More on bees … by gimleteye

As soon as we heard about bee colony collapse disorder, we suspected it was a simple metaphor for what could go wrong with us. We too are industrious bees subject to colony collapse. (Check our archive for local stories/opinions on bees and colony collapse disorder.)

Practically speaking, healthy bees are critical to an affordable food supply for billions of people. Why? Because bees pollinate crops for free and at a massive scale that we would otherwise have to do by hand. It is not an academic question or in dispute. Check the prices in your grocery of food products that depend on bee pollination. If the bees disappear -- and that appears to be the case -- we could go with them or at the very least, transform from the only species that can determine its own fate to just one of a number of scavenger species.

With bees supporting the pollination of crops and assuring a food supply that is affordable, our 9 billion may survive. It is not clear how 9 billion people will fare, without bees, scavenging from remnants.

This isn't a story line preferred by the world's great chemical corporations. Monsanto, for instance.

It is a story line, however, that ought to attract the alarm of people and their governments. But corporations are "people", and those "people" have a hammer-lock on governments other people pay for, with their hard-earned income.

In bee colony collapse disorder is the strangest manifestation of taxation without representation. I would love to hear what Thomas Jefferson or Ben Franklin would have said in response to this then-hypothetical: what would you do to restrain corporations from turning civilization into savages, waging international wars for water and food because we've stripped out what sustains us all?

The world's largest chemical corporations have persisted in challenging the impacts of their products on bees and fiercely block government intervention or science that could harm their shareholder profits.

James Winston wrote an OPED for the New York Times recently that put the bee problem in its true and definitive context without accusation: whether we can learn to protect ourselves. So far, the answer is clear: we aren't learning, either from the dying Everglades or from the collapsing bees.

A few months ago, just outside my back door at home, I came across a few dozen bees staggering around on the ground. It wasn't the news that stunned them. We are ill-served by the public policies and a political environment driven to deadlock by large corporate interests and lobbying groups marching in lockstep. Don't be surprised when we are stunned next.


Our Bees, Ourselves
NY Times, July 14, 2014

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — AROUND the world, honeybee colonies are dying in huge numbers: About one-third of hives collapse each year, a pattern going back a decade. For bees and the plants they pollinate — as well as for beekeepers, farmers, honey lovers and everyone else who appreciates this marvelous social insect — this is a catastrophe.

But in the midst of crisis can come learning. Honeybee collapse has much to teach us about how humans can avoid a similar fate, brought on by the increasingly severe environmental perturbations that challenge modern society.

Honeybee collapse has been particularly vexing because there is no one cause, but rather a thousand little cuts. The main elements include the compounding impact of pesticides applied to fields, as well as pesticides applied directly into hives to control mites; fungal, bacterial and viral pests and diseases; nutritional deficiencies caused by vast acreages of single-crop fields that lack diverse flowering plants; and, in the United States, commercial beekeeping itself, which disrupts colonies by moving most bees around the country multiple times each year to pollinate crops.

The real issue, though, is not the volume of problems, but the interactions among them. Here we find a core lesson from the bees that we ignore at our peril: the concept of synergy, where one plus one equals three, or four, or more. A typical honeybee colony contains residue from more than 120 pesticides. Alone, each represents a benign dose. But together they form a toxic soup of chemicals whose interplay can substantially reduce the effectiveness of bees’ immune systems, making them more susceptible to diseases.

These findings provide the most sophisticated data set available for any species about synergies among pesticides, and between pesticides and disease. The only human equivalent is research into pharmaceutical interactions, with many prescription drugs showing harmful or fatal side effects when used together, particularly in patients who already are disease-compromised. Pesticides have medical impacts as potent as pharmaceuticals do, yet we know virtually nothing about their synergistic impacts on our health, or their interplay with human diseases.

Observing the tumultuous demise of honeybees should alert us that our own well-being might be similarly threatened. The honeybee is a remarkably resilient species that has thrived for 40 million years, and the widespread collapse of so many colonies presents a clear message: We must demand that our regulatory authorities require studies on how exposure to low dosages of combined chemicals may affect human health before approving compounds.

Bees also provide some clues to how we may build a more collaborative relationship with the services that ecosystems can provide. Beyond honeybees, there are thousands of wild bee species that could offer some of the pollination service needed for agriculture. Yet feral bees — that is, bees not kept by beekeepers — also are threatened by factors similar to those afflicting honeybees: heavy pesticide use, destruction of nesting sites by overly intensive agriculture and a lack of diverse nectar and pollen sources thanks to highly effective weed killers, which decimate the unmanaged plants that bees depend on for nutrition.

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Recently, my laboratory at Simon Fraser University conducted a study on farms that produce canola oil that illustrated the profound value of wild bees. We discovered that crop yields, and thus profits, are maximized if considerable acreages of cropland are left uncultivated to support wild pollinators.

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Clyde Wynant 58 minutes ago
There is no precedent in the short history of mankind for the toxic soup of chemical we all ingest from birth to death, in our food supply,...
Carolyn Egeli 1 hour ago
Thank you for this thoughtful piece on the demise of the honeybees. The clear message is we have a problem the increasing use of pesticides...
phyllis 1 hour ago
Bzzzzzzzzz! A very good reminder of the dying huge numbers of honeybee colonies and the also the plants they pollinate . We must always...
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A variety of wild plants means a healthier, more diverse bee population, which will then move to the planted fields next door in larger and more active numbers. Indeed, farmers who planted their entire field would earn about $27,000 in profit per farm, whereas those who left a third unplanted for bees to nest and forage in would earn $65,000 on a farm of similar size.

Such logic goes against conventional wisdom that fields and bees alike can be uniformly micromanaged. The current challenges faced by managed honeybees and wild bees remind us that we can manage too much. Excessive cultivation, chemical use and habitat destruction eventually destroy the very organisms that could be our partners.

And this insight goes beyond mere agricultural economics. There is a lesson in the decline of bees about how to respond to the most fundamental challenges facing contemporary human societies. We can best meet our own needs if we maintain a balance with nature — a balance that is as important to our health and prosperity as it is to the bees.

Bee Gone: is Bayer Chemical responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder? ... by gimleteye

We've all heard about the disappearing bees... This is the first story that I've read that drills down on a top selling pesticide by Bayer Chemical, the industrial giant that apparently wants to throttle the science of colony collapse disorder if it turns too tightly on its profitable product.

Honeybee population plunges in six months

By Diane Petryk
For The Daily Item
June 14, 2009 07:55 am

— Food will cost more if no one solves the mystery of the disappearing honeybees — and time is running out.

The situation has gone from bad to worse, Penn State honeybee researcher Maryann Frazier said Thursday.

“Beekeepers are on the edge,” she said. “They’ve done everything they can do for their bees and it’s just about killing them.”
Growers of everything from apples to almonds rent bee colonies to pollinate their crops.

For each of the past three years, about one third of established hives in the United States has inexplicably disappeared, Frazier said, usually in the winter.

Beekeepers respond by cosseting their remaining colonies with supplemental nutrition and extra sucrose to build them up. Then they divide them into new colonies to make up for the losses.

“This,” Frazier said, “is not sustainable in the long term. It’s too costly and labor intensive.”

So far, growers’ needs have been met, but some crops, like cucumbers, weren’t planted because the growers couldn’t be guaranteed the bees, said Penn State entomology professor Diana Cox-Foster.

Three weeks ago, Dave Hackenberg, of Lewisburg, and five colleagues struggled to meet their commitment of 10,000 hives to a major blueberry grower in Maine. They found they were 1,000 hives short and had to scramble for reserves.
“The problem,” said Hackenberg’s cousin and fellow beekeeper Jim Doan of Hamlin, N.Y., “is that at this point next year, there will be no reserves.”

Bob Geary, of Danville, said the loss of hives from November to April was 36 percent from Florida to Maine. Hobbyists, such as himself, haven’t been hit as hard, he said, but he believes the problem is critical because bees are vital to agriculture.

Doan said he has been a beekeeper for 40 years, since he was a kid. Four years ago he had 4,300 hives, he said, but 80 to 90 percent of them were lost to what has come to be known as CCD — Colony Collapse Disorder. No amount of effort could build his bee population back up to an economically viable level. He’s quitting.

In fact, many beekeepers may follow their bees into oblivion, but why will be no mystery at all.

When you have 4,300 hives you have equipment and a work force, Doan said. Now, there are no longer enough bees to justify employing people. What remains is mostly debt. With the high percentage of loss, and no solution in sight, banks aren’t lining up to offer loans, he said. He is trying to sell the business, but a buyer seems unlikely unless there’s a clear fix.

“We are in crisis mode,” said Cox-Foster, the Penn State entomology professor. If the losses keep increasing, there will not be enough bees to pollinate food plants, she said.

“Hopefully we can head that off.”

Penn State has 14 researchers, including entomologists, toxicologists and physiologists looking at all angles of the problem.
Frazier, the university’s honeybee researcher, said they believe in a multi-cause scenario, combined and interconnected, involving disease, weather and pesticide use.

Doan and Hackenberg say that’s what chemical manufacturers want you to think, but they say they are 100 percent sure the culprit is a neonicotinoid pesticide that acts on the central nervous system of bugs. It is not applied to the surface of a plant, but is delivered as a coating on the seeds. Farmers often can’t avoid it. There may be no other seeds available. Nevertheless, in May 2008, Germany banned seed treatment with neonicotinoids, citing negative effects upon — you guessed it — bee colonies. Neonicotinoids are also banned in one region of France. The Oxford Times in the United Kingdom cited neonicotinoids as the most probable cause of honeybee demise.

Why don’t we know what they know in Europe? Neonicotinoid is produced by Bayer, a multi-national corporation with deep pockets and enormous political clout, Hackenberg said. So far, beekeepers’ discussions with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been futile, he said.

Geary, the Danville hobbyist, said he believes neonicotinoids may be the primary culprit — not only in destruction of bees, but other creatures across the ecosystem. Humans, too, have this chemical in their system, he said.

In a phone interview from Maine Thursday, where he was collecting hives for return to New York and Pennsylvania, Hackenberg said that when he and colleagues met with the EPA from noon to 4 p.m. June 3 in Washington, their discussions were known by Bayer almost instantly.

“Before 6 o’clock, Bayer was condemning us for what we said to the EPA,” he said.

Hackenberg said he thinks Bayer controls the EPA through its former employees who now work for the agency.

“And for every congressman or senator we get to understand our side, the chemical companies can unduly influence 15 to do what they want,” he said.

The Bayer Corp. is just one of many manufacturers that produce this class of chemistry, but is among the largest, said Jack Boyne, director of communications for Bayer Cropscience, in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

He said the beekeepers may have some disagreements with some positions the corporation is taking, but Bayer would never condemn anyone for expressing his concerns.

“We have probably done more bee research on this pesticide than anyone else,” Boyne said. “We know a lot about it.”
He argues that neonicotinoid, which is actually a class of chemistry, is not likely to be the primary cause of CCD.
“There really is no evidence at all to support that,” he said.

It is an insecticide, and is certainly toxic to bees, he said, but will pose no harm to honeybees.

Before any product can be registered, it takes seven to 10 years of testing a molecule before it can be sold commercially, Boyne said. This includes bee testing.

Recent Penn State research, he said, showed that neonicotinoid was detected in less than 10 percent of the samples scientists took while studying the pollen, honey and wax of honeybees.

“A lot of things are contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder,” he said. Research has found a certain kind of fungus could be affecting the bees, and the fact that many bees are receiving poor nutrition, and are under tremendous stress after being trucked for thousands of miles to pollinate various fields through the nation, could also add to the disease epidemic.

Dr. Will Blodgott, of Danville, master beekeeper, said his bees have never been affected by Colony Collapse Disorder in the 33 years he has been beekeeping. He believes it is because he has never used pesticides on his 11-acre farm.

Researchers are 99 percent sure the disorder is caused by pesticides — specifically one within the neonicotinoid class called imidacloprid, the No. 1 chemical used by farmers today, Blodgott said.

It may be that there are multiple factors involved in the destruction of bees, Hackenberg said.

“The mixture of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides together could have disastrous effects,” he said.

Nobody tests them together, Hackenberg said, and if they did, manufacturers are held to a standard of self-testing that’s a joke, and promised follow-ups usually never happen.

Corporations don’t fund university research projects where they don’t want to know the results, Hackenberg added.
“The bottom line is, somebody’s messing with my livelihood and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

His prediction: Next year bees will go missing in even greater numbers. Produce prices will rise, both because bee visits will get more expensive and fewer crops will be planted.

Corn crops, meanwhile, are being planted in places where they never were before, he said.

“Corn seed, like other seed, is encapsulated inside the neonicotinoid pesticide,” Hackenberg said, “and bees work corn like candy.”

You can help bees bounce back

Honeybees are critical to Pennsylvania agriculture and the state’s economy, state Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff told Melissa Beattie-Moss of Research Penn State Magazine. Across the U.S., the honeybee represents an economic value of $14 billion and pollinates about 130 different fruit and vegetable crops. That’s one out of every three bites you take, said Lewisburg beekeeper Dave Hackenberg.

Three things you can do to help

-- Support organic agriculture that doesn’t use pesticides.
-- Enhance the bee habitat in your yard by planting flowers, and encourage friends, neighbors and city officials to do the same.
-- Participate in the Pollinator Partnership to become a part of the global movement to educate others about honeybees. Find out more at www.pollinator.com

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.

Update on Bee Colony Collapse Disorder by Geniusofdespair

There is a good article in the August 6th New Yorker Magazine Stung: Where have all the bees gone?.

The article states:
In Britain, where better records have been kept, more than half the native bumblebee species either have become extinct or are facing extinction in the next few decades. Among the many possible contributing factors that the report cited are habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, and introduced pathogens. May Berenbaum, a professor of entomology at the University of Illinois, chaired the National Research Council panel; she recently characterized C.C.D. as “a crisis on top of a crisis.”

“We can’t count on wild pollinators, because we’ve so altered the landscape that many are no longer viable,” she said.

As the National Research Council report noted, invertebrate extinctions don’t tend to have much “marquee appeal.” Yet if it’s a bad sign when an ecosystem loses its large mammals, it is probably an even worse sign when it can no longer support its insects. The report put it this way:

“Pollinator decline is one form of global change that actually does have credible potential to alter the shape and structure of the terrestrial world.”

Type the rest of the post here

Florida Bird Decline & Greedy Developers by Geniusofdespair

(Hit on image to enlarge)
Gimleteye has taught me how to read and connect. You read one story and then you read another and you think about how they link or do not link together. Two stories did link quite nicely.

The Herald reported today Common Florida birds in decline and Endangered Species: Judge's endangered species ruling aids builders.

So on the one hand we have the South Florida Homebuilders Association trying to fight endangered species rulings and on the other we have Audubon (doing counts with the US Geological Society) saying that some species of common birds, not endangered birds, are declining up to 82%. The article on common bird decline says:
Destruction of wetlands is shutting out the rail. Same goes for the little blue heron, which lays its blue eggs in nests in freshwater prairies.

The dwindling of the bird populations is a signal that something is wrong, says David Anderson, executive director of Audubon of Florida. ''As the common birds go, so goes the quality of life of wildlife areas for people also,'' Anderson says.

``To deal with that, people are going to have to be much more conscious of the need to conserve -- conserving water, conserving other resources, and particularly in looking at the planning for future growth.''

The article on the builders says:

“A federal judge in Orlando has ordered a status review of almost all of Florida's endangered and threatened wildlife, a ruling developers hope will lead to lifting building restriction on lands across the state.”

I don’t know developers. People are starting to get very angry with you guys. You should lay low for awhile. If people put these two stories together, that even our common birds are in trouble you are going to look quite heartless to all of us.

Now here in Gimleteye style, I will link more distant stories. I again mention the Bee Colony Collapse Disorder, the Mangroves disappearing (previously reported here) and the 6,000,000 people said to have parasites in Thailand (that leads to liver cancer) from eating raw fish: Worms in Asian fish tied to liver cancer. Sushi eaters take note and take note we are going to be pouring reuse water on our wetlands in the not too distant future.

As the Buffalo Springfield song says:

"There’s something happening here, What It is ain’t exactly clear.”

P.S. The newspaper had the bird story front and center. Online I couldn’t find the story, it was buried.
Return to Eye on Miami

Update on Colony Collapse Disorder and Now Mangroves Too! by Geniusofdespair

Doom and Gloom Saturday
There seems to be no smoking gun found for the honey bee’s disappearance from their hives. The cell phone connection seems to have fallen by the wayside. Gimleteye and I reported on this subject on April 19, 20 and 23rd. Here is the best more recent article I found on the subject, posted in June, Colony Collapse: Do Massive Bee Die-Offs Mean an End to Our Food System as We Know it?

The author says:

"It may sound like urban legend but it's not. A frightening trend of bee colony collapses could lead to everything from a radically transformed diet to an overall wipeout of the world's food supply."

Dewey M. Caron, professor of entomology at the University of Delaware and one of several authorities investigating the issue with the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium's Colony Collapse Disorder Working Group (MAAREC) said: "It is real":

"We surveyed a few states and figured out that half to three-fourths of a million bee colonies have died. This is no urban legend. It is serious." and:

“What is so serious is not only that the bees themselves are dying off without a smoking gun present, but that most people have no idea of the role they play in the food supply at large.”

According to the article, the bee disappearance is not just in the U.S.:

“Regions of Iran are experiencing the same phenomenon, as are countries like Poland, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and more every day, including Latin American and Asia.”

And, speaking of Mangroves:

In a letter to the Editor in the July issue of “Science Magazine” signed by scads of Scientists from throughout the world, they say our Mangroves are in deep trouble, disappearing at an alarming rate. According to the letter (which has 16 footnotes):

“At a meeting of world mangrove experts held last year in Australia, it was unanimously agreed that we face the prospect of a world deprived of the services offered by mangrove ecosystems, perhaps within the next 100 years.”

That would not be a problem for me personally. Do we really care about the future? Anybody? Nah. I think everyone hates the doom and gloom we present here and would rather just go out on their boat and try to catch the fish (that are dwindling) in the seawater (that is at risk) with their young families (that are looking at a future of man-made environmental horrors) because we are a bunch of “here and now” gluttons. Back to the article... The scientists conclude:

“We are greatly concerned that the full implications of mangrove loss for humankind are not fully appreciated. Growing pressures of urban and industrial developments along coastlines, combined with climate change and sea-level rise, urge the need to conserve, protect, and restore tidal wetlands. Effective governance structures, socioeconomic risk policies, and education strategies are needed now to enable societies around the world to reverse the trend of mangrove loss and ensure that future generations enjoy the ecosystem services provided by such valuable natural ecosystems.”

Why do we save ecosysems, can anyone say: New Orleans?

What's up with the Bee's? by Geniusofdespair

Colony Colapse Disorder is going to change Spring!

Accordig to the National Agricultural Law Center, "Honey bees are the most economically valuable pollinators of agricultural crops worldwide. Many scientists at universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) frequently assert that bee pollination is involved in about one-third of the U.S. diet, and contributes to the production of a wide range of fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, forage crops, some field crops, and other specialty crops. The monetary value of honey bees as commercial pollinators in the United States is estimated at about $15 billion annually."

Colony losses are occurring mostly because bees are failing to return to the hive (which is largely uncharacteristic of bee behavior). Do you think their cell phone providers are to blame? (Hit read more to see Ag. Chart).

Hit on chart to make it larger.

Colony collapse disorder III by gimleteye

The best example of colony collapse disorder is not disappearing bees but the decline of the world’s coral reefs.

Today’s Miami Herald business section features a front page story: “tourism in the Florida Keys goes more upscale, prompting a shakeout.”

The report suggests that the migration to higher paying tourists is a deliberate shift by Keys business owners. Baloney.

In reality, global warming has already pushed away the local economy that supported bait shops, gas stations, and lower cost housing: all gone the way of the coral reef. All that is left, is high end tourism.

Now some people will say that only high end tourism can sustain an economic model screwed up by high insurance costs.

Read Warren Buffet’s recent annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, one of the world's largest insurance holding companies, and you will understand why "it would be a huge mistake to bet that evolving atmospheric changes are benign in their implications for insurers."

Extreme weather events combined with overdevelopment on fragile coasts has ratcheted premiums and the costs of reinsurance through the roof.

So whether it is decimated coral reef tract or increased insurance rates is immaterial: we are already experience colony collapse disorder in the Florida Keys and it is not some mysterious phenomenon applying to bees.

The mainstream media has started to ask the question: how much are Americans willing to pay now, to change the impacts that are leading to global warming.

By the time we agree that colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon that equally applies to civilization, we could be looking at ourselves in the mirror, amazed we didn’t act on the basis of precaution.

This makes us wonder: if we can't even agree to protect our watersheds (ie. South Miami Dade Watershed Study) in a time of severe drought, and if the Miami Herald won't make the connection between what is happening in the Keys, the economy, and colony collapse disorder: will we even know what is happening, when it is happening to us?

Colony Collapse Disorder, II by gimleteye

Who knows why colony collapse disorder is affecting the bees, but in their industrious organization, bees look a lot like us.

In comparison, the correlation between our struggle for the last oil on the planet (our honey?), global warming, and how the US panders to oil-producing despots-- deforming our own democratic principles--begins to delineate the beginnings of our own colony collapse disorder.

Living in Miami as we do, it is discouraging to read in the Miami Herald about Stuart Miller, CEO of the area’s largest publicly held corporation and one of the largest production home builders in the United States, dismiss the responsibility of his corporation to adapt to pressing environment concerns.

In the same Herald report noting how Lennar quickly rejected a recent shareholder proposal for environmental accountability, the Herald quoted John Burford, senior vice president of International Bank in Miami. “Burford, who provides economic commentary to the U.S. Federal Reserve, also said he wouldn't advise any business to take action addressing global warming if it brings added costs. 'For business, it's way too premature to do anything,' Burford said. 'We don't know if these forecasts are even close. My guess is not much will be done and this story will pass away and be on the back pages in no time.'''

Mr. Burford and his colleagues should listen to the simple powerpoint presentation on climate change by Dr. Hal Wanless, chair of the geology department at the University of Miami.

Dr. Wanless, who gave his presentation yesterday to the Miami Dade County Climate Change Advisory Task Force, notes that scientists—by definition—are skeptics and doubters. That’s their job. According to Dr. Wanless, there are a few scientists who challenge the premise of global warming, but what people need to pay attention to is the vast and overwhelming consensus that global warming is the real deal: a consensus extremely rare in the science community.

This is not tomorrow’s problem. The impacts of global warming will impact our lives, within the span of our generations.

The New York Times editorial page reports today, “On Monday, 11 retired admirals and generals released a detailed 68-page report arguing that climate change could be a “threat multiplier” in already fragile parts of the world… Anthony Zinni, the retired Marine general, made the point elegantly when he said that “we will pay for this one way or another”—either now, to control the emissions of greenhouse gases, or later, in military engagements and ‘human lives’”.

So, back at you: how do you spell, c-o-l-o-n-y c-o-l-l-a-p-s-e d-i-s-o-r-d-e-r?

And why is it that the wealthiest Americans have the most difficulty forming the words?

Colony Collapse Disorder: Bees on their Knees by Geniusofdespair

The U.S. government says it is investigating a dramatic decline in the bee population over recent months, and Congress has held a hearing on the issue according to Voice of America.

David Hackenberg owns Buffy Bee Honey outside of Tampa. He said he lost 2/3 of his beehives within a matter of weeks.

"The exact cause of "Colony Collapse Disorder" is a mystery. But scientists at Pennsylvania State University are leading research into the phenomenon. The university's Colony Collapse Disorder Working Group says poor nutrition, drought and pesticide use can cause extraordinary stress on bees.That stress, the group believes, may damage the bees' immune systems – much like AIDS in humans." (Hit read more)


"Meanwhile, scientists with the U.S. Agriculture Department point to bugs called verroa mites. They kill bees by transmitting viruses."

"Colony Collapse Disorder" has spread to nearly half the states and is responsible for killing as many as 90 percent of the hives in some places. According to Bees On Their Knees:

"There have been similar reports from Europe as well. The rapid die-offs here put more than a third of U.S. food crops in peril because without honeybees, many fruits, vegetables, and nut trees wouldn't get pollinated. Jerry Hayes is Chief of the Apiary Section at Florida's Department of Agriculture."

This is not good news. I drink tea with honey.