Honeybee news

[Downthestretch55]

Honeybees are important pollinators of many agricultural crops. This bad news could have a serious impact.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,251365,00.html

[timmgirvan]

Sounds pretty serious to me....especially the varroa mite.....where the heck did it come from?

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by timmgirvan

Sounds pretty serious to me....especially the varroa mite.....where the heck did it come from?

Timm,
I don't know where the mite came from.
Heck, we've had to deal with "foul brood" and wax moths in the past, but this "mystery" looks to have a huge impact.
So many crops...apples to zuccini depend on these critters.
Sure, honey prices will go up..but so will everything else.
Bees are important in helping us have healthy food to eat.
I hope the scientists find what's up.

[Downthestretch55]

Timm,
Here's a little more about "colony collapse disorder". This could be very serious. Watch the futures markets, especially soybeans.
http://science.monstersandcritics.co...arming_growers

[timmgirvan]

They better figure out how to fix this problem or the economy of a few States is gonna "go south"

[Downthestretch55]

Here's a recent update. Many people might not realize how dependent we are on honey bees to pollinate much of the food we eat, and also food like alfalfa that animals that we consume or feed pellets to so they can race, also depend on.
This could be very bad. It's still a guessing game. The rebuilding will take a while. It's not just about honey prices. There's much more at stake.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/BusinessSt..._E1_Death46191

[Downthestretch55]

The honey bee mystery continues. Colony collapse is now in 24 states.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/bu...nted=1&_r=1&hp

[Downthestretch55]

Update.
The mystery continues.
This could be very serious.
Over 90 fruit and vegetable crops that we depend on could be affected.
Half of the bee keepers have gone out of business.
15 billion in agricultural crops...
Yikes!!!!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070407...s_070407020928

[pmacdaddy]

Sounds pretty bad.

Do you know what soybean futures have been doing?

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by pmacdaddy

Sounds pretty bad.

Do you know what soybean futures have been doing?

I really haven't been following soybeans lately. Corn is getting planted big this year, most acres in production since WW II due to ethanol. Should be more than $4.50 a bushel.

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

I really haven't been following soybeans lately. Corn is getting planted big this year, most acres in production since WW II due to ethanol. Should be more than $4.50 a bushel.

Update...the corn planting is way behind schedule due to wet fields.
I came across this article today. It doesn't seem to be getting much mainstream media.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/26/783/

And yes, I also like dandelions. Early "greens" fried with bacon make a nice salad. I put some mung bean sprouts on top. I also found a beauty of a watercress bed in a spring seep a couple of days ago when I was catching a limit of native brookies. Cattails should be poking up soon. If you peel off the outer leaves, the hearts are a lot like asparagus. The roots are also good. Boil the tubers with burdock root. Wild ramps will be here soon.
I make them into a kind of "garlic" soup...a little cream, a wild carrot root or two (queen anne's lace).
Anyway, eat wild.
Morels aren't here yet. They come about the same time as the apple blossoms open. I wish there were more bees around to enjoy them.
Eat wild. Report on the bee sightings.
Without those little buzzers, we've got big problems...very big.

I'll be posting my dandelion wine recipe in the "cookbook" when I find it in the clutter of recipes I've been digging through. Spring cleaning....uggh!

[Downthestretch55]

The mystery continues. This could have serious implications.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/honeybee_...xwVI5k78Rhr7sF

[Downthestretch55]

Just trying to bring this up to page one.
It's an important story.

[Downthestretch55]

Today I read this.
Sorry to be the one to keep bringing this up.
This doesn't seem to be getting close to being solved.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...la-home-center

[timmgirvan]

Since this affects most of what we eat, and sell, it is a Big Damn Deal! I don't know when this reporter actually filed this story...seems to me that I read somewhere recently that some progress had been made...

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by timmgirvan

Since this affects most of what we eat, and sell, it is a Big Damn Deal! I don't know when this reporter actually filed this story...seems to me that I read somewhere recently that some progress had been made...

Timm,
I hear you. It seems like it's a big deal.
And, yes, I know this is a horse racing board, but this isn't about politics.
Here's one you might be interested in.....
http://www.alternet.org/environment/53491/

Seems that lots of people more knowledgeable than me are equally as baffled.

DTS

[Cajungator26]

Great info on Wikipedia as well. This is very disturbing. I hope we can find out what's wrong soon...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder

[timmgirvan]

DTS: my hand trembled as I clicked on the link you provided...but hey, I'm fearless right? Interesting piece...the cat death/bee death scenario is scary just for the fact the priorities are skewed and the possible damage is magnified because not enough manpower and resources are being used on this deadly phenomenon!

I killed two bees today.

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by Pillow Pants

I killed two bees today.

Miscreant!