What is the impact of the disappearance of bees going to have on food and renewable resources??

Question

A friend who is a beekeeper in NE Iowa has lost all of his hives, and tells me 60% of all hives in the US have 'died' out. I was buying bee's wax from him, but there is no more to buy. As we live in the middle of corn country, there has been no discussion either locally or at the national level about this crisis. Seems like this should be considered a serious threat to our national security, and may well impact everyone who consumes fruits, veggies, ethanol, etc.. The speculation is that the disappearance is due to cell phones, and microwave transmissions - rather than directly related to global warming. Any thoughts????

Answer 1

I've heard something of this, but if your 60% figure is anywhere near accurate, it's much worse than I would have thought. I would suspect an invasive species like a mite, fungus, or some similar vector before I blamed electronics, but I wouldn't rule that out. I'm not aware of anything behind such transmissions that could affect bees unless it actually fried them in flight or something.

Corn, wheat and oats will not be affected as they are wind pollinated, but soybeans rely on the domesticated honeybees (or on those that have gone feral) for pollination, and that has become a primary reason for keeping bees.

On the bright side, the honeybee kept by beekeepers is not a native species, so even if it is entirely extirpated, the native pollinators (which very possibly could be unaffected by whatever it is) should be able to resume their roles as primary pollinators of the native plants.

It would be a good thing if people paid more attention to real threats like invasive species and the devastating imact they have.

Answer 2

You can find some good information on the web site for the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium. To summarize:

Various die-off phenomena among bee colonies have been known for over a century. It has not been determined whether the current phenomenon, known as Colony Collapse Disorder, is related to historical causes.

The "crisis" has not been entirely ignored by the U.S. Government. A report was delivered in March to the House Subcommittee on Horticultural and Organic Agriculture.

There is extensive cooperative research going on among universities and commercial bee keepers.

Causes being investigated include new or reemerging pathogens, environmental chemicals, and various combinations of stress factors (mites, diseases, nutrition).

Cell phone transmission has not been specifically ruled out, but it is not being actively studied. One reason is that Colony Collapse Disorder has occurred in areas of California that don't have cell phone service.

Answer 3

In my honest Entomologist opinion, I think Honey Bee hive dieout is primary due to a lack of proper maintenance and Varroa mite management. This speculation of cellphone towers is IMO... simply specualtion... keepers pointing the finger in shame because they let their hives die off. I know several keepers who are doing just fine despite having towers put up all over the place... But I guess time will tell whether it is really due to towers or not.

Impact-wise, the disappearance of bees will be huge for pollination. We are eyeballing losses of millions to billions of dollars just due to lack of pollination. What will this do? it will cost US, the consumers, money as well as growers because they will have to increase prices to maintain profit and to also combat that thing we call 'supply and demand.'

Answer 4

Bees are a major contributor in the pollination of plants. Without pollinators, plant reproduction would be greatly influenced. Pollination would have to be done by humans who have neither the time, money, or special touch to do it. I have not heard much about the disappearance of bees but this would be a large effect if they were to disappear.

Answer 5

Because of global warming.So stop warming the earth.

Answer 6

i think this is a serious problem because bears could die out of the need of honey also many ppl could day honey is a good homemade medicine
and many ppl would lose jobs too this is a SERIOUS problem