Einstein said when the bees are gone the human species will be gone in 4
years

Mystery Bee Disappearances Sweeping U.S.
Stefan Lovgren in Los Angeles
for National Geographic News
February 23, 2007

Without a trace, something is causing bees to vanish by the thousands.
But a new task force hopes to finger the culprit and save the valuable
crops that rely on the insects.

Pennsylvania beekeeper Dave Hackenberg was the first beekeeper to report
to bee researchers what's become known as colony collapse disorder
(CCD).

In October Hackenberg had delivered honeybees to a Florida farm to
pollinate crops. The bees typically return to their boxed hives when
their work is done. But this time was different.

"I came to pick up 400 bee colonies and the bees had just flat-out
disappeared," Hackenberg said. "There were no dead bees, no bees on the
ground, just empty boxes."

"In almost 50 years as a beekeeper, I've never seen anything like it."

CCD has spread throughout 24 states and ruined hundreds of thousands of
bee colonies.

Hackenberg has lost roughly 1,900 of his 2,900 hives. Other operators
have lost up to 90 percent of their hives.

Researchers are scrambling to find answers to what is causing the
commercially important honeybees to abandon their hives and disappear.

The epidemic could put a strain on fruit growers and other farmers who
rely on the insects to pollinate their crops.

(Related: "Bee Decline May Spell End of Some Fruits, Vegetables"
[October 5, 2004].)

An estimated 14 billion U.S. dollars in agricultural crops in the United
States are dependent on bee pollination.

"A lot of people think honeybees are only important for the honey they
produce," entomologist Maryann Frazier said. "But much, much more
important are their pollination services."

Read more
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070223-bees.html

thats just strange...

The last I heard on this topic was that the newer designed fertilizers
have chemicals in them that cause the bees to become disoriented and
cant find their hives, which will probably end their lives.

Some states, not many do not have this problem, and they dont use this
new fertilizers.

This is very very serious.

I hope that is government will not find reasons to invade other
countries if we have to buy all our fruits and vegtables from them.

Very seriouse indeed. Bees help the pollenation process. Without them we
are in trouble. I sure wish we would quit polluting and killing our
world we live in.

another theory


Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?


Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious
'colony collapse' of bees
By Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross
Published: 15 April 2007

It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But
some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause
massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail.

They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile
phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more
bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt
disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some
bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which started in the US, then
spread to continental Europe - was beginning to hit Britain as well.

The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees'
navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from
finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there
is now evidence to back this up.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) occurs when a hive's inhabitants suddenly
disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers, like so
many apian Mary Celestes. The vanished bees are never found, but thought
to die singly far from home. The parasites, wildlife and other bees that
normally raid the honey and pollen left behind when a colony dies,
refuse to go anywhere near the abandoned hives.

The alarm was first sounded last autumn, but has now hit half of all
American states. The West Coast is thought to have lost 60 per cent of
its commercial bee population, with 70 per cent missing on the East
Coast.

CCD has since spread to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and
Greece. And last week John Chapple, one of London's biggest bee-keepers,
announced that 23 of his 40 hives have been abruptly abandoned.

Other apiarists have recorded losses in Scotland, Wales and north-west
England, but the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
insisted: "There is absolutely no evidence of CCD in the UK."

The implications of the spread are alarming. Most of the world's crops
depend on pollination by bees. Albert Einstein once said that if the
bees disappeared, "man would have only four years of life left".

No one knows why it is happening. Theories involving mites, pesticides,
global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have drawbacks.

German research has long shown that bees' behaviour changes near power
lines.

Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to
return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen
Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a "hint" to a possible
cause.

Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and
mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: "I
am convinced the possibility is real."

The case against handsets

Evidence of dangers to people from mobile phones is increasing. But
proof is still lacking, largely because many of the biggest perils, such
as cancer, take decades to show up.

Most research on cancer has so far proved inconclusive. But an official
Finnish study found that people who used the phones for more than 10
years were 40 per cent more likely to get a brain tumour on the same
side as they held the handset.

Equally alarming, blue-chip Swedish research revealed that radiation
from mobile phones killed off brain cells, suggesting that today's
teenagers could go senile in the prime of their lives.

Studies in India and the US have raised the possibility that men who use
mobile phones heavily have reduced sperm counts. And, more prosaically,
doctors have identified the condition of "text thumb", a form of RSI
from constant texting.

Professor Sir William Stewart, who has headed two official inquiries,
warned that children under eight should not use mobiles and made a
series of safety recommendations, largely ignored by ministers.

This whole planet is doomed

Anybody consider the possibility of unionization? Maybe they are going
on strike and taking their brothers with them....Let's face it ...unless
you are the Queen it's a real raw deal!

one thing I wonder about...

the theory of th dinosaurs.

As continents touched, and as with the native indians, when introduced
to viruses and illness without an immunity, whole vast wipe outs, yes?

And, if bees died off somewhere, and dropped to the earth... would not
the next chain (birds, other eaters), as well as natural decompositions,
be one reason why some did not see them? Or, "disappeared"?

ET,this thread is repeated further down, with more responses. Just an
FYI

this is copy post of a nother .


anyone reading whats all readt here here

oh!

WOOPS!

hell... lol.

did I mention I'm slow today

blame the sugar people

balderdash i almost got attacked by a bee today lol