This Bugs Me, and it Should Bug You Too

[OldJourno]

Oh, we’ll pay the price. The climate change deniers and anti science crowd will make sure of that.

And what will that price be?

 

[Que]

I need to make some corrections and while I am not an expert I have been a beekeeper for 26 years. First, there has not been a definitive single source explanation of what causes colony collapse if that is the "bee thing" you are referring to. It appears to be more of an issue to large migration beekeepers that move colonies to different crops at different times of the growing season for pollination services. With larger farms the bees don't get a good balance of nutrients for different pollen and nectar sources which is not healthy for humans or bees. They do have a tendency to be subjected to more pesticides while pollinating in addition to the stress of being moved up to 1500 miles around the country during the season.

The mites that you refer to are an ongoing problem for all beekeepers. Yes, there are pesticide products that kill mites in the hive but don't kill the bees, but as is the case with many such products improper use can lead to pesticide resistant mites. There are several new products that are available in most states that are not considered toxic that do in fact knock down mite populations but there is not end all cure.

Thanks. 30 years ago I had a roommate that had a few bees in the backyard. It was interesting to watch him collect the honey. When I heard about the problem declining bee populations, I mused for a while about having a few myself just as kind of a hobby.

I still can't get that article to load so I have no idea if it's the one that I read before but do you think that neophyte hobbiests are a benefit to the population? Am I likely to do any harm dabbling?

 

[Libsam]

Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring in the early 1960s. It's worth a read.

Ah yes, Rachel Carson, the Mother of the Environmental movement. DDT was flat out banned, and many others, because of the hysteria that surrounded her book.
People were so excited about a female scientist in the 60s. Girl Power! BAN IT ALL!!!

“It is not my contention that chemical insecticides must never be used."~ Rachel Carson

Her book argued for using them in moderation.

Sub-Saharan Africans would benefit from a little bit of DDT, instead we send them mosquito nets.

 

[OldJourno]

Ah yes, Rachel Carson, the Mother of the Environmental movement. DDT was flat out banned, and many others, because of the hysteria that surrounded her book.
People were so excited about a female scientist in the 60s. Girl Power! BAN IT ALL!!!

“It is not my contention that chemical insecticides must never be used."~ Rachel Carson

Her book argued for using them in moderation.

Sub-Saharan Africans would benefit from a little bit of DDT, instead we send them mosquito nets.

Maybe a statue of Carson with blood on her hands would be appropriate.

 

[DrDelirium]

A hell of a lot of people could grow a substantial portion of their own food if they chose to.

Sure, because living in an apartment and working long hours at a shit job gives you lots of time, energy and resources for setting up your own little aeroponics operation in the window. Why don't these stupid proles raise more bees, too?

 

[Hypoxia]

Ignore the environment.

It will go away.

 

[doowdniw]

Her book argued for using them in moderation.

And that's bad? Well, at least we didn't extinguish our national bird.

 

[Misspent_Ute]

source



This makes me think of the canary in the coalmine.

Bees, pollinators, flying insects... these are all vitally important to the food chain and the environment in general. We must change our behaviors. Or pay the price.

We did not create the bee population problem. It was a natural problem and if you paid attention to your junior high school natural sciences you know that populations are not static in the natural world. They run in cycles. The bee population rises, and mites and viruses explode with them. When the population declines, so too, do the predators.

Here are links to a conservative and a liberal source of news who say basically the same thing.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...as-numbers-recover-while-mystery-malady-wanes

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...s-are-doing-just-fine/?utm_term=.31c4433c4d1e

If you want to examine a possible man-made threat to nature, then look into the effects of second-hand birth control pill effects upon fish populations...

 

[Rotadom]

We did not create the bee population problem. It was a natural problem and if you paid attention to your junior high school natural sciences you know that populations are not static in the natural world. They run in cycles. The bee population rises, and mites and viruses explode with them. When the population declines, so too, do the predators.

Here are links to a conservative and a liberal source of news who say basically the same thing.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...as-numbers-recover-while-mystery-malady-wanes

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...s-are-doing-just-fine/?utm_term=.31c4433c4d1e

If you want to examine a possible man-made threat to nature, then look into the effects of second-hand birth control pill effects upon fish populations...

And the end of all of those cycles is coming to a head at the same time. Amazing!

 

[Misspent_Ute]

Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring in the early 1960s. It's worth a read.

It was required reading i High School along with Alvin Toffler's Future Shock.

Neither of them were Scientists and she has since been discredited and actual outcomes discredited Toffler. She was like so many of our Glow Ball Warning acolytes so vested in a storyline that she ignored science for alarmism. He chose the fallacy of holding technology constant as did the idiot author of The Population Bomb.

 

[Misspent_Ute]

And the end of all of those cycles is coming to a head at the same time. Amazing!

I prefer proof to empty rhetoric. If you would have read the links, the bee population is on the upswing.

 

[Rotadom]

I prefer proof to empty rhetoric. If you would have read the links, the bee population is on the upswing.

Pretending the links say what you want them to say, how about the rest of the flying insects?

 

[Misspent_Ute]

Pretending the links say what you want them to say, how about the rest of the flying insects?

It's fake news.


There is no fucking shortage of mosquitos or the various moths and butterfly's whose larva keep attacking my garden despite all of my efforts to kill all of the little bastages.

 

[Misspent_Ute]

Have you followed the links?

The scientific terms used are words like "suggested" and "estimated."

When you use terms like that, you are pursuing a political agenda, e.g., "...the number of studies on insect trends with sufficient replication and spatial coverage are limited [10, 23–25] and restricted to certain well-studied taxa."


This is not Science, this is "Speculation."

 

[neci]

Dating Assumptions
Much of the climate change alarmism is based on dating methods, such as ice core dating, that supposedly give the climate tens of thousands of years ago. But the earth isn’t that old!

I see a lot of appeals to dating methods by skeptics who comment on my social media. Those who believe millions of years appeal to dating methods, but most can’t explain them or their assumptions. Most of those who believe evolution just regurgitate info from textbooks or documentaries and make grandiose statements. Many who believe millions of years often appeal to carbon dating, which has nothing to do with such long ages. Even secular scientists agree that at most carbon dating can yield dates of 95,000 years. This shows a lack of knowledge on the subject. Secularists often claim light from stars disproves a young universe—but believers in billions of years have a light-time-travel problem too.

Ninety percent of dating methods contradict billions of years. The only absolute dating method is the record of the witness there at the beginning—God. All of man’s dating methods are fallible and based on fallible assumptions. The only true record of history is found in the Bible.

Many get emotional when the idea of millions of years is challenged since they need an incomprehensible amount of time to propose the impossible process of evolution. If millions of years is not true, what other option is there for secularists? Believe the Bible? They don’t want to do that! It’s a spiritual battle, and they’re in rebellion against God.

ken-ham/2017/02/21/is-climate-change-alarming/

i still get fireflies with zero pesticides.

i hope big ag does not kill them as well.

 

[Rotadom]

It's fake news.


There is no fucking shortage of mosquitos or the various moths and butterfly's whose larva keep attacking my garden despite all of my efforts to kill all of the little bastages.

There's no shortage but the bees are on an "uptick"? Go ahead, keep twisting.

 

[doowdniw]

It was required reading i High School along with Alvin Toffler's Future Shock.

Neither of them were Scientists

Because of course zoology is not a science.

 

[Misspent_Ute]

Good lord, the political stupidity here is blinding...


Some species are not surviving.


Darwin anyone?

 

[Misspent_Ute]

Have you forgotten the lesson of the white and black moths?

 

[adrina]

Atlantic article

Interesting read.

One of the main points made is that there are things that can be done regardless of the debate as to cause.

In the meantime, “we should use anything we have to enhance insect populations, like adding flower-rich areas around the margins [of agricultural land],” says Hallmann.

“We don’t want people to get depressed,” says de Kroon. “Ecosystems are very resilient. They’re still functioning quite well despite this loss. Let’s make use of that resilience. We can’t wait till we know exactly what’s leading to these losses. We have to act.”

 

[FGB]

source



This makes me think of the canary in the coalmine.

Bees, pollinators, flying insects... these are all vitally important to the food chain and the environment in general. We must change our behaviors. Or pay the price.

I hate to disagree with something that sounds so noble and important BUT...

I have been beat over the head with this very subject since before nineteen sixty five and I have noticed the worlds population has doubled few times since then.

I am saying be careful about what "Facts" you repeat...

 

[JohnnySavage]

https://fthmb.tqn.com/SMoOOogm7ZDTFdaJKQf7QWLPtaI=/768x0/filters:no_upscale()/What-If-Its-A-Hoax-56a74f4c5f9b58b7d0e8f300.jpg

 

[Misspent_Ute]

Atlantic article

Interesting read.

One of the main points made is that there are things that can be done regardless of the debate as to cause.

What loss?


As I pointed out earlier, you did not even bother to follow the links in your original post that absolutely debunk your quoted material.


PS - The more affluent a society is, the more likely it is to plant flower gardens. Just sayin'.

We live in the most affluent county in the region and my garden pales in comparison to the ones in town...

 

[Richard_P_Feynman]

Have you forgotten the lesson of the white and black moths?

You're an idiot who believes his scientific acumen far exceeds the reality of his situation.

Atlantic article

Interesting read.

One of the main points made is that there are things that can be done regardless of the debate as to cause.

Brings to mind the suggestion that we could replenish fisheries by cordoning off large tracts of ocean from commercial fishing. That yields would actually improve if fishing activities were limited to, say, 20% of the ocean. I don't recall who did this research, but since then there is some evidence the idea is viable.

 

[contrifan32]

Thanks. 30 years ago I had a roommate that had a few bees in the backyard. It was interesting to watch him collect the honey. When I heard about the problem declining bee populations, I mused for a while about having a few myself just as kind of a hobby.

I still can't get that article to load so I have no idea if it's the one that I read before but do you think that neophyte hobbiests are a benefit to the population? Am I likely to do any harm dabbling?

NO! The only harm you will do is on your own wallet. I encourage anyone who has the interest in keeping bees to give it a try but I also encourage people who are interested to join a local club first at the very least find a local beekeeper as a mentor.

My personal opinion is that neophyte hobbyists don't necessarily help or hurt the bee population. They help the southern bee yards that ship packages of bees in the early Spring make money.