Global Bee population disappearing

TWI

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I started following this story at the end of last year and there appears to be something happening which could have serious implications for all of us.

Honeybees - Bees Vanish, and Scientists Race for Reasons
New York Times
"Bees Vanish, and Scientists Race for Reasons
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
BELTSVILLE, Md., April 23 — What is happening to the bees? More than a quarter of the country’s 2.4 million bee colonies have been lost — tens of billions of bees, according to an estimate from the Apiary Inspectors of America, a national group that tracks beekeeping. So far, no one can say what is causing the bees to become disoriented and fail to return to their hives."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/s...r=permalink&exprod=permalink&pagewanted=print

Taiwan stung by millions of missing bees
Tech&Sci | Science | Reuters.com
Thu Apr 26, 2007
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's bee farmers are feeling the sting of lost business and possible crop danger after millions of the honey-making, plant-pollinating insects vanished during volatile weather, media and experts said on Thursday. Over the past two months, farmers in three parts of Taiwan have reported most of their bees gone, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported. Taiwan's TVBS television station said about 10 million bees had vanished in Taiwan."
http://today.reuters.com/news/artic...1_RTRUKOC_0_US-TAIWAN-BEES.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

No bees? Not just strange, but scary
Inquirer | 04/26/2007
Dave Lindorff
As an unwilling and disgruntled suburbanite, I take great pride in my dandelion crop. Over the decade that I have owned my 2.3-acre lot in Maple Glen, just north of Philadelphia, I have watched as the dandelion population in my lawn has grown year on year."
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070426_No_bees__Not_just_strange__but_scary.html

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2449968.ece

I end with Einstein quote.
"If honey bees become extinct, human society will follow in four years."


Would be a most unexpected way to go.
 
Ok, so I can short milk (futures), how do I go long honey?

Having established this one could go long the honey/milk spread.

;-)

NQR
 
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TWI,
Do you know Lynda and her "Energy Egg" ?
It's the cure, apparently.
Well, not for bees........
Richard
 
Google showed me the way to it.
I love the fact that you can get a transmitter for an additional 15.95
Maybe she could make little ones for all those bees driven mad by our mobile transmitters.
 
;-)

She and her husband are old family friends - and traders. Great couple, but we have always disagreed with their beliefs in the "energy world".
Richard
 
JTrader said:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/april2007/220407honeybees.htm
http://www.jonesreport.com/articles/240407_honey_bee_die_off.html
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/april2007/100407beesdying.htm

A more important subject than one might initially think, when you consider the importance of honey bees within nature and the food chain, helping to fulfill the task of plant cross-pollination.

Less crops would have a big effect on the commodities markets.

Quote taken from
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/april2007/100407beesdying.htm

"The elite have publicly stated their desire to significantly reduce world population on numerous occasions. Just yesterday we featured a story about a British Government Ministry of Defence report that postulated on the future use of bio-weapons to thin the human population in under 30 years.

Making bees all but extinct would be a swift and plausibly deniable method of enacting global population reduction long dreamed of by the maniacal sociopaths that control the world".

See also the symbolism of bees and freemasonry in
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/symbolism/bees.html
 
So, what thought is in the mind of every bee on the planet?
Ten words......;-)
Richard
 
or Monsanto who sell seeds that only produce sterile plants so encouraging the 3rd World farmer back year after year. They call it "sustainable agriculture".

Just received this weeks "economist" and the bee issue made it into there also. P108 article entitled "Buzz Off".
They offer no real discussion of implictions other than the financial impact. Apparently honey in US is only worth $200m but bees are essential in $15bln of fruit, veg and nut pollination.
Interestingly on the same page they discuss the use of honey as a cure for MRSA...mmm can't be saving people now can we?
 
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It seems that GM crops are having a big impact on honey bees in the USA, but the situation is less severe in the EU at present due to the fact that GM crops are less prevalent.

Listening to the Alex Jones show the other day, they had a top German beekeeper who is on international panels for beekeeping, and consults with the Govt.'s etc. and he said it was due to GM pollen that bees are declining.

In the EU, all food items have to state whether food contains GM ingredients, not so in the USA.

Specifically, there is a GM corn that produces its own pesticide to ward off parasites etc., the bees eat the corn and it kills them - the expert was linking this to the honey bee decline.

They also linked the huge rise in allergies to these new GM pollens, which in nature, the human body has bever previously encountered, and once it enters your system, your body is saying - what the hell is this! (makes sense really).
 
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I have to say, we've turned off our wireless network at home and gone back to wires because of this sort of thing, and some other emerging doubts.

On another note, who's switched electricity supplier to Ecotricity? Painless, quick, free, same price electricity, the only difference is 30% of your leccy comes from wind/solar/etc. as opposed to 0%. Complete and utter no-brainer. http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/
 
Proof Bees Dying From GM Crops?
Sat May 12, 2007 17:15
72.201.70.108
LONDON (AFP) - Research by a leading German zoologist has shown that genes used to genetically modify crops can jump the species barrier, newspapers reported here on Sunday. A three-year study by Professor Hans-Heinrich Kaatz at the University of Jena found that the gene used to modify oil-seed rape had transferred to bacteria living inside honey bees. The findings will undermine claims by the biotech industry and supporters of GM foods that genes cannot spread."
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495;article=110861;show_parent=1
 
This is a deeply interesting thread... with very wide implications for those companies that may be involved in bee population decline or indeed genetic modification.. although I have my theories:

First bees... something else may be going on but I do know Its a natural consequence of populations to ebb and flow according to competitive inter and intra species competition augmented by changing weather patterns. Also, Hornets (particularly Japanese) are on a global march.., they have a habit of raiding the hives of bees where only a handful arrive at a nest and each set about physically biting around 40 odd bees each over the course of say an hour killing the bees.. there goal is is juicy rich larvae "meat" .. I believe this to be the main current short term cause although granted it may not be the complete long term answer your looking for

The article on the GM crops is interesting but what protein product do the insecticides genes code for anyway? and arnt the products of the genes meant to help the plant resist the harmful effects of the same?... (remember, we eat genes of plants and animals every day without becoming infected with a huge amount of genetic material because its broken down in the gut by Nuclease enzynes into acid building blocks, and even some bacteria are broken down), the notion has a long way to go..(ok viral infection is possible) but even then.. .. I think raw insecticide on fruit even washed fruit is a bigger scandal, like chlorine in water supply (madness), or the Nitrates in bacon (broken down into carcinogens in the gut!!!) or Farmed esp Scottish Salmon (nasty..and very very high fat compared to unfarmed healthy fish. Im beginning to think my fav smoked varieties may have to go off the menu :-o ) and possibly the biggest issue of them all?..... Acrilamide produced on all sorts of foods baked in an oven, especially carbs like chips... (may be responsible for a huge number of western world cancers, fertility issues)... boil /steam of eat your food raw...

are there any futures products covering biotech sector apart from single stock futures anyone..?

PS one more hot tip Hoodia.. I think ultimately Phytopharm plc... soon this companies shares will skyrocket if they get through the testing and licensing of this product..

great thread.. bringing minimal ego and some intellect (at last) to the markets...
 
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First bees...Its a natural consequence of populations to ebb and flow according to competitive inter and intra species competition. Hornets (particulalry Japanese) are on a global march.., they have a habit of raiding the hives of bees where only a handful arrive at a nest and each set about physically biting around 40 odd bees each over the course of say an hour killing the bees.. there goal is is juicy rich larvae "meat" .. I believe this to be the main cause although it may not be the complete answer..
No offence, but i think I'll listen to the experts who have done the research.........I've got a degree in Psychology, but that doesn't make me Sigmund Freud :)


Acrilamide produced on all sorts of foods baked in an oven, especially carbs like chips... (may be responsible for a huge number of western world cancers, fertility issues)... boil /steam or eat your food raw...
Yes i have heard of acrylamide, and it seems that when you cook/bake food at temperatures higher than around 150 degrees celsius, the amounts of acrylamide (a known carcinogen) increase dramatically.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylamide

Hi Pauld.............
 
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JTrader,

It seems that if left don't get yuh, the right one will!.

Don't know about the UK but, probably, there is the same problem. In Spain, Raw fish can be dangerous because of a minute worm that, when eaten, breeds inside the human body. So far, it's incurable. Fish has to be either cooked or frozen to kill this parasite.

A lot of stuff is frozen these days, which helps a lot, but fresh fish eaten raw caries this risk. The Japanese restaurants had to make haste to allay fears from the bad publicity.

Split
 
JTrader,

It seems that if left don't get yuh, the right one will!.

Don't know about the UK but, probably, there is the same problem. In Spain, Raw fish can be dangerous because of a minute worm that, when eaten, breeds inside the human body. So far, it's incurable. Fish has to be either cooked or frozen to kill this parasite.

A lot of stuff is frozen these days, which helps a lot, but fresh fish eaten raw caries this risk. The Japanese restaurants had to make haste to allay fears from the bad publicity.

Split

I wouldn't eat things like that raw. But with fish, chicken for example, I'd look to boil it rather than bake it! boiling (i believe) = no acrylamide :) .

Boiling food has historically been used for a lot longer than baking.

BBQing food is also not good for acrylamide levels, and eating burnt food eg. toast, also carries higher levels of acrylamide, and is not recommended these days.

Cereals, bread, chips (anything baked/fried in its preparation) also contain acrylamide.

I've cut down on the use of my microwave. Microwaving food (unlike oven cooking) causes a change in the ( i think genetic) structure/makeup of the food item. I used to make porridge often in the microwave, but have discovered that raw oats are also tasty (and i can't be a**ed making porridge it in a pan :cheesy: )
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=microwaves+food+&btnG=Search&meta=
 
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Hi JTrader you wrote
No offence, but i think I'll listen to the experts who have done the research.........I've got a degree in Psychology, but that doesn't make me Sigmund Freud

Hey no problem.. I am absolutely no expert here, I mentioned the degree just to show I wasnt completely stabbing in the dark but on second read.. it looks pompous and nasty (my sincere apologies.. Ive edited that out (Egos must be left at the door).anyway where are these "experts" who claim to have "done the research?" hmm.. OK found a video to show this process.. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/206326/10_giant_japanese_hornets_vs_10_000_honey_bees/
enjoy

JTrader wrote
Yes i have heard of acrylamide, and it seems that when you cook/bake food at temperatures higher than around 150 degrees celsius, the amounts of acrylamide (a known carcinogen) increase dramatically.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylamide

yeah its everywhere...it stopped me eating chips and crisps!!

regards
Paul
 
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