Colony Collapse = California's Fault

Yakoo752

Yakoo752

USN
Johnson, an associate professor of entomology, and his study co-authors were able to identify the chemicals commonly used in the almond groves during bloom because of California’s robust and detailed system for tracking pesticide applications. Then, in a laboratory in Ohio, they tested combinations of these chemicals on honeybees and larvae.

In the most extreme cases, combinations decreased the survival of larvae by more than 60 percent when compared to a control group of larvae unexposed to fungicides and insecticides.

“Fungicides, often needed for crop protection, are routinely used during almond bloom, but in many cases growers were also adding insecticides to the mix. Our research shows that some combinations are deadly to the bees, and the simplest thing is to just take the insecticide out of the equation during almond bloom,” he said.

“It just doesn’t make any sense to use an insecticide when you have 80 percent of the nation’s honeybees sitting there exposed to it.”

I was surprised – even the experts in California were surprised – that they were using insecticides during pollination,” Johnson said.

While these products were considered “bee-safe,” that was based on tests with adult bees that hadn’t looked into the impact they had on larvae.

“I think it was a situation where it wasn’t disallowed. The products were thought to be bee-safe and you’ve got to spray a fungicide during bloom anyway, so why not put an insecticide in the tank, too?”

Insecticides are fairly inexpensive, but the process of spraying is labor-intensive, so growers choosing to double up may have been looking to maximize their investment, he said.

“The thing is, growers were using these insecticides to control a damaging insect – the peach twig borer – during this period, but they have other opportunities to do that before the bees enter the almond orchards or after they are gone,” Johnson said.

Article
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:nerd

Insects
 
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CABilly

CABilly

Splitter
Well the good news is it sounds like an easy fix.

Until the next thing comes up.

I don’t think there will ever be a fix for greed and laziness, though :(
 
D

dagle

Well-known member
been fkn asking it for years, where the fk do you milk an almond from? it's the devil, man.
 
Yakoo752

Yakoo752

USN
motomania2007 said:
How is it California's fault and not the farmer's use of pesticides...
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I should have include the article and this

It’s about time for the annual mass migration of honeybees to California, and new research is helping lower the chances the pollinators and their offspring will die while they’re visiting the West Coast.

Each winter, professional beekeepers from around the nation stack hive upon hive on trucks destined for the Golden State, where February coaxes forward the sweet-smelling, pink and white blossoms of the Central Valley’s almond trees.

Almond growers rent upwards of 1.5 million colonies of honeybees a year, at a cost of around $300 million. Without the bees, there would be no almonds, and there are nowhere near enough native bees to take up the task of pollinating the trees responsible for more than 80 percent of the world’s almonds. The trouble was, bees and larvae were dying while in California, and nobody was sure exactly why. The problem started in adults only, and beekeepers were most worried about loss of queens.
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and it's not the states fault...
 
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Climber

Climber

Well-known member
CABilly said:
Well the good news is it sounds like an easy fix.

Until the next thing comes up.

I don’t think there will ever be a fix for greed and laziness, though :(
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Easy fix?

Only if the big farms make the necessary changes.

That will only happen if it doesn't impact their bottom line. The bee farmers are going to have to be insistent about it.
 
CABilly

CABilly

Splitter
I wonder what kind of liability this opens the “farmers” up to. If I were a beekeeper and learned that the guy renting my bees was spraying insecticide while they were there, and suffered significant loss in my bees, I might be calling a lawyer.
 
Mike95060

Mike95060

Work In Progress
CABilly said:
I wonder what kind of liability this opens the “farmers” up to. If I were a beekeeper and learned that the guy renting my bees was spraying insecticide while they were there, and suffered significant loss in my bees, I might be calling a lawyer.
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Ditto. The practice will stop when bee keepers stop sending bees here.
 
wazzuFreddo

wazzuFreddo

WuTang is 4 the children
My sister is a PhD Entomologist, don’t get her started on some of the shit farmers do. :laughing

I’m pretty much over the “farmers are the salt of the earth” meme from recent years
 
CABilly

CABilly

Splitter
wazzuFreddo said:
My sister is a PhD Entomologist, don’t get her started on some of the shit farmers do. :laughing

I’m pretty much over the “farmers are the salt of the earth” meme from recent years
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That’s a decoy set up by Big Ag. Farmers are great. Industrial farming is just as toxic and dirty and corrupt as any other industry. Probably more so than most.
 
msethhunter

msethhunter

Well-known member
motomania2007 said:
How is it California's fault and not the farmer's use of pesticides...
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Because this is one of those things that California government has the responsibility to govern. Regulations on farming is what they are supposed to do.

Blame the state, and the farmers.
 
msethhunter

msethhunter

Well-known member
Climber said:
Easy fix?

Only if the big farms make the necessary changes.

That will only happen if it doesn't impact their bottom line. The bee farmers are going to have to be insistent about it.
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With how serious the problem is, I hope that they don't have a choice with the impact to their bottom line. This problem isn't isolated to almond growers. We need a different solution than just "spray a plant that isn't native with insecticide and kill the native species for better profit."
 
clutchslip

clutchslip

Not as fast as I look.
More attacks on the "Evil California Growers". Barf goes through this farmer blame game with water, hemorrhoids and everything but vibrating bimbos on bikes. Why, oh why, would the Almond growers want to hurt the bees that they pay to be brought to their fields to pollinate the almond trees? They wouldn't intentional do that. It's not logical. There use to be plenty of bees in California. I am SURE they would actually like those bees back.
With support from the Almond Board of California, an industry service agency, bee expert Reed Johnson of The Ohio State University took up the task of figuring out what was happening.
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EPA-Pollinator declines
 
Yakoo752

Yakoo752

USN
clutchslip said:
More attacks on the "Evil California Growers".
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I'm actually not attacking the farmers. It's simple to say that insecticides are to blame and we shouldn't use them pre-pollination season. That is not what the study actually says though..

Our research shows that some combinations are deadly to the bees, and the simplest thing is to just take the insecticide out of the equation during almond bloom,” he said.

“I think it was a situation where it wasn’t disallowed. The products were thought to be bee-safe and you’ve got to spray a fungicide during bloom anyway, so why not put an insecticide in the tank, too?”
Click to expand...

So here the farmer had an insecticide that was known to not cause harm on the bees but when used in combination (likely off label use) it did.
 
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Mike95060

Mike95060

Work In Progress
Yakoo752 said:
I'm actually not attacking the farmers. It's simple to say that insecticides are to blame and we shouldn't use them pre-pollination season. That is not what the study actually says though..



So here the farmer had an insecticide that was known to not cause harm on the bees but when used in combination (likely off label use) it did.
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In other words, farmers need real pharmacists too.
 
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