tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579549341020421678.post2253070477709801643..comments2024-01-16T13:06:15.270-06:00Comments on Climate Change: The Next Generation: 2 Studies Point to Common Pesticide as a Culprit in Declining Bee ColoniesTenney Naumerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11843130378338023902noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579549341020421678.post-21383853561080055182012-03-30T23:20:42.273-05:002012-03-30T23:20:42.273-05:00I had wood bumblebees in my roof timbers at my hou...I had wood bumblebees in my roof timbers at my house in Brazil. I should have replaced the timbers with hard wood, but ran out of funds for that. So, every morning I had to listen to them leave their holes and fly out for the day and then I could hear them come back at dusk. It irritated the hell outta me cuz I knew they were destroying the wood and in the process of chewing it they would spray brown juice all over the white exterior walls. <br />Then, last year, after 12 years of this, they just all died or disappeared. <br />I never used any chemicals around the house because I also had a small hive of jataii bees and didn't want anything to happen to them. They did not die or disappear; they would not have been able to forage as far away as the bumblebees, since they are the size of small mosquitoes. <br />I think the bumblebees may have flown to coffee farms on the outskirts that may have used pesticides, but I have no way to know, one way or the other.Tenney Naumerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11843130378338023902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579549341020421678.post-42249457339011197772012-03-30T17:50:55.863-05:002012-03-30T17:50:55.863-05:00this story has been making the rounds; here's ...this story has been making the rounds; here's my comment on it at the WaPo, copied here:<br /><br />though i'd just as soon see them ban neonicotinids and the rest of the pesticides, i aint willing to put colony collapse into the solved column on top of them yet...i did a lot of reading on CCD when it first broke (subscribed to 2 bee journals back then) and i havent seen anything that fits all the cases reported in those early years..i still think that Israeli acute paralysis virus, first discovered in 2004, is one of several underlying factors, probably weakening the bees to succumb to other issues, such as varroa mites or pesticides... <br /><br />the only colony i ever lost to CCD symptoms was last april, & it was so wet at the time there wasnt a piece of farm equipment out in the fields anywhere in this county - so no one was using pesticides at that time (im in a wildlife area where there is little activity anyhow) <br /><br />i think some reported CCD is likely normal winter kill, and i know there's also been a lot of CCD in non agricultural areas, too...i'm interested to see how the bees make it this year; im willing to bet that with this warm spring in the east, CCD will almost disappear..rjshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15681812432224138582noreply@blogger.com