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Not that I want to curb your enthusiasm for bees, but… I recently read that honey bees in particular get the most attention from humans lately, so they are kep
by baxtr 11mo ago
Not that I want to curb your enthusiasm for bees, but…
I recently read that honey bees in particular get the most attention from humans lately, so they are kept in high numbers.
This has some adversarial effect on other pollinators, which hurts ecosystems more than it helps.
- johnisgood 11mo agoWhy would what you said curb my enthusiasm for bees though? Can you provide me more specifics on this by the way? > This has some adversarial effect on other pollinators, which hurts ecosystems more than it helps. What are those adversarial effects, what other pollinators, and how does it hurt the ecosystem more than it helps? I do not mind bees having kept in higher numbers, and beekeepers can do it anywhere without affecting the ecosystem, I believe.
- baxtr 11mo agoI am no expert at all in this topic! So please take this with a grain of salt. I just have the feeling (maybe wrongly) that the love and focus for bees is having detrimental/ unwanted effects on the ecosystem. Here some more articles / discussions: * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44505552 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44505552 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44792207 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44792207 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35668879 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35668879
- johnisgood 11mo agoMy love for bees is more about their behavior (similar to how I find ants fascinating), and their "products" that is honey, propolis, beeswax, and so on. I am simply fascinated by their behaviors, and propolis is very healthy!
- 867-5309 11mo agothat read like "source please" then "sauce is yummy"
- johnisgood 11mo agoI am not sure what you are trying to imply. If you are referring to what I asked: "What are those adversarial effects, what other pollinators, and how does it hurt the ecosystem more than it helps?", then all I have to say about it is that I am just genuinely curious.
- fullstop 11mo agoI have always been enamored with "social" insects like bees, wasps, and ants. I _loved_ SimAnt as a child. It also blows my mind that I utterly balk at eating insects but bee vomit is totally cool.
- johnisgood 11mo agoOh my, I just looked for a screenshot of SimAnt. I remember this game, too! I have played it for some time, too. :)
- fullstop 11mo agoYou can play it in a browser: https://archive.org/details/msdos_SimAnt_-_The_Electronic_Ant_Colony_1991 https://archive.org/details/msdos_SimAnt_-_The_Electronic_An...
- johnisgood 11mo agoOh cool! I am doing the tutorial and it told me to click on "MAP" which I did, and then nothing happened. :( Any ideas?
- fullstop 11mo agoDid it say to click on map or Window menu -> map? https://i.imgur.com/LbCx8jQ.png https://i.imgur.com/LbCx8jQ.png
- johnisgood 11mo agoWindow menu -> MAP, so I assumed it was "MAP". Where is the "Window menu" exactly?
- fullstop 11mo agoIt's at the top of the game window: https://i.imgur.com/xqh2rrY.png https://i.imgur.com/xqh2rrY.png
- bijant 11mo agoWhy won’t you let „the ecosystem“ decide that on its own ? It’s much older than you and you are not its lega guardian. If the ecosystem (of which we are a part) decides it wants more honey bees than that’s what it shall get.
- snthd 11mo agoThe idea that ecosystems naturally balance themselves is a pervasive myth. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/balance-of-nature-explained https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/balan... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_nature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_nature >It’s much older than you and you are not its legal guardian. A fair few cultures believe they are. NZ recognises the Whanganui River as having legal personhood.
- pinnochio 11mo agoIf we're a part of the ecosystem, then deciding to be honey bees' legal guardian _is_ the ecosystem deciding that on its own, no?
- baxtr 11mo agoYes exactly, doing nothing or doing something is the same. We are part of the ecosystem. So any discussion we’re having is also part of being and operating in the ecosystem…
- soiltype 11mo agoThe same reason you bandage a stab wound instead of letting the body decide what it wants. It doesn't want anything or have the ability to choose its responses to changes. Which is exactly why we are the legal guardians of natural ecosystems, by the way - have you not heard of lands and waters protected from certain human activities? The fact that we don't currently stop ourselves from propogating honeybees into ecosystems that can't fit them is not an indication of anything except our failures.
- baxtr 11mo agoI guess it’s a fair point. But then again, since as you argue (rightfully so!) that I’m also part of the ecosystem: me caring and expressing doubts is actually working as the ecosystem. That’s how I’m being (virtually) a part of it.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- skeezyjefferson 11mo ago[dead]
- filoeleven 11mo agoEuropean honeybees do not behave the same way as their native solitary counterparts. They gather honey by visiting every flower on a plant, then moving to the next plant. Native bees OTOH visit only one or two flowers per plant. So if imported honeybees outcompete natives (and studies show they do), it very much affects the viability of monoecious plants, which experience a drop in genetic diversity. I don't want to find out the long-term results of that experiment. I don't think that's a reason to eradicate honeybees in the US or anything like that, but it does point to a misplaced focus on "just" solving colony collapse disorder while ignoring the plight of the native pollinators. If you don't keep bees, or if you do but have a large enough property, you could put up a bee hotel. They can be bought or constructed pretty easily, and you'll get to see a wide variety of who's around your area! https://bugguide.net/node/view/475348 https://bugguide.net/node/view/475348
- bijant 11mo agoI‘d give it a chance. After all it can’t be any worse than Seinfeld for Bees https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Movie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Movie
- gibspaulding 11mo agoThere’s something like four thousand species of bees native to North America [1], so while there are lots of reasons to be unenthusiastic about honey bees [2], that still leaves lots of room for bee related enthusiasm :) [1] https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-role-native-bees-united-states https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-role-native-bees-united-state... [2] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-honey-bees/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-...