European Union Forums

[AlbertCCortright]

It has been said that the honey bee population has decreased alot over the past few years. I have read an article which said that some type of virus may be the reason. Couldn't this play a big role in our environment? Could this be part of the reason why allergies our on the increase among Americans? I'm just not sure exactly how it could affect the pollen counts. Honey bees are seldom seen anymore. And now its dealing with pests such as Yellow Jackets and wasps. Since the population of these two insects is soaring in our area! I would much rather have the honey bees!

[GertrudeJKinzel]

declines in the bee populations are going to change the flora

A parasitic mite ,changes in temperatures,disease and killer bees,
also the spraying for mosquitos kills other insects in advertedly,

and the bee keepers moving the hives around and disinfecting the hives has also very bad effects ,we cannot interfere with Nature and NOT expect anything to happen


90% of the feral (wild) bee population in the United States has died out.

In the Netherlands bee diversity is down 80 percent in the sites researched,

and that "bee species are declining or have become extinct in Britain."

the numbers of wildflowers that depend on pollination have dropped by 70 percent.

If bees continue to die off so would the crops they support and with that would ensue major economic disruption and possibly famine.

Bees are not the only polinators but if these things are happening to bees we can bet on it that other insects are also in trouble ,on top of this many people are spraying for mosquitos ,with drastic effects .

so much follows the insects in the food chains ,that we can expect a lot of very bad changes in the environment .


Albert Einstein said ,that when the bees disappear we have 4 more years to live

that may be dramatic ,but the effects will be drastic nevertheless.

[FreeMan]

Bees are hugely important to the economy, the environment and to our own survival.

Bees are crucial for the pollination of plants to allow them to grow seed (i.e. the bit we eat on cereal crops, for instance).

In the USA particularly, such huge areas have been put aside for specific crops that bees could not survive naturally in these areas as there would be a glut as the crop flowered, then no food at all as they wither.

There is an entire industry of bee-keepers who move their hives around the country specifically for the purpose of pollinating these crops at the right time.

Without the bees there would be no crops and we would starve.

[KennethTMyers]

Just plant more flowers, and they will come! I've never had more honey bees as I've had the last three years. They just don't like the rest of you! I love honey bees and they know it. Just believe in them!

[NancyKLynch]

Honey bees are also vital to agriculture, all fruit and many veg have been polinated by the honey bee. I don't believe it was a virus, I heard it was because the bees were under stress from being moved around to do thier pollinating duty. If you had to move house 30/40 times a year you'd get stressed, knackered and may well drop dead.

Wasps eat carion in the summer and fermenting fruit in the autumn, which accounts for thier behavior, so don't compete with the honey bees. I know nothing of yellow jackets.

[ResidenceName]

The studies I have seen are saying the cause is something like the bees version of AIDS: the virus itself doesn't kill bees but it weakens them to other infections.

Bees are critical to food production; they pollenate most of our food supply. But that has nothing to do with the amount of pollen in the air. Pollution is an irritant and is causing more allergic reactions, not pollen.

I agree that wasps are becoming more common and if you want to help bees, don't use insecticides widely. They need all the help they can get right now.

[MarieJHamlin]

This is the most common bee found in Southern California. It is a non-native brought to the U.S. by bee-keepers and originated in Asia. It is safe to assume that each and every bee colony in California is “Africanized.” So to answer your question, the impacts relating to declining honey bee populations are more in the economic realm. Local food webs will adjust accordingly, and other pollinators will handle the job, since the insects found locally are adapted to the native plants found in the area. Imported garden plants might be affected, too, but many people could "go native," so that's not a big problem. But ensuring that crops are pollinated is a biggie, and therein lies the problem.

[Nobleman]

if we did not have them um, we would not have honey to eat?

[Strawberry]

Without the honey bee we would have no fruit and veg that needs pollinating