Colony Collapse Disorder

[Telico]

Hi people !

I've stumbled upon something very weird :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder

What do you think ?

 

[Carebear]

Albert Einstein quote: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more men!

 

[Telico]

That's what I used to think, but I don't think that Einstein ever said that

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/einstein/bees.asp

 

[Shake]

"In the U.S., at least 24 different states as well as portions of Canada have reported at least one case of CCD."

Urgh.. come on it is not really that big of a problem yet... Ill just have peanut butter on my toast instead.. haha :wink:

 

[????????]

Indeed it's not that big of a problem....... yet. I want to know too why this happens...

what's the deal with that quote anyway? I'm sure bees are not the only guys that pollinate stuff

 

[Shake]

I do have mega respect for bees.. there is SO much going on there than what most people know..

Did you know.. that when the 'scout' hornet comes flying to find the honey bees nest and finds it, the bees swarm the hornet and hold it tight. If they let the scout hornet go.. it will go home and return with the rest of the hornets.

They do not bother to use there stingers on the hornet because the hornets skin is too tough and the stingers will not pierce..
So they grip the scout hornet tight and buzz their wings for hours on end, until all of the bees body temperatures are raised to 47 degrees C..

The honey bees can only just tolerate this temperature and many actually die, but the hornet CANNOT survive at any temp above 45 degrees C and the honey bees know it.. this is the only way the honey bees can kill the scout hornet. It will take only 30 hornets to take a nest of thousands of bees, IF the scout hornet is allowed to return.. the hornets take their honey and feed the larvae to their young..

So truly amazing i love bees!

 

[Telico]

Indeed it's not that big of a problem....... yet. I want to know too why this happens...

what's the deal with that quote anyway? I'm sure bees are not the only guys that pollinate stuff

Of course, but the other insects able to pollinate can't do this to a commercial scale, most of them don't even want to pollinate !

In other words, if the bees disappear, we're pretty fucked !