Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest • Hacker News Board

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#151

Post by rootusrootus » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 7:01 PM UTC

xwdv wrote: post #115

yawz wrote: post #101

I’m a beekeeper and every passing year it becomes harder to keep my colonies alive. I’m really glad that we’re taking this threat seriously, because we don’t need one more problem on our list of things that kill our bees. While I’m at it, please allow me to remind everyone that there are thousands of solitary bee species in the world. They are the ones that go extinct or in real danger compared to our honey bees. The…

What will happen when bees go extinct? Edit: I don’t understand the vicious pointless downvotes over this question.

Is that a real risk? I thought it was pretty straightforward to breed more of them. For now. The colony collapse problem is real, but I haven't heard any serious discussion of honeybees going extinct.

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#152

Post by brink » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 7:02 PM UTC

pm90 wrote: post #141

brink wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who needs to take the risk of physical human contact or to see the smile of a stranger walking down the street when you can survive a few years longer depressed inside a sterile bubble.

Are smiles from strangers really that important to your well being?

It's an example of positive daily human interaction. Keeping minimum distance and hiding the most expressive part of the body removes a lot of that from daily life, and people do suffer from it.

The world is significantly colder this year. I can't be the only one that feels it.

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#153

Post by yawz » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 7:03 PM UTC

roughly wrote: post #108

yawz wrote: post #101

I’m a beekeeper and every passing year it becomes harder to keep my colonies alive. I’m really glad that we’re taking this threat seriously, because we don’t need one more problem on our list of things that kill our bees. While I’m at it, please allow me to remind everyone that there are thousands of solitary bee species in the world. They are the ones that go extinct or in real danger compared to our honey bees. The…

I've read a number of articles describing the stressors on bee colonies, but I'm interested in your take - what do you see as the primary factors affecting your colonies?

I live in place where winters are harsh. Colonies need to be well-prepared to successfully overwinter. They are amazingly robust when they are healthy, but anything that affects this preparation can easily be deadly over a period of time.

There can be many reasons. The Varroa Mite [0] is one that we have to constantly fight against, these days. The mites don't kill the entire colony, but weakens it so much that the colony can't overwinter. Or there viruses [1] that deform the bees' wings that can debilitate the colony. There are also other problems that we don't see where I live, but other beekeepers have to fight, such as the Small Hive Beetle [2].

I suspect because of the ongoing wildfires and poor air quality in this region, one of my queens stopped laying eggs mid-summer, at a time when she normally lays 1,500-2,000 eggs every day. I had to replace her. I don't know if that colony is going to survive the winter.

Some other colonies had similar problems. Yesterday a beekeeper friend told me she lost a colony and she has another one on the brink of collapsing.

Then, we also don't know who is using what type of pesticides around here. Bees can forage anywhere in the 2-3 mile radius. It's near impossible for me to know what's going on in such a wide area.

It's a constant uphill battle.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varroa_destructor [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deformed_wing_virus [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_hive_beetle

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#154

Post by BigBubbleButt » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 7:06 PM UTC

klyrs wrote: post #150

BigBubbleButt wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not a beekeeper but it’s pretty easy to connect the dots from bee extinction to ecological collapse. How is that an easy connection? Your argument essentially says without bees then nature as we know it falls apart catastrophically - I am incredulous you could interpret this as obvious. Species go extinct all the time and yet Earth is still doing just fine, apart from the damage humans are doing to it. > No pollina…

You're making a leap from "collapse" to "elimination". Searching for "GDP collapse", the first result I get is referring to a global 4.3% predicted collapse for 2020. People seem to be taking that pretty hard.

Fair point. Thank you.

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#155

Post by licebmi__at__ » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 7:09 PM UTC

BigBubbleButt wrote: post #142

aardvarkr wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a beekeeper but it’s pretty easy to connect the dots from bee extinction to ecological collapse. No pollinators leads to decreased germination which leads to less food for the lower levels of the food chain and on and on

> Not a beekeeper but it’s pretty easy to connect the dots from bee extinction to ecological collapse. How is that an easy connection? Your argument essentially says without bees then nature as we know it falls apart catastrophically - I am incredulous you could interpret this as obvious. Species go extinct all the time and yet Earth is still doing just fine, apart from the damage humans are doing to it. > No pollina…

Nature might endure what we throw at it, we might not. When people say that humans are ruining the planet, maybe a few people are actually worried about the rock, but most of us are worried about having an ecosystem compatible with our civilization.

You might want to investigate about the sparrows in china, quick version; a campaign to exterminate the sparrows to increase grain production ended up with famines.

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#156

Post by honkycat » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 7:09 PM UTC

I always find the anti-environmentalist position that pops up on HN interesting. For a technical audience, they are amazingly unaware of "Systems Thinking". Saying "MEH, there are other pollinators" is lazy thinking. Our ecosystem is a vast web of interconnections. You cannot predict how one HUGELY important species being destroyed will affect the rest of our ecosystem.

Furthermore: People use honey bees for honey ( duh ). But they are more useful than just that: people drive honey bee colonies around to crops in order to pollinate them. If we don't have honey bees, we do not have crops.

There is no mystical "other pollinator" that is going to fill the niche of the honey bee. Honey bees are uniquely industrialized and failure to eliminate the Murder Hornet threat to honey bees will have HUGE implications.

What are you proposing exactly? We stand back and lose all of our biodiversity because we have to pay a few conservationists 1/5 of a mediocre SAAS CEO's salary? Give me a break.

Humanity does not stand on its own, we still need nature to sustain ourselves. "When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money."

And outside of economic and survival concerns: Nature is IRREPLACEABLE. Once it is dead it is dead forever. How could you honestly take this position? What do you find valuable? What do you find beautiful? What do you live for?

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#157

Post by wbl » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 7:10 PM UTC

dmos62 wrote: post #149

yawz wrote: post #101

I’m a beekeeper and every passing year it becomes harder to keep my colonies alive. I’m really glad that we’re taking this threat seriously, because we don’t need one more problem on our list of things that kill our bees. While I’m at it, please allow me to remind everyone that there are thousands of solitary bee species in the world. They are the ones that go extinct or in real danger compared to our honey bees. The…

Can you give advice or direct us to where we could learn what we can do to actively help bee populations around us?

Plant wildflowers.

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#158

Post by sokoloff » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 7:11 PM UTC

nn3 wrote: post #90

sokoloff wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not GP, but this seems like being upset by the environmental damage resulting from your city fire department driving diesel firetrucks in relative and absolute scale and scope.

I'm actually somewhat upset about this in my city. The fire department is driving these gigantic fire engines with ladders and everything to every medical emergency, when just a small van would be totally fine.

Chesterton’s Fence: I grew up close to the Chief of our town’s Fire Dept. He explained that they sent the second piece of large equipment primarily because of the re-dispatch problem.

If they get a second call which would require the engine, they didn’t want to risk having the fire personnel on scene in the little rescue truck and away from the engine, delaying response to the fire. (For the same reason, they wore the full turnout gear to support medical calls.)

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#159

Post by bibelo » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 7:12 PM UTC

you guys in US are doomed

Re: Washington crews destroy first U.S. “murder hornet” nest

#160

Post by yawz » Sun, Oct 25, 2020, 7:13 PM UTC

dmos62 wrote: post #149

yawz wrote: post #101

I’m a beekeeper and every passing year it becomes harder to keep my colonies alive. I’m really glad that we’re taking this threat seriously, because we don’t need one more problem on our list of things that kill our bees. While I’m at it, please allow me to remind everyone that there are thousands of solitary bee species in the world. They are the ones that go extinct or in real danger compared to our honey bees. The…

Can you give advice or direct us to where we could learn what we can do to actively help bee populations around us?

If you have access to gardens, you can plant bee-friendly flowering plants according to your region's climate.

You can learn about the wild bees in your region and understand what natural resources they thrive on. Some of them are so specialized that they can easily be threatened by the loss of habitat. Some of the bee "houses" can become great activities for children. For example kids can build Mason Bee houses and watch them attract bees.

Supporting local beekeepers and bee-friendly farmers.

By trying to keep an immaculate lawn or mosquito-free areas, most of us sacrifice the local insect population including various bees that are affected by those pesticides.

By spreading awareness, but also starting your own hive is a great hobby and it's quite affordable if you have the time. You don't even have to have them in your garden or balcony. You can speak to local farmers, and they can be happy to host your hive on their property. That's how I started.