[ExI] bees again

[spike]

>. On Behalf Of Gordon
Subject: Re: [ExI] bees again

 

spike,

 

>> .Hey check this, watch these hummingbirds hassle each other....

 

 <http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xHkq1edcbk4?rel=0>
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xHkq1edcbk4?rel=0

 


>.Wonderful! I shared with other people who feel the same way. Thanks for
posting it!  -gts 

 

 

Glad you liked it Gordon.  

 

On the subject of bees again, I am seeing a bunch of dying bees this summer.
I saw dying bees for the first time about five years ago, and every year
since then but at a lower level.  I didn't know for sure if they were always
there and I just hadn't noticed but in any case, I am seeing way more of
them this year.  I should have kept a log, but individual observations are
of little use: not enough data.  If we were to get a few thousand bee
watchers to keep a log, noting date, time and place of observation, perhaps
we could see some patterns.  

 

As I noted a few months ago, I observed something this year that led me to
believe the cause had to be some kind of pesticide: two bees staggering
about on the sidewalk about a meter apart, both too weak to fly, both dead
within an hour, neither with parasites that I could tell.  I had no
handkerchief or other means to carry them, so I picked them up in my hands
and carried them home, hoping for the best.  Neither stung, but it felt
weird.  I kept them in a jar for a few weeks to see if anything would hatch
out of them.  This season I have had five negative observations for
parasites, no positives.

 

I never have been able to figure out any alternate explanation for that
observation of the two dying together other than a pesticide on the roses.

 

The biggest challenge I can see in having a site for observations is in
getting the participants to record negative findings.  It is difficult to
distinguish between active observers seeing no bees and observers going
inactive.  Doctors have faced this challenge since forever: if patients
start feeling better, they just go away and don't report back until they are
sick the next time.  We need a better way of recording negative
observations.

 

spike 

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