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37 million dead bees in one Ontario farm


redhen

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"More than 37 million honeybees were found dead in Elmwood, Ontario, according to beekeeper Dave Schuit, who lost the bees from 600 hives in June. He and many others are pointing to insecticides called neonicotinoids, used in planting corn and some other crops."

MSN story here

Similar problems in the UK;

"Certain neonicotinoids were banned by the European Commission earlier this year, despite resistance by the UK Government, because of fears the chemicals kill bees. Now a study by the University of Sussex has claimed the pesticides accumulate in the soil and water, potentially damaging a wider range of wildlife and the soil itself."

The EU protection policy;

"The European Commission has adopted a proposal (Regulation (EU) No 485/2013) to restrict the use of 3 pesticides belonging to the nenicotinoid family"

Say what you want about the EU parliament/commissions, but they always seem to be at the forefront of environmental issues.

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Bee, i hate them. But i love the fact they hold such a high importance to the eco system. Proves Small and insignificant, can be very significant ^^

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I think Monsanto is definitely a factor here that should be considered.

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I'm allergic to bee stings, but a world without bees would be a sad thing. I hope whatever is killing them stops. I've heard so many theories, but no definitive proof of any of them.

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I'm allergic to bee stings, but a world without bees would be a sad thing. I hope whatever is killing them stops. I've heard so many theories, but no definitive proof of any of them.

I understand a world without bees would not only be a sad thing, but a dead thing. I don´t have figures on my desk as to how many crops rely on insect pollination, but the last time I looked the figure was staggering.

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DANG!

This issue is getting worse. For pollinator's to increasingly die should be considered a major threat to certain types of food supplies, ultimately affecting the entire ecosystem as well as, of course, human food supply availability.

I truly hope that un-biased biological investigator's will determine the cause(s) and that their findings are taken seriously to THE POINT OF CHANGES.

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Someone knows exactly why this is happening. People privy to that information do not care. They think money can save them from whatever comes. If we don't wrest control of our government(s) from big business, very bad things are in store for Planet Earth.

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I understand a world without bees would not only be a sad thing, but a dead thing. I don´t have figures on my desk as to how many crops rely on insect pollination, but the last time I looked the figure was staggering.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHA!!! Quick, get your secretary to get you those figures on your desk....... STAT!!!

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Bees pollinate crops saturated with all manner of insecticides and bees die. Meanwhile, urban bees thrive in our concrete jungles where they are, for the most part, not exposed to said chemicals. Where's the mystery?

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I came home one day to a swarm of bees at my front door.There were thousands of them.I know it is not wise to walk into a swarm but I thought,well hell,this is my home & they gotta go somewhere else.I just very carefully walked through them saying" Hey sweeties,this is my house & I'm going inside to my home.They must have heard me because I had not one sting on my way in.Mind you I was fully clothed with a jacket & jeans etc coming from work.In the past couple of days prior,I had the experience of a bee near my workplace warehouse flying over & landing just below my eye on my face.I tried to keep my cool and he/she eventually flew off my face.PHEW! LOL!Maybe that was a scout that warned all other colonies that I was a friend! LOL Now I have a loquat tree in my backyard & I notice that many bees fly through it.I thought that there was a decline in Bee population ,but with this tree,I have faith that there still is a functioning Bee population & many colonies here in Sydney Australia.

Edited by GirlfromOz
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There's problems and there's solutions. The problem and it's source are pretty evident in this case. If it wasn't a big chemical-biochemical corporation, the most likely candidate I'd say would be climate change, and pollution the second.

I hate it when people obey the law so much they can't save the world.

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20 odd years ago I lost both my bee hives because of mites some types of bee like creatures know how to remove the mites ( wasps, hornets, mason bees being a few of the smart ones ) but for some reason ( or so I was told by someone who knew more than I did ) most honey bees are to stupid to realize they need to remove mites from themselves and from the hive.

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.. just think of all the JOBS that will be available pollinating fields .. by hand. (<cryptic sarcasm and think tank thinking) :w00t:

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Good thought 'Lightly'!A new form of employment created in the midst of a crisis.Wow! Now why didn't any of us think of that?

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There's problems and there's solutions. The problem and it's source are pretty evident in this case. If it wasn't a big chemical-biochemical corporation, the most likely candidate I'd say would be climate change, and pollution the second.

I hate it when people obey the law so much they can't save the world.

I hate it when poor laws are passed and never repealed.

Plus, I hate it when good laws, the few that exist, are never enforced. The epitaph for the human species will be full of examples of us being our own worst enemy.

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Good thought 'Lightly'!A new form of employment created in the midst of a crisis.Wow! Now why didn't any of us think of that?

I like your positive take on it... but , honestly , i was thinking more along the lines of.... You get to pollinate 10 acres of cucumbers for FOODCO and you get to eat, that day.

The peanut pollination division will pay you in peanuts. Bees dying off is a very bad thing.. and it's being ignored ?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I came home one day to a swarm of bees at my front door.There were thousands of them.I know it is not wise to walk into a swarm but I thought,well hell,this is my home & they gotta go somewhere else.I just very carefully walked through them saying" Hey sweeties,this is my house & I'm going inside to my home.They must have heard me because I had not one sting on my way in.Mind you I was fully clothed with a jacket & jeans etc coming from work.In the past couple of days prior,I had the experience of a bee near my workplace warehouse flying over & landing just below my eye on my face.I tried to keep my cool and he/she eventually flew off my face.PHEW! LOL!Maybe that was a scout that warned all other colonies that I was a friend! LOL Now I have a loquat tree in my backyard & I notice that many bees fly through it.I thought that there was a decline in Bee population ,but with this tree,I have faith that there still is a functioning Bee population & many colonies here in Sydney Australia.

Good thing those weren't killer bees. We have those in the US now and they will sting you to death will little provocation.
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It always worries me when we have a mass death of bees like this. One of these days too many will die and it will be past the point of no return. Any more if I get a bee in my house I don't kill it I capture it and turn it lose. I need them more than they need me.

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Good thing scientists are working on robots to help pollinate =)

(In case anyone doesn't know, it was announced back in March)

http://inhabitat.com...ations-decline/

The comments on that article show that people will not be fooled by techno-pie-in-the-sky. Neonicotinoids are the most likely culprit, that's why the EU has prohibited them.

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I am assuming that mites don't count, and American and European foulbrood don't count. to many people kill them each year Many years ago( late 80s) I had one of the hives die off because a bug sprayer deliberately sprayed my hive he was spraying the local pine trees for some beetle and I called across the fence and asked s if the stuff was poisonous to bees and he said yes it was so I told him I had honey bees and he needed to avoid this area. he shrugged and didn't say anything so I walked away. I was twenty feet away when I felt something on my neck and turned to see him deliberately spraying the hive full pressure it cost him 15K in damages but ultimately he won the case because while I got monetary damages I was trying to put him out of business. it was determined that he had the right to spray the trees and bushes in the yard he had contracted to spray that that there was not enough evidence that it wasn't accidental.. after all they are just bugs

to many people just don't care about anything except money

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what I am finding interesting is a that in a lot of areas wild hives are not having any problems it is only the commercial hives that are having problems. there are not nearly as many honey bees around my place as there were when I had 1 or more hives of bees around ( early 80s to late 90s) but I still see them all the time

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