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33% of US honeybee colonies died off in the last year

X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...died-last-year-why-you-should-care/348418001/

America's beekeepers watched as a third of the country's honeybee colonies were lost over the last year, part of a decade-long die-off experts said may threaten our food supply.

The annual survey of roughly 5,000 beekeepers showed the 33% dip from April 2016 to April 2017. The decrease is small compared to the survey's previous 10 years, when the decrease hovered at roughly 40%. From 2012 to 2013, nearly half of the nation's colonies died.

"I would stop short of calling this 'good' news," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland. "Colony loss of more than 30% over the entire year is high. It's hard to imagine any other agricultural sector being able to stay in business with such consistently high losses."

The research, published Thursday, is the work of the nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership and the Apiary Inspectors of America.
Click to expand...

One in every three bites of food, van Engelsdorp said, is directly or indirectly pollinated by honeybees, who pollinate about $15 billion worth of U.S. crops each year. Almonds, for instance, are completely reliant on honeybee pollination.

"Keeping bees healthy is really essential in order to meet that demand," said vanEngelsdorp. He said there are concerns it won't.

So what's killing the honeybees? Parasites, diseases, poor nutrition, and pesticides among many others. The chief killer is the varroa mite, a "lethal parasite," which researchers said spreads among colonies.

"This is a complex problem," said Maryland graduate student Kelly Kulhanek, who assisted with the study. "Lower losses are a great start, but it's important to remember that 33% is still much higher than beekeepers deem acceptable. There is still much work to do."

vanEngelsdorp said people can do their part to save bee colonies by buying honey from a local beekeeper, becoming a beekeeper, avoiding using pesticides in your yard and making room for pollinators, such as honeybees, in your yard.
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qGYcSGu.png
 
A

Arthr2ShdsJcksn

Banned
They didn't even start tracking this shit until The Bee Movie(2007) came out?

Honestly, the Total Annual Losses doesn't seem very dramatic. If I'm supposed to be alarmed, I'm not. Too little data to suggest a meaningful trend.
 
D

Disxo

Member
Is putting those things for humming birds (which attracts other bees too) good for bees?
I mean, a lack of plants isnt their problem, but the more food the better for the colony right?
 
ODDI

ODDI

Member
Watched the RetroReport documentary about this didn't expect it to be a big ungoing problem.
 
H

hey_monkey

Banned
Anecdotal, but I know a lot of people with bees and three have suffered catastrophic losses in the past couple years. :/
 
P

Parch

Member
This is how it starts, isn't it? Soon it will be The Road in real life. Scrounging can goods. Cannibalism.
Save the bees.
 
N

noquarter

Member
I've been looking at getting a hive. Like like an interesting hobby and is 'useful' Also looks fairly inexpensive, even time commitment wise.

Lots of beekeeper associations hold free beginners classes in Spring, and every state seems to have a beekeeper association.
 
R

Raptor2155

Member
Arthr2ShdsJcksn said:
They didn't even start tracking this shit until The Bee Movie(2007) came out?

Honestly, the Total Annual Losses doesn't seem very dramatic. If I'm supposed to be alarmed, I'm not. Too little data to suggest a meaningful trend.
Click to expand...

Well, yeah, we only beecame concerned when we realized we could love them.
 
H

Hazmat

Member
The article really buries the fact that this is better than it has been for the last 10 years. I mean, it's still bad, but it's not like that 1/3 decrease is evidence that in 2 more years we won't have bees anymore.
 
M

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
Kurdel said:
Or the plants will make us all commit suicide

tumblr_m6q3olS0nA1rqi6boo1_400.gif
Click to expand...

Science will come up with some reason to put in the books, but in the end it'll be just a theory. I mean, we will fail to acknowledge that there are forces at work beyond our understanding. To be a scientist, you must have a respectful awe for the laws of nature.

Goddamn that was a terrible movie.
 
A

Arby 'n' the Chief

Member
I think I'm starting to see the effects, the tree in the front of my house always hosts a lot of bees every spring but its been empty this time around :(

I only ever see a few dumb wasps and flies near the plants
 
Master Of Illusion

Master Of Illusion

Member
Thank the Lord.

The amount of bees I've seen this year is minuscule compared to 10 or 15 years ago (I'm seeing less hornets and wasps too). I can be outside for once and not shit myself out of fear.
 
A

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
Every fucking year some allarmist journalist comes out and puts out a "BEES ARE DYING! 30-40% OF ALL BEES DEAD THIS YEAR!" shit, and it spreads like wildfire for a few years.

bees-sygenta1.jpg


What this is talking about is standard seasonal winter loss, not the long-term loss it's implying. Bee population is declining, yes, but at something like 1-2% per year (in the US - it's on the rise worldwide)

Yearly cycle:
ipm3_fig1-bee-mite-pop-growth.jpg
 
R

RumblingRosco

Member
ag-my001 said:
I'm always a bit concerned when a graph is in units of % change. Also, that line for "winter death" seems like there is a lot of natural turnover between colonies dying and new ones being started. Is there another graph that might show something more concrete, like total colonies per year?
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Aureon said:
Yeah, no. That's stupid.
bees-sygenta1.jpg


What this is talking about is standard seasonal winter loss, not the long-term loss it's implying. Bee population is declining, yes, but at something like 1-2% per year (in the US - it's on the rise worldwide)
Click to expand...

This is what I came in here to say. I'm not a world-leading expert on bee colonies, but it seems that there is more of a concern than is justifiable right now for bee extinction. Certainly we should study bees and make sure we don't ever lose them, but I think the title of this topic is misleading in regards to what the 33% actually means.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
Soka said:
This is what I came in here to say. I'm not a world-leading expert on bee colonies, but it seems that there is more of a concern than is justifiable right now for bee extinction. Certainly we should study bees and make sure we don't ever lose them, but I think the title of this topic is misleading in regards to what the 33% actually means.
Click to expand...

If you only read the title, you can come away with that impression. 5 seconds after clicking on the thread I read the bolded context in the second line of the OP, though.
 
R

RumblingRosco

Member
GhaleonEB said:
If you only read the title, you can come away with that impression. 5 seconds after clicking on the thread I read the bolded context in the second line of the OP, though.
Click to expand...

Of course, but in general, we live in a world with click-bait titles and news that mislead people. Your title was factual, but given that the average person's knowledge of bees is likely limited, it seems quite clear to me that someone just skimming OT without entering the thread could walk away thinking "wow, we're gonna run out bees within a few years at this rate!"

I'll add, I know the title basically came from the linked article's title, so I'm not trying to attack your thread-making skills specifically. More frustration with the original article's title.
 
K

Kin5290

Member
The title is horribly misleading, and makes it seem like this is something to be concerned about instead of an improving trend of seasonal loss.

Context is important, people.
 
P

Parch

Member
Disxo said:
#deathtoparch
Click to expand...
They're tapping on your window now.

Seriously, what are the alternatives if not bees? Some other bug? Or some bug that eats varro mites? Messing with the environment by introducing an invasive species never seems to work out, but war on the varro mite seems like a necessity now.
 
J

JeffZero

Purple Drazi
I did some fundraising work with Organic Consumers Association (via Hudson Bay Company in Nebraska) earlier this year. OCA called us a couple of times while I was there. Glyphosate is a big concern here. It's prevalent in things like Monsanto's RoundUp pesticide and it's contributed to the drop in honeybee population. Good times.

I'm glad the drop is slimmer this year.
 
Creepy

Creepy

Member
Yeah, they're all in my bathroom.
They seem to be living under my floor and getting out through somewhere...

Every morning before I open the door I can hear them buzzing against the windows like a bunch of idiots.
 
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