[ExI] bees again

[spike]

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

On Sun, Mar 3, 2013 at 9:01 PM, spike wrote:
>>... In my back yard, I noticed the minority bees are now the majority: the

> secondary pollinators which do about 5% of the pollinating, the 
> ground-dwelling non-colonizers, are now in the majority.
...

>... There are reports that the bees might be spread too thin this year due
to the increased acreage and the increased price of renting hives. This
implies that the bees will probably not stray much outside their orchards.
>...Officially nobody is reporting a disastrous shortage of bees this
year....BillK
_______________________________________________

OK well I just returned from a trip to Sunnyvale and Palo Alto with the
intention of inspecting some bee hives and talking to beekeepers.  The
teenage bee guy I talked to knew nothing of any neonicotinoid anything, and
had too little experience to be much help.  I inspected his hives and found
all but one was underactive for today's conditions, which were perfect, with
ornamental cherries in full bloom.  Those are a good early benchmark because
the bees are very hungry when they blossom.  In other years, I can stand
under those trees and immerse myself in the buzz of a thousand wings going
about their beesness.  In Sunnyvale, many of these trees had no bees in
them.  It seems like most of the cherry trees had exactly one bee.

I visited Sunnyvale's community farm, and found the bee activity apparently
way below normal for such a perfect day.  I contacted a former college
classmate who runs a farm, and learned that he is having a great deal of
difficulty getting enough bees to rent for his blueberries.

The imidacloprid theory agrees well enough with my own observations now that
I make the following friendly but earnest request: stop buying honey
immediately.  Reasoning: the price of honey is waaaay up this year, way up.
The high prices will encourage beekeepers to extract all the honey they can
get for sale, then feed the bees with corn syrup, which could have traces of
imidacloprid which was sprayed on the corn, which could contribute to the
bees losing their way and perishing of exposure.  If people stop buying
honey (much of which is likely counterfeit anyway, or is being mixed with
corn syrup) then the price of honey will drop, making it less financially
attractive for the beekeepers to extract.  Then the bees will survive the
winters on their own honey, and will be less likely to be exposed to
neonicotinoids.  The bee keepers will still make a fine living by renting
their hives to farmers.  

Please do your part: stop buying honey.  If you are moved to do more than
your part, post to friends and family on your distribution and ask them to
stop eating honey as well.  Explain your reasoning, or forward my post if
you wish.

spike