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The bee that everyone wants to save

naturalist.bearblog.dev

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Re: The bee that everyone wants to save

#61

Post by ahhhhnoooo »

mapt wrote: post #58
smallstepforman wrote: post #54

As with all things commercial, my neighbour keeps 40 hives and extracts too much honey in the autumn, resulting in desperate hungry bees in the spring that get very aggressive. If he left them more honey (less profits), they wouldnt be as hungry or aggressive. The entire neighbourhood suffers due to the antics of a single owner. Legally, he’s within the council regulations so there is nothing we can do … Its impossib…

"I'm going to start spraying imidacloprid if I keep getting stung"

Generally, it's considered pretty unacceptable to destroy someone's livestock.

And aggressive honeybees still rarely sting. They typically just charge at you (which is annoying/disruptive)

Re: The bee that everyone wants to save

#62

Post by arn3n »

danybittel wrote: post #30

Very well said, also many other non bees are also pollinators, such as butterflies, some beetles.. even ants. Any flower is a hotspot of life. Tangential, have a look at a Gaussian splat of a honeybee I recently captured: https://superspl.at/scene/3ae6a716

That’s amazing! How did you capture it at that resolution?

Re: The bee that everyone wants to save

#64

Post by dv_dt »

bombcar wrote: post #42
dv_dt wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If humans didn't manage risks to livestock on an industry scale they would be at risk. It requires a constant investment from both commercial industry and government. Activities like the dept of agriculture and university ag depts have been really so good at what they do. Its like the rest of civilization has forgotten what it takes and the costs involved if we neglect the investment. Agriculture and livestock is jus…

What is considered livestock varies over time - chickens range from "free range and can survive in the wild" to "so fat they can't live". One guess as to which is the most common by numbers - one reason that if you do decide to have a backyard flock, go with something "more natural". More dangerous in all these is the monoculture - a hundred years ago we would have a wide range of crops and livestock; now 90% of meat…

Monoculture is definitely a risk, one exacerbated by megacorps and overly corporatized industry - but if you look at the history of ag departments they have introduced multiple variants and variations across crops and animals time and time again. They also work with smaller growers in communities in many ways - natural pest controls consultations for example

Re: The bee that everyone wants to save

#65

Post by Loughla »

bombcar wrote: post #42
dv_dt wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If humans didn't manage risks to livestock on an industry scale they would be at risk. It requires a constant investment from both commercial industry and government. Activities like the dept of agriculture and university ag depts have been really so good at what they do. Its like the rest of civilization has forgotten what it takes and the costs involved if we neglect the investment. Agriculture and livestock is jus…

What is considered livestock varies over time - chickens range from "free range and can survive in the wild" to "so fat they can't live". One guess as to which is the most common by numbers - one reason that if you do decide to have a backyard flock, go with something "more natural". More dangerous in all these is the monoculture - a hundred years ago we would have a wide range of crops and livestock; now 90% of meat…

Just a fun fact. We're pretty close to the anniversary of the dust bowl. . . Which was driven by farming practices to raise monoculture crops.

No purpose to this other than this is a very long term problem that, I believe, will bite us in the ass at some point.

Re: The bee that everyone wants to save

#66

Post by hammock »

b3ing wrote: post #35
aziaziazi wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Humans also face severe treats and are not doing well but are not going extinct tomorrow. Honeybees seems to only decline in North America, especially the USA, but as you said it’s human intervention that keeps their population booming years after years. Perhaps a decline wouldn’t be so problematic it doesn’t go to extinction? A decline in chickens population wouldn’t lead to extinction, to elaborate on the funny aut…

Honeybees aren’t native to North America

Fascinating fact. Begs the question what pollinated agriculture (squash, tomatoes, peppers, berries etc) prior to the introduction of the honeybee and the equally fascinating answer is that there were many species but all of them were SOLITARY and NON-HIVE DWELLING!

Re: The bee that everyone wants to save

#67

Post by mig39 »

b3ing wrote: post #35
aziaziazi wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Humans also face severe treats and are not doing well but are not going extinct tomorrow. Honeybees seems to only decline in North America, especially the USA, but as you said it’s human intervention that keeps their population booming years after years. Perhaps a decline wouldn’t be so problematic it doesn’t go to extinction? A decline in chickens population wouldn’t lead to extinction, to elaborate on the funny aut…

Honeybees aren’t native to North America

Neither are earthworms.

Re: The bee that everyone wants to save

#68

Post by thavalai »

QuaArbiter wrote: post #49

Humble recommendation; https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002t686/my-garden-of... (Wildlife film-maker Martin Dohrn is bee obsessed. He has found over 60 species in his Bristol garden and sets out to film them, with mind-blowing results.)

In case any one else runs into a "this video is not available outside the UK" message, I'm able to see it here: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-garden-thousand-bees-abou...

Re: The bee that everyone wants to save

#69

Post by forinti »

In Brazil we have tiny native bees that don't sting. They make wax tunnels and the colonies grow very very slowly. I've been watching one for 20 years and it doesn't even seem to have doubled in size. They have suffered a lot with deforestation.

Re: The bee that everyone wants to save

#70

Post by cowsandmilk »

ahhhhnoooo wrote: post #61
mapt wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I'm going to start spraying imidacloprid if I keep getting stung"

Generally, it's considered pretty unacceptable to destroy someone's livestock. And aggressive honeybees still rarely sting. They typically just charge at you (which is annoying/disruptive)

For livestock other than bees, it is considered unacceptable to starve them or have them attack your neighbors.
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