Honeybees Disappearing (p.s.....that means no more crops) Host a Hive.

[stephendare]

Not to mention that the price of food will begin skyrocketing.

Its really kind of shocking what the honey bee industry has turned into.

Bees are a mechanical business these days, with their 'hives' being disassemblable compartments on the backs of semis.

Now its coming back to bite us.

WASHINGTON â€" Food prices could rise even more unless the mysterious decline in honey bees is solved, farmers and businessmen told lawmakers Thursday.

"No bees, no crops," North Carolina grower Robert D. Edwards told a House Agriculture subcommittee. Edwards said he had to cut his cucumber acreage in half because of the lack of bees available to rent.

About three-quarters of flowering plants rely on birds, bees and other pollinators to help them reproduce. Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion annually in crop value.

In 2006, beekeepers began reporting losing 30 percent to 90 percent of their hives. This phenomenon has become known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Scientists do not know how many bees have died; beekeepers have lost 36 percent of their managed colonies this year. It was 31 percent for 2007, said Edward B. Knipling, administrator of the Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service.

"If there are no bees, there is no way for our nation's farmers to continue to grow the high quality, nutritious foods our country relies on," said Democratic Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California, chairman of the horticulture and organic agriculture panel. "This is a crisis we cannot afford to ignore."

Food prices have gone up 83 percent in three years, according to the World Bank.

Edward R. Flanagan, who raises blueberries in Milbridge, Maine, said he could be forced to increase prices tenfold or go out of business without the beekeeping industry. "Every one of those berries owes its existence to the crazy, neurotic dancing of a honey bee from flower to flower," he said.

The cause behind the disorder remains unknown. Possible explanations include pesticides; a new parasite or pathogen; and the combination of immune-suppressing stresses such as poor nutrition, limited or contaminated water supplies and the need to move bees long distances for pollination.

Ice cream maker Haagen-Dazs and natural personal care products company Burt's Bees have pledged money for research and begun efforts to help save the bees.

The problem affects about 40 percent of Haagen-Dazs' 73 flavors, including banana split and chocolate peanut butter, because ingredients such as almonds, cherries and strawberries rely on honey bees for pollination.

Katty Pien, brand director for Haagen-Dazs, said those ingredients could become too scarce or expensive if bees keep dying. It could force the company to discontinue some of its most popular flavors, Pien said.

Haagen-Dazs has developed a new limited-time flavor, vanilla honey bee, and will use some of the proceeds for research on the disorder. Burt's Bees has introduced Colony Collapse Disorder Lip Balm to "soften your lips while saving honeybees."

The House Appropriations Committee approved $780,000 on Thursday for research on the disorder and $10 million for bee research. The money awaits approval by the full House and Senate.

___

On the Net:

Haagan-Dazs' Help the Honey Bees campaign: http://www.helpthehoneybees.com/

Burt's Bees: http://www.burtsbees.com

Pollinator Partnership: http://www.polinator.org/

House Committee on Agriculture: http://agriculture.house.gov/index.shtml

[gatorback]

No kidding.  I talked to my dad today.  He's for the most part not impacted by higher prices (let's just call it 60 years of planning for retirement).  He's doesn't know how the average person  is going to make it. 

I've been stock piling honey for a year now.  I must have 30 bucks in honey.

[Driven1]

excellent news for my fertilizer stocks!!

[Driven1]

excellent news for my fertilizer stocks!!

actually it isnt.

Pollenization is different from growth.

Without it there are no seeds, or fruits.

Only tuber or root propagated plants would survive.

yeah...i'm counting on a majority of the bees to survive and just a large percentage of them to get wiped out, causing a decrease in the SUPPLY of food crops and subsequent increase in the DEMAND - and subsequent increased DEMAND in the need for fertilizer. 

[copperfiend]

I'd rather hear about the disappearance of Applebee's.

[gatorback]

I know right!  But, have you seen the price of honey lately.  The good stuff might set you back $30.00 a bottle.  I don't know what makes a particular honey cost $30, or what makes one cose $5.00.  Honey is honey right?

[scaleybark]

I know right!  But, have you seen the price of honey lately.  The good stuff might set you back $30.00 a bottle.  I don't know what makes a particular honey cost $30, or what makes one cose $5.00.  Honey is honey right?

I'm not into beekeeping or anything, but I think it depends upon the type of flower the bees make their honey from, as well as how the honey is processed, and whether it is pure honey or mixed honey.  The run-of-the-mill honey is highly filtered and may consist of honey from many different flowers and from several different regions or countries.   Honey from just one flower and from just one region may be more expensive.

Personally, I like the unfiltered honey.  It has a nice strong taste.  I also used to enjoy the honey from local beekeepers, who used to add a piece of honeycomb to the jar.  I would chew on the honeycomb, like gum.  I haven't seen honey like that in a long time.

[Lunican]

http://www.youtube.com/v/16SMpTXpuuY

[BridgeTroll]

Domestic honeybees have always been used for crop pollination.  Beekeepers are paid by citrus growers, various orchards and other farmers that require bee pollination.  Wild bee colonies are seldom relied upon to do the job of domestic hives.

[BridgeTroll]

Beekeeping is thousands of years old.  The colonists brought them to america and without them many of the crops they intended to grow would not have.  They knew this.  Moving hives from orchard to orchard and field to field is nearly as old as human agriculture.

[gatorback]

thousands? ha.  Okay, maybe humans started keeping bees that long about, but i THINK the bees did a good job of keeping themselves. Several years ago, the perfectly preserved body of a bee, encased in amber, was put on display in the Museum of Natural History in New York City. It was carbon-dated to be at least 80 million years old, but may be up to 135 million years old.   The oldest continuously living species on earth has not survived all extinct earth dwellers' by accident.  It is believed that they keep their settlements more sterile and free from bacteria than a modern hospital.

For over 80 million years the bee has been attacked by all variations of threats from viruses, fungi, bacteria and a host of little and large pests. Nothing has been able to interrupt the bee's survival plans so I doubt the "missing" bees are being hit by a desease, but I'm not a bee expect so I don't know.  I'm sure  our little flying friends will make it , and if not...it was global climate change that got 'em.

[BridgeTroll]

Does 4ooo BC qualify as thousands of years?

http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/beebook/sec1/sec1.html

I have read on the "colony collapse syndrome" and the scientists do not know what is causing it yet.  Perhaps we should wait before blaming the evil "humans"...

[gatorback]

If you want to research this matter, google lower Yangtze River + Bees.  You might find that man has been doing this for more then 8000 years, I'm not sure, but that's where you could begin your search Troll.

[gatorback]

Stephen thanks for the enlightenment jezzz I hope we are not screwed because we like put the bees on the juice ie steroids

[Lunican]

All of these topics are discussed in Bee Movie.