Bee project

[AllyBee]

It seems to appear people have misread the point of my project. my project IS NOT PROVING THERE IS A DECREASE OF BEES. my project is trying to show ''to what EXTENT will the DECREASE OF BEES (If there is ,or isnt a decrease of bees!!!) AFFECT THE HUMAN POPULATION'' By this i mean,will the human race be able to cope within a key pollinator,althought there are many other pollinators do you not agree bees are the most predominant polllinator and we depends on them for key crops.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Sounds like you've found the cheap cooking cider.

Soon be time for Zebedee to step in.

 

[Anduril]

The human race would cope with food that would be bland to taste e.g. cereal crops. Other fruits that would survive would be the self fertile ones. Then these would be available at a price until enough are grown. Countries would then have to consider keeping apis mellifera scutellata to pollinate the third of the fruit and veg affected. But would governments let this happen. So many people would be unemployed farms would go under no part time work in this sector. Scutellata are very robust and resilient, I cannot see them dying out. Our managed honeybees are doing fine, the feral ones allegedly die out after a few years. We could be back to the scenario of the early twentieth century. If bees die out the human population would be reduced through the reduction in food. But then we would end pollinating the flowers ourselves. We adapt and survive.

 

[Little John]

It seems to appear people have misread the point of my project. my project IS NOT PROVING THERE IS A DECREASE OF BEES. my project is trying to show ''to what EXTENT will the DECREASE OF BEES (If there is ,or isnt a decrease of bees!!!) AFFECT THE HUMAN POPULATION'' By this i mean,will the human race be able to cope within a key pollinator,althought there are many other pollinators do you not agree bees are the most predominant polllinator and we depends on them for key crops.

I can see that you're not giving up ...

Do I agree ? - well, no. Sorry about that ...

Which key crops did you have in mind ? Let's run through a few :

Brassicas (Cabbage, Cauliflowers, Sprouts etc) - not affected.
Wheat, Barley, Oats etc - not affected.
Oil Seed Rape - not significantly affected.
Sugar Beet - not affected.
Potatoes - not affected.
Leeks, Carrots, Swedes etc - not affected.
Maize - not affected.
French Beans, Runner Beans - other pollinators involved.
Tomatoes - other pollinators involved (Bumble bees).

What does that leave ? Hard fruits - Apples, Pears etc, and of course Soft fruits, many of which I believe are now self-pollinating varieties. Are these considered to be "key crops" - I wouldn't have thought so - well, except by the blokes growing them, of course

More background research needed, methinks ...

Good luck

LJ

 

[charlievictorbravo]

I can see that you're not giving up ...

Do I agree ? - well, no. Sorry about that ...

Which key crops did you have in mind ? Let's run through a few :

Brassicas (Cabbage, Cauliflowers, Sprouts etc) - not affected.
Wheat, Barley, Oats etc - not affected.
Oil Seed Rape - not significantly affected.
Sugar Beet - not affected.
Potatoes - not affected.
Leeks, Carrots, Swedes etc - not affected.
Maize - not affected.
French Beans, Runner Beans - other pollinators involved.
Tomatoes - other pollinators involved (Bumble bees).

What does that leave ? Hard fruits - Apples, Pears etc, and of course Soft fruits, many of which I believe are now self-pollinating varieties. Are these considered to be "key crops" - I wouldn't have thought so - well, except by the blokes growing them, of course

More background research needed, methinks ...

Good luck

LJ

Sorry LJ but I think your analysis is a bit simplistic.

Many of the groups that you have indicated as being not affected, Brassicas and root vegetables for instance, still need to be insect pollinated in order to produce the seed for the future generations of food plants. Whether that pollination would be done by other insects if the honeybee population declined is a matter of some debate. Seed companies probably know the answer to this.

CVB

 

[Little John]

Sorry LJ but I think your analysis is a bit simplistic.

Many of the groups that you have indicated as being not affected, Brassicas and root vegetables for instance, still need to be insect pollinated in order to produce the seed for the future generations of food plants. Whether that pollination would be done by other insects if the honeybee population declined is a matter of some debate. Seed companies probably know the answer to this.

CVB

Yup - you're right - that'll teach me to post when I've got a heavy cold and a head full of cotton-wool ...

LJ

If there ever was a serious decline in pollinators, then plants could always be produced by tissue culture/ micropropagation. That would fit in rather well with the brassica production systems used around this area, as the plants are always lined out as modules, and not sown as seeds.
Less useful for carrots etc, which are. But - I guess adjustments would just need to be made to a changing world. Hope it never happens, mind.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It seems to appear people have misread the point of my project. my project IS NOT PROVING THERE IS A DECREASE OF BEES. my project is trying to show ''to what EXTENT will the DECREASE OF BEES (If there is ,or isnt a decrease of bees!!!) AFFECT THE HUMAN POPULATION''

So why do you insist on banging on about a non existent panzootic (or pandemic if you prefer)

 

[Finman]

.


Well. This is one of these popular variations about End of The World stories what people love.

One of these was 21.12.2012 phenomenon.


But internet is full of these stories about vanishing bees.
This is one from 2009 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8015136.stm

The latest is "”Bee and Pollinator Strategy of Britain” and 900 million pounds to support pollinators' life".
The Bee and Pollinator Strategy includes investment in scientific research to gather more information on the condition of bees and other insects and a "Bees Needs" website to give the public advice on helping bees in their local area.




Do not blame AllyBee



.

.

 

[Finman]

.
What univerisity said 2009:

"If we had a serious loss of honeybees in the UK, then inevitably food prices would have to increase," according to Simon Potts, head of pollination research at Reading University.

"Essentially we would have to import fruits from overseas.

"Either that or the British diet would have to change considerably. Instead of eating British fruits we'd have to switch to more starchy foods like grains and cereals."

 

[user 6228]

One has to envision the complete scenario for this hypothetical extinction.
Honeybees are one of the toughest adaptable species on the planet. A scenario with no honeybees will have almost no invertebrate life at all.
And apart from the pollination impact we would be facing crashing soil fertility a total dependence on artificial fertiliser even for grass. All of the food chain would collapse resulting in increased predation on crops.
If we succeed in killing off honeybees then we will have destroyed so much of the planets ecology that we ought to be extinguished

 

[Finman]

one has to envision the complete scenario for this hypothetical extinction.
Honeybees are one of the toughest adaptable species on the planet. A scenario with no honeybees will have almost no invertebrate life at all.
And apart from the pollination impact we would be facing crashing soil fertility a total dependence on artificial fertiliser even for grass. All of the food chain would collapse resulting in increased predation on crops.
If we succeed in killing off honeybees then we will have destroyed so much of the planets ecology that we ought to be extinguished

aaamen

 

[mbc]

One has to envision the complete scenario for this hypothetical extinction.
Honeybees are one of the toughest adaptable species on the planet. A scenario with no honeybees will have almost no invertebrate life at all.
And apart from the pollination impact we would be facing crashing soil fertility a total dependence on artificial fertiliser even for grass. All of the food chain would collapse resulting in increased predation on crops.
If we succeed in killing off honeybees then we will have destroyed so much of the planets ecology that we ought to be extinguished

This.
A little look at the timeline of evolution on the planet might help give perspective, bees evolved with flowering plants, humans are a tiny blip on the end.

 

[Davelin]

This.
A little look at the timeline of evolution on the planet might help give perspective, bees evolved with flowering plants, humans are a tiny blip on the end.

Agreed.

If you scale the timeline of the Earth down to a year, humans arrived at four minutes to midnight on the 31st of December.

 

[Little John]

A little look at the timeline of evolution on the planet might help give perspective, bees evolved with flowering plants, humans are a tiny blip on the end.

The reflecting upon which can give a different perspective to Darwin's theory that competition between species is a prime driver. Darwin of course being a product of his age.

The evolutionary 'co-operation' which developed between plants and insects for their mutual benefit isn't focussed upon.

LJ

 

[mbc]

The reflecting upon which can put a difference perspective to Darwin's theory that competition between species is a prime driver. Darwin of course being a product of his age.

The evolutionary 'co-operation' which developed between plants and insects for their mutual benefit isn't focussed upon.

LJ

Most insects eat plants in a destructive fashion.

Could it be this evolutionary cooperation is mirrored in a small way by bees and beekeepers?

Edit: **** sapiens beekeeperensis

 

[Little John]

Most insects eat plants in a destructive fashion.

Ok I was rather more thinking about the whole 'trading nectar and pollen' in exchange for 'pollinator services' phenomenon - two very different lifestyles evolving hand-in-glove with each other. Each one being dependent upon the other.

Could it be this evolutionary cooperation is mirrored in a small way by bees and beekeepers?

I've often thought along those lines. Humans have helped bees to become more successful (in terms of numbers) over the centuries, in exchange for a supply of the only known form of sugar - that is, until cane and beet sugars became widely available.
If it wasn't for the cavities that humans provide (intentionally, or otherwise) then there would only be a very small number of colonies in existence.

LJ

 

[mbc]

I would hazard they would have had more natural nest sites before we started clearing forests, especially harvesting older trees.

 

[Little John]

Undoubtedly true - but how many would that have been ? Bearing in mind of course that there is always a lot of competition for tree cavities.
I was reading a research paper prior to Xmas where a bunch of researchers were investigating tree cavities in unmanaged forests in southern British Columbia. They found hundreds, mostly occupied. But how many were occupied by bees ... none. Not a single one. Several explanations for this come to mind, but I think it's fair to say that as prime real estate, tree cavities don't inevitably become homes for bees.

LJ

 

[Dishmop]

Originally Posted by AllyBee View Post
It seems to appear people have misread the point of my project. my project IS NOT PROVING THERE IS A DECREASE OF BEES. my project is trying to show ''to what EXTENT will the DECREASE OF BEES (If there is ,or isnt a decrease of bees!!!) AFFECT THE HUMAN POPULATION''

Reminds me of the Political Speach by Peter Sellars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxBtGuu9BVE

 

[richardbees]

One of these was 21.12.2012 phenomenon

Finman

No! the biggest IT scam ever was the so called "Millenium bug" I knew someone who made a shed load of money updating corporate systems to guarantee they could cope with the first digit year change from 1 to 2

Seasons greetings and keep warm

richard