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

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

#201

Post by 11235813213455 »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #102
11235813213455 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "this happened" You mean hornets? Of course I know, but we can still adapt our consumption mode, honeybees are for what? honey mostly. We can also reduce planes travel, that wouldn't hurt as well

> You mean hornets? No, I mean this specific species of hornet suddenly appearing thousands of kilometers away. That wasn't nature, that was mankind's intervention. Getting rid of them is hardly us 'dictating' things, it's restoring the natural order.

> restoring the natural order

that sounds weird, of course human influence massively things, but you can't just decide on how to restore the "natural" state like this, it may be even worse by trying to do something brutally.

The good honeybees vs the bad hornets or wasps. It's much more complex. There are articles about how wild bees do a better job at pollination https://www.google.com/search?q=wild+bees+vs+honey+bees+poll..., wasps similarly play a huge role, for example with fruit trees (figs is the best example)

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

#202

Post by ceejayoz »

brink wrote: post #152
pm90 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Why can't "oh, you're wearing a mask, to protect me!" be a "positive daily human interaction"? Perhaps we're just mis-framing things?

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

#203

Post by reader_mode »

hellotomyrars wrote: post #189
reader_mode wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Humanity does not stand on its own, we still need nature to sustain ourselves. Working towards reducing that reliance sounds like a better investment than hoping that a fragile system keeps stable if we undo the changes we noticed we cause (a system that had multiple extinction events in the past)

Extinction events don't happen that often. Meanwhile the massive changes we've made to our environment (in a relatively small time frame) are having a serious impact on our ability to survive on this planet. We don't need to "reduce our reliance on nature". We're always going to be subject to the influences of what environment we live inside of. Whether it be on planet-scale or otherwise. We don't exist in a vacuum.

> We're always going to be subject to the influences of what environment we live inside of.

Houses, heating, cooling make us resilient to outside temperature and weather changes, advanced construction makes us resilient to earthquakes, etc. etc.

There are people working on plans to colonise Mars - while that might not be viable in the short term - we are talking about making an environment without an atmosphere suitable for life - and there's no reason why this shouldn't be achievable. Reducing reliance on systems such as plants requiring bees for pollination should be trivial in comparison.

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

#204

Post by kortilla »

honkycat wrote: post #156

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 (…

What is this strawman that you are attacking even proposing? Since you’re not replying to anyone or even quoting it seems like a vague bogeyman that hates nature?

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

#205

Post by gremlinsinc »

coliveira wrote: post #183
mhh__ wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As opposed to the Communists draining the Aral sea? It's not about socialism or capitalism here, scarce resources and humans need regulation

Why you assume that non-capitalism is the same as communism? Capitalist ideology and communism are extremes, in my opinion there is a healthy balance between them.

I agree with this viewpoint. A more non-statist communism (re: unions and local area orgs that manage 90% of all needs), worker coops, less power for D.C. more for states and local municipalities.

healthcare being ran by a union of worker coops, that all pay taxes into the union of unions to manage healthcare for all members (workers and consumers who are members of the union)... Don't want to be part of the union then don't and if your employer still has their own health ins. use that, or maybe they use ours anyways cause it'd be better... Either way options still exist with the best ones rising to the top like normal capitalism, just CEOs and execs wouldn't be paid as well, because their value is a lot less than they think it is.

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

#206

Post by maxerickson »

honkycat wrote: post #156

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 (…

Calorie crops mostly self pollinate or similar (wheat, corn, soy, etc). Bees don't matter there.

For things like apples, it's actually affordable to pay humans to do it. Which is not to say that bee's aren't better than humans in most ways, just that it doesn't come down to 'no options'.

And like other people are saying, honeybees are livestock, they aren't 'nature'.

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

#207

Post by marmaduke »

yawz wrote: post #160
dmos62 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> plant bee-friendly flowering plants according to your region's climate.

I have a bit of garden but in the middle of a residential district of a city. Do I have any chance to attract bees or is

> starting your own hive

the only way?

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

#208

Post by mastax »

lawwantsin17 wrote: post #83

HOW IS THIS NEWS?

Invasive species can have huge effects on agriculture and other human activities. Giant murder hornets can be scary even beyond these rational concerns. The presence of a new invasive species can thus be important news as the spread of those species can effect human activities.

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

#209

Post by dredmorbius »

reader_mode wrote: post #203
hellotomyrars wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Extinction events don't happen that often. Meanwhile the massive changes we've made to our environment (in a relatively small time frame) are having a serious impact on our ability to survive on this planet. We don't need to "reduce our reliance on nature". We're always going to be subject to the influences of what environment we live inside of. Whether it be on planet-scale or otherwise. We don't exist in a vacuum.

> We're always going to be subject to the influences of what environment we live inside of. Houses, heating, cooling make us resilient to outside temperature and weather changes, advanced construction makes us resilient to earthquakes, etc. etc. There are people working on plans to colonise Mars - while that might not be viable in the short term - we are talking about making an environment without an atmosphere suita…

Closed system biospheres on Earth have proved impossible to date. Mars is vastly less tractable.

Technological optimists have had a poor record over the past 50+ years. Infotech is the exception rather than the rule, and even it has encountered progressively formidable headwinds.

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

#210

Post by cableshaft »

yawz wrote: post #174
eneeigriega wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know much about bees but I just recently started following an Instagram account (@texasbeeworks) that earlier this year posted a video[1] of a bee with a Varroa Mite. The video's caption: "Alright, here is what I want everyone to know about ‘murder hornets’. Only one nest of Asian Giant Hornets has been found in North America and it was quickly eradicated. Right now, the nation’s top entomologists are watchin…

Varroa is and has been my #1 problem for a while. I hate it. But I can't agree with this statement: "If these hornets become a serious problem for honeybees, we will find a solution to keep bees safe." It can easy be too late. Look at what's happening in Europe. They simply can't stop the hornets. Of course it's more dramatic to show these huge insects. They are impressive and scary. Mites are small and look insignif…

Just like the US could have treated Coronavirus seriously early on and helped keep numbers down, but chose to do nothing and now it's everywhere and doing far more damage to the economy.

Don't let murder hornets become the bee's new Coronavirus equivalent. It sounds like they're already dealing with plenty of pandemic-like issues as it is.

To quote George W Bush, who actually took pandemics seriously, "A pandemic is a lot like a forest fire. If caught early it might be extinguished with limited damage. If allowed to smolder, undetected, it can grow to an inferno that can spread quickly beyond our ability to control it."

So this, but with murder hornets.

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