Showing posts with label CCD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CCD. Show all posts
8/17/2009
Pathogen Levels in Colony Collapse Disorder
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-08/ps-sfh081309.php
12/31/2008
GM Bt Corn vs. Honey Bees
Bee Learning Behavior Affected by Eating Toxin from GE Corn
By Ken Roseboro, ed.
The Organic and Non-GMO Report, December 2008
A recent study found that honey bees fed on the active form of purified Cry1Ab protein, the genetically modified protein found in GM Bt corn, can be affected in the learning responses necessary to associate nectar sources with odorants.
The scientists wanted to determine if GM Bt is one of the causes for colony collapse disorder, a mysterious affliction that is killing honeybees worldwide.
In this study bees consuming artificial nectar containing 5000ppb of Cry1Ab continued to respond positively to a learned odor even in the absence of a food reward, while normal bee behavior is to become discouraged and seek more abundant food sources.
This learning response is important in bee foraging behavior and it has attracted the attention of CCD researchers since it is known to be inhibited by the insecticide imidacloprid.
The new finding is particularly interesting since it lends weight to a previous suggestion that Bt toxins may have other, non-lethal effects which become apparent only when the normal (i.e. lethal) effect is absent. If there were to be multiple modes of Bt action then many more non-target organisms would likely be at risk from GM Bt corn. Bt Researcher Angelika Hilbeck says that more research is needed that looks at the impacts of both the Bt toxin and imidaclopid on bee behavior.
From Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping
www.BeeCulture.com
By Ken Roseboro, ed.
The Organic and Non-GMO Report, December 2008
A recent study found that honey bees fed on the active form of purified Cry1Ab protein, the genetically modified protein found in GM Bt corn, can be affected in the learning responses necessary to associate nectar sources with odorants.
The scientists wanted to determine if GM Bt is one of the causes for colony collapse disorder, a mysterious affliction that is killing honeybees worldwide.
In this study bees consuming artificial nectar containing 5000ppb of Cry1Ab continued to respond positively to a learned odor even in the absence of a food reward, while normal bee behavior is to become discouraged and seek more abundant food sources.
This learning response is important in bee foraging behavior and it has attracted the attention of CCD researchers since it is known to be inhibited by the insecticide imidacloprid.
The new finding is particularly interesting since it lends weight to a previous suggestion that Bt toxins may have other, non-lethal effects which become apparent only when the normal (i.e. lethal) effect is absent. If there were to be multiple modes of Bt action then many more non-target organisms would likely be at risk from GM Bt corn. Bt Researcher Angelika Hilbeck says that more research is needed that looks at the impacts of both the Bt toxin and imidaclopid on bee behavior.
From Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping
www.BeeCulture.com
6/30/2008
6/27/2008
Bees Down, Prices Up
[CNN.com]
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Food prices could rise even more unless the mysterious decline in honey bees is solved, farmers and businessmen told lawmakers Thursday.
Farmers say their businesses are feeling the sting of the decline of honey bees.
"No bees, no crops," North Carolina grower Robert D. Edwards told a House Agriculture subcommittee. Edwards said he had to cut his cucumber acreage in half because of the lack of bees available to rent.
About three-quarters of flowering plants rely on birds, bees and other pollinators to help them reproduce. Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion annually in crop value.
In 2006, beekeepers began reporting losing 30 percent to 90 percent of their hives. This phenomenon has become known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Scientists do not know how many bees have died; beekeepers have lost 36 percent of their managed colonies this year. It was 31 percent for 2007, said Edward B. Knipling, administrator of the Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service.
"If there are no bees, there is no way for our nation's farmers to continue to grow the high quality, nutritious foods our country relies on," said Democratic Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California, chairman of the horticulture and organic agriculture panel. "This is a crisis we cannot afford to ignore."
Food prices have gone up 83 percent in three years, according to the World Bank.
Edward R. Flanagan, who raises blueberries in Milbridge, Maine, said he could be forced to increase prices tenfold or go out of business without the beekeeping industry. "Every one of those berries owes its existence to the crazy, neurotic dancing of a honey bee from flower to flower," he said.
The cause behind the disorder remains unknown. Possible explanations include pesticides; a new parasite or pathogen; and the combination of immune-suppressing stresses such as poor nutrition, limited or contaminated water supplies and the need to move bees long distances for pollination.
Ice cream maker Haagen-Dazs and natural personal care products company Burt's Bees have pledged money for research and begun efforts to help save the bees.
The problem affects about 40 percent of Haagen-Dazs' 73 flavors, including banana split and chocolate peanut butter, because ingredients such as almonds, cherries and strawberries rely on honey bees for pollination.
Katty Pien, brand director for Haagen-Dazs, said those ingredients could become too scarce or expensive if bees keep dying. It could force the company to discontinue some of its most popular flavors, Pien said.
Haagen-Dazs has developed a new limited-time flavor, vanilla honey bee, and will use some of the proceeds for research on the disorder. Burt's Bees has introduced Colony Collapse Disorder Lip Balm to "soften your lips while saving honeybees."
The House Appropriations Committee approved $780,000 on Thursday for research on the disorder and $10 million for bee research. The money awaits approval by the full House and Senate.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Food prices could rise even more unless the mysterious decline in honey bees is solved, farmers and businessmen told lawmakers Thursday.
Farmers say their businesses are feeling the sting of the decline of honey bees.
"No bees, no crops," North Carolina grower Robert D. Edwards told a House Agriculture subcommittee. Edwards said he had to cut his cucumber acreage in half because of the lack of bees available to rent.
About three-quarters of flowering plants rely on birds, bees and other pollinators to help them reproduce. Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion annually in crop value.
In 2006, beekeepers began reporting losing 30 percent to 90 percent of their hives. This phenomenon has become known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Scientists do not know how many bees have died; beekeepers have lost 36 percent of their managed colonies this year. It was 31 percent for 2007, said Edward B. Knipling, administrator of the Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service.
"If there are no bees, there is no way for our nation's farmers to continue to grow the high quality, nutritious foods our country relies on," said Democratic Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California, chairman of the horticulture and organic agriculture panel. "This is a crisis we cannot afford to ignore."
Food prices have gone up 83 percent in three years, according to the World Bank.
Edward R. Flanagan, who raises blueberries in Milbridge, Maine, said he could be forced to increase prices tenfold or go out of business without the beekeeping industry. "Every one of those berries owes its existence to the crazy, neurotic dancing of a honey bee from flower to flower," he said.
The cause behind the disorder remains unknown. Possible explanations include pesticides; a new parasite or pathogen; and the combination of immune-suppressing stresses such as poor nutrition, limited or contaminated water supplies and the need to move bees long distances for pollination.
Ice cream maker Haagen-Dazs and natural personal care products company Burt's Bees have pledged money for research and begun efforts to help save the bees.
The problem affects about 40 percent of Haagen-Dazs' 73 flavors, including banana split and chocolate peanut butter, because ingredients such as almonds, cherries and strawberries rely on honey bees for pollination.
Katty Pien, brand director for Haagen-Dazs, said those ingredients could become too scarce or expensive if bees keep dying. It could force the company to discontinue some of its most popular flavors, Pien said.
Haagen-Dazs has developed a new limited-time flavor, vanilla honey bee, and will use some of the proceeds for research on the disorder. Burt's Bees has introduced Colony Collapse Disorder Lip Balm to "soften your lips while saving honeybees."
The House Appropriations Committee approved $780,000 on Thursday for research on the disorder and $10 million for bee research. The money awaits approval by the full House and Senate.
6/17/2007
Probable Cause of Bee Drop?
[entire article at http://www.hyperstealth.com/haarp/index.htm]
e-address for Sutton suttonmaureen@hotmail.com
HAARP Transmissions May Accidentally be Jamming Bees Homing Ability, June 1, 2007
By Guy Cramer
Beginning in the Summer of 2006, bee hives in more than half the U.S. States, four Canadian Provinces and a number of countries in Europe have mysteriously been losing billions of bees in what is now being termed Colony Collapse Disorder. Canadian officials have yet to declare their bee losses are due to this disorder.
Mature worker bees leave the hive and do not return, leaving the queen and immature workers unable to sustain the hive. Due to the recent outbreak and distances involved in the regions affected, most researchers are unable to explain why this is occurring.
Currently one theory suggests that electromagnetic waves may be causing interference with bees’ navigation, as previous small scale research showed that 70% of the bees did not return to the hive when cordless phone transmitters were placed within the colonies. Here we show that a U.S. military radio transmitter (ionospheric heater) array, the most powerful in the world, transitioned to full power in 2006 and reception of signals transmitted cover the same region as the Colony Collapse Disorder.
The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Project is an antenna array located in Alaska. It a congressionally initiated program jointly managed by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy. The Array has been used to conduct numerous ionospheric and radio wave propagation research studies over the past decade. One project study conducted in 1997 showed the radio transmission range was only received in North America and Europe. This Array transitioned to full power and military use just prior to the summer of 2006 with an increase in output from 9.6 kilowatts to 3.6 megawatts. The corresponding timing and range with the Colony Collapse Disorder suggests recent transmissions from the array could be the most likely cause of the bee problem.
e-address for Sutton suttonmaureen@hotmail.com
HAARP Transmissions May Accidentally be Jamming Bees Homing Ability, June 1, 2007
By Guy Cramer
Beginning in the Summer of 2006, bee hives in more than half the U.S. States, four Canadian Provinces and a number of countries in Europe have mysteriously been losing billions of bees in what is now being termed Colony Collapse Disorder. Canadian officials have yet to declare their bee losses are due to this disorder.
Mature worker bees leave the hive and do not return, leaving the queen and immature workers unable to sustain the hive. Due to the recent outbreak and distances involved in the regions affected, most researchers are unable to explain why this is occurring.
Currently one theory suggests that electromagnetic waves may be causing interference with bees’ navigation, as previous small scale research showed that 70% of the bees did not return to the hive when cordless phone transmitters were placed within the colonies. Here we show that a U.S. military radio transmitter (ionospheric heater) array, the most powerful in the world, transitioned to full power in 2006 and reception of signals transmitted cover the same region as the Colony Collapse Disorder.
The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Project is an antenna array located in Alaska. It a congressionally initiated program jointly managed by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy. The Array has been used to conduct numerous ionospheric and radio wave propagation research studies over the past decade. One project study conducted in 1997 showed the radio transmission range was only received in North America and Europe. This Array transitioned to full power and military use just prior to the summer of 2006 with an increase in output from 9.6 kilowatts to 3.6 megawatts. The corresponding timing and range with the Colony Collapse Disorder suggests recent transmissions from the array could be the most likely cause of the bee problem.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)