Are you prepared? (Bee's Disappearing Act)

Arkanjel

Arkanjel

New Member
Its always good to be prepared, especially in this day and age we are experiencing. However here is something I kinda doubt you have heard about. This comes from a blog post on http://usprepared.blogspot.com/. Please head over and check out the blog and see how to be prepared in case of emergency be it natural or otherwise!
Friday, March 09, 2007
Bees Disappearing Act

Hi, just got this from one of our people that confirms what has been growing into a crisis since I first learned of it from our friend Sister Faachal and then confirmed in the New York Times.

Yes, our honey bees are literally disappearing from USA soil. You might wonder how that has to do with being prepared. Well lets let one of our people, Jim, explain this to you after The Bee Man shares what he shared with Jim.

Here's what The Bee Man had to say:

We opened up our hives this week. This Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has hit us. I've NEVER (our emphasis) seen anything like this. We have been told that in the late 1950s and early 1960s there was "Absconding" going on. Just a rough look thus far leads me to believe that we have 80% losses [of our hive population.]. We are still looking at hives, trying to figure next step. As of today, we are no longer "migratory" beekeepers. We're gonna need bees here [in North-Central Idaho] just to pollinate the local berry, apple and plum crops. The big orchards in Washington State seem to be in trouble too. Take Care, - The Bee Man, in North-Central Idaho.

Here's what Jim had to say:

You are in our prayers, Bee Man! Those of you that have read my novel "Patriots" may remember a character in the Barter Faire chapter called The Bee Man. He was based on a real life individual, who is indeed a "real character."

The full implications of CCD have yet to sink in with both America's grocers, and America's grocery shoppers. The humble honeybee pollinates most of our fruit, berry, and nut crops. Come next Fall, there will doubtless be pitiful crop yields and consequently much higher prices at your supermarket. So stock up on nuts that store
well, such as almonds. Ditto for canned fruit, fruit preserves, jams, and jellies. Also buy some two gallon buckets of honey. It stores literally for decades. I predict that the price of honey will soon more than double, as the available inventory dwindles. You might as well buy your family a 12 to 15 year supply now, while honey is still relatively cheap and plentiful. Honey was probably already on your "stocking up list." In light of the news on CCD, this purchase should be bumped up to the top of the priority list.

Jim is absolutely on target! There will soon be a run on honey that will clean out the shelves and the prices will skyrocket! Good to know that honey can be stored for so long. Also most canned goods can be stored for up to 5 years as I (Hugh) reported in my book. I did not know that bees pollinated nuts too. So I can just imagine how much nuts will be come the 2007 Holiday Season! Possibly up to $10 per can for good quality almonds?

Yes, this is not just alarmist propaganda but as I (Hugh) mentioned there was a very good article on this problem in the New York Times. The experts are really baffled at what is going on. The good Sister reported that her research had shown that there is a mite that can wreak havoc on honey bees. I think that she is correct. However it seems that killing this mite ain't easy.

Just another example of disasters that are beginning to pop up related to our food chain. I (Hugh) personally don't think it has anything to do with Global Warming. Again there was more research as reported this week by Sister Faachal that shows that this heating up is not limited to our planet! Seems that one scientist has been looking at other planets in our solar system particularly Mars which is also facing melting polar caps! I (Hugh) plan to research this further as I think this confirms my greater concern that this so called Global Warming is related to the imbalance of our Sun that we reported about in a previous issue.
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If hornets, yellow-jackets, and wasps all died off, and only the American kind of honeybee (no "africanized" bees, aka KILLER BEEZ!!!) and European honeybee remained, I'd be happy. No honeybee has ever bit me on the ankle in NOVEMBER (how the hornets were still alive I have no clue)
 
No need to rend your garments and cry to the heavens just yet.

From pollinator.com...

Honeybees "rapidly" disappearing? I don't think so. In fact honeybee populations in the SW US are at an all-time high, as the vigorous, pest resistant, africanized bees move in. What we have lost, generally, is the feral (ie gone wild) European strains of the honeybees in the US. These are at an all time low, I would say 2-5% of what they were 40 years ago. Yet the fact that a few have survived is a hopeful sign, and there may come resistant strains that will rebuild feral populations. Commercial beekeeping is also much reduced, partly due to the increased difficulty of keeping bees alive, but also partly due to the competition of heavily subsidized foreign honey. But hobby beekeeping is undergoing a resurgeance. Bee equipment manufacturers are having a hard time keeping up with the demand for new hives, frames, foundation, etc.
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Every time I hear about a crisis...

There's always the other side of the story, hiding somewhere.
 
Uhm...

Well, I meant that these Black Plaguesque disasters are always being thrown around to scare us and then later - it turns out to be a non-event.

Mad cow disease? Pfff. Bird flu? Well er uh I - nope. Nothing.
and then -
Bees disappearing? Well - sort of...

It's always blown completely out of proportion.
 
Dark Virtue said:
Truth and facts are weird like that :p
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DV, just out of curiosity: Did you ever consider a career in journalism? It seems like a job to which you would be well-suited.

</offtopic>

I imagine we'll be reading about this on snopes.com before the week is out.
 
True story:

I was just a little punk, maybe 8. And I was helping my AWESOME dad mow the lawn (it always was the highlight of my week). We used to have a nice big forest behind us, so we'd collect all the grass clippings and dump them back a ways. So I was following my dad pushing the wheelbarrow (I couldn't help because I was 8) and I was all excited. And as soon as he dumped the grass, I started walking back. And then... they came...

Out of no where, the nazi-bees roared at me, bearing the swastica and Uzis. They mowed me down, showing me no mercy. I got stung a bigillion times that day and I was like FREAKING OUT because man it hurt.

True story...
 
Another true story... this one I admit I might be a little at fault... but still, stoopid bees...

I was hanging out with my friend Drew. I was... we'll say 8 again. We were bored. And like any other bored 8 year olds, we decided that we'd try and catch some bees and put them in a jar.

And we did just that. We probably cought around 5 of them. And then one disappeared and we didn't know where it went. And then...

*beep beep beep*

I stepped on a land mine. And it blew up. Yes, that's right. I stepped on a bee. PWNED AGAIN! I'm 99% sure that I took that squished that little sucker before I fled inside screaming like an -- 8 year old.

True story...
 
the nazi-bees roared at me, bearing the swastica and Uzis.
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I doubt the Nazi's would be carrying Uzi's since Uzi's are an Israeli weapon. Sorry just had to call ya on that one. :D

I stepped on a bee. PWNED AGAIN! I'm 99% sure that I took that squished that little sucker
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Bees, like any good zealot, give there life anytime they sting. Just to keep you away from the queen.

I have had more problems with yellow-jackets than I have ever had with bees. You leave bees alone they leave you alone, but not the jackets. They are mean, they will hunt you down and try and take you out, and they don't die when they sting, they come back again and again.
 
In my opinion, bees, wasps, yellowjackets, hornets, killer-bees, and whatever else all fall under the same category -- bees. They're evil and must be killed.
 
I've been thinking about getting a hive. My brother in law has a couple in his back yard. It's a fun hobby that also pays from his honey sales.
 
Tolkien said:
I've been thinking about getting a hive. My brother in law has a couple in his back yard. It's a fun hobby that also pays from his honey sales.
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That sounds like fun. If i didn't have small children and knew more about it I may be interested too. The town I grew up in had a local place that (raised?) bees and they always had a big display at the local festival every year and crowned a "Bee Queen", they always had lots of honey too.
 
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