4 ms·

US honeybee deaths hit record high as scientists scramble to find main cause

28 points by vinni2 2y ago

ggm 2y ago
> However, cuts in staff numbers by Donald Trump’s administration has required Cornell University to step in and take on further required research to determine if the samples have been affected by pesticides. It will take around a month before scientists haver a better idea as to the main drivers of the latest losses. Seems a shame. I do personally suspect neonicotinoids but only because of wide ranging discussion. Down here (oz) Varroa mite is more of an issue and we're trying to breed resistant strains. AID on bees under a microscope. Who knew? The other thing to temper concerns is that again from an Oz perspective, it turns out several fly species are prolific pollinators. We love bees, we love honey and we've built out a commercial fruit/plant pollination service on hive rotations but it doesn't mean nuclear winter for the food chain if commercial honey bees go into decline, if we can find suitable pollinator species. Or native bees, if not honey bees (the ones down here are stingless which is quite an upside)
- jessetemp 2y ago
  Flies are pollinators in the US too, but the second to last paragraph is a little worrisome > Another important point is that we have very good evidence of range declines and even extinctions among wild pollinators, which aren’t being managed by anyone.
  - ggm 2y ago
    Yea. Thats big. You'd think the farming lobby was on this one. Not wanting to mis-characterise them, I think a lot of farmers are bigly MAGA so you'd think defunding a program to keep them in production was a candidate for no: fund this one, right?
    - joshstrange 2y ago
      That would require connecting policy to consequence, something I see very little of in the MAGA camp.
metalman 2y ago
one of the stark dividing lines I have noticed is that while driving too and from a local area with large comercial agricultur operations to my home place in hilly, but also low lying in tidal country,that is far to steep and fragmented for large operations or equipment, that there are no bugs on the windshield whatsoever untill I get close to home,and here at home are numerous species of insects that dont show up even in the literature, but hey, it's just fucking anecdotal and we cant consider it or draw any conclusions becuase, something,something, science

28 points by vinni2 2y ago

ggm 2y ago

> However, cuts in staff numbers by Donald Trump’s administration has required Cornell University to step in and take on further required research to determine if the samples have been affected by pesticides. It will take around a month before scientists haver a better idea as to the main drivers of the latest losses. Seems a shame. I do personally suspect neonicotinoids but only because of wide ranging discussion. Down here (oz) Varroa mite is more of an issue and we're trying to breed resistant strains. AID on bees under a microscope. Who knew? The other thing to temper concerns is that again from an Oz perspective, it turns out several fly species are prolific pollinators. We love bees, we love honey and we've built out a commercial fruit/plant pollination service on hive rotations but it doesn't mean nuclear winter for the food chain if commercial honey bees go into decline, if we can find suitable pollinator species. Or native bees, if not honey bees (the ones down here are stingless which is quite an upside)

jessetemp 2y ago
Flies are pollinators in the US too, but the second to last paragraph is a little worrisome > Another important point is that we have very good evidence of range declines and even extinctions among wild pollinators, which aren’t being managed by anyone.
- ggm 2y ago
  Yea. Thats big. You'd think the farming lobby was on this one. Not wanting to mis-characterise them, I think a lot of farmers are bigly MAGA so you'd think defunding a program to keep them in production was a candidate for no: fund this one, right?
  - joshstrange 2y ago
    That would require connecting policy to consequence, something I see very little of in the MAGA camp.

metalman 2y ago

one of the stark dividing lines I have noticed is that while driving too and from a local area with large comercial agricultur operations to my home place in hilly, but also low lying in tidal country,that is far to steep and fragmented for large operations or equipment, that there are no bugs on the windshield whatsoever untill I get close to home,and here at home are numerous species of insects that dont show up even in the literature, but hey, it's just fucking anecdotal and we cant consider it or draw any conclusions becuase, something,something, science