Sunday, August 04, 2013

Vampires, Monsanto, and Green Deserts: Why the Honey Bees Dying

Why are the bees dying?

by TRNN

With a third of food production dependent on bees, a new study finds out the reason behind the sharp decline in their population.

Dennis van Engelsdorp is a research scientist at the University of Maryland, College Park, and he's a honeybee expert that recently released a new study all about bees.

1 comment:

Gorilla Radio Blog said...

I've just watched the segment, and I'm left wondering if this research
doesn't serve to exonerate Bayer's neonicotinoid pesticides which
aren't mentioned .

"The European Union has imposed a two-year ban on three neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides thought to be responsible for the dramatic declines in Europe’s bee populations, but only for use on “crops attractive to bees.”

"However, according to the Maryland study’s lead author, Dennis van Engelsdorp, quoted in the online news outlet Quartz: “It’s a lot more complicated than just one product, which means of course the solution does not lie in just banning one class of product. ”http://www.timminspress.com/2013/08/02/scientists-work-to-solve-mystery-of-dying-bees"


He says a lot of beautiful things about bees, and it's hard to
disagree the solution is more nuanced than just going after Bayer and
there are other factors inimical to bees and biodiversity, but I would
like to see a ban in Canada.

"Bees are incredibly successful organisms and their strength has been in their ability to cooperate. It’s inspiring to see the power of cooperation, and it’s magical to see sisters working together to make liquid gold. So often we think of evolution as being about competition, but bees have evolved with flowers and flowers have evolved with bees through cooperation. Cooperation, too, can create great things: the survival of the most beautiful.

"Another benefit of working with bees is that you have to be calm, so they provide a good feedback mechanism for being in a Zen-like state. You can work with bees with very little protection if you’re calm."

A