provided no evidence that the viral load was higher in weaker colonies. “Almost all bee colonies have these viruses, but they only do significant harm when the colony is stressed.”
Hello, goodbye, t'was nice to know you
How I find myself without you
That I'll never know - Honeybee
I let myself go
Are they just farmed European honeybees or our natives dying off too?
Yes and no. It's complicated.
I know :(.
And even non natives are pollinating
It's just bad
Yes.
Loving this (probably ai) picture there.
Tons of hives - not a plant in sight for miles.. I think I found your problem.
The image's caption:
Bret Adee, one of the largest US beekeepers, has 55,000 hives used to pollinate crops. As monoculture farming spreads, bees have to be moved across the country, especially for almonds, blueberries and cherries. He lost 75% of his bees over the past year. Photograph: K Brinson/New York Times/Redux/eyevine
A quick Google search reveals that his operation, Adee Honey Farms, is in South Dakota. here's another article on this subject with a different photograph of the same place. Their web page doesn't have many photos of the field in question, but there's a couple.
This is not an AI image.
This is what large scale pollination companies do. They haul in tons of hives around various crops and let them do their thing for a while and then pack up and move to the next one. Basically these bees are like sailors going port to port, spreading all of their goodness around.
Okay, so they are just monocrop idiots instead. Pardon me if I don't cry a river for the industrial land rapers.
I currently look at what was a fetile farm valley that's been so stripped of it's topsoil that the only thing these morons grow any more out here are Filberts. You know a lot of Americans salivating for Filberts?
I have zero sympathy for those that stay industrial ag over sustainable..
