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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Jul 6, 2019 21:38:52 GMT -5
thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/451839-agriculture-department-suspends-data-collection-for-honeybees-after
Apparently the latest budget from the White House doesn't include sufficient funds to maintain the bee census.
As I understand it, the USDA will release a report for August but will cease collection thereafter. Budget cuts are the culprit for this cutback.
Announced in local news tonight, one of the reporters cited a 40% loss of bees, apparently over the last year. It's not really clear though what the length or duration of the period was.
The article indicates this is the third cutback on bee data collection.
I wonder if any nongovernmental organizations will initiate a count to maintain oversight on the bee population.
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Post by desertwoman on Jul 6, 2019 22:12:51 GMT -5
I wonder if any nongovernmental organizations will initiate a count to maintain oversight on the bee population. I'd be willing to volunteer to help count.
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Post by Mumsey on Jul 7, 2019 7:01:10 GMT -5
SpringRain🕊️, desertwoman, Sad. A local beekeeper who keeps hives at Mr. S's orchard, the arboretum and his home says he lost 40% over the winter. I have seen few honey bees here. Lots of bumble bees.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Jul 7, 2019 9:06:48 GMT -5
SpringRain🕊️ , desertwoman , Mumsey , I wouldn't' know how to go about counting bees, Is this for all types of bees? The managed bee colonies is for a specific type of bee...I am thinking the honey bee but there are lots of other types of bees, isn't there. Here I see smaller bees quite a bit. Are all bees counted?
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Jul 7, 2019 9:37:45 GMT -5
lilolpeapicker , Mumsey , desertwoman , I have the same question as lilolpeapicker . How does one count bees, without counting some more than once as it's hard to distinguish them since they look alike? I checked the cited article again; it's honeybees that won't be counted. But don't other bees pollinate as well, and don't even the stinging insects such as wasps and yellowjackets pollinate (not that I'd want to spend much time around either of those varieties)? Perhaps we gardeners need to focus on other alternatives, such as more cultivation of butterfly plants, although I'm sure that many here already do that. But since the bees are declining, what other options are available to pollinate the crops, especially in commercial fields? With all the technology I'm surprised someone hasn't created an artificial pollinating bee (although I know that doesn't make sense.)?
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Post by Mumsey on Jul 8, 2019 3:59:05 GMT -5
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Jul 8, 2019 7:21:17 GMT -5
Amazing the work they do. But I need to ask what honeybees do with the pollen of corn. Knowing that corn is wind pollinated when it was growing here I was surprised to see all the honeybees soaking up the pollen. I guess there is enough for them as well as being wind pollinated. Do you think they are also a part of the pollinating process also or just collecting for the hive?
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Post by Mumsey on Jul 8, 2019 8:46:30 GMT -5
lilolpeapicker, Corn does not need pollinators, it's self pollinating and pollinated by the wind. The pollen falls to the corn silks below. Every kernel of corn has a silk. Pretty amazing when you think about it. The bees are doing what bees do, collecting pollen for their own use. In the process they are pollinating the corn, but it's not necessary. If bees knew which plants need pollination, they wouldn't bother with corn.
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Post by tom 🕊 on Jul 8, 2019 10:03:19 GMT -5
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Jul 8, 2019 10:53:03 GMT -5
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Jul 8, 2019 15:54:57 GMT -5
Mumsey , thanks for the link on honeybee pollination. Seeing so many plants that need them puts the situation in perspective. W/o less pollination, I assume there's less product and what is produced will be more costly, segueing into increased food costs for any who don't grow their own food and save their own seeds.
Sometimes when I think of some of the strange science fiction, I wonder if something like this is a Monsanto plot to destroy natural food, to be substituted by more artificial food which benefits the manufacturers of that often inedible stuff.
Or perhaps the next step is to greatly increase seed genetic manipulation to produce more crops that are self pollinators, or developed in labs as opposed to natural crop production, as I believe seeds used in Iraq were when Monsanto moved in and literally sabotaged the seed saving industry.
www.naturalnews.com/055076_Iraq_agriculture_monopoly_Monsanto.html
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Post by reuben on Jul 13, 2019 12:41:52 GMT -5
USDA suspends annual bee counts Of course they are. They're going to allow more to be killed and don't want anyone to know. EPA to allow use of pesticide considered ‘very highly toxic’ to bees The Environmental Protection Agency approved broad new applications Friday for a controversial insecticide, despite objections from environmental groups and beekeepers who say it is among the compounds responsible for eviscerating the nation’s bee populations.
Alexandra Dunn, head of the EPA office that oversees pesticides, said the agency was “thrilled” to be able to approve new uses and lift past restrictions on sulfoxaflor, which she called a “highly effective” tool for growers around the country — but which the agency itself considers “very highly toxic” to bees. The decision will allow the chemical to be applied to a wide array of crops, including citrus and corn, soybeans and strawberries, pineapples and pumpkins.www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/07/12/epa-allow-use-pesticide-considered-very-highly-toxic-bees/I hate this administration.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Jul 13, 2019 16:50:28 GMT -5
I hate this administration. I think you know you're not alone, although that's not necessarily any consolation. But I wonder if anyone other than people who understand the danger of colony collapse has any alternative? Do they anticipate that real, uncontaminated food will become obsolete and we'll end up resorting to eating manufactured food, like in Star Trek? Maybe Monsanto and other disreputable companies already have patents on cubes of chemical foods. I've been thinking that I need to add more pollinator plants in my yard, everywhere. It won't reverse the situation but maybe if more of us gardener and people who care create more safe bee havens, we at least can avoid eating artificial food in cubes.
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