[ExI] The Bee Problem

[spike]

Are we just talking honey bee's here? or are all bee types in decline?

 
Excellent question, Al.  I don't know.  I haven't seen any dying bumblebees
or any other types of bugs perishing, which counter-indicates a pesticide.
The leading theory I understand is CCD is caused by a virus carried by mites
other than varroa mites.  Damn.  We are going to miss eating fruit and nuts.
 
We are starting an offlist group, analogous to the M-Brain group we had a
few years ago.  A couple of hipsters have contacted me who know from
internet protocols better than I.  Hell, the bees know more from internet
protocols than I.  Understatement!  The POLLEN knows more from...
 
Al, do you want to be part of the spinoff bee discussion offlist?  Anyone
else?  Or would the rest of you want to just have us post highlights here?
I am looking for advice or help designing a website that is a little like
the earthquake site the USGS set up.  In that one, any time you feel a
tremor, you log on and tell them where you live and how much shaking you
felt.  They can estimate a magnitude and location within minutes.
 
http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ca/
 
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/
 
Wicked cool, ja?  Ain't it fun being alive and internet hip in 2008?  {8-]  
 
I want a bee version of these sites, where I can map epicenters of colony
collapse.  I am told I need a domain name?
 
spike   
 
 


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From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of
ablainey at aol.com
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 9:57 PM
To: extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
Subject: Re: [ExI] The Bee Problem


Are we just talking honey bee's here? or are all bee types in decline?



-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Freels <kevinfreels at insightbb.com>
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Tue, 1 Apr 2008 3:28
Subject: [ExI] The Bee Problem



I've seen a few of you mention the declining bee population lately. I just
thought I would pass this on.
 
http://www.physorg.com/news126203432.html
 
Ore. Farmers Press for More Bee Research
Sponsored Links 
 
(AP) -- Oregon farmers are hoping that the state's premier academics will
help them figure out what is causing a sudden decline in the bee population
that's hitting home in the Pacific Northwest.
Bees are critical for the pollination of signature Oregon crops, from Hood
River Valley pears to coastal cranberries. 
But commercial bee colonies that travel around the country to pollinate
crops have been decimated in the past few years by a mysterious malady
loosely known as colony collapse disorder. 
In many cases, beekeepers have found their hives suddenly empty, the bees
gone and presumed dead. 
The disorder has been linked to a virus that can be transmitted by a tiny
mite that infests bees. 
But little is known about the cause of the disorder. And Oregon State
University, the state's land-grant university that supports agricultural
research, no longer has a full-time professor focused on bees. 
Growers, beekeepers and others around the state are holding a meeting next
week in Corvallis to make the case for increased research into honey bee
health and pollinators in Oregon. 
Oregon State cut back faculty positions as state funding decreased early in
this decade, said Stella Coakley, associate dean in OSU's College of
Agricultural Sciences. 
But she said college officials recognize the rising concern about the health
of bees. 
Coakley told The Oregonian that Oregon State has located some funding so its
extension service could expand the services of its insect identification
laboratory. 
In the past, the main way Oregon State has been able to expand its research
positions is through endowments created with the help of private donors and
supportive industries. 
For example, the hazelnut industry in Oregon created an endowed
professorship focused on hazelnut research. 
Robert Whannell, who cultivates 25 acres of cranberries south of Astoria,
said the beekeeper from Washington who usually brings bees to pollinate his
crop lost 4,000 hives' worth of bees this winter out of 13,000 total hives. 
Without the extra bees to pollinate his cranberries, Whannell said his
production would probably drop 70 percent to 80 percent. 
"We're hoping this is going to be a wake-up call that we need to be focused
on this issue that affects the whole food chain," Whannell said. 
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