The great honeybee die-off: Mystery solved?

[phototec]

Tens of billions of bees worldwide have seemingly vanished. Scientists may have figured out why — with a little help from the U.S. military.

"One of the great murder mysteries of the garden" — the unprecedented die-off of American honeybees in recent years — may have been solved, says The New York Times. Since 2006, tens of billions of bees in the U.S. have vanished from their hives, and scientists have been unable to pinpoint why. But with help from the U.S. Army, a team of Montana researchers believe they have figured out what has been happening.

For the answer:

http://theweek.com/article/index/208013/the-great-honeybee-die-off-mystery-solved

 

[James Burke]

I've been a beekeeper for the past 12 years, and for the past ten years, I've been keeping them un-medicated. My survival rates have been a little better than those who have been medicating their bees.

Hopefully CCD will become a thing of the past.

 

[Keith Rae]

James you have bees Kool
Phototec. Thanks for posting the link to the article. There are many theories on whats causing CCD and some bad beekeeping practices are being blamed on CCD. Not controlling the Varroa and Tracheal mites. Pesticides used to control the mites not applied correctly can cause dead colonies. Colonies that are stressed and they sense they can't survive will leave their hive, a trait more of the African honey bee which has been in the states since 1995. Badly raised and mated Queens. Beekeepers not leaving enough honey on them to survive the winter.
How long a bee lives depends on the amount of work the bee does. A bee that emerges in the spring and summer will live for about 6 weeks before it works it's self to death. Bees that emerge in the fall live through the winter to keep the colony and raise the first of the new bees in the spring so about 5 months. If there are factors that are affecting how long the bee is living, like the weather is warmer than usual and the bees are more active, mites have fed on the larva and weakened the bees, pesticide residue in there honey. If anything shortens the life of the winter bees it will effect the ability of the colony to recover and start raising new brood in the spring.
Back 29 years ago when I got my first hives (Pre mite) beekeeping was easy now there are things that have to be done at he right time and the right way for the bees to survive.

 

[phototec]

Albert Einstein said...

Well, all I can say is, I believe this quote:

A quote attributed to Albert Einstein says that "if the bee disappears off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left."

 

[tintguy31794]

Plenty of honeybees around here.. Just saw it on the local news the other night a man was stung to death after hitting a post with his bulldozer.. the bee's swarmed him.

I've had a yellow jackets nest under my air conditioner unit for a while now... Great excuse to not mow grass lol, but i've got to get those guys out of there. (terribly afraid of bee's)