Community | April 30, 2009 | 26 comments

Honeybee collapse strikes Japan; up to fifty percent of honeybees gone

source: http://www.naturalnews.com/026151.html

Image
JanforGore
For the first time, Japan has been hit with a large-scale collapse of honeybee populations like that experienced in other countries around the world.

"There have been small-scale honeybee losses for many years, but a massive collapse like they had in the U.S. is very unusual," said Kiyoshi Kimura of the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science. "We must investigate the situation in Japan."

The phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder, in which large numbers of worker bees simply vanish, was first identified in the United States in 2006. Since then, it has also been reported across Europe and, most recently, in Taiwan.

In Japan, the Japanese Beekeeping Association undertook a survey of its 2,500 members and determined that 25 percent of all beekeepers had "experienced sudden losses of honeybees" on some scale.

"The number of beekeepers to lose large numbers of bees was more than we expected," Kimura said.

Although most honey in Japan is imported, honeybees play a critical role in the pollination of a wide variety of fruit and vegetable crops in the country. According to Osamu Mamuro, owner of a company that supplies beehives to farmers for pollination purposes, populations of the insects have dropped so drastically that he expects to have to cut his deliveries by more than 50 percent this year.

"If this keeps up," he said, "it'll be the end of my business."

A wide scale collapse of bee populations might also mean local food shortages. At the very least, it would probably mean rising prices as farmers turn to hand pollination and retailers turn to importation to make up for lessened domestic production.

"From now on," said the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, "it is possible that it will be increasingly difficult to secure honeybees for the purposes of pollinating eggplant, melon, watermelon and other produce plants."
  1. groups:
    Community,   Green,   Earth and Science,   Science,   2 more
  2. tags:
    News,  Green,  Earth and Science,  Environment,  6 more
  3. recommended by:
    Vierotchka
  4.     
    |

26 comments // Honeybee collapse strikes Japan; up to fifty percent of honeybees gone

  • SoundBigfoot
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  

    • I opened my door to let nature in one day last week and was delighted to see a honeybee! It gave me hope that the die-off was reversing.
      Unfortunately the next morning it lay dead on my window sill. My heart hit the floor.
      We need these guys.
      Is it evolution or an unnatural kill?
      But what kill is natural, really? What caused evolution in the first place?
      Change of some kind or another, bad or good.

    • 2 years ago
  • vistapoint
  • Panzer_Tanzler
  • leahl
    • 0
      leahl  

    • @jeffissleeping I'm fascinated by that theory as well. Meanwhile: I added a link to one of my favorite pods on urban bee keeping...

    • 2 years ago
  • vistapoint
  • jeffissleeping
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • I really don't dismiss anything out of hand since nothing definitive has been stated as to the cause. However, I lean more towards transgenic contamination and toxicity of BT crops being the main culprit. GMOS and their transgenic contamination have now infested the world, and since independent testing on the corn has purported behavioral effects on bees, I truly do also believe it is the toxins in the BT crops blowing all over the globe that have contributed to it when the bees land to pollinate these crops. That along with the increased use of pesticides and herbicides as well.

    • 2 years ago
  • jeffissleeping
    • 0
      jeffissleeping  

    • hey Jan, have you heard the recent theories concerning cell phone towers/signals and colony abandonment?

      it does seem to correlate in some regard to industrialized countries so far.

      what are your thoughts on this?

    • 2 years ago
  • Dunedigger
  • zichi
  • macdontcare
    • 0
      macdontcare  
    • zichi:

      In the past few years beekeepers around the world have been seeking new sources of suppliers. Few parts of the world now are unaffected by this colony collapse disorder. There is something bigger going on, not just one cause to attribute this to. Someone may want to ask Monsanto what they're up to!

    • 2 years ago
  • acekitty
    • 0
      acekitty  

    • My boys and I watched the movie remake of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" last night with Keanu Reeves, and it would not surprise me if something like that were to happen or if we simply keep abusing our planet until there is no sustainable life. Certainly without insects, who are at the bottom of the food chain and do many other important functions including pollination, our entire ecosystem will collapse very quickly. It would be in our best interests to protect bees and other insects from our pollution and poisons before they die out and leave us dying as well.

    • 2 years ago
  • macdontcare
    • 0
      macdontcare  
    • acekitty:

      I dig the remake! Recently on a walk near a pond I came upon a bat(broad daylight) trying to make it's way back to a tree. This is the second time I've seen a bat in the daytime, the previous time it was in flight(seem to be feeding). This is very unusual for bats. Currently we are seeing a loss of bat colonies similar to that of the frogs. Bats eat insects, frogs eat insects. Without them we will see a rise in mosquito populations, leading to increases in disease. Bees pollinate food sources, without them food production will decrease and food price will go up. Less food, more disease. Not good bedfellows!

    • 2 years ago
  • Dunedigger
    • 0
      Dunedigger  
    • acekitty:

      Ehh, you might wanna be careful messin' with any nocturnal animal during the day. Rabies is the first thing I thought of. But it could just be that he got knocked out of the sky going back or coming from their sleeping roost.

    • 2 years ago
  • travisspace
    • 0
      travisspace  

    • As a vegan, I don't eat honey. I wonder though if there is good reason for harvesting honey for the sake of helping to maintain the existence of honeybees. I have a lot to learn on this issue. Does anyone have anything to say about this?

    • 2 years ago
  • macdontcare
    • 0
      macdontcare  
    • travisspace:

      I live in the northeast. Beekeepers must hope they do not take too much honey from a hive in hopes it will leave enough food stores to last the bees throughout the winter(private beekeepers do this, not sure about commercial). Otherwise the beekeeper will have to order a new queen and workers for the following season. It's a delicate balance. If it is a multitude of causes that have lead to the loss of bees. It will take a multitude of solutions to repair the damage done.

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
    • 0
      ras_menelik  
    • travisspace:

      Please not that as a vegan you depend on bee pollination for 60-80% of your diet

      here in California Farmers pay bee keepers to pollinate all the fruit/nut/vegetables a lot of money and the honey and wax they produce is/was just extra cash.

      now no bees,no almonds,no apples/pears etc... to go around and we still don't know why

    • 2 years ago
  • Dunedigger
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • This is a good article posted by crazykatlady about a month ago regarding Japan's dwindling rice farmers. Could the answer in regards to Japan simply be that there is less and less for bees to pollinate?

    • 2 years ago
  • KnoXtis
  • ZomBelle
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • Here is a site with updated news about it. I think it is a combination of alien mites, viruses, pesticides, herbicides, pollution, and GMO contamination. And I agree, this does not bode well for Japan as it is already seeing a decline in food production due to drought .

    • 2 years ago
  • pinto1203
    • 0
      pinto1203  

    • This is strange. Is it parasitic mites killing off the bees? Pollution? If this keeps up, a food shortage is very inevitable.

    • 2 years ago
  • Dunedigger
more from Community:
from the community

top videos