Bee decline threatens our dinner and the countryside

[ericlp]

Bees are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. This could not only have a devastating impact on our food supplies, but could also turn our brightly-coloured meadows into grey hinterlands.

bee's


So whatever happend to this subject? Did we just sweep it up under the carpet and pretend it's not happening again?

This made headlines and was on nightly news for a week. Then something happened in Iraq and that was the end of it. You know more "IMPORTANT" things to do then worry about our nations health and food supply.

Ridiculous that's what it is. Are we gonna wait till next year when the bee's take another 50% hit and things get just as bad as they are in UK?

over a period of years the countryside would shift from being dominated by flowering plants to being dominated by plants that don't require insect pollination. ---

Whatever the cause, adds Biesmeijer, the study raises the worrying possibility that declines in some species could trigger a "cascade of local extinctions amongst associated species". In other words, the countryside as we know it could change beyond recognition - and all because we've taken our bees for granted.

So should we do something now or wait around for mother nature to slap us around first?

 

[techs]

Didn't Einstein say something along the lines of that if the bees die, then mankind will die?

 

[ericlp]

Quoted from the artical - link...

"We get our food from supermarkets and think little more about it," he says. "Very few of us are as aware as our grandparents were of the connection between what's on our dinner plates and the intricate workings of nature."

Albert Einstein was well aware of this connection. When it came to bees, he put it in no uncertain terms: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."

Chillingly, more and more bees are disappearing off the face of the Earth. In some areas of the UK honeybee numbers have dropped by as much as 80 per cent, while bumblebees across the country have declined by 60 per cent since 1970.

 

[shira]

If this trend keeps up, "honey" used as a term of endearment may need to be abandoned.

 

[jackace]

It's very true most American's have no clue how fragile our food supply really is. 1-2 really bad years of production and you could see supermarket shelves empty.

 

[b0mbrman]

I blame these guys: Text

"Oh, the beemanity!"

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

I read recently that they identified the culprit as some kind of asian fungus.

 

[wazzledoozle]

There's no other type of bug that assists in pollination?

 

[dahunan]

Originally posted by: wazzledoozle
There's no other type of bug that assists in pollination?

Aw.. come on.. you know money can solve everything.. right?

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: dahunan

Originally posted by: wazzledoozle
There's no other type of bug that assists in pollination?

Aw.. come on.. you know money can solve everything.. right?

Money by itself does nothing... But with enough TIME and money, anything is possible.

 

[BoomerD]

HEY! That might be a good job for all the illegal immigrants...give them tiny brushes and have them go around pollinating flowers...

Bees? We don't need no stinging bees!

 

[FoBoT]

i blame global warming, bees don't like it too hot

 

[alchemize]

New Suspect in Honeybee Mystery

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s...=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT