Where do bees go to die?

Subject: Where do bees go to die?
From: open mike
Date: 05 Mar 07 - 09:34 PM

A report I heard lately said that there is a mysterious thing happening wth honey bees. It seems as if they lose their way
back to the hive. Has any one heard of this?

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: open mike
Date: 05 Mar 07 - 09:36 PM

oh oh forgot to put this below the line

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Peace
Date: 05 Mar 07 - 09:38 PM

Link to story here, OM.

(Takes about 15 seconds to load.)

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: open mike
Date: 05 Mar 07 - 11:12 PM

yeah, colony collapse disorder.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Mar 07 - 11:19 PM

My mom won first prize for her bees and honey in New York State.
The following year they all died from a fungal infestation.

This was 20 years ago.

Now this fungal infestation has spread coast to coast and now threatens the California crops that do not have enough bees that have survived to pollinate their crops.

Here in Maryland the collapse of the bee population has led to a selective/limited introduction of tiny "sweet bees" to stem the tide of pollination problems.

Sorry to interject reality in an otherwise parody thread.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Metchosin
Date: 05 Mar 07 - 11:42 PM

Apparently California is having a lot of problems with this according to a recent program I heard. In some cases, some bee keepers have lost over half their hives. Doesn't bode well for the California fruit industry at all.

Most farmers rely on and pay bee keepers to move hives onto their farms, particularly for such things as almonds, berries and tree fruits, to ensure a crop. When the bees have done their job, after the plants finish flowering, they are moved on to other crops.

This has become a primary business for beekeepers, over collecting honey, in some areas. There are no longer enough wild bees or good bee habitat, to just rely entirely upon nature for pollination, without a considerable helping hand.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Metchosin
Date: 05 Mar 07 - 11:46 PM

Its not just fungus and mites Donuel. In the report I listened to, they mentioned weakened immune systems in bees.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 02:58 AM

I thought that bee propylis protects them from all the dangers of disease that come from living in large colonies. What's going wrong?

Re the original question: the answer used to be my sitting room. In a cottage I used to live in, many mortar bees laid eggs inside the chimney. The newly-hatched bees used to get confused between the light at the top of the chimney and the light in my sitting room, and were as likely to find themselves in my house as outdoors. We often found dead bees by the window, and I started wearing slippers after the second time I got stung on the foot.

Then there was a whole dead swarm in the sitting room once when the house had been empty for a couple of weeks. Those weren't mortar bees - they were ordinary honey bees, I think. The pest control man assured us we didn't have a hive in the chimney, but somehow the swarm had found it's way down the chimney. Bizarre. He also showed us how to gently pick up and release the newborn and confused mortar bees outside, instead of letting them die. Awwwww...

I always found it very sad that bees died in my house. I like bees. I think they're lucky.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 04:58 AM

So if the tradition is that you tell the bees when someone dies, who do you tell when a bee dies?

It's sad that we're running out of bees... sort of makes you wonder about the connection between fungicides, pesticides and nature. We're killing various bacteria and fungi because we want bigger and beautiful fruit, but how about if we're killing the bees' natural antibacteria? Penicillin kills some kinds of bacteria, but what is penicillin but a fungal growth that we've learned to emulate?

LTS

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 05:09 AM

Don't know about bees but any wasp that arrives at my house won't live long :0))

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 05:13 AM

Wasps are good for eating greenfly. I don't have greenfly in my house so any wasp in there isn't going to get out.

If you see a wasp in March, it's a queen looking for a place to set up her hive. She'll be about an inch long and very fat. Squish her.

LTS

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Bee
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 07:16 AM

I was thinking of retiring to Cape Breton, so likely there...

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 09:32 AM

Metchosin: fungus and mites weakens immune system

sounds like it amounts to an AIDS pandemic for bees.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 09:47 AM

"sort of makes you wonder about the connection between fungicides, pesticides and nature"


.... Silent Spring....

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: GUEST,John Whittaker
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 09:54 AM

The B's were disbanded by the British government in 1970. They were replaced by the Ulster defence Regiment. I was serving in Ulster when this occurred.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Metchosin
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 10:15 AM

Donuel, I don't think they said the fungus and mites were responsible for the weakened immune system, but they did liken what was happening to the honey bees to AIDS.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Metchosin
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 10:47 AM

Wrote a song parody on an old song challenge thread that seems somewhat appropriate.....

Beeline Talkin' Blues

Well gather round Cats and I'll tell you a story
Bout how to pursue scientific glory
Get you some bees and a diode or two
A few tiny pins and some crazy glue
Double sided poster tape, transmitters and all that jazz

Well I got me some bees, matter fact quite a few
Loaded em up and away they all flew
Jumped in my van, I'm trackin' em down
Radio signals on the far side of town
Clover, fireweed, wildflowers and farmers fields.

Well they buzzed to the east and they buzzed to west
I followed one, just doin' my best
Headed way out to a wheat field stand
To keep her in range I pursued in the van
Following blips, through fences, makin' crop circles.

Just then she headed back on to to the road
I bumped back out, just listen to her go!
I followed her in hot pusuit
She was zippin' along, she knew her route
Headin' for greener pastures, makin' a bee line.

Then I turned north just as she turned south
The result of which there was no doubt
Up on the corner of my window screen
A few metal pieces all red and green
Squished bug, cashed in her IC chips, some form of road kill.

I stopped the van and started to grievin'
A cop pulled up said "Man you were weavin'"
He asked me to step out of the car
Said "drivin' like that you won't get far"
Impaired, without due care and attention, DUI.

He arrested me and he put me in jail
Went before the judge to tell my tale
The judge said son "I believe your story,
You were just pursuin' scientific glory!"
Go publish a paper, where bees go, maybe get yourself a Nobel Prize

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: open mike
Date: 06 Mar 07 - 06:53 PM

trachael mites infect the breathing passages of bees
this can be treated with something as simple as menthol

foulbrood is a disease that can be prevented by pennicillan type
products--antibiotics

these especially the mites hve made a big dent in the bee industry
in the past couple of decades.

maybe killer bees are immune to all of these syndromes
(or syn-drones??)

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 10:58 AM

Did you start this thread just to get that terrible pun in?

You should bee ashamed!!

LTS

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: open mike
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 12:26 PM

i am em-bee-rassed

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 12:39 PM

Now buzz off, honey!!

LTS

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: MMario
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 12:42 PM

One of the reasons disease can spread so rapidly among honey bee populations (especially in the US) and cause so much damage is that honey bees are incredibly inbred; more so in the "new World" then the "Old world"

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Bee
Date: 07 Mar 07 - 02:03 PM

Honeybees kept by apiarists in NA are not native bees, for starters. Last time I talked to a beekeeper friend, he hadn't lost any more hives than usual (in NS). There are strict regulations about bringing hives or queens into the province.

What I noticed in my garden last year were about a dozen different native bee species, lots of them. But I use absolutely no pesticides, including diatomacious earth, which I suspect would harm bees if they contacted it. If one of my plant species is infested, I hose the beasties off if possible, apply soapy water if that works. If my efforts don't pay off, I don't grow that kind of plant for a couple years. It's worked pretty well so far, although I doubt it would do for commercial growers.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Metchosin
Date: 08 Mar 07 - 10:42 AM

Bee, the CBC program I listened to noted that it was too early in the season to determine if the problem that has occurred in the southern US this year, will effect Canada and the northern US. We are going to have to wait until there are blossoms, instead of ice and snow, in our part of the world.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Bee
Date: 08 Mar 07 - 11:41 AM

Perhaps it's a difference between hobbyists and commercial. My friend checks his (eight or ten) hives in January if there is a thaw or in February. When the speckled alders pollinate in April, he collects a lot of the pollen and feeds it to his bees to give them a start. Anyway, he would likely know by now if one of his hives had perished.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Metchosin
Date: 08 Mar 07 - 05:22 PM

Bee, the bees apparently appear fine until they get to the point where they are leaving the hive. They don't come back.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: danensis
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 03:50 PM

Its obviously the work of the bee liberation front. You keep them al cooped up, nick their honey, and give them Tate & Lyle instead, no wonder they abscond.

My bees don't seem to have made it through the winter this time. I had three colonies all of which were flying up to Christmas, then nothing.

I've not opened up the hives yet, as I only have the weekends to look at them and its not really been the weather. They went into the winter with plenty of food, as I left a full super of honey on each hive.

Just when we have all these new pests - pyrethrin resistant varroa, trapeolans, small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) Tropilaelaps clareae and other mites, the UK government decide its a good time to reduce the regional bee inspectors. Good thinking there!

Varroa doesn't actually kill the bees, but the mites create a channel wherby viruses can get into the bees, producing effects like deformed wings, and aberrant behaviour.

John

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Les from Hull
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 04:57 PM

'the bees apparently appear fine until they get to the point where they are leaving the hive. They don't come back.'

Alien abduction?

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 05:19 PM

If this don't stop, we will all be woe-bee-gone.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Donuel
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 05:35 PM

The little bee dies and we don't know why.
They said the meek shall inherit the Earth
but when the meek die, so shall the powerful.
First no honey
then no clover and alphalfa for the cows
no grain for the chickens
then no fruit or corn or wheat for us
then hunger chaos and cruelty
then nothing.
The buildings of man shall all crumble
except for super max prison cells

Slowly at first the bee comes back
and then small animals
and perhaps one day a more simple and wise person shall return.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Severn
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 05:51 PM

Do they go to Hivin' AFTER they die?

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: John Hardly
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 05:52 PM

bees don't dye. They're just naturally striped that way.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Bee
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 05:57 PM

"Bee, the bees apparently appear fine until they get to the point where they are leaving the hive. They don't come back. " - Metchosin

Do you have a cite for that statement? I ask, as I haven't heard that aspect, and it was not mentioned in the article linked to upthread.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Les from Hull
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 07:17 PM

Didn't Fats Waller sing about this?

Ain't mis-beehive-in'

Now beehive yourselves!

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Janie
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 07:41 PM

The demise of honeybees in the USA due to 2 different parasites has had significant effects on crop production. Honey bees are not native to NOrth America (and I don't think they are native to the New World at all, but I'm not certain of that.) They are, however, one of the most important pollinators of many, many food crops now, and their decline has had significant agricultural impact.

Isolated pockets of honey bee strains (many in eastern Europe and western Asia) that are not susceptible to the mites have been identified since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Cross breeding programs are proliferating to develop strains of bees adaptable to the US that are resistant to mite infestations.

The treatment regimen for the mites is very toxic and intensive. We chose not to do it, and lost our hives within 2 years. Interestingly, when an old house was torn down near us, the walls were full of wild honey bees. Two different swarms moved into our hives. They are surviving. I don't think they are entirely immune to the mites, but enough of them are that the hives survive. We are leaving them alone for a few years to see what develops.

Janie

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Dickey
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 11:37 PM

They go to where the seagulls go at night to be eaten by them.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: danensis
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 08:55 AM

I'm interested in what Janie says about beekeeping in the USA "The treatment regimen for the mites is very toxic and intensive". DO they not use integrated pest management in the USA?

John

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Janie
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 09:06 AM

The bees are my (now estranged) husband's project, so I probably shouldn't be saying 'we.' And I am speaking as a hobbiest, not a knowledgeable expert. I don't know what commercial honey producers are doing now regarding mite control. But as I understand it, there is, or was, virtually no immunity to the mites among the US bee population and integrated pest management methods would not have worked before the entire population was gone. I know we did not have one bee survive. The mites inhabit 'gills' on the bees. the old world strains that are not effected by the mites either don't have the gills, or the gills are conformed differently so that the mites can't inhabit them as readily.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: GUEST,B-Man in College
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 10:55 AM

European Honey Bee

It is native to Asia and the Middle East and was introduced to North America by early European colonists. By the mid-1800s honey bees had become widespread.

Eubonics: Use before in a sentence: 2 + 2 bee 4

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: GUEST,B-Man in College
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 10:57 AM

2 bee or not 2 bee, bee zero.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: GUEST,B-Man in College
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 11:04 AM

Although there bee such a wurd as Eubonics I shudda wrote Ebonics.

That is why I bee a B-Man in College and not an A-Man.

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: danensis
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 01:58 PM

As I understand it the commercial bee farmers kill the colonies at the end of the season to avoid the cost of feeding them over winter. That would tend to polish off the mites as well.

John

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Bee
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 09:33 PM

Danensis, I have never heard of that, though I suppose it could be true some place. Bees don't eat much over winter, and it isn't that easy to keep starting new swarms, I should think

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 09:38 PM

Lord help me, I misread the subject line "where do bee gees die?"

Correct response: wherever they want to I suppose. So far, Miami.
(If you count Andy, then Surry also applies)

Subject: RE: Where do bees go to die?
From: Janie
Date: 10 Mar 07 - 11:06 PM

I'm assuming Danensis is pulling our legs, Bee. Many beekeepers may have 2000 hives or more. They ain't about to intentionally have to replace those hives every year.

Now it might be that mites and other problems may pretty much wipe out their hives some years--and this is most likely to occur after honey flow as stopped in the late fall.

CNN recently ran an article about massive bee deaths of unknown etiology in Pennsylvania and surrounding States. I think I remember that Spain or Portugal has also had a fairly recent die-off of bees, the reasons for which have yet to be determined.

Janie