[turnipsock (OP)]

"Colony Collapse Disorder (or CCD) is a little-understood phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or Western honey bee colony abruptly disappear. While such disappearance has a long-standing history of occurring, the term Colony Collapse Disorder was originally applied to perceived disappearances of Western honey bee colonies in a minority of regions of North America in late 2006.

European beekeepers observed a similar phenomenon in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland and Germany, albeit to a lesser degree. Possible cases of CCD have also been reported in Taiwan since April 2007.

The cause or causes of the syndrome are not yet well understood. Theories include environmental change-related stresses, malnutrition, pathogens (i.e., disease including Israel acute paralysis virus), mites, pesticides such as neonicotinoids or imidacloprid, radiation from cellular phones or other man-made devices, and genetically modified (GM) crops with pest control characteristics such as transgenic maize."

...so say Wiki.

Now there is a report on the BBC website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/08/in_pictures_colony_collapse_/html/1.stm

Albert Einstein speculated that if the honey bees were to disappear, human beings would be gone very shortly thereafter. (though I think people link things to Albert Einstein just to make them credable)

The problem seems to have grown with the increase in WiFi usage and it seems to be more common in countries that have a lot of WiFi. Has there been any research into this aspect? Bees can travel about three miles from the hive so it would be worth looking at really heavy WiFi areas like Taiwan.

It could be that old Darwin might be right and the bees that aren't affected will carry on as normal and few years from now, the problem will be forgotten about, just like the crows that hop out the way just before you hit them with the car.




[MOD - edited to make subject a question - please help us by doing this by default in future - CS]

[DoctorBeaver]

If it's a long-standing problem then I don't see that WiFi alone can be the cause.

I wasn't aware of this and I'll be interested to read any replies that can shed some light on it.

[turnipsock (OP)]

The is a program about this on some of the SKY channels at the moment, so it will be repeated over the coming weeks. Its called Silence Of The Bees.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/27/arts/television/27stew.html?ref=todayspaper

Various countries are looking at the problem and the latest conclusion is its a virus, but they won't know for sure until 2009, to see if if the bees stay put.

There was also a bit from Sichuan where they accidently killed all their bees. They have to hand pollinate things but it doesn't look very sustainable. I'm not sure why they don't get some more bees.

[rosalind dna]

How are your bees doing now that the weather is supposedly meant to be getting warmer in the Uk and Scotland too??

Turnipsock, how many hives do you have left? Loads I hope

[turnipsock (OP)]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071126153030.htm

It looks like it was a virus all along.

[turnipsock (OP)]

The articile in the previous post seems to be rubbish.

This looks like the state of play now... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509111955.htm

Currently, nobody knows what is causing this and since the bees vanish, nobody can test them to find out the cause.

(is anybody reading this thread?)

[rosalind dna]

Yes, Turnipsock, I am reading your Bees, CCD thread and it's interesting.
also Wikipedia doesn't seem to have a positive answer that's if
there is one at all, I do hope so.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder

[paul.fr]

I thought it was proven to be a fungus?
Try looking through the archeives at NPR Science friday.

[paul.fr]

Dr. Jose Fuentes of the University of Virginia is doing some work that may shed some light on bees behaviour. I found this:

Flowers' Fragrance Diminished by Air Pollution, University of Virginia Study Indicates

April 10, 2008 — Air pollution from power plants and automobiles is destroying the fragrance of flowers and thereby inhibiting the ability of pollinating insects to follow scent trails to their source, a new University of Virginia study indicates. This could partially explain why wild populations of some pollinators, particularly bees – which need nectar for food – are declining in several areas of the world, including California and the Netherlands.

The study appears online in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

"The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment, such as in the 1800s, could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 meters; but in today's polluted environment downwind of major cites, they may travel only 200 to 300 meters," said Jose D. Fuentes, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia and a co-author of the study. "This makes it increasingly difficult for pollinators to locate the flowers."

The result, potentially, is a vicious cycle where pollinators struggle to find enough food to sustain their populations, and populations of flowering plants, in turn, do not get pollinated sufficiently to proliferate and diversify.

Other studies, as well as the actual experience of farmers, have shown that populations of bees, particularly bumblebees, and butterflies have declined greatly in recent years. Fuentes and his team of U.Va. researchers, including Quinn McFrederick and James Kathilankal, believe that air pollution, especially during the peak period of summer, may be a factor.

To investigate this, they created a mathematical model of how the scents of flowers travel with the wind. The scent molecules produced by flowers are very volatile and they quickly bond with pollutants such as ozone, hydroxyl and nitrate radicals, which destroy the aromas they produce. This means that instead of traveling intact for long distances with the wind, the scents are chemically altered and the flowers, in a sense, no longer smell like flowers. This forces pollinators to search farther and longer and possibly to rely more on sight and less on smell.

The scientists calculated scent levels and distances that scents can travel under different conditions, from relatively unpolluted pre-industrial revolution levels, to the conditions now existing in rural areas downwind from large cities.

"It quickly became apparent that air pollution destroys the aroma of flowers, by as much as 90 percent from periods before automobiles and heavy industry," Fuentes said. "And the more air pollution there is in a region, the greater the destruction of the flower scents."

The National Science Foundation funded the investigation.

http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease.php?id=4814

[blaze]

As someone who became aware of her 'electrosensitivies' (microwave sickness) just months before CCD hit the news, I vote for man-generated electromagnetic/microwave/radiowave fields.

It could be cell phone towers, wifi, even HAARP - or maybe it is just the concentration of EMFs/RFs in the environment.

In fact, I think Colony Collapse has hit the human population, too. The queens are being left behind with their eggs, and only a few immature drones to help them out.

[Bored chemist]

"In fact, I think Colony Collapse has hit the human population, too."
The human population is still rising.

[blaze]

The queen is left behind with her eggs - alone, while the males all take off without ever looking back - that's what I meant.

[nicephotog]

Hybridise them with "European Wasps" and get them "Funnel Webs" as extra Drones. Goes like my other beliefs in pre historier, alike Borophaginae of 10-50 Million years back.
Canis Lupus 2.3 Meters tall is a lot more reliable and care free about where it hangs around if its heftier.

===edited
...it seems to be more common in countries that have a lot of WiFi...

Those tiny hairs on their body could be affected by static electricity from WiFi to the level of severe interference and agitation.
If you were to know the effect of transmitters on the atmosphere surrounding them, earthing close proximate metalic objects is required to assist prevention of static build up.
Signal from public broadcast signals during periods of heat and dry air tend to have sever crackling interfering with the signal from the atmospherics.
In handling the internals of a computer it is important keep dust levels down internaly because of the extreme high frequency in use causing static buildup.
Comes as no surprise about WiFi.