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Bees Beads Etc.

I felt that this deserved a thread because of how important bees are to the current society status quo. I'm not going to bold anything because it should take you less than 5mins of your day to read through it, and it probably wouldn't make much sense if I were to bold bits and pieces of it anyway.

Scientists with the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have re-created the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder in several honeybee hives simply by giving them small doses of a popular pesticide, imidacloprid. Bee populations have been dying mysteriously throughout North America and Europe since 2006, but the cause behind the decline, known as Colony Collapse Disorder, has eluded scientists. However, coming on the heels of two studies published last week in Science that linked bee declines to neonicotinoid pesticides, of which imidacloprid is one, the new study adds more evidence that the major player behind Colony Collapse Disorder is not disease, or mites, but pesticides that began to be widely used in the 1990s.

Past research has shown that neonicotinoid pesticides, which target insects' central nervous system, do not instantly kill bees. However, to test the effect of even small amounts of these pesticides on western honeybees (Apis mellifera), Harvard researchers treated 16 hives with different levels of imidacloprid, leaving four hives untreated. After 12 weeks, the bees in all twenty hives—treated and untreated—were alive, though those treated with the highest does of imidacloprid appeared weaker. But by 23 weeks everything had changed: 15 out of the 16 hives (94 percent) treated with imidacloprid underwent classic Colony Collapse Disorder: hives were largely empty with only a few young bees surviving. The adults had simply vanished. The hives that received the highest doses of imidacloprid collapsed first. Meanwhile the five untreated hives were healthy

"There is no question that neonicotinoids put a huge stress on the survival of honey bees in the environment," lead author Chensheng (Alex) Lu, an associate professor at the HSPH, told mongabay.com. "The evidence is clear that imidacloprid is likely the culprit for Colony Collapse Disorder via a very unique mechanism that has not been reported until our study,"

That mechanism? High-fructose corn syrup. Many bee-keepers have turned to high-fructose corn syrup to feed their bees, which the researchers say did not imperil bees until U.S. corn began to be sprayed with imidacloprid in 2004-2005. A year later was the first outbreak of Colony Collapse Disorder.

It doesn't take much to eventually kill the bees accord to Lu, who said an incredibly small amount (20 parts per billion) of imidacloprid was enough to lead to Colony Collapse Disorder within 6 months.

More evidence

Lu's research follows two widely-reported studies last week that also linked Colony Collapse Disorder to neonicotinoid pesticides.

A U.K. team exposed buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) to small doses of imidacloprid, and placed the bees in an enclosed natural setting where they could forage free. After six weeks (a far shorter time than Lu's study), the team weighed the nests and compared them with control colonies that had not been exposed. Treated colonies were on average 8-12 percent smaller than the colonies that had not been exposed, which implies that exposed bees were not gathering as much food. However, even more alarming was the case of the missing queens. Pesticide-exposed colonies produced 85 percent fewer queens: a total of only around 1-2 queens per hive. Queens are the most important bees in a colony, since they found new colonies after winter when all the other bees perish.

A second study, this one conducted in France, shows directly how neonicotinoid pesticides may be impacting bees, eventually leading to the collapse of the colony. Researchers glued tiny microchips to free-ranging western honeybees in order to track their movements. They then administered small does of a different neonicotinoid pesticide, called thiamethoxam, to a portion of the bees. Exposed bees were two to three times more likely to not return from foraging excursions than unexposed bees.

Their findings imply that neonicotinoid pesticide weakens a bees' homing ability, so instead of returning to the hive, the bee gets lost and perishes. This would explain why hives impacted by Colony Collapse Disorder are found largely empty of worker bees: the pesticide theoretically impacts their ability to find their way home.

It has taken a long time to understand the link between Colony Collapse Disorder and neonicotinoid pesticides, because scientists were looking for an instant-killer, and not something that caused slow deaths over several months, says Lu. In addition he adds that scientists ignored "the fact that the timeline of increasing use of neonicotinoids coincides with the decline of bee populations."

Lu says policy makers "need to examine the effect of sub-lethal doses of pesticides throughout the life cycle of the test model (in this case honey bees)." He further notes the depending on LD50 findings (i.e. a lethal dose that results in the death of half of the specimens tested) "is not relevant to the modern day chemical toxicity testing." In other words, regulators need to start testing the long-term impacts of chemicals in the environment, and not simply focused on whether or not they instantly kill test subjects.

Bees play vital roles in a wide-variety of ecosystems as pollinators. In turn they provide massive economic benefits to human society, both through the production of honey and, even more importantly, the pollination of a large variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and flower crops. The economic value of honeybees in the U.S. alone has been estimated at $8-12 billion.

http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0405-hance_colonycollapse_pesticides.html


When a healthy percentage of our agricultural business relies upon them for pollination purposes, people should sit up and take notice. Not only is honey delicious and turns me in to Pooh Bear at times, but if bees were to continue to die out then the consequences would possibly require farmers hiring people to hand pollinate and in turn increasing the price for fruit, vegetables, and nuts. Let alone the important fact that if bees were to disappear then it would cause an unpredictable and dramatic impact on the ecosystem that bridges plants and animals together.

So for scientists to discover the smoking gun.. well it should be rejoiced with a small dose of apprehension since we're not out of the tunnel. Still early days yet but I can imagine a lot of beekeepers and farmers around the world sighing with relief with this news and the future state of more research.

Here are some more links that are a decent perusal if you feel like adding a bit of knowledge to your repertoire.

NATURE's Silence of the Bees - Why Bees Are Important
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_bees
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_pollination

 

[hateradio]

So high fructose corn syrup continues to fuck us over.

Their findings imply that neonicotinoid pesticide weakens a bees' homing ability, so instead of returning to the hive, the bee gets lost and perishes. This would explain why hives impacted by Colony Collapse Disorder are found largely empty of worker bees: the pesticide theoretically impacts their ability to find their way home.

This is something that does worry me. We don't really test these things thoroughly enough -- meaning years -- before they're introduced into the ecosystem.

 

[Himynameischris]

I'm glad they figured it out but how long is it going to take to stop using that and to find something else?

 

[speedpop]

I'm glad they figured it out but how long is it going to take to stop using that and to find something else?

Probably within the next few years because it is a domino effect on 3 industries; beekeeping, agriculture, pesticide.

 

[Al-ibn Kermit]

Nobody's really at fault, but the beekeepers are the ones who have to figure out a solution, meaning a new source of food for the bees. They will have to find a pesticide-free food source, or at least make sure it's only pesticides that have a very short half-life. That's extra work but probably doable.

It would be stupid for the farmers to make changes when 99% of all food goes to humans and livestock.

 

[Yen]

Oh God, not the bees, not the bees!

 

[ThisWreckage]

Oh God, not the bees, not the bees!

lol

 

[DiscoJon]

Nobody's really at fault, but the beekeepers are the ones who have to figure out a solution, meaning a new source of food for the bees. They will have to find a pesticide-free food source, or at least make sure it's only pesticides that have a very short half-life. That's extra work but probably doable.

It would be stupid for the farmers to make changes when 99% of all food goes to humans and livestock.

...I can't even respond... going to bed.

 

[AAequal]

That was great read, thanks for the article OP. Will read the links next, interesting stuff.

 

[Al-ibn Kermit]

...I can't even respond... going to bed.

Humanity does not, and probably will never, have the agricultural capacity to give up pesticides.

Pesticides affect pretty much all insects the same way, so the only thing beekeepers can do is avoid them. There isn't any real alternative.

 

[Dead Man]

Nobody's really at fault, but the beekeepers are the ones who have to figure out a solution, meaning a new source of food for the bees. They will have to find a pesticide-free food source, or at least make sure it's only pesticides that have a very short half-life. That's extra work but probably doable.

It would be stupid for the farmers to make changes when 99% of all food goes to humans and livestock.

I don't want to succumb to the bee hysteria and wear a tin foil hat, but did you read the OP? Or any of the links? Or even the name of the links?

 

[MetatronM]

Humanity does not, and probably will never, have the agricultural capacity to give up pesticides.

Pesticides affect pretty much all insects the same way, so the only thing beekeepers can do is avoid them. There isn't any real alternative.

How is there no alternative? Did we magically not have corn before 2004?

And the farmers are able to grow their foods in the first place BECAUSE OF the bees. It's in their best interests to keep the bees alive and healthy.

 

[Htown]

So it's NOT because Daleks are about to steal the planet?

 

[Al-ibn Kermit]

I don't want to succumb to the bee hysteria and wear a tin foil hat, but did you read the OP? Or any of the links? Or even the name of the links?

I read just the first link, the article that was quoted in the OP. I'm under the impression that it is only talking about bees that are on honey farms where the bees are fed a diet of corn syrup, not bees in the wild. In that case of honey farms, changing the beekeepers corn syrup source seems like the cheapest and easiest way to solve the problem.

How is there no alternative? Did we magically not have corn before 2004?

And the farmers are able to grow their foods in the first place BECAUSE OF the bees. It's in their best interests to keep the bees alive and healthy.

We had pesticides before 2004. Most types of pesticides are pretty highly toxic to bees. You can find a few farmers that don't use pesticides (organic or synthetic) and those are the ones that the beekeepers should make sure their corn syrup producers use.

 

[Nevasleep]

Watched a program a few weeks back. Bees love it in cities now.

 

[zoukka]

What do they not do with corn syrup over there?

 

[Slavik81]

I read just the first link, the article that was quoted in the OP. I'm under the impression that it is only talking about bees that are on honey farms where the bees are fed a diet of corn syrup, not bees in the wild. In that case of honey farms, changing the beekeepers corn syrup source seems like the cheapest and easiest way to solve the problem.

Your impression is wrong. They tested it by introducing it on corn syrup because that was the cheapest, easiest way to isolate the effects of the pesticide, not because it was the sole way bees are introduced to it.

The pesticide is likely to negatively affect the health of the bees that are used to pollinate the fields, as well as natural populations that live nearby. Further, more expensive trials are going to be done in more realistic environments to further clarify the impact of the pesticide.

 

[Al-ibn Kermit]

Your impression is wrong. They tested it by introducing it on corn syrup because that was the cheapest, easiest way to isolate the effects of the pesticide, not because it was the sole way bees are introduced to it.

The pesticide is likely to negatively affect the health of the bees that are used to pollinate the fields, as well as natural populations that live nearby. Further, more expensive trials are going to be done in more realistic environments to further clarify the impact of the pesticide.

The article in the OP does mention that beekeepers would also corn syrup to feed their bees. Which wasn't a problem until around a year after imidacloprid started being used on corn. That's why I assumed the article was about domesticated bees rather than wild ones.

 

[CurlySaysX]

I thought bees were dying because of Global Warming?

 

[More Fun To Compute]

At least there is a sensible sounding probable cause now rather than, "it's probably mobile phone masts or something dude."

 

[Slavik81]

The article in the OP does mention that beekeepers would also corn syrup to feed their bees. Which wasn't a problem until around a year after imidacloprid started being used on corn. That's why I assumed the article was about domesticated bees rather than wild ones.

I haven't read the OP, but it's reporting on the same study that was covered in The Economist last week. Perhaps this article was unclear.

I'd also like to correct my mistake: they also tested with contaminated pollen in addition to sugar water.

I thought bees were dying because of Global Warming?

It's thought that there are a number of contributing factors, but this may be one of the most significant ones.

 

[Dead Man]

I read just the first link, the article that was quoted in the OP. I'm under the impression that it is only talking about bees that are on honey farms where the bees are fed a diet of corn syrup, not bees in the wild. In that case of honey farms, changing the beekeepers corn syrup source seems like the cheapest and easiest way to solve the problem.

Sorry for the snotty reply. Yeah, as has been pointed out, this is more a problem of food chains than simply beekeepers feeding the wrong stuff.

 

[cdyhybrid]

Fuck yeah, science.