[Pil-pc-oceania] seen many bees around lately?

[permaculture at apollobay.org.au]

Below is from GeneEthics regarding bees in the USA... I haven't noticed
many bees around either... plenty of wasps though, especially european
wasps.

Fern



Thursday 12/4 The Age has a piece on sending bees to the USA because US bees
are dying like flies and pollination of trees and crops is suffering. No
pollination, no fruit. The cause of the bee die
off is still unexplained but some
people speculate that GE crops may be implicated. See items below FYI.

Drop a note please to:

letters at theage.com.au

Peace and joy,

Bob
-- 

ooooOOOOoooo

Bob Phelps
Executive Director
Gene Ethics
Level 2, 60 Leicester St, Carlton 3053 Australia
Tel: 03 9347 4500 {Int Code +613} or 1300 133 868
Fax: 03 9345 1166
Email: info at geneethics.org
WWW: http://www.geneethics.org

THINK, CARE, ACT!

Wild Bees Reject Genetically Engineered Crop -
Potential Major Impact on Pollination
Ecological Society of America, Dec 23, 2006
By Ecological Society of America, Dec 23, 2006

>From Ecological Society of America Referring to a
Sept. 2004 peer-reviewed article

Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser
University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby,
British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada

Abstract. The ecological impacts of agriculture
are of concern, especially with genetically
modified and other intensive, modern cropping
systems, yet little is known about effects on
wild bee populations and subsequent implications
for pollination. Pollination deficit (the
difference between potential and actual
pollination) and bee abundance were measured in
organic, conventional, and herbicide-resistant,
genetically modified (GM) canola fields (Brassica
napus and B. rapa) in northern Alberta, Canada,
in the summer of 2002.

Bee abundance data were collected using pan traps
and standardized sweep netting, and pollination
deficit was assessed by comparing the number of
seeds per fruit from open-pollinated and
supplementally pollinated flowers. There was no
pollination deficit in organic fields, a moderate
pollination deficit in conventional fields, and
the greatest pollination deficit in GM fields.
Bee abundance was greatest in organic fields,
followed by conventional fields, and lowest in GM
fields. Overall, there was a strong, positive
relationship between bee abundance at sampling
locations and reduced pollination deficits. Seed
set in B. napus increased with greater bee
abundance. Because B. rapa is an obligate
outcrossing species, the lack of pollination
deficit in the organic (B. rapa) fields likely
was due to the high bee abundance rather than a
lower dependence of B. rapa on pollinators than
B. napus canola. Our study illustrates the
importance of wild bees to agricultural
production and suggests that some agroecosystems
may better sustain wild bee abundance, resulting
in greater seed production.

Further research on why some cropping systems,
such as genetically modified, herbicide-resistant
canola, have low wild bee abundance would be
useful for management of agroecosystems to
promote sustainability of food production. Key
words: agriculture; bees; Brassica rapa; Brassica
napus; canola; conventional; genetically
modified; organic; pollination; sustainable
development.

Manuscript received 3 September 2003; revised 3
September 2004; accepted 8 September 2004.
Corresponding Editor: C. R. Linder © Copyright by
Ecological Society of America 2005
..............................

Honeybees Are Dying Out In 24 American States
By: Press Release
Source:<http://www.enjoyfrance.com/ > http://www.enjoyfrance.com

March 7, 2007

As many as 24 American states are experiencing an
alarming loss of honeybees, which are dying out
and this poses a serious threat to many crops.

American beekeepers have experienced regional
problems before but there has never been a
national cause for concern as there is now,
because bees pollinate more than $14bn (£7bn)
worth of American-grown crops each year.

There has been no definite cause for the bees
dying but viruses, mites, fungi and pesticides
could all be to blame it is claimed. The
researchers investigation the threat to bees and
farming have found that the bees are dying away
from the hives and think that pesticides banned
in some European countries may be causing the
bees to be unable to find their way home.

Crops such as avocados, kiwis and California
almonds are amongst those hit by the crisis and
it is feared the problem could prove the breaking
point for even large beekeepers.

In the UK honeybees have also been seriously
declining due to the varroa mite and some species
of bumblebee are now seriously endangered as well.

The investigators are exploring a range of
possibilities to explain the losses, which they
are calling "colony collapse disorder". These
include viruses, a fungus and poor bee nutrition.
.............................

Are GM Crops Killing Honeybees?

The honeybee population may be in grave decline
around the United States. This is a serious
problem, as almost 100 crops need honeybees to
transport pollen between flowers, prompting
fertilization and jump-starting the production of
seed and fruit.
However, there may soon not be enough bees to
transport a sufficient amount of pollen, as a
result of colony collapse disorder; this is the
catch-all name that encompasses a myriad of
possible reasons why the honeybees are
disappearing, ranging from a new infection to a
compromised immune system.
Some economists have estimated this single
species is worth as much as $14 billion to the
U.S. economy. Moreover, pollinated plants may
account for as much as one-third of the average
American diet, and possibly the healthiest
portion of it.
A German study may have identified a simple
answer to the problem: The ongoing blight of
genetically modified (GM) crops. When bees were
released in a GM rapeseed crop, then fed the
pollen to younger bees, scientists discovered the
bacteria in the guts of the young ones mirrored
the same genetic traits as ones found in the GM
crop.
...........................

Disappearing honeybees imperil crops, keepers
Harvesters in 24 states report hive population
rates have mysteriously fallen 30% to 70%.
Alexei Barrionuevo / New York Times

VISALIA, Calif. -- David Bradshaw has endured
countless stings during his life as a beekeeper,
but he got the shock of his career when he opened
his boxes last month and found half of his 100
million bees missing.
In 24 states, including Michigan, beekeepers have
gone through similar shocks as their bees have
been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming
rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but
also the production of numerous crops.
"I have never seen anything like it," Bradshaw,
50, said. "Box after box after box are just
empty. There's nobody home."
The sudden mysterious losses are highlighting the
critical link that honeybees play in the long
chain that gets fruit and vegetables to
supermarkets and dinner tables across the
country. Beekeepers have fought regional bee
crises before, but this is the first national
affliction.
In a mystery worthy of Agatha Christie, bees are
flying off in search of pollen and nectar and
never returning to their colonies. Nobody knows
why. Researchers say the bees are presumably
dying in the fields, perhaps becoming exhausted
or disoriented and falling victim to the cold.
As researchers scramble to find answers to the
syndrome they call "colony collapse disorder,"
growers are becoming openly nervous about the
capability of the commercial bee industry to meet
the growing demand for bees to pollinate dozens
of crops, from almonds to avocados to kiwis.
A Cornell University study has estimated that
honeybees annually pollinate more than $14
billion worth of seeds and crops in the United
States, mostly fruits, vegetables and nuts.
"Every third bite we consume in our diet is
dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food,"
said Zac Browning of the American Beekeeping
Federation.
The bee losses are ranging from 30 percent to 60
percent on the West Coast, with some beekeepers
on the East Coast and in Texas reporting losses
of more than 70 percent; beekeepers consider a
loss of up to 20 percent in the off-season to be
normal.
Over the past two decades, the number of
beehives, estimated by the Agriculture Department
to be 2.4 million, has dropped by a quarter and
the number of beekeepers by half.
It could just be that the bees are stressed out.
Bees are being raised to survive a shorter
off-season, to be ready to pollinate once the
almond bloom begins in February. That likely
lowered their immunity to viruses.
Mites have also damaged bee colonies, and the
insecticides used to try to kill mites are
harming the ability of queen bees to spawn as
many worker bees. The queens are living half as
long as they did just a few years ago.
Researchers are also concerned that the
willingness of beekeepers to truck their colonies
from coast to coast could be adding to bees'
stress.
........................................

GM WATCH daily
http://www.gmwatch.org
---
Der Spiegel is Europe's biggest and Germany's
most influential news magazine with a circulation
of around one million.

EXTRACT: The researchers examined the effects of
pollen from a genetically modified maize variant
called "Bt corn" on bees... According to
Hans-Hinrich Kaatz, a professor at the University
of Halle in eastern Germany and the director of
the study, the bacterial toxin in the genetically
modified corn may have "altered the surface of
the bee's intestines, sufficiently weakening the
bees to allow the parasites to gain entry -- or
perhaps it was the other way around. We don't
know."
---

COLLAPSING COLONIES
Are GM Crops Killing Bees?
By Gunther Latsch
Der Spiegel (edited)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,473166,00.html

A mysterious decimation of bee populations has
German beekeepers worried, while a similar
phenomenon in the United States is gradually
assuming catastrophic proportions. The
consequences for agriculture and the economy
could be enormous.

Is the mysterous decimation of bee populations in
the US and Germany a result of GM crops? Walter
Haefeker is a man who is used to painting grim
scenarios. He sits on the board of directors of
the German Beekeepers Association (DBIB) and is
vice president of the European Professional
Beekeepers Association. And because griping is
part of a lobbyist's trade, it is practically his
professional duty to warn that "the very
existence of beekeeping is at stake."

The problem, says Haefeker, has a number of
causes, one being the varroa mite, introduced
from Asia, and another is the widespread practice
in agriculture of spraying wildflowers with
herbicides and practicing monoculture. Another
possible cause, according to Haefeker, is the
controversial and growing use of genetic
engineering in agriculture.

As far back as 2005, Haefeker ended an article he
contributed to the journal Der Kritischer
Agrarbericht (Critical Agricultural Report) with
an Albert Einstein quote: "If the bee disappeared
off the surface of the globe then man would only
have four years of life left. No more bees, no
more pollination, no more plants, no more
animals, no more man."

Mysterious events in recent months have suddenly
made Einstein's apocalyptic vision seem all the
more topical. For unknown reasons, bee
populations throughout Germany are disappearing
-- something that is so far only harming
beekeepers. But the situation is different in the
United States, where bees are dying in such
dramatic numbers that the economic consequences
could soon be dire. No one knows what is causing
the bees to perish, but some experts believe that
the large-scale use of genetically modified
plants in the US could be a factor.

FROM THE MAGAZINE

The scientists are also surprised that bees and
other insects usually leave the abandoned hives
untouched. Nearby bee populations or parasites
would normally raid the honey and pollen stores
of colonies that have died for other reasons,
such as excessive winter cold. "This suggests
that there is something toxic in the colony
itself which is repelling them," says Cox-Foster.

Walter Haefeker, the German beekeeping official,
speculates that "besides a number of other
factors," the fact that genetically modified,
insect-resistant plants are now used in 40
percent of cornfields in the United States could
be playing a role. The figure is much lower in
Germany -- only 0.06 percent -- and most of that
occurs in the eastern states of
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg.
Haefeker recently sent a researcher at the CCD
Working Group some data from a bee study that he
has long felt shows a possible connection between
genetic engineering and diseases in bees.

The study in question is a small research project
conducted at the University of Jena from 2001 to
2004. The researchers examined the effects of
pollen from a genetically modified maize variant
called "Bt corn" on bees. A gene from a soil
bacterium had been inserted into the corn that
enabled the plant to produce an agent that is
toxic to insect pests. The study concluded that
there was no evidence of a "toxic effect of Bt
corn on healthy honeybee populations." But when,
by sheer chance, the bees used in the experiments
were infested with a parasite, something eerie
happened. According to the Jena study, a
"significantly stronger decline in the number of
bees" occurred among the insects that had been
fed a highly concentrated Bt poison feed.

According to Hans-Hinrich Kaatz, a professor at
the University of Halle in eastern Germany and
the director of the study, the bacterial toxin in
the genetically modified corn may have "altered
the surface of the bee's intestines, sufficiently
weakening the bees to allow the parasites to gain
entry -- or perhaps it was the other way around.
We don't know."

Of course, the concentration of the toxin was ten
times higher in the experiments than in normal Bt
corn pollen. In addition, the bee feed was
administered over a relatively lengthy six-week
period. Kaatz would have preferred to continue
studying the phenomenon but lacked the necessary
funding. "Those who have the money are not
interested in this sort of research," says the
professor, "and those who are interested don't
have the money."
.......................................

Breaking News
Dr Michael Ellis
*Collapsing Colonies
Are GM Crops Killing Bees?*

Albert Einstein quote: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the
globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no
more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."

The problem, says Haefeker, has a number of causes, one being the varroa
mite, introduced from Asia, and another is the widespread practice in
agriculture of spraying wildflowers with herbicides and practicing
monoculture. Another possible cause, according to Haefeker, is the
controversial and growing use of genetic engineering in agriculture.
*by Gunther Latsch; Spiegel Online

<<http://www.spiegel. >http://www.spiegel.
de/international /spiegel/ 0,1518,473166, 00.html
<<http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,473166,00.html
>http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,473166,00.html>>;
March 28, 2007*

A mysterious decimation of bee populations has German beekeepers
worried, while a similar phenomenon in the United States is gradually
assuming catastrophic proportions. The consequences for agriculture and
the economy could be enormous.

Is the mysterous decimation of bee populations in the US and Germany a
result of GM crops?

Walter Haefeker is a man who is used to painting grim scenarios. He sits
on the board of directors of the German Beekeepers Association (DBIB)
and is vice president of the European Professional Beekeepers
Association. And because griping is part of a lobbyist's trade, it is
practically his professional duty to warn that "the very existence of
beekeeping is at stake."

The problem, says Haefeker, has a number of causes, one being the varroa
mite, introduced from Asia, and another is the widespread practice in
agriculture of spraying wildflowers with herbicides and practicing
monoculture. Another possible cause, according to Haefeker, is the
controversial and growing use of genetic engineering in agriculture.

As far back as 2005, Haefeker ended an article he contributed to the
journal Der Kritischer Agrarbericht (Critical Agricultural Report) with
an Albert Einstein quote: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the
globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no
more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."

Mysterious events in recent months have suddenly made Einstein's
apocalyptic vision seem all the more topical. For unknown reasons, bee
populations throughout Germany are disappearing -- something that is so
far only harming beekeepers. But the situation is different in the
United States, where bees are dying in such dramatic numbers that the
economic consequences could soon be dire. No one knows what is causing
the bees to perish, but some experts believe that the large-scale use of
genetically modified plants in the US could be a factor.

Felix Kriechbaum, an official with a regional beekeepers' association in
Bavaria, recently reported a decline of almost 12 percent in local bee
populations. When "bee populations disappear without a trace," says
Kriechbaum, it is difficult to investigate the causes, because "most
bees don't die in the beehive." There are many diseases that can cause
bees to lose their sense of orientation so they can no longer find their
way back to their hives.

Manfred Hederer, the president of the German Beekeepers Association,
almost simultaneously reported a 25 percent drop in bee populations
throughout Germany. In isolated cases, says Hederer, declines of up to
80 percent have been reported. He speculates that "a particular toxin,
some agent with which we are not familiar," is killing the bees.

Politicians, until now, have shown little concern for such warnings or
the woes of beekeepers. Although apiarists have been given a chance to
make their case -- for example in the run-up to the German cabinet's
approval of a genetic engineering policy document by Minister of
Agriculture Horst Seehofer in February -- their complaints are still
largely ignored.

Even when beekeepers actually go to court, as they recently did in a
joint effort with the German chapter of the organic farming organization
Demeter International and other groups to oppose the use of genetically
modified corn plants, they can only dream of the sort of media attention
environmental organizations like Greenpeace attract with their protests
at test sites.

But that could soon change. Since last November, the US has seen a
decline in bee populations so dramatic that it eclipses all previous
incidences of mass mortality. Beekeepers on the east coast of the United
States complain that they have lost more than 70 percent of their stock
since late last year, while the west coast has seen a decline of up to
60 percent.

In an article in its business section in late February, the New York
Times calculated the damage US agriculture would suffer if bees died
out. Experts at Cornell University in upstate New York have estimated
the value bees generate -- by pollinating fruit and vegetable plants,
almond trees and animal feed like clover -- at more than $14 billion.

Scientists call the mysterious phenomenon "Colony Collapse Disorder"
(CCD), and it is fast turning into a national catastrophe of sorts. A
number of universities and government agencies have formed a "CCD
Working Group" to search for the causes of the calamity, but have so far
come up empty-handed. But, like Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an apiarist with
the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, they are already referring
to the problem as a potential "AIDS for the bee industry."

One thing is certain: Millions of bees have simply vanished. In most
cases, all that's left in the hives are the doomed offspring. But dead
bees are nowhere to be found -- neither in nor anywhere close to the
hives. Diana Cox-Foster, a member of the CCD Working Group, told The
Independent that researchers were "extremely alarmed," adding that the
crisis "has the potential to devastate the US beekeeping industry."

It is particularly worrisome, she said, that the bees' death is
accompanied by a set of symptoms "which does not seem to match anything
in the literature."

In many cases, scientists have found evidence of almost all known bee
viruses in the few surviving bees found in the hives after most have
disappeared. Some had five or six infections at the same time and were
infested with fungi -- a sign, experts say, that the insects' immune
system may have collapsed.

The scientists are also surprised that bees and other insects usually
leave the abandoned hives untouched. Nearby bee populations or parasites
would normally raid the honey and pollen stores of colonies that have
died for other reasons, such as excessive winter cold. "This suggests
that there is something toxic in the colony itself which is repelling
them," says Cox-Foster.

Walter Haefeker, the German beekeeping official, speculates that
"besides a number of other factors," the fact that genetically modified,
insect-resistant plants are now used in 40 percent of cornfields in the
United States could be playing a role. The figure is much lower in
Germany -- only 0.06 percent -- and most of that occurs in the eastern
states of Mecklenburg- Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. Haefeker
recently sent a researcher at the CCD Working Group some data from a bee
study that he has long felt shows a possible connection between genetic
engineering and diseases in bees.

The study in question is a small research project conducted at the
University of Jena from 2001 to 2004. The researchers examined the
effects of pollen from a genetically modified maize variant called "Bt
corn" on bees. A gene from a soil bacterium had been inserted into the
corn that enabled the plant to produce an agent that is toxic to insect
pests. The study concluded that there was no evidence of a "toxic effect
of Bt corn on healthy honeybee populations. " But when, by sheer chance,
the bees used in the experiments were infested with a parasite,
something eerie happened. According to the Jena study, a "significantly
stronger decline in the number of bees" occurred among the insects that
had been fed a highly concentrated Bt poison feed.

According to Hans-Hinrich Kaatz, a professor at the University of Halle
in eastern Germany and the director of the study, the bacterial toxin in
the genetically modified corn may have "altered the surface of the bee's
intestines, sufficiently weakening the bees to allow the parasites to
gain entry -- or perhaps it was the other way around. We don't know."

Of course, the concentration of the toxin was ten times higher in the
experiments than in normal Bt corn pollen. In addition, the bee feed was
administered over a relatively lengthy six-week period. Kaatz would have
preferred to continue studying the phenomenon but lacked the necessary
funding. "Those who have the money are not interested in this sort of
research," says the professor, "and those who are interested don't have
the money." 

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Adrian Wedd adrian at adrianwedd.com
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:28:17 +1000
To: pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org
Subject: [Pil-pc-oceania] seen many bees around lately?


hi folks,

having noticed less bees around i've been keeping a keen eye on the news on
'colony collapse disorder'.

i'm wondering if anyone else in australia has noticed less bees buzzing
around this year?

A.


-- 
Adrian Wedd
http://adrianwedd.com
adrian at adrianwedd.com
0407081084


--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web.com – Enhanced email for the mobile individual based on Microsoft®
Exchange - http://link.mail2web.com/Personal/EnhancedEmail