Fears of bee colony collapse in New Zealand

[Corncrake]

It is so good to read some positive stories here. I am sorry to say I have noticed far far fewer bees and butterflies in the UK - at least in the parks around London this year. Last year we were being encouraged to save the bumble bee and I love these beautiful insects. However, unlike the honey bee I have seen plenty around. I have spoken to various bee keepers around London and they have assured me that they have seen no decline so I am not sure what is going on. Colin Andrews of Crop Circle fame is following the plight of the honeybee on his farm blog in Connecticut and in Wiltshire UK (http://www.colinandrews.net/FarmLog-Pg01.html) and has reported a definite decline.

[BestLion]

this is sad!
I wonder if the bees do die off in NZ if they can import new bees from say Russia to NZ to start a new colony?

[torti]

I recall reading that last year! I don't watch the news, I haven't now for a long time. But occasionally I read stuff.co.nz, to get an idea of spin they are feeding the nation.

One of the area's they mention is Canterbury, and I must agree with an earlier post regarding Chemtrails. Canterbury (Mainly Christchurch) and Nelson (the northern part of the South Island... roughly of-course) are the two most heavily dumped (as in trails) areas in the South Island of NZ. I spent the whole of 2010 traveling around the South Island in my van, WWOOFing and learning, observing and sharing. And it stunned me at how many trails I saw in those two area's. It saddens me, but in no way surprises me that the bee's are dying. I haven't heard a lot more about this in the news since, but I know the populations are still decreasing. I am in Hawkes Bay now (East Coast of The North Island) and I know two bee-keepers, both of which, have mentioned the declining bee population that is happening even here. It has not stopped, but the main stream media have decided it is no longer worth writing about. So many things need to change.

[Shade]

The bees in China have been dying off for years and they attribute it to pesticides. For some of the countries pear trees, they pollinate it completely by hand and have done for years now. They harvest the pollen and dry it - then reapply it. But what happens in countries where they don't have the man power that China does? New Zealand Honey is beautiful too, their clover honey is really good.
http://www.apinews.com/en/news/item/...nd-pollination

[Carmen]

We lost both of our hives to wasps in the autumn so will have to start again. But on a brighter note I have discovered a wild hive in a hollow tree on my property so that's a plus. My farming practice of leaving the grass longer and mob stocking will mean there is more flowering plants for bees. Hopefully this will encourage mores bees to take residence. There seems to be plenty of bumblebees.

[OZ.]

Sure they can, i know a beekeeper an he said that all his bees where die or sick.
I asked if he knew why , said in 30 years he lost a lot of bees but not that much in a year.

And then he claim " that's not a problem i baught 2 "Queens" last week, it came from Poland by the post" , having glucose in their box so it can feed...In fact with the cold weather we had this summer he feed at 50% all his bees with glucose (not natural ).

If he don't know why the bees are dying i have a clue (for the record no airport in the neighbor:

1) Walk up at 7 am this summer, clear blue sky, two hours later "breakfast time" in the garden...


http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/1714/201211123.jpg

2) This one show how spraying beings can be fun, even art

[Shade]

I had heard that bees were dying from a virus or a fungus or something but when i looked it up, it appears that the scientists who did that 'discovering' were funded by the pesticide company! That doesn't mean they were corrupt though it just denotes a conflict of interest.

http://arstechnica.com/science/2010/...us-in-cahoots/

[eva08]

After much research on bees, mostly the problem is pesticide spraying during flowering -- which should not be done, but is done anyhow. It is also due to systemic pesticide applications - pesticides that are slowly released over time, some are very toxic to bees, even months after an application. The small print of the pesticide or insecticide will reveal that.
About 8 months ago citrus spraying became mandatory in our county to eradicate citrus psyllid. The county mentioned that the chemical application was perfectly safe, but just should not be sprayed during the flowering of the citrus. Upon closer investigation another county specified the very same pesticide as the most toxic and dangerous to bees.
Of course the county's spraying schedule did not halt when the various citrus varieties were in bloom - and they all bloomed at different times, one after another. They just sprayed when it was fitting in their schedule regardless of citrus in bloom or not.

Fluoridation of drinking water or plain pollution of drinking water for the bees is also a contributing factor to colony collapse.

I believe the problem is also increased radiation and increased UV light as the atmosphere is thinned due to less oxygen production and less rain / moisture production due to de-forestation. Bees see flowers with UV seeing eyes - the center of the flower under black light will shine and guide the bee to the nectar source. Due to an increase of UV light and radiation the bees are blinded in their vision.

The moment pesticide / insecticide and systemics are not used, clean water for bees to drink provided, bees seem to increase vigor.

I also feel a contributing factor is the weakening of the bees due to genetic cloning. Many bee keepers are leaning towards using feral bees that show excellent vigor.

I also feel another contributing factor to CC is using standard commercial bee hives that are using relatively thin wood, not providing sufficient temperature insulation, as well as using a prefabed foundation for the bees to draw comb. The bees are forced to make each cell following the stamped pattern which sometimes is a cell that is slightly larger than would be built naturally without a foundation. This slightly larger cell invites the Varroa Mite to sneak into the brood and damage the growing bee. The Warre hive and other top bar hives allow bees to naturally draw their comb; the wood of those hives is also much thicker, bees seem to thrive much better; however commercial bee keepers are hard pressed to pay four times as much for a hive box that is smaller than regular commercial hive boxes.

In short - the solution for the bees CC is a reversal to natural life, organic pesticide and chemical free flowers, clean water, a re-forestation project to restore the natural balance of this planet of pants / rainforest / oxygen production and natural rain with a moisture and oxygen rich atmosphere.

We are ourselves providing distilled water to feral bees who come and visit and drink. Years ago, we provided regular tap water and saw many dead bees every day - maybe 10 - 30. After introducing distilled water we see hardly any dead bees.

[seko]

Bees continue to die in many parts of the world and it it due to pesticides. The neonicotinoids pesticides affected the abilities of hives to produce queen bees and affects their brains. Unfortunately money talks and the companies that sell this type of pesticides always try to tell us that there aren't sufficient or complete data to indicate that their pesticides are to blame for the decline of bees is certain areas where their pesticides are been used.

Here is the link of the article from the BBC talking about a report of the Members of the common environmental audit committee are calling for a moratorium on the use of sprays containing neonicotinoids.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22021104

"So we are calling for a moratorium on pesticides linked to bee decline to be introduced by 1 January next year."

[tnkayaker]

Posted by Marianne (here)

Posted by Carmen (here)
Well, the bees seem to be fine round here. We acquired two hives last year and had a really bumper harvest which I think was due to the bees. Local bee keeper seems to be cogging along just fine. We are mainly not spray freaks round here though which probably accounts for bee deaths.

Carmen, that's good... hope it continues in bumper crops and loads of buzzy bees! Bees are so sweet and gentle if you don't bother them. We have a big vitex tree that they adore when it blooms. I like to stand nearby and watch/listen to them... it can be near deafening. We don't have a hive, just the locals hanging out.

BTW, New Zealand is a place I'd love to visit someday. The photos I've seen are gorgeous.
Junebug

better hurry junebug, i hope we can re direct the vibrations somehow,,,,jesus if we loose the bees, thats about it you know,,,God Bless the bees and God Bless us all especially now.....

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

Did this colony collapse stuff coincide with the advent of those huge cell phone towers?

[norman]

Posted by Tesla_WTC_Solution (here)
Did this colony collapse stuff coincide with the advent of those huge cell phone towers?

I certainly think so.

[penn]

Here is a link to a video with Jay from Night Hawk Minerals. He talks about his sucess helping the honey bees. Our very own Kimberly is doing the interview.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxCLpA3JDQQ