Loss of honeybees is less but still a threat

This may be one evolution needs to fix. And it should, in time.

If you think of these problems as introduced insecticide programs, populations generally develop a resistance given enough time. I remember a classic example involving fly eradication on pig farms in the 70's that might have some hard numbers, but I can't find a link.

The novel "Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honeybee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis" by Rowan Jacobsen is a really great read and very informative. He points out a lot of the suspected reasons for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and makes a few suggestions for how we can help.

I took an entomology course at the University of Maryland about pollinators in North America. The class mainly showed that all pollinators are in trouble because of the use of pesticides/insecticides, urbanization, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, etc. Many scientists suspect that CCD is actually caused by all of these pressures, not any in particular. But who knows? It's scary!

The things we do with bees now is pretty damn strange - moving them around, treating them like a commodity, pushing them to within an nth of their lives for profit. But that they're coming back...could it be that we can actually step back from the brink? Here's an idea - maybe we shouldn't treat them like pollinating macines who work for us.

What's unknown is the phenomena called colony collapse disorder, in which healthy worker bees fly away, leaving the hive, honey, queen and immature workers to die. "It's altruistic suicide," vanEngelsdorp says. "The workers somehow know they're sick, and in an attempt to stop their sisters from getting infected, they fly away."

But no one knows what's making them sick.

honestly though, isn't this just nature. something new is killing off a species. but the new generations are getting more resistant. darwin baby

i think this is a good sign. let's treat the reasons we know about and keep studying the ones we don't.

Less or no pesticides might help .

Is the theory regarding cell phone, microwave & wireless signals been disproven?

this is a huge threat for pollination. people are so dumb when they kill bees "oh i'm allergic" the bees are endangered, you are not. ;)

"It might be nutrition, new and changed pathogens, and also possibly pesticide exposure," he says. It doesn't appear to be tied to genetically engineered crops: Studies have shown such pollen fed to bees doesn't reduce their longevity, he says

hmmm, 'studies have shown' he says, didnt cite the source did he? I wonder if this was a study funded by Monsanto? kinda like studies of Celebrex were funded by its developer? Watch this one folks, he just protested too much! Seems rather obvious to the casual observer.

remember this is a usa today article, not exactly the last bastion of investigative reporting.

I'm allergic but I'm a gardener so I cherish the little bugger's. Earlier this spring I saw one of the bees fly into my house, I was excited thinking they were returning. Only to find it dead the next morning.
(I had left the door open so it could go back out)
I was devastated to see it laying on the windowsill.

I pardoned a honey bee the other day that flew in the house. I saved his life.

Even the Egyptians kept bees on hand:
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When the Sun weeps a second time, and lets fall water from his eyes, it is changed into working bees; they work in the flowers of each kind, and honey and wax are produced instead of water.
From a first millennium BCE magical text, pSalt 825
S. Birch, Egyptian Magical Text, in S. Birch ed., Records of the Past, Vol.6, 1876

From:
http://reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/be...
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Bee keeping is nothing new, but the pesticides, the deforestation, urban sprawl, the lack of bio-diversity—these are.

I had read it was only the bees raised with chemicals, not organic bees. They should stop using chemicals and then they would see an increase.

part of the problem with this issue is, hardly anyone knows what it takes to raise bees. Finding organic honey does not mean there are no chemicals used on the bees, it means the pollen and nectar collected by them is from organic sources. (which seems really hard to determine since they range several miles in a day) I come from 3rd gen beekeepers and as far as I know, noone is very successful at keeping bees naturally (without fungicides and antibiotics and menthol treatments etc...)

So to reiterate, this is a complex issue that does not lend itself well to ignorant comments and blanket rambling.

sounds like you're part of the problem

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

I keep finding dead bees on my back porch under the bottle brush tree where a few years ago they used to buzz loudly in great numbers. I'm not doing anything pest or weed control wise, leaving my yard au naturel. I assume there is a broader picture than what happens in their immediate environments then.