Britain's honeybees going extinct

[lovuian]

Run time: 01:11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57XLJM1v3oE   Posted on YouTube: April 17, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: April 17, 2007 By DU Member: lovuian Views on DU: 2047

 
Two days the british government denied their was a problem with their honeybee populations and then today
MSNBC reports 13 varieties of british bees going extinct with others following
they think its pesticides and farming practices
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18142347/#storyContinued

[demo dutch]

1. Co-incides with report about cellphone and bees, it must be a combination

of things. I'm sure it will go the same way as global warming, many scientists will dispute.
Well, start worrying because this is really frightening!!!.
Einstein apparently said “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

[yellowcanine]

2. Shit. It doesn't do much for their credibility that they confuse "bumblebee" and "honeybee" and

then sometimes they just say "bees". For starters, the title should be, "Britain's bees going extinct," if that is indeed what is happening. I do not know from the clip. The linked article talks only about "bumblebees". Do the British include honeybees in the bumblebee group? Even so the title is still confusing.

[smoogatz]

3. The bee die-off is worrisome indeed--

could be GM crops (though they're not supposed to exist in Europe, are they?). Could be some parasite or virus no one's identified yet that's messing with their navigation systems. Could be cell phones, maybe, but cell phones have been around a long time and the bee thing just started this past year, right? Could be some sudden, negative mutation in bees caused by who knows what in the environment. Could even be something like an as-yet undetected anomaly in the earth's magnetic field. Whatever it is, we'd better figure it out. Fast.

[Vilis Veritas]

4. GMO Modified Crops?

Is there possibly a connection? Some of the crop species that the bees are now exposed to have been modified to limit creation of seeds. The crops have been modified to not produce seeds so that farmers have to buy new seeds every year. I wonder if the same genetic marker could somehow be tripping some gene within the bees that consume the pollen for food thereby limiting their ability to reproduce.

I know the video says pesticides are doing it, however, I am just curious. Pesticides have been in widespread use for decades. GMO modified crops are the recent addition to the problem space.

I understand this is also happening in the US.

I removed a link to a site that could get this post removed. My apologies. There is good information out there. Just google "GMO bees dying"

[lovuian]

6. I agree with all of you this is much smoke its hard to believe

they don't know what the cause is

if its a pesticide stop using it
but in some GM foods aren't pesticides introduced

I think the governments are going to have to come out with the real reason
or all the bees will die

I can't believe the complacency of watching such an esential creature to the FOOD SUPPLY just go extinct

All I can say is OMG!!!

[yellerpup]

5. Lack of food will kill us long before global warming does.

We must save the pollinators for our survival.

[lovuian]

7. Bingo

I don't think this was expected at all
Don't mess with Mother nature

[Vilis Veritas]

8. That is the unfortunate...

reality of almost any advance in technology. There are always consequences that no one ever considers.

[lovuian]

9. Heres a link on the GMO idea

“Experts believe that the large-scale use of genetically modified plants in the US could be a factor,” reports Germany’s Spiegal Online.

http://faxanadu.gnn.tv/blogs/22748/Ecological_Apocalypse_Why_Are_All_The_Bees_Dying

Bee populations throughout Germany have simultaneously dropped 25% and up to 80% in some areas. Poland, Switzerland and Spain are reporting similar declines. Studies have shown that bees are not dying in the hive, something is causing them to lose their sense of orientation so that they cannot return to the hive. Depleted hives are not being raided for their honey by other insects, which normally happens when bees naturally die in the winter, clearly suggesting some kind of poisonous toxin is driving them away.

I see Spain and Poland are effected too

I guess a test would be plant regular crops and not GMO crops and see if they have a comeback and get rid of cell phones in the area

hopefully we can help these little guys out

Here is the point
A study at the University of Jena from 2001 to 2004 showed that toxins from a genetically modified maize variant designed to repel insects, when combined with a parasite, resulted in a “significantly stronger decline in the number of bees” than normal

OMG read this some people think its a Bio weapon

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.

[Peggy Day]

10. what about the cell phone deal?

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/04/15/are_cellphones_killi.html

[TheBaldyMan]

11. Stirling University is hosting the British Bumblebee Conservation Trust census

for British Bumblebees in order to get a handle on populations around the UK.

I had a colony of Tawny Mining Bees (not bumblebees) move into my garden at the weekend, even though they are wild bees they still perform just as useful a role as honey bees do with pollination of flowers.

www.bumblebeeconservationtrust.co.uk

[lovuian]

12. This gives me hope that they are at least now trying to get

a hold on the situation but just about three days the british Government didn't want to admit there was even a problem

Certain species are going extinct 2 already and now 10 don't expect to make it after the next 5 years

You know we got the bald eagle back and other species and they don't help the agricuture business of 400 million

You think there would be a wee bit more concern out there