[ExI] bees again

[spike]

Well this is a sad thing, unusual perhaps for my normal disposition when
writing a post titled bees again.

 

A few years ago, I think it was about 2006, I noticed a number of bees dying
on sidewalks.  I had the notion of starting an online bee-watcher group.  As
I was trying to organize that, I found someone else had thought of the same
idea about the same time I did, and was more competent, so we had the great
sunflower project.  The idea was to have observers plant sunflowers, all the
same species, then use those as a common standard by which to compare and
observe.  A donor was found, the seeds purchased and distributed, but the
native species did far worse than we expected.  My first attempt had exactly
one seed of about 100 that germinated.  That phase of the experiment failed.

 

Next a group of us realized we could use the standards already in place in
our own neighborhoods, citrus trees, lavenders, garden flowers, any
spring-blooming plant would do as a standard if we pay attention and take
notes in a consistent manner.  This worked well, but suddenly our
bee-watcher group collapsed because of circumstances tragically beyond our
control.  The timing of that collapse was  even more unfortunate because of
the apparent off-the-charts numbers of bee deaths this year.  I had the
highest bee count this year of any of the other years.

 

I mentioned on 1 January that I was out walking and found several hundred
dead bees within about a 20 meter radius.  I collected about 50 to 60 of
these to offer to anyone who had the equipment to study them.  I wrote to
three different university entomology departments but no one wanted them.  I
still have those bees.

 

I realized that any random bee death would likely go unnoticed.  The ones I
found happened to have perished on a sidewalk and a road, where they could
be seen.  But if you go into Google Earth, even in a dense suburb, close
your eyes and point to a place on your screen, chances are you will not
touch a road or a sidewalk.  Most mass bee deaths like this one would likely
go unnoticed, since the bees would be on the grass or in an undeveloped
area.

 

In any case, my bee death counts have been huge this year, just when our
online group is not available, so I am sailing uncharted waters alone as I
report the following observation: the live bee count right now is waaaaay
down, way down.  Everything is in full bloom here in central California, the
weather has been warm, the trees should be buzzing with ravenous bees right
now.  I see a few.  But I would estimate the bee count at about a tenth what
I have seen in years past.  It is waaay down below normal.

 

So now what?  The Europeans think it could be Imidacloprid causing this.
Beekeepers feed their bees in the winter after they take the honey in the
fall.  The cheapest source of bee-feed is corn syrup, but it is entirely
possible that Imidacloprid or some other neonicotinoid is being sprayed on
the corn, which is finding its way into the corn syrup, then ending up in
the bees, which lose their way and perish after failing to find their way
home.  It is still under investigation here in the states, but the
observations I have made convince me we are seeing something completely new.
Our online group isn't around right when we need it the most.  Perhaps we
need to rejoin the Great Sunflower Project from which our sub-study
originally sprang.  I haven't posted to the Sunflower Project because I
didn't use sunflowers, and my observations are informal.  I could be wrong
about this, but I would estimate at this point I am seeing perhaps a third
to a tenth the bee count of past years.  Unfortunately I failed to make my
observations more formal, with dates and bee counts, damn.  If we really are
seeing bee counts as low as I fear they are, this spells trouble for food
production.

 

What do we do now, coach?

 

spike

 

 

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