Bee decline already having dramatic effect on pollination of plants

www.telegraph.co.uk...

A decline in bees and global warming are having a damaging effect on the pollination of plants, new research claims.

Researchers have found that pollination levels of some plants have dropped by up to 50 per cent in the last two decades.

The "pollination deficit" could see a dramatic reduction in the yield from crops.

With all the food issues going on in the world...how hard would this impact on a global scale, i've read where farmers are renting bee hives to pollinate their fields.

reply to post by tspark


Now that is a big worry... Although I’m sure we will get the deniers who think everything is fine

I will definitely keep an eye on this... S+F

Not that i'm supporting Global Warming.... but the Fact that the bees are becoming less plentiful...

I have a small garden ...and my okra...cucumbers and watermelons need all the cross pollination...

reply to post by tspark


Are bees supposed to be out at nite because they are were I hang out from time to time? They come inside where the house light is and buzz around in circles and then fall on their backs. I feel so sryy for them I just catch them and free them back into the night, but I did wonder if there were nocternal.

reply to post by tspark


Don't worry there was a thread that it was just a mite and they are breeding bees that are immune to the mite so they can get back to work. You missed the thread on this? Go back to sleep people nothing to see here...

Declining bee populations in rural areas is a direct result of modern agricultural practices, ie, crop spraying, GM manipulations etc.

Bees/hives in urban areas are thriving again. Anybody with a little outside space to spare can set up a hive. There is comparatively little chemical interference with plants in urban gardens and parks and the random self-seeding of the 'butterfly bush' g. buddleia, bees are able to prosper.

Strong healthy bees, feeding on strong healthy food sources are less susceptible to mite.

People can make a difference, help redress the balance in rural areas. Each time we go for a walk in the country or take a fishing trip etc, we could take some food plant seeds or buddleia and seed the countryside. Trying not to inflame any farmers by seeding barley fields with peas or something (although I've heard it's a fun thing to do!), we could seed any derelict land or wild spaces (being mindful of indigenous flora and environment). If we picnic, we could stop taking seed-carrying fruit waste home and leave it to nature.

Spitting plum pips as far as you can is good fun!

www.bbc.co.uk...


another article

Inbred bumblebees 'face extinction threat' By Mark Kinver Science and environment reporter, BBC News Moss carder bumblebee (Image: BCT) The study offered a good insight into the potential consequences for species found on the UK mainland Some of the UK's rarest bumblebees are at risk of becoming extinct as a result of inbreeding, research suggests. The lack of genetic diversity is making the bees more vulnerable to a number of threats, including parasitic infection, say scientists in Scotland. They warn that some populations of bees are becoming increasingly isolated as a result of habitat loss. The findings are being presented at the British Ecological Society's annual meeting at the University of Leeds. Lead researcher Penelope Whitehorn, a PhD student from Stirling University, said the study of moss carder bumblebees (Bombus muscorum) on nine Hebridean islands, off the west coast of Scotland, offered an important insight into the possible consequences of inbreeding. "The genetic work had already been carried out on these bumblebees, so we knew that the smaller and more isolated populations were more inbred than the larger populations on the mainland," she told BBC News. Continue reading the main story Related stories * Top award for humble bee project * Loss of bees a blow to UK economy "And as it was an island system, it could work as a proxy for what could occur on the mainland if populations do become isolated from each other as a result of habitat fragmentation." The study is believed to be the first of its kind to investigate inbreeding and immunity in wild bees. Uncertain future

I do believe there is probably a bee decline due to chemicals and GM crops, but honestly where I live, we've got bees galore. My backyard Pepper Tree is buzzing with thousands of them all this summer, and every summer, but then again, I don't spray chemicals and I grow heirloom so they probably like my house!

reply to post by SunnyDee


Perhaps the decline are more noticeable in the areas where the most Crops are grown? Not sure


but it does have more than just a few people freaked....

i read an article where in some areas they have to "Rent" hives for their fields....

reply to post by tspark


Yeah, I'm sorry to make light of the subject, I do think it is serious, but I honestly do also think that there are areas they will thrive in, areas that are not crop country, but of course this will not help the farm industry and famine is a real possibility.

reply to post by SunnyDee


Oh i got the feeling you weren't making light of it.... it's hard around here in arkansas to see the issue too...we have bees aplenty and my little Garden does really good...

hopefully we can split the hives and make more.... the one article i read said event the split hives are dying off...

I thought since there is more data coming out on this i would post it here instead of starting a new thread....

news.yahoo.com...

reply to post by tspark


I have seen many stories like this one before and I think it is worrying.....

BUT what get's me even further annoyed is 'city folk' - livving the dream of living in the counrtyside but not learning to live with the countryside, if you know what I mean.....

Where I live in Rural Derbyshire, UK is a great example of this.........

People, couples, families have made their money in the boom time of the past ten years, (probably from milking the Public sector or Banking, which is in it's own right milking us all !!) and then they 'buy up' a farmhouse, or small holding to ''live the dream'' .... They then carry on renovating the buildings so as to MAX thier value and in doing so deny the habitat of bees, wasps, beetles, spiders et al which ALL make up the bio-diversity..... They put HUGE 'security' halogen lights up which disturb the darkness of the night and introduce as much noise as possible, only complaining when the farm animals moo, squark and bleat to earlier in the morning for them......

Human activity, in our race to ''add value'' to our pointless wealth, destroys the canvass that we all live on....

My neighbours were horrified to discover they had bats in the roof space of their rennovated, new build Barn conversion and have since '''removed''' them through disturbing means let's say.....
They put so many slug pellets out that the Hedgehogs get lost in the pellets....... they are on at me to remove a bee's nest in my roof space because they say that they are wasps and responsible for chewing on their new garden furniture.....

Needless to say I have now suggested they go back and live on an estate in some anonoymous town some where.....
Regards

PurpleDOG UK

reply to post by PurpleDog UK


I understand what your talking about...though i live in the city close to all my life here in the US...we've not changed the land very much...we have animals...pigs and Chickens until recently goats and sheep...that were mostly free range for a half or more acre....we did do a small garden...about another 1/4 acre....we are close to the lake..the spiders spin nice big webs and eat rather good....the only ones that get "squished" are the ones that venture into the house.....and the snakes generally only get killed when they venture up to where the kids play... the neighbors around us have elected to allow a part of their lots go back to "wild"...as buffer zones between the houses..