NationStates Jolt Archive

Mystery Illness Killing U.S. Honeybees by the Thousands
Sunday, February 11, 2007

E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Scientists are trying to determine the cause of a mystery illness that's killing thousands of honeybee colonies across the country.

The ailment is being called "Colony Collapse Disorder" and reports have come in from at least 22 states. Some commercial beekeepers have reported losing more than 50 percent of their bees.

The problem could affect not only domestic honey producers but also fruit growers and other farmers who rely on bees to pollinate their crops.

Researchers from the Agriculture Department, universities and the industry are analyzing clues. One expert at Penn State University says dissected bees have shown alarmingly high levels of foreign fungi, bacteria and other organisms as well as weakened immune systems.

The country's bee population had already been taking a hit in recent years from parasitic mites, which have destroyed hives and devastated wild honeybee populations.
http://www.improveverywhere.com/images/gm03.jpg


Where will we get our honey? What will become of my yummy, yummy breakfast?

Mystery Illness Killing U.S. Honeybees by the Thousands
Sunday, February 11, 2007

E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Scientists are trying to determine the cause of a mystery illness that's killing thousands of honeybee colonies across the country.

The ailment is being called "Colony Collapse Disorder" and reports have come in from at least 22 states. Some commercial beekeepers have reported losing more than 50 percent of their bees.

The problem could affect not only domestic honey producers but also fruit growers and other farmers who rely on bees to pollinate their crops.

Researchers from the Agriculture Department, universities and the industry are analyzing clues. One expert at Penn State University says dissected bees have shown alarmingly high levels of foreign fungi, bacteria and other organisms as well as weakened immune systems.

The country's bee population had already been taking a hit in recent years from parasitic mites, which have destroyed hives and devastated wild honeybee populations.
http://www.improveverywhere.com/images/gm03.jpg


Where will we get our honey? What will become of my yummy, yummy breakfast?
Two thoughts:

1. If we continue to mess with nature, we will destroy what we need?

2. Beekeepers are lying and trying to drive up the price of honey products?

Two thoughts:

1. If we continue to mess with nature, we will destroy what we need?

2. Beekeepers are lying and trying to drive up the price of honey products?

It seems you are of two... "HIVES" about it.

It's my first pun on NS. I'm not quite good at it yet.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y79/Goomg/other/untitled-2.jpg

Where will we get our honey? What will become of my yummy, yummy breakfast?

Try agave nectar. It's pretty awesome (in my opinion), kind of like a cross between honey and maple syrup. Comes from a cactus. Hm. Not knowing anything about cacti, do they need bees for reproduction? Hey, I'm sitting in front of a computer, I could look it up. Just a sec...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave

Hm, I don't see any references to bees here or in the links... anyone know? I did find out, however, that I was wrong about it being a cactus. Huh. Learn something new every day, right?

*snip*
Damn you and your speed, Ruffy...or shall I say Gonzales?!

Preparation Time

10 minutes
Cooking Time

15 minutes
Ingredients (serves 4)

* 4 (about 200g each) pork cutlets
* 2 tbs olive oil
* 1 1/2 tbs wholegrain mustard
* 2 tsp honey
* 1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
* 2 tbs fresh lemon juice
* Ground black pepper, to taste
* 400g desiree potatoes, unpeeled, cut into chunks
* 250g piece broccoli, cut into florets
* 1 large red capsicum, deseeded, cut into thin strips

Method

1. Place the pork cutlets in a single layer in a shallow non-aluminum dish. Combine the oil, mustard, honey, lemon rind, lemon juice and pepper in a small bowl. Pour marinade over cutlets and turn to coat. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to marinate (or longer if time permits).
2. Drain the cutlets and reserve the marinade. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the cutlets and cook for 5 minutes each side or until just cooked. Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with plenty of cold water. Cover and bring to the boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-high and boil, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook for a further 1-2 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
4. Add the capsicum and reserved marinade to the frying pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes or until the capsicum softens.
5. Drain the potatoes and broccoli, and divide among serving plates. Add the capsicum strips and place the pork cutlets on top. Drizzle with any pan juices and serve immediately

Notes & tips

prep: 10 mins (+ 5-10 mins marinating time)
leftovers: use the mustard in salad dressings. Use the lemon juice in chicken & vegetables with tzatziki.
Source

Australian Good Taste - April 2000 , Page 80
Recipe by Kerrie Mullins

Mystery Illness Killing U.S. Honeybees by the Thousands
Sunday, February 11, 2007

E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Scientists are trying to determine the cause of a mystery illness that's killing thousands of honeybee colonies across the country.

The ailment is being called "Colony Collapse Disorder" and reports have come in from at least 22 states. Some commercial beekeepers have reported losing more than 50 percent of their bees.

The problem could affect not only domestic honey producers but also fruit growers and other farmers who rely on bees to pollinate their crops.

Researchers from the Agriculture Department, universities and the industry are analyzing clues. One expert at Penn State University says dissected bees have shown alarmingly high levels of foreign fungi, bacteria and other organisms as well as weakened immune systems.

The country's bee population had already been taking a hit in recent years from parasitic mites, which have destroyed hives and devastated wild honeybee populations.
http://www.improveverywhere.com/images/gm03.jpg


Where will we get our honey? What will become of my yummy, yummy breakfast?
Sounds to me like one of the side-effects that a changing climate might induce.
Just like other insects are migrating because their habitats change, why shouldn't fungi and bacteria that live off of them follow suit?

I'm pro-anything that means less bees.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y79/Goomg/other/untitled-2.jpg

roflmao....

I'm pro-anything that means less bees.
So you're also in favor of less fruits and flowers? Interesting...

You never can tell with bees.

Whats this then. Bee flue?

oh i crack myself up

I'm pro-anything that means less bees.

Bees are awesome, it's wasps that are the absolute bastards.
Unless you're allergic, I guess.

Personally, I blame global warming.

Personally, I blame global warming.

nah its obviously teh terrorists!

Personally, I blame global warming.
What I said...

Cacti are a broad family of plants that are pollinated by all manner of organisms. Bees, wasps, hummingbirds, moths, beetles, even woodpeckers. Their flowers look really cool but they aren't around very often, only after it rains.

Global warming has already disrupted bird migration patterns and helped to introduce new diseases into temperate regions, so it's entirely conceivable that it may play a role in this, as well.

I was once stung in the neck by a honeybee. :(

But wait? Didn't the guy in War Games say that bees would probably become the next sentient species after humans wipe themselves out with teh nukes? Who will carry the torch if not the bees?

I was once stung in the neck by a honeybee. :(

But wait? Didn't the guy in War Games say that bees would probably become the next sentient species after humans wipe themselves out with teh nukes? Who will carry the torch if not the bees?

Monkeys, and Planet of The Apes is all the proof I need.

I was once stung in the neck by a honeybee. :(

But wait? Didn't the guy in War Games say that bees would probably become the next sentient species after humans wipe themselves out with teh nukes? Who will carry the torch if not the bees?
Ants? Cockroaches? Rats? Birds?

Ants? Cockroaches? Rats? Birds?

Cockroaches won't survive a nuclear holocaust. They're too dependent on humans to survive. Ditto rats. Birds suffer more from environmental toxins than pretty much everything but amphibians. Ants wouldn't work, what with the whole being ectothermic bit. That removes bees as well. We get a nuclear holocaust, and there likely won't be any more sapient life, since the few things that are close will die with us.

According to the Discovery channel, it's gonna be squids.

According to the Discovery channel, it's gonna be squids.

But it won't*. The Discovery Channel/Animal Planet decided a few years back that showing scientific programming didn't bring in enough revenue, so they ended up showing programs involving people who claim they can read cats' minds, and people who can't even set a boat on fire with explosives. Pretty much the only thing The Future is Wild is good for is determining what won't happen. Seriously, cephalopods going on land? That's just fucking stupid.


*Because they're r-strategists. They can't get the extended, supervised childhood needed for sapience. All their behavior is instinctual. Cephalopods are certainly very intelligent, but they won't achieve true sapience, or at least anything we could possibly recognize as it.

Sounds to me like one of the side-effects that a changing climate might induce.
Just like other insects are migrating because their habitats change, why shouldn't fungi and bacteria that live off of them follow suit?

Except there's no evidence even remotely linking this to climate change.

But it won't. The Discovery Channel/Animal Planet decided a few years back that showing scientific programming didn't bring in enough revenue, so they ended up showing programs involving people who claim they can read cats' minds, and people who can't even set a boat on fire with explosives. Pretty much the only thing The Future is Wild is good for is determining what won't happen. Seriously, cephalopods going on land? That's just fucking stupid.

Seriously, mammals going into water (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otter)? That's just fucking stupid.

it's clearly going to be a super-intelligent shade of the colour blue. my bet's on sky blue cuz there's so much of it. turquoise could be a contender from the tropical seas, but i think debate about whether it is really blue, or instead a semi-moronic shade of the colour green, may spell the end of a potential world dominating species through fillibustering and and neither side wishing to back down on their position.

Seriously, mammals going into water (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otter)? That's just fucking stupid.

Invalid comparison. Land and water require different things. Land requires an assload of support and water retention. Water does not. Cephalopods have no method of supporting themselves on land. They have no skeleton. If they evolved one, the differences would be so drastic that they wouldn't be considered cephalopods anymore aside from a purely technical stance.

Edit: Of course, cephalopods have never even managed to get into freshwater, which requires things that one needs on land. Can never remember the specific term. Got to do with regulating the amount of solute in their cells. Saltwater animals need to do far less of that than freshwater animals. If they haven't managed that in hundreds of millions of years, they won't manage land.

Invalid comparison. Land and water require different things. Land requires an assload of support and water retention. Water does not. Cephalopods have no method of supporting themselves on land. They have no skeleton. If they evolved one, the differences would be so drastic that they wouldn't be considered cephalopods anymore aside from a purely technical stance.

Okay, you've got a point there, because that show was idiotic, though amusing, but what the hell was up with the Mythbusters jab? Yeah, it's entertaining blow-stuff-up at times, but come on, it intrigues even my sister, who HATES science and technology. Yet she's learning stuff. Frankly, I like it.

Invalid comparison. Land and water require different things. Land requires an assload of support and water retention. Water does not. Cephalopods have no method of supporting themselves on land. They have no skeleton. If they evolved one, the differences would be so drastic that they wouldn't be considered cephalopods anymore aside from a purely technical stance.

It's just a fantasy television series.

That is kind of the point of evolution, any animal can, eventually, fill any niche. I never said they would still be cephalopods.

It's just a fantasy television series.

That is kind of the point of evolution, any animal can, eventually, fill any niche. I never said they would still be cephalopods.

Except any animal cannot, eventually, fill any niche. No terrestrial endotherm will ever fill a terrestrial scavenger niche. No animal will ever fill the producer niche.

And you did say they would still be cephalopods when you called them squid.

Okay, you've got a point there, because that show was idiotic, though amusing, but what the hell was up with the Mythbusters jab? Yeah, it's entertaining blow-stuff-up at times, but come on, it intrigues even my sister, who HATES science and technology. Yet she's learning stuff. Frankly, I like it.

Oh, Mythbusters is normally fine, but the fact that they called the myth "Busted" after they demonstrated that their experiment was flawed is not good science. Good science would be to repeat the experiment and make sure it wasn't flawed.

Except any animal cannot, eventually, fill any niche. No terrestrial endotherm will ever fill a terrestrial scavenger niche. No animal will ever fill the producer niche.

And you did say they would still be cephalopods when you called them squid.

Given the right evolution and a couple trillion years, yes, an animal could be a producer.

I believe I said that squid would become the next sentient species (according to the Discovery channel), that doesn't mean that they would still be squids.

Oh, Mythbusters is normally fine, but the fact that they called the myth "Busted" after they demonstrated that their experiment was flawed is not good science. Good science would be to repeat the experiment and make sure it wasn't flawed.

Still better science than Brainiac.

Given the right evolution and a couple trillion years, yes, an animal could be a producer.

I believe I said that squid would become the next sentient species (according to the Discovery channel), that doesn't mean that they would still be squids.

What would a squid call itself?

Oh, Mythbusters is normally fine, but the fact that they called the myth "Busted" after they demonstrated that their experiment was flawed is not good science. Good science would be to repeat the experiment and make sure it wasn't flawed.

I suggest you watch the Mythbusters Outtakes special, where they expand upon various subjects that fans often critique them for, such as not repeating the experiment over and over to ensure it wasn't flawed, when they actually do, but just can't show that on television due to length or otherwise stuff.

And if you're referring to what I think you're referring to with the whole boat on fire thing, that was the Archemedes Death Ray. The whole thing the mirror towers from Age of Empires that were so ridiculously cheap in that one scenario were based on. Total bunk, as shown in the redux with MIT.

But I do agree that sometimes they do make mistakes. Hence why they revisit myths, which is neat.

Given the right evolution and a couple trillion years, yes, an animal could be a producer.


Nope. Especially since trillions of years do not exist. Life on Earth has around another 3 billion years, Animalia has less.

What would a squid call itself?

yfsa:DStes@!

(And I said "given")

Nope. Especially since trillions of years do not exist. Life on Earth has around another 3 billion years, Animalia has less.

I think maybe we'll at least figure how to live in space itself, or other worlds, or both by then. Maybe even figure out how to move the earth.

And if you're referring to what I think you're referring to with the whole boat on fire thing, that was the Archemedes Death Ray. The whole thing the mirror towers from Age of Empires that were so ridiculously cheap in that one scenario were based on. Total bunk, as shown in the redux with MIT.


That only means that said design was flawed. I've seen designs which have worked, and have set objects on fire. (They're generally concave. The degree of curvature determines the range at which it is capable of setting things on fire. It's only a small area that in which any given mirror can cause a fire. The less the degree of curvature, the further away the area is.

That only means that said design was flawed. I've seen designs which have worked, and have set objects on fire. (They're generally concave. The degree of curvature determines the range at which it is capable of setting things on fire. It's only a small area that in which any given mirror can cause a fire. The less the degree of curvature, the further away the area is.

Wouldn't you think a limitation like that limits it out as a possible weapon?

I think maybe we'll at least figure how to live in space itself, or other worlds, or both by then. Maybe even figure out how to move the earth.

Humanity won't last that long. We've got about three million years at most.

Wouldn't you think a limitation like that limits it out as a possible weapon?

Not unless you were lucky, or a supreme military Genius?

Wouldn't you think a limitation like that limits it out as a possible weapon?

Nope. Have multiple ones with different curvatures that can be angled up, down, and to both sides. If you can get a mirror with an adjustable curvature, even better. The popular telling of Archimedes's tower probably wouldn't work as well as often described, but even lighting one ship on fire out of sheer luck would likely have been enough to cause a rout.

The mirror tower was apparently only used once anyways. It was his Claw that was said to have been used most often, and we know that would work.

Nope. Have multiple ones with different curvatures that can be angled up, down, and to both sides. If you can get a mirror with an adjustable curvature, even better. The popular telling of Archimedes's tower probably wouldn't work as well as often described, but even lighting one ship on fire out of sheer luck would likely have been enough to cause a rout.

Ok sure. I always thought the Myth Busters were a little full of themselves, but hey, it's quality entertainment.

Cockroaches won't survive a nuclear holocaust. They're too dependent on humans to survive. Ditto rats. Birds suffer more from environmental toxins than pretty much everything but amphibians. Ants wouldn't work, what with the whole being ectothermic bit. That removes bees as well. We get a nuclear holocaust, and there likely won't be any more sapient life, since the few things that are close will die with us.
So we just start from scratch. Fine with me.

But I don't believe cockroaches or small mammals like rats wouldn't survive.

After all, they survived the dinosaurs and did pretty well in the meantime without us humans.

So we just start from scratch. Fine with me.

But I don't believe cockroaches or small mammals like rats wouldn't survive.

After all, they survived the dinosaurs and did pretty well in the meantime without us humans.

Do cockroaches make honey? Do they make any sweet and tasty treats? NO. Fuck 'em.

Do cockroaches make honey? Do they make any sweet and tasty treats? NO. Fuck 'em.

Not unless you dip them in chocolate. mmm tasty.

Do cockroaches make honey? Do they make any sweet and tasty treats? NO. Fuck 'em.

I'm sure they only require training...

But I don't believe cockroaches or small mammals like rats wouldn't survive.


They've evolved along with us. They can no longer live without us.

I'm sure they only require training...

Too much time, man! I need honey now!

Too much time, man! I need honey now!
Why can't you just switch to a different addiction? I hear that heroin does wonders for your writing skills.

Why can't you just switch to a different addiction? I hear that heroin does wonders for your writing skills.

I already had all these needles specifically designed to handle honey injection. Now, I have to go out and get heroin needles? I'm not made of money.

What would a squid call itself?

Red-Orange-flashy blue and green pattern - brown.

I already had all these needles specifically designed to handle honey injection. Now, I have to go out and get heroin needles? I'm not made of money.
There's no need to go out and buy needles, just get some second hand. Your local hospital throws away hundreds of perfectly good needles each day: all you need to do is find one of those orange containers with this symbol (http://oregonstate.edu/research/Images/hazbio.gif) on it, stick your hand in and blindly grope around for a few minutes.
Before you know it, you'll have enough needles and communicable diseases to make all of your fellow junkies at the YMCA jealous.

There's no need to go out and buy needles, just get some second hand. Your local hospital throws away hundreds of perfectly good needles each day: all you need to do is find one of those orange containers with this symbol (http://oregonstate.edu/research/Images/hazbio.gif) on it, stick your hand in and blindly grope around for a few minutes.
Before you know it, you'll have enough needles and communicable diseases to make all of your fellow junkies at the YMCA jealous.

Your words are wise and I was wrong to have doubted you. Now, it's off to find a way to transport myself to a hospital in my honey induced haze.