Bee project

[Finman]

.
I have read terrible stories how varroa kills suddenly New Zealand's beehives.

But statistic tells different story. NZ even exports bee nucs.

http://www.factfish.com/statistic-country/new+zealand/beehives

 

[mbc]

Interesting link Finman, Iran, Tanzania and Ethiopia having such large slices of the pie chart are an eye opener for me.

 

[oliver90owner]

i am studying '' to what extent how the decrease of honey bees will affect the human population''

Maybe you might ask the Chinese? There is, apparently, an area as large as England, the UK, or the British Isles - maybe even larger - where there exists no bees (or birds, for that matter) due entirely to extensive use of some very nasty and persistent pesticides. The region is one where top fruit would be/is the main crop and has to be pollinated by hand.

 

[AllyBee]

i am studying '' to what extent how the decrease of honey bees will affect the human population''

Maybe you might ask the Chinese? There is, apparently, an area as large as England, the UK, or the British Isles - maybe even larger - where there exists no bees (or birds, for that matter) due entirely to extensive use of some very nasty and persistent pesticides. The region is one where top fruit would be/is the main crop and has to be pollinated by hand.

I live in the Uk and i am aware of this problem,hence my research,and although people are leaving rather rude comments,i will not change my project, my project is not to prove that the human race will become extinct if the bees die,my project is based around research and i am trying to come up with a conclusion in which to answer my project question (to what extent will the decrease of bees affect the human population ) The answer may be there will be no effect,however i am trying to get solid information to complete my project.

 

[Hivemaker.]

The answer may be there will be no effect,however i am trying to get solid information to complete my project.

Then you are wasting your time, there is no solid information.

 

[AllyBee]

Then you are wasting your time, there is no solid information.

Hence i am researching..There will never be a definitive conclusion however,it is always best to research. Lets take charles darwin,he wouldnt of come to conclusion about survival of the fittest,and natural selection without research. Although, some people still do not accept his ideas today,he had to research to prove his point. Research is key to everything and if you are telling me that just because there is no solid information,i cannot find anything out,well then you are a quitter.

 

[Hivemaker.]

There will never be a definitive conclusion

Correct.

 

[AllyBee]

Please fill out this questionnaire. I would greatly enjoy your input

1) What gender are you?
Male
female
2) What age are you?
16-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61+
3)How long have you kept bees?
Less than a year
1-2 years
3-4years
5+years
4) Why do you keep bees?
Money
sustainability/helping the environment
honey
Other (Please Specify):
5) What type of beehive do you have?
National hive
smith hive
WBC hive
Langstroth hive
darthington hive
omlet-beehaus
Other (Please Specify):
6) Why did you choose this beehive?

7)Where do you keep your bees?
Balcony
roof
Other (Please Specify):
8)What is more important to you honey or helping the bees/enviroment?
Honey
bees/enviroment
9)Do you have problems with room for the bees?
Yes
No

10) Do you have any problems sustaining the amount of bees you keep?
Yes(please state why)
no

11) What do you believe is the problem to this pandemic?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Here you are

Female
61+
5+
Hobby grown from a childhood inclination and a fascination with all things “nature”
14 x 12
Started with BS National as that is what every body else in my local BKA had and soon found bees needed more space. 14 x 12 was the natural progression
Field
Neither
No problem with room
No problem sustaining the numbers, rather the reverse. The problem is keeping the numbers down to a manageable number of colonies.
No pandemic

I live in the Uk and i am aware of this problem,hence my research,and although people are leaving rather rude comments,i will not change my project, my project is not to prove that the human race will become extinct if the bees die,my project is based around research and i am trying to come up with a conclusion in which to answer my project question (to what extent will the decrease of bees affect the human population ) The answer may be there will be no effect,however i am trying to get solid information to complete my project.

A better title might be to replace the three letters in bold with might a hypothetical decrease

Your last question might best be answered with, there is no pandemic

 

[Anduril]

Where do we fill out the questionnaire? Do you have a link email etc.? Do you want everyone to post their answers here which is not very private. When did this pandemic start? We have had the IOW disease and recovered.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Where do we fill out the questionnaire? Do you have a link email etc.? Do you want everyone to post their answers here which is not very private. When did this pandemic start? We have had the IOW disease and recovered.

And why mention a pandemic - ebola hasn't spread further than Africa at the moment, influenza doesn't seem to be a problem and H5N1 human form of chicken flu seems to be unheard of now.
If you want us to take this seriously at least get your nomenclature right. If there was an illness affecting bees the whole world over the proper term would be a panzooic even a middling O level student would know that.

and before your hypothetical complaint affecting all bees can be called a panzooic it would have to meet certain criteria ie when three conditions have been met:

the emergence of a disease new to the population.
the agent infects a species and causes serious illness.
the agent spreads easily and sustainably among animals.

A disease or condition is not a panzootic merely because it is widespread or kills a large number of animals; it must also be infectious.

It also seems by your questions (especially the siting one) that you are aiming your survey at a specific sector of beekeepers, ie the urban touchy feely beekeeper (in saying so, they would also be mostly Daily mail and grauniad beekeepers thus would believe in this mythical panzooic - and also be justified in mistakenly calling it a pandemic.

Maybe it would be better if you just tell us what answers you want as you seem to have decided your conclusion already

 

[pargyle]

I think your major problem in securing evidence in the UK is that, thanks to the 40,000 or so (mainly amateur/hobbyist) beekeepers on our small island, there is no serious decline in honey bee numbers. We have had a couple of bad years in recent times where there have been serious colony losses but, if you were to look back to the spring/early summer of this year the biggest problem we all faced was swarming - where a colony divides into two (or in some cases three or four) with a resultant increase in the overall bee population.

However, there is evidence that there are fewer feral honey bee colonies than there were say 50 years ago but this is balanced by the managed colonies.

I would be more concerned at the general loss of pollinators - all those insects which are in danger of extinction as the result of pesticides, changes in farming methods, loss of countryside, urban development, predatory non-native species - the list is endless.

Your study is too broad taking an international view and is fundamentally flawed in its concept as far as the UK is concerned. Whilst you appear adamant that you won't or can't change the focal point of your study I fear you are flogging a dead red herring ! Sorry - couldn't resist such a wonderful mixed metaphor !

 

[AllyBee]

I am 15years old,doing a research proposal, i am not a qualified beekeeper,hence i came to people who are. I would just be thankful if you would actually help,instead of criticising me

 

[AllyBee]

Also do you mean an Epizootic?

 

[AllyBee]

Also,i am far too into my project to change the title,it isnt of my choice anymore.

 

[Finman]

Å

I am 15years old,doing a research ....

Wow. It is hard job to reviele out, what is going in that hype issue. But it is a good job to the school student. It is not easy even to experienced beekeepers. It is better to sing in chorus what others are singing. " A collective truth forever".

I have university level researcher education in biology and a long experience in beekeeping.
I can say that the task is not easy at all.

But it is very clear, that bees' hivenumber has nothing to do with human population.

In USA it is said that price of honey affects most to the number of hives.

 

[pargyle]

I am 15years old,doing a research proposal, i am not a qualified beekeeper,hence i came to people who are. I would just be thankful if you would actually help,instead of criticising me

I don't think anyone is seeking to criticise you - we are all saying the same thing - you have an almost impossible task on your hands with the scope of the project. Finman is a beekeeper of 50 years and has relevant university qualifications - if he is saying it is a difficult task then you should be listening.

There are links between a total loss of bees in area and humanity - but, these occur only in places where insects have been totally eradicated such as in parts of China as a result of the excessive use of pesticides - where labourers now have to pollinate fruit trees by hand (with a feather !). So there IS an impact there.

If honey bees were not ferried in to California to be used for pollinating the Almond Trees when they are in blossom then the harvest would be miniscule by comparison. But ... that in itself is an abomination inflicted on thousands of colonies of bees. So ..there COULD be a human impact there.

But ... You need to focus on a smaller element of the title and tailor your project to something where you can reach a conclusion - it's naive to think that you can form any global conclusion relating to the project and whoever set the title should recognise that and allow you to modify the project.

 

[Anduril]

I have sent you a PM with answers to the Questionnaire

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Also do you mean an Epizootic?

well done (alomost) - why did you not use the right terminology in the first place (although neither an epizootic or panzootic exists as you claim)

A Panzootic is an epizootic which has spread over a much larger area thus a pandemic in animals is a panzootic.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I fear you are flogging a dead red herring ! Sorry - couldn't resist such a wonderful mixed metaphor !

Or, as my old commander would say - never any point in p!ssing on the windward side.