Gee Whiz Sparky... ya think this might be why the bees are dying ?

[MazeRat7]

Another little-known fact is that bee pollination is increasingly a highly concentrated industry. Rather than a dispersed system of local hives, a few commercial operators now haul tens of billions of bees from coast to coast, trucking their hives in 18-wheelers.

Colony Collapse Disorder, as it's now called, could be the result of this industrialized model of pollination. First, the bees themselves have been bred into single-purpose superpollinators, rather than bees with multiple functions (make honey, feed the queen, maintain the hives, and extend the species). The industrial bees have lost the diversity and natural traits of wild bees.

Second, constant trucking puts stress on the bees, suppressing their immune systems and making them vulnerable to viruses, mites, and diseases. Also as part of their forced migration, the bees are fed a limited diet of high fructose corn syrup – about as healthy as humans trying to live on Cokes. Other research is indicating certain pesticides and genetically altered organisms that have been artificially spliced into many field crops.

Once again, we have the heavy hand of mankind messing with Mother Nature in ways that come back to mess with us – big time. It's not just bees these food industrialists are messing with – it's our food supply.

The Hightower Report

For crying out loud... :mad:
MZr7

[tech3149]

1. I heard a radio interview the other week

and it turns out that natual and organic hives have yet to experience any problems. Sorta makes you think huh?

[fasttense]

13. I'm not so sure that it is only affecting the artificial hives.

There was a big hive in a halfway downed dead tree near the outskirts of our woods. It was there in 2000 but was gone in 2006.

[RoccoR5955]

43. The hive of wild bees...

Probably split off several times by 2006. When a hive gets too big, they create a new queen, and a portion of bees go with the queen, once another location for a hive has been found. Bees also tend to move from place to place in the wild. I haven't seen a hive in the woods stay around for more than two, maybe three years here. If they have ideal conditions, such as the ones that beekeepers provide for them, they will hopefully thrive for a long, long time. If that hive gets too big, they will swarm, and find a place to setup a home for perhaps another queen.
They are incredible creatures, and necessary as well.

[slampoet]

52. I haven't seen wild hives in 20 years......so consider the 2000 hive a lucky sighting. Nothing else.

[suziedemocrat]

44. Please see this DU Post by Egalitarian on April 26th

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=752492&mesg_id=757791

Organic and feral bees are doing OK, factory farmed bees are taking the hits. Things that make you go hmmmmmm.

Here's an e-mail passed on to me via a sustainability group I belong to,

...
I’m on an organic beekeeping email list of about 1,000 people, mostly Americans, and no one in the organic beekeeping world, including commercial beekeepers, is reporting colony collapse on this list. The problem with commercial operations is pesticides used in hives to fumigate for varroa mites and antibiotics are fed to the bees to prevent disease. Hives are hauled long distances by truck, often several times during the growing season, to provide pollination services to industrial agriculture crops, which further stresses the colonies and exposes them to agricultural pesticides and GMOs.
...

[RoccoR5955]

38. Not true

Here in NY, several of my friends keep bees all over the place. Their hives have suffered in recent years. One friend lost all but one hive.
Just because they are 'natural' doesn't mean that they are immune to the virus that has been killing them.

Question for you... What's an 'organic' bee? They don't choose whether or not to pollinate organic plants/flowers. Any pesticides used on most insects that are pests also kill bees, so I for one, do not know what you mean by 'organic' bees.

Bees have been being transported around for a long time. I know of some commercial apiaries here in NY, where they travel all over the east coast with their bees. They are raised in NY. I think the original article is lacking a little in the fact department, but I haven't had the time to research it.

All I know, that I have been making honeywine (mead) for about ten years now, and my friends, who are commercial, as well as hobbyist beekeepers have been suffering with hives dying over the past five or so years. Honey prices are way up. It means a lot to me, because a five gallon bucket (60 lbs)used to cost $60 about five years ago. Now it's around three times that, and it's because the bees are dying.

[tech3149]

62. From your experience I'm sure you know much more than me

My response was based on an interview about CCD, I'm not sure if it was "This is Hell" on WNUR or "Mind over Matters" on KPFA. The interviewee was a commercial beekeeper. The term "organic hive" was in reference to hives on organic farms as opposed to those I find in the woods.

[pinto]

2. Interesting info, thanks for the post. The commercial bee operations

in my area are generally out of this loop (smaller, localized populations). They are experiencing losses, but due to mite infestation, according to reports. Local bee operations are making some moves to establish a different, smaller species that is resistant to the mite.

[Lilith Velkor]

22. All that trucking means the mites go everywhere

Seems that way to me.

[IndyOp]

35. Exactly - with the trucking all bees are exposed to all diseases and mites...

and they spread them from one geographical location to another where the native bees don't have immunity.

This whole story is just sickening.

:(

[Old and In the Way]

3. This makes a lot of sense and might be recoverable if we heed

the advice and start changing this commercialization process. Maybe we need to reintroduce the art of bee-keeping locally. I'm not a volunteering, though. I got this thing about bees and hives.

[Forkboy]

4. Do the other countries where this is happening use a similar method?

[StarryNite]

10. Great question

If not, then there goes that theory.

[Forkboy]

11. There's that

And I'm also curious as to why,if this story is true,why it suddenly hit all the bees worldwide at the same time.I would think if it was just stress on the colonies the time period between these dying offs would be a wider spread of time than all of a sudden like it's happened.

It is possible,I suppose,that a bee disease could spread quickly,and the stress could have led to a weakness making them more vulnerable,but again,why would all the bees be weakened and susceptible at the same time?

Lots of questions on this story,which is the creepiest story of the year so far,imo.

[StarryNite]

49. These excuses just don't add up

I lean more towards something that is going on world wide that is compromising their immune systems. Not all of the affected countries use the same pesticides or ship them from coast to coast or feed them fructose. Tinfoil hat time, I know this is subject to a flame attack but I do wonder about those chemtrails. Now be gentle with me. At less than 400 posts I'm practically a virgin here. :hide:

[Forkboy]

65. I'm skeptical of the chemtrails thing

I've been reading about it for years,and while I've personally seen some curious trails in the sky myself,the only "conspiracy" theory on it that I think might have some truth to it is the Edward Teller angle,and even that is kind of stretch for me,just because of the sheer scale involved and knowing how badly secrets are kept (though I don't discount anything these days).

But so far there's no "culprit" available that pulls all the pieces together,so who knows? Your guess is as good,if not better,than mine.

[Mark Twain Girl]

26. That's a good point. There was a thread about Taiwan

here - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2823591.

On that same thread, there was a story about Hawaiian bees, too. Mites in that case, I gather.

[flying_wahini]

34. welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Forkboy]

66. Can mites travel this fast?

I don't ask to be wise,I genuinely don't know.Is it possible that mite infections could travel worldwide this quickly?

We already know it's possible for humans (the flu every year for example).Does this happen to bees too?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Bueller?

[Radio_Lady]

5. Crap, with that schedule, maybe it's the equivalent of jet lag... called "truck lag."

Not exactly like "laxative lag"....

[Maraya1969]

6. If you have the room why not start a bee hive? My grand dad kept bees and we ate honey

all the time. He never used protective gear and he never got stung. He knew how to work around them.

Maybe it's time to give tax breaks and subsidies to bee keepers.

http://www.ehow.com/how_1643_start-beehive.html

Another reason the bees might be leaving.............

"Do not use pesticides on blooming plants. This is one sure way of wiping out an entire bee population."

[Eurobabe]

7. If I build my own house here across the pond, I am giving this serious thought

I too have somewhat of a fear of bee-ing stung (LOL) but I find this avocation so fascinating and rewarding (having kept up with all the news about bees and the CCD) -- who knows, maybe I might give it a try?

[Ganja Ninja]

16. Making it a hobby might be Ok but commercial Beekeeping is

big time here. I have a local Beekeeper down the road from my house and he uses a big truck that hauls both his hives and an all terrain forklift to move them. Any operation that isn't similarly commercialized will not be a viable means of income if that's what you're planning.

[A HERETIC I AM]

41. That is the point of moving hives. You can get an entire season of production if you move with the

seasons. Not to mention that large groves in Florida and California, as well as all the other states with crops that need bee pollination require huge additions of hives to handle the enormous amount of flowers. For the large operators, they can not survive if they don't move hives after a flowering season in a particular locale.

[MLFerrell]

24. "...bee-ing stung..."

Ugh! Bad pun! Run for your lives! AIEEEE!

:)

[Clark2008]

42. You missed an obvious pun!!

Run for your HIVES!!! Aieeee!!!

:7

[NoFederales]

53. Just do it; pay no attention to naysaying

One hive will be no more/no less work than four or five; besides having enough honey/wax for personal use, selling raw honey to friends and neighbors can help offset other expenses--and honey harvest is a great excuse for a party, and share some labor. If you like woodworking, making your equipment is exceptionally satisfying.

I like the Buckfast species here in SW Missouri. They are tough and good producers. And if you desire more hives, splitting a hive of Buckfasts (and others, too) works well. Go to beecommerce on the web; they have lots of lore and equipment.

Good luck, but get some bees, and enjoy another facet of outdoor gardening activity.
NoFederales

[bvar22]

59. We just started two Buckfast colonies in West Central Arkansas.

Thses are our first colonies.
We are far away from any GM crops, cell phones, pollution, or large commercial enterprises of any kind.
So far, so good.
We love our bees. :)

[NoFederales]

70. Nice! I like those bees, and your threads. I'm going to experiment

with a single column support with a water trap surrounding it to discourage ants--I really don't like ants. Between ants and wax moths and late springs freezes all of my Italian bees have succombed to the insect nether-world.

Looks like you're in good shape for a fine season.
NoFederales

[Mabus]

68. I have two brothers who are allergic to bee stings

My dad is allergic to bee & wasp stings and penicillin. I give a wide berth to anything with a stinger. So far, so good. :scared:

[Maraya1969]

8. Delete Dupe

[orleans]

9. r.i.p.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9IRS1wRctk&mode=related&search=

weird little bee video

[earth mom]

12. Don't mess with Mother Nature.

:grr:


Oh, and this was on the news the other night:

Accident near 205 bridge hurts two, spills bee boxes

http://www.katu.com/news/local/7254116.html

[Mabus]

69. It's like something from an X-Files plot

:scared:

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. This sort of hive movement has been going on for decades.

This is not a new industry. Commercial beekeepers have been moving hives across the country for a VERY long time.

[rasputin1952]

15. Most people don't have the faintest ideas what bees and

butterflies do, as well as other insects around the world.

Pollination, eating and disposing of "bad " insects...most people have no idea that Ladybugs love aphids, and can eat a considerable amount of them, thereby saving a lot of crops.

Then we have the nut-jobs like Limbaugh that push for the return of DDT...:eyes:

What ever happened to basic Biology in the classroom? Was it so important to get caught up in human sexuality in Biology, that somehow the whole notion of the earth working harmoniously through nature got tossed out w/the bathwater?

Humans have really screwed this whole ecosystem up. There is a good possibility w/the upsurge in irrigation, the water that is being brought up has been depleted to the point where chemicals have become concentrated we have no idea idea what we are putting on plants. Before you know it, we can kill off agriculture because of the incredible marriage of ignorance and arrogance.

I think I'll go out and shoot a Bald Eagle and roast it up for dinner...hey, I can sell the feathers off
for some BIG cash...:crazy:

[Chimichurri]

17. Like George Carlin said, the earth will just shake us off like a bad

case of fleas.

[rasputin1952]

18. LOL...maybe the Equator is really a flea collar...

:D

And we think we're the smartest things on the planet...:)

[texastoast]

67. Yeppers

The Mother will tolerate fools only for so long. Actually, she tolerates the fools then kills their progeny. So sad.

[bdamomma]

20. I heard that bees do 80% pollination of vegetables and fruits

this is something not to take to lightly.

[rasputin1952]

27. This is true...most fruit trees, veggies and a host of other things

depend on bees, particularly honey-bees, wasps and hornets are more predators than pollinators, but moths and butterflies account for a good deal as well. Some are plant specific, so if either one becomes decimated, the system can collapse for a species.

I do not take this lightly at all. I was expressing sarcasm w/the eagle addition. The DDT thing w/Limbaugh is real though. Since he refuses to accept any scientific evidence of mankind destroying our habitat, he feels as if anything is OK. I think he's been drinking some of the water that is contaminated w/mercury, or perhaps eating paint chips. We can do so much better than we do, but it all comes down to the dollar. Really sad that another dollar in profit will remove what protections we have...just as w/the Chinese wheat problem, our own water and air pollution and the use of pesticides that percolate down into the aquifer, if not eaten outright through the plant or an animal that has eaten the plants that are contaminated.

We are killing ourselves off, and we don't even seem to care. The dramatic increase in various cancers, IMHO, has a lot to do w/what is in our food supply...:(

[bdamomma]

30. I wasn't refering to you taking this subject lightly, I hope the

bee keepers figure how to get rid of that mite, and other things that may be the cause of this.

[rasputin1952]

33. Thanks for the reply...I just wanted to assure you that I

take this seriously as well...:hug:

Sometimes, writing is so much more difficult than discussion. Sarcasm and humor are difficult at best in vocalization, but when I write something, there have been times when I've been misunderstood. I prefer not to offend when possible...:)

[bdamomma]

31. delete

[bdamomma]

32. delete

[mike_c]

23. "...nut jobs who push for the return of DDT...."

I don't know what Limbaugh has said on the topic but I'd like to offer a perspective you're likely missing. First, let me say that I'm not a "nut job," I'm a professional entomologist and an ecologist.

Second, DDT is one of the best current solutions for vector control of malaria. Some 300 million to 500 million people are infected with malaria annually. It is one of the scourges of the earth, especially in the tropics.

DDT has much lower vertebrate toxicity than most of the insecticides that replaced it, by orders of magnitude. The main problems with DDT were that it was immensely over used, it is persistent in the environment, especially in the temperate regions (not so much in the tropics where UV radiation breaks it down faster), and it biomagnifies up food chains-- ironically, this is a partial consequence of its low vertebrate toxicity.

After taking a blood meal, female mosquitoes rest for a while, typically on a nearby surface, like a wall. When DDT is sprayed on interior walls it kills the mosquitoes before they have a chance to lay eggs and take repeat blood meals, thus providing some measure of direct vector control but more importantly, stopping the cycle of malaria transmission. DDT on interior walls is not at all toxic to humans living there, it is protected from UV degradation so one treatment lasts a long time, but it's degraded rapidly if it somehow gets outside, it cannot get into the food chain so it does not biomagnify, it is MUCH less expensive to manufacture and use than any other alternatives, and it is much safer than most alternatives, i.e. organophosphate insecticides.

DDT got a bad rap because it was massively overused during the 50's and 60's, but bear in mind that if we had used the organophosphates that replaced it on the same scale and in the same way we'd have done MUCH more environmental damage. Humans were the real problem, not DDT, I'm afraid.

[rasputin1952]

28. While I agree w/you in principle, I am really thinking of the

problem w/bird eggs that developed, particularly the Bald Eagle eggs. So, by using that logic, it has to enter the food chain at a certain point, either by massive overuse, or through the natural part of the food chain and built up over time.

Prudent use of pesticides does indeed help humans in several ways, but the long term harm may be too much to pay, and other ways should be sought to combat scourges. Humans become exceptionally lazy when they think they have "conquered" a problem. Not long ago, polio was almost eliminated from the human population, it is making a comeback...:(

TB is coming back in more virulent strains as well, and if the 1918-19 pandemic flu type situation evolves, we're in for some serious stuff. I just read an article where some microbiologists dug up the body of a Canadian from the permafrost, where his body was intact, and got the virus from his body. They revived the strain of virus, and inoculated a few monkeys...the monkeys developed the flu and were dead from destroyed lung tissue in 24 hours. That is some scary stuff!

Anyway, I digress...dusting houses w/DDT to control the Anopheles mosquito is fine by me. I just don't think there should be 'dusting' to the point where as you walk across the floor, you kick up a cloud of the stuff...and it is going to get into the water system one way or the other...:(

[yellowcanine]

57. If we were to only use DDT for mosquitoes and other human pests and practiced

a resistance management strategy - such as rotating with other classes of chemicals we could probably safely use DDT with few adverse environmental effects. The big problem with DDT was they were using it on everything - and everything was getting resistant to it. Then they had to use higher and higher doses and that simply made the environmental impact much worse.

[mike_c]

58. exactly right....

eom

[geardaddy]

45. We're raising a praying mantis in preparation for pest control

in the garden this summer. We'll see how it works, but in any case it's one cool looking bug!

[rasputin1952]

47. It's one ravenous bug too! I saw this thing on a science show

about mantis'...wierd bug, that's for sure. It can turn its head almost 360 degrees, eats everything that moves around it, and the female chomps down on the male while mating...:scared:

If you can get some ladybugs you'll have little problem w/aphids. I don't know when this Asian strain got here to Nebraska, but they really hurt when they bite you! You probably don't want those around your area.

[geardaddy]

48. Oh, we've got those!

They SUCK! They're especially bad in the rural areas of MN.

[rasputin1952]

64. They are bad out here too....I always liked ladybugs, especially

when I'd find a golden one...but these things are horrendous. I had one bite my arm, and at first I thought I was getting a wasp sting. Not sure if they have any toxins, but they sure do hurt! And they die if they bite me, not a good deal for either of us...:D

[mike_c]

19. trucking is under consideration as a possible contributor.....

There are a couple of problems. First, CCD has been reported from non-transported hives. More importantly, CCD is not a new disorder-- it has been reported for decades under different names (fall dwindle disease, disappearing disease, spring dwindle, etc)-- in other words, it might predate the current intense industrialization of bee-keeping.

On the other hand, colony stress is considered a likely contributing factor at present, so transporting colonies might be a contributing factor even if it's not the primary agent.

[A HERETIC I AM]

39. Like i posted above, transporting of Bee colonies across country has been going on for decades...

I think there must be another major factor. If it was simply moving them, we would have seen this phenomena before.

[roamer65]

21. Rent-a-bee?

Have bees, will travel. Yikes. Very sad for the bees.

[madokie]

25. for crying out loud is right

is nothing sacred any more?

[Gregorian]

29. Once again, our corporate dependency is killing us.

I've been thinking a lot about this. It's one of the single most important reasons why we are not living in a wonderful country today. We have vcrs, yes. We have cars, yes. We have Langendorf bread, yes. But just after world war two we were railroaded by the corporations.

I have been lucky enough to buy and sell land. And that is where one gets to meet old timers. Big ranches go down in the family. The son or daughter gets the place when the parents die. And sometimes the ranch has been around since the days well before electricity.

You know. No one is going to read this. And no one is going to care. I was going to post a long thing on what I learned and how it was done. Screw it. I'm going outside.

I'm sure you aren't missing anything. Besides, it all happened nearly 100 years ago.

The bottom line- either we start producing our own stuff communally, or we die. OH, and the Iraq war was just the same thing as corporations pushing themselves on us like they've been doing all of these years.

[Javaman]

36. I want hive free...er...cage free...er...I want my bees to be free of...

cramp living...er...I want unionized bees!!!

[BEZERKO]

37. I never thought of it from that end.

That's an interesting idea. I thought it might have something to do with all the genetically modified stuff that's being harvested all across the country. I call the stuff you get at your grocer Frankenstein produce. I think it's a combination of a lot of things, genetically engineered produce, lack of genetic diversity in the remaining honeybees, the forced migration and other stuff mentioned in the article above, pollution, pesticides... Now that I think about it, they're pretty tough critters to have survived all that stuff. I wish they'd stop mucking around with the environment trying to make it fit their image of what nature should be. We're not that smart. Everything they do has a domino effect, and I think the biochemists, agrabusinesses, genetic engineers, etc. need to slow the Hell down.

[alarimer]

40. I wonder if industrial bee-keeping reduces genetic diversity?

If it does, then they are more susceptible to disease as well. Not a smart idea (remember the potato famine- there was little genetic diversity and, thus, they were highly susceptible to the blight).

[LiberalEsto]

46. High fructose corn syrup is terrible

Bad for people.

Evidently bad for bees.

I try to avoid it, but it's even used in ketchup and pickles


More info: http://babyandkidallergies.com/high_fructose_corn_syrup.php

[GliderGuider]

50. Neonicotinoid insecticides are implicated

Requiem for the Honeybee

Certainly, honeybees are declining both in areas where GM crops are widely grown, and in other areas where GM crops are released in small test plots. Is there a common thread that links both areas? Yes there is, the universal use of systemic pesticide seed dressing in GM crops and conventional crops; in particular, the widespread application of a relatively new class of systemic insecticides - the neonicotinoids - that are highly toxic to insects including bees at very low concentrations. Systemic pesticide seed dressings protect the newly sprouted seed at a vulnerable time in the plant’s development. Seed dressings include systemic insecticides and fungicides, which often act synergistically in controlling early seedling pests.

The neonicotinoid insecticides include imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, and several others. Imidacloprid is used extensively in seed dressing for field and horticultural crops, and particularly for maize, sunflower and rapeseed (canola). Imidacloprid was detected in soils, plant tissues and pollen using HPLC coupled to a mass spectrometer. The levels of the insecticide found in pollen suggested probable delirious effects on honeybees <3>. For several years since 2000, French and Italian beekeepers have been noticing that imidacloprid is lethal to bees, and the insecticide is suspected to be causing the decline of hive populations by affecting the bee’s orientation and ability to return to the hive.

A team of scientist led by the National Institute of Beekeeping in Bologna, Italy, found that pollen obtained from seeds dressed with imidacloprid contains significant levels of the insesticide, and suggested that the polluted pollen was one of the main causes of honeybee colony collapse <4>. Analysis of maize and sunflower crops originating from seeds dressed with imidacloprid indicated that large amounts of the insecticide will be carried back to honey bee colonies <5>. Sub-lethal doses of imidacloprid in sucrose solution affected homing and foraging activity of honeybees. Bees fed with 500 or 1 000 ppb (parts per billion) of the insecticide in sucrose solutions failed to return to the hive and disappeared altogether, while bees that had imbibed 100 ppb solutions were delayed for 24 h compared with controls <6>. Imidacloprid in sucrose solution fed to the bees in the laboratory impaired their communication for a few hours <7>. Sub-lethal doses of imidacloprid in laboratory and field experiment decreased flight activity and olfactory discrimination, and olfactory learning performance was impaired <8>.

This is the best candidate yet, IMO.

[Sequoia]

51. I was at a fair last weekend and went up to a bee both.

Asked the gal if she'd heard about the bee problems and was surprised that she hadn't. "I'm just a volunteer."
:eyes:

[Quakerfriend]

54. also, GE modified crops have been found to alter the gut

integrity of honey bees.

In my gut, I feel that this is the elephant in the room- whether it contributes to a weakened immune system or what... it just can't be good.

[debbierlus]

55. Excellent, informative post

Thank you.

[yellowcanine]

56. Local beekeepers are losing hives also. It is not just bees that are being trucked long distance.

It is also not likely going to be traced to one or one group of insecticides, as it is too widespread for that. Bees that are visiting crops or wild flowers with no pesticides applied also have been declining. My guess is that it is a virus that is screwing up the bee navigational systems because it seems the bees are leaving the hives and simply not finding their way back.

[reprehensor]

60. "Please Lord, not the Bees"

Personally, I think it's GM crops.

Anyhow;

http://gnn.tv/articles/3063/Please_Lord_not_the_bees

Please Lord, not the bees

It sounds like the start of a Kurt Vonnegut novel:

Nobody worried all that much about the loss of a few animal species here and there until one day the bees came to their senses and decided to quit producing an unnaturally large surplus of honey for our benefit. One by one, they went on strike and flew off to parts unknown.

Among the various mythologies of the apocalypse, fear of insect plagues has always loomed larger than fear of species loss. But this may change, as a strange new plague is wiping out our honey bees one hive at a time. It has been named Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, by the apiculturalists and apiarists who are scrambling to understand and hopefully stop it. First reported last autumn in the U.S., the list of afflicted countries has now expanded to include several in Europe, as well as Brazil, Taiwan, and possibly Canada. (1)(24)(29)

Apparently unknown before this year, CCD is said to follow a unique pattern with several strange characteristics. Bees seem to desert their hive or forget to return home from their foraging runs. The hive population dwindles and then collapses once there are too few bees to maintain it. Typically, no dead bee carcasses lie in or around the afflicted hive, although the queen and a few attendants may remain.

The defect, whatever it is, afflicts the adult bee. Larvae continue to develop normally, even as a hive is in the midst of collapse. Stricken colonies may appear normal, as seen from the outside, but when beekeepers look inside the hive box, they find a small number of mature bees caring for a large number of younger and developing bees that remain. Normally, only the oldest bees go out foraging for nectar and pollen, while younger workers act as nurse bees caring for the larvae and cleaning the comb. A healthy hive in mid-summer has between 40,000 and 80,000 bees.

Continued...
http://gnn.tv/articles/3063/Please_Lord_not_the_bees

[lonestarnot]

61. I'd die too if I had to go through all that. Shit.

[tomp]

63. oh, jesus christ, is there no end to the evils of capitalism?!!!!!!

is there nothing that can remain unspoiled? is there nothing men will not do for money?