[ExI] The Bee Problem

Tue Apr 1 06:32:37 UTC 2008

 Interesting, I'd also like to know if this is worldwide or America's specific.You said 'We 
are going to miss eating fruit and nuts.'  I can see this being a definite problem if all bee types are declining. but what if other species like solitary bee's, bumble etc are not effected? These and other pollinators might increase in number to fill the gap?
I don't think I currently have time for the offlist group, but I would be interested in the highlights and I like the website idea.
loosely related to the subject there is a movie coming out soon where some unknown natural disaster starts to kill off everyone, the first indicators of something going on is the dramatic decline in bee numbers (or so it would seem from the trailer). It's called 'The Happening'. I'm not sure how much of a part the bees play. probably minimal, probably just the usual science to fiction link to make the story more credible.

Alex

-----Original Message-----
From: spike <spike66 at att.net>
To: 'ExI chat list' <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Tue, 1 Apr 2008 6:19
Subject: Re: [ExI] The Bee Problem

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???

?

?

  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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