04-29-2007, 02:24 PM
I too wondered about the GMO crops being a problem with the bees, but I believe Europe/Britan have banned all GMO crops, so it wouldn't explain their die off.
We have orange orchards in our county many hundreds of acres, only about 20 acres around us immediately, we had the usual number of bees polinating the orange blossoms. We live in the sticks of Northern California 86 miles north east of Sacramento. Bee polination is not necessary for the oranges to produce fruit, but the bees are very necessary for the almond orchards to produce almonds.
In the spring the oranges bloom early April for 2 and a half weeks and each morning when I sit on the deck with the paper and a coffee, I can hear them stocking up on pollen for their food source. they are tireless workers and are busy until sundown. It smells so beautiful when the oranges are in bloom.
So of course this spring I said a prayer of gratitude for the bees each morning. I hope this is brought to a conclusion very soon as it is very precarious for us. An article I read said that 3 our of 5 bites of food we eat require polination. The article also did mention the mites but they aren't believed to be the culprit. This article also said the colonys in Hawaii haven't experienced the die off, however it is currently illegal to transport bees between islands until the mite problem has diminished.
Wish I knew where I read all of this because I could give you all the link. Did you know Australia ships bees to the USA to polinate our crops? Yes in containers! It is a high dollar business, and we import bees at a great expense to polinate our crops. The dollar figure was astronomical and didn't stick in my mind it was so mind boggling.
mella l
We have orange orchards in our county many hundreds of acres, only about 20 acres around us immediately, we had the usual number of bees polinating the orange blossoms. We live in the sticks of Northern California 86 miles north east of Sacramento. Bee polination is not necessary for the oranges to produce fruit, but the bees are very necessary for the almond orchards to produce almonds.
In the spring the oranges bloom early April for 2 and a half weeks and each morning when I sit on the deck with the paper and a coffee, I can hear them stocking up on pollen for their food source. they are tireless workers and are busy until sundown. It smells so beautiful when the oranges are in bloom.
So of course this spring I said a prayer of gratitude for the bees each morning. I hope this is brought to a conclusion very soon as it is very precarious for us. An article I read said that 3 our of 5 bites of food we eat require polination. The article also did mention the mites but they aren't believed to be the culprit. This article also said the colonys in Hawaii haven't experienced the die off, however it is currently illegal to transport bees between islands until the mite problem has diminished.
Wish I knew where I read all of this because I could give you all the link. Did you know Australia ships bees to the USA to polinate our crops? Yes in containers! It is a high dollar business, and we import bees at a great expense to polinate our crops. The dollar figure was astronomical and didn't stick in my mind it was so mind boggling.
mella l
mella l
Art and Science
bytheSEA
Art and Science
bytheSEA