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It's "possible" ... I saw a program about CCD on PBS. There are parts of China where they've killed off all the bees in traditional farming areas. The video sho
by barnaby 16y ago
It's "possible" ... I saw a program about CCD on PBS. There are parts of China where they've killed off all the bees in traditional farming areas. The video showed entire fields of workers holding jars of pollen and taking feather dusters, swathing them in the pollen, then waving them around the flowers.
Very labor intensive.
- cryptoz 16y agoThat sounds like an excellent use-case for armies of flying nano-bots. Well, what are we waiting for?
- gloob 16y agoWell, first we're waiting for someone to invent flying nanobots. Then we're waiting for someone to successfully convince the public that flying nanobots somehow won't kill us all.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- tb 16y agoWhat is a bee if not a miniature flying pollination machine? :)
- hyperbovine 16y agoSeriously? It's was our faith in mankind's ability to engineer its way out of any mess that gave us this miracle pesticide in the first place. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
- cryptoz 16y ago> Seriously? Hehe no, no, I was joking. I clearly don't think that armies of flying nanobots are actually a potential solution to this problem.
- djcapelis 16y agoWe could call them... bees.
- zephjc 16y agonew-bees? :-P
- dkersten 16y agoAnd a great excuse for China to develop armies of flying nano-bots without it being too suspicious.
- drinian 16y agoEr, isn't that an excellent use-case for hiring more beekeepers?
- jmm 16y agoActually, I hope that people's budding interest in hobby beekeeping can help pick up the slack... I was thinking the other day about the viability of a small business that would install apiaries in peoples back yards, and the hosts would get a share of the honey. The rest would be sold at at markets. A distributed system of bzzzzz. Eh? An article in the nytimes the other day inspired the idea - about how different communities are dropping prohibitions on urban beekeeping. Of course, this article appeared only a few days after another article about bees drinking maraschino cherry juice in Red Hook and producing red metallic-tasting honey.
- Andys 16y agoWe had to get rid of our hive from our back yard due to neighbour complaints. Many people think a bee sting is going to kill them.
- jonah 16y agoAnd for some people [1] it just might. [1] http://www.hmc.psu.edu/healthinfo/b/beesting.htm http://www.hmc.psu.edu/healthinfo/b/beesting.htm
- Andys 16y agoYeah, but living within 20 metres of a hive doesn't mean anything about risk of getting stung. Bees are quite happy to fly miles to get their nectar. Most of the bees from our hive visibly flew straight up and away from our area. Since getting rid of the hive, our garden is still full of bees.
- jonah 16y agoI didn't meant to imply their fear was justified. ;)
- yters 16y agoI think we will be eating many more bananas in the near future.
- tcskeptic 16y agoOf course bananas are under attack by their own potentially devastating blight, so that may need reconsideration.