In the winter of 2006, a strange phenomenon fell upon honeybee hives across the country. Without a trace, millions of bees vanished from their hives. A precious pollinator of fruits and vegetables, the disappearing bees left billions of dollars of crops at risk and threatened our food supply. The epidemic set researchers scrambling to discover why honeybees were dying in record numbers — and to stop the epidemic in its tracks before it spread further.
Silence of the Bees is the first in-depth look at the search to uncover what is killing the honeybee. The filmmakers of Bees take viewers around the world to the sites of fallen hives, to high-tech labs, where scientists race to uncover clues, and even deep inside honeybee colonies. Silence of the Bees is the story of a riveting, ongoing investigation to save honeybees from dying out. The film goes beyond the unsolved mystery to tell the story of the honeybee itself, its invaluable impact on our diets and takes a look at what’s at stake if honeybees disappear. Silence of the Bees explores the complex world of the honeybee in crisis and instills in viewers a sense of urgency to learn ways to help these extraordinary animals.
Silence of the Bees premiered on PBS October 28, 2007.
Exclusive Podcast: In this podcast, scientists and bee experts featured in the program discuss the crucial role that honeybees, a “keystone species,” play in our economy and ecosystems, as well as bees’ fascinating social organization and what we can do to reverse the decline of nature’s pollinators.
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A Few Thoughts On Genetically Re-engineered Foods
I’ve seen the Silence Of The Bees program twice now and realized that our genetically re-engineered foods were not mentioned at all. What if the pollen created by the genetically superior food blossoms is somehow to blame? I’m no scientist, but what good are organically grown foods if they are grown from genetically perverse seeds? The bees will be feeding on pollen that may be lacking in needed nutrition. It’s no different than pure bread dogs in the respect to certain breeds becoming less intelligent or more aggressive over time. Could the pollen created thus be losing it’s nutritious qualities to bees over time, to reflect the malnutrition mentioned in the program?
Really, who needs softball sized tomatoes? Maybe we should consider that the entire plant, not just the fruit, is no longer the same and thus not only is it effecting us in different ways, but the bees as well. I see the loss of the bees as a precursor to, the world realizing the impact of these genetic giants that we ingest. Once upon a time, preservatives and certain fats were considered the “end and be all” in the food industry. Notice that they are now both limited in their use and consumption for adverse health reasons. Look at the exponential growth of disease effecting the citizens of the world. Many nutritionists blame not only “junk foods” but the foods we eat. If these foods could be proven to be the cause of some of these diseases because our bodies somehow have become effected over time by processing these new foods, why wouldn’t they effect bees too? It’s said over and over, “we are what we eat”. This must apply to bees as well.
[...] Nature, recently had a wonderful special on the issue called "Silence of the Bees." Nature . Honeybees, Colony Collapse Disorder | Silence of the Bees: Introduction | PBS [...]
Caroline; you raised an interesting point about genetically engineered plant foods. But most of the research done in this area involves grain foods such as newer strains producing higher yields consisting of largely wind pollinated wheat, oats, barley and corn—not really a problem requiring honey bees. However, the analysis posed in solving the dilemma dealt with the biological, chemical, and disease epidemiology in search of a cause for CCD in Honey Bee hives. Yet, one important factor was overlooked.
Several years ago I contacted the USGS-(United States Geological Survey) with an inquiry regarding the Earth’s magnetic field. Two geologists affirmed for at least the past 50-years the planet’s magnetic field has been weakening. This means the Earth’s magnetosphere is also gradually shrinking; hence, causes larger ozone holes over the Polar Regions. A smaller and thinner magnetosphere allows more UV-light to penetrate down through the atmosphere to the surface. Higher UV-radiation means two things, first increased skin cancers, which has been happening, and the extinction of UV-sensitive species such as frogs or other moist skinned amphibians and insects. Biologists studying these creatures in the tropics have also noted a marked reduction in frogs and various insect species in Central American jungles during recent years. Factor this problem with the others already examined in the Nature Documentary and we discover a correlation exists. Moreover, this should sound alarms around the globe considering the magnitude of the ramifications if this problem remains ignored. Left not addressed the global honey-bee CCD dilemma guarantees a global wide famine of unprecedented proportions within 30 or less years.
[...] of US honeybees vanished by the winter of 2005-2006, and another 35% last year. According to the PBS science program Nature, at the current rate of decline the honeybee population in the US will be gone by the year [...]
[...] pm on June 20, 2008 | # | Tags: nature, TV Watched “The Silence Of The Bees” online. [...]
As I watched the documentary, the first thought I had was that shipping bees from place to place is going to expose them to lots of different diseases. Bees in one place may get hit by a disease from time to time, but if you take them everywhere, then they are going to get hit by lots of them. The show indicated that there was a wide range of problems found in some of the bees. I wonder if sharing more bees among fewer places would give the bees more of a fighting chance?
Also, I wonder why China hasn’t tried re-importing bees? Or are they still using the pesticides that would kill them back off?
I just watched the Bee Documentary on PBS and I had never heard of this CCD problem before. Why is a problem as important as disappearing bees not more out in the open? Our gosh dern bees are disappearing for heaven’s sake.
I have one question – Has the first comment by Caroline been sent to every genetic engineer on the planet? (I sure hope so) When are we humans going to be OK with what we have? Oops, – that was two questions.
One thing is certain – we shall soon find ourselves busy as bees tryin to figure this one out. That or a diet of wheat and corn. No wait, corn is for cars now. Oh I’m so confused… SUPPORT THE BEES… BRING ‘EM HOME…
As I watched the Nature special on CCD I was alone in my home, eating breakfast, and quickly became enthralled. About three-fourths of the way into the program it begain to describe the loss of bees in Beijing, and then mentioned that China was exporting royal jelly to feed larva in breeding hives all over the world. I exclaimed out loud- “It’s the royal jelly!”. Moments later the american scientist at the Australian symposium stated that royal jelly from china was found to contain the Israelian Bee disease.
What studies have been done to connect hives being fed chinese royal jelly and hives afflicted with CCD? We have all seen continued evidence of China’s lack of food and product quality control. It seems obvious that bee farmer’s need to find a new source of royal jelly for breeding and that they should completely quarantine entire farms, not just hives, of bees which have any evidence of infection. Who else can we write to about this devestating natural disruption?
Of “genetically re-engineered foods”,I would think that would have been one of the first things looked at and would have been easily proven to be the cause if it was. So I don’t re-engineered foods are in issue in this instance.
[...] http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/by-title/introduction-2/38/ [...]
Just a tiny nitpick. Caroline wrote, “what good are organically grown foods if they are grown from genetically perverse seeds?” If a product is certified organic, that means that in addition to being grown without pesticides, etc., that it is not grown from GM seeds. The USDA organic certification program does have some flaws, but it does prohibit GMOs.
[...] Cool Viewing: Nature: Silence of the Bees [...]
[...] section in TV Week dedicated to this year’s Peabody Award winners offers a look at Nature’s Silence of the Bees (watch [...]
Living in the country in SE, Minnesota for the past 30 eyars we have seen a steady decline of pollinators. It has risen rapidly with the introduction of GMO seed ( corn / beans ). This seed seems to have the effect of an insectcide on all insects and this past year or so many of the neighbors who plant soy beans have simply said they cannot find soy bean seed that is not coated with an insectcide. But these folks that peddle this stuff only care about controlling the crop structure and frankly don’t give a hoot about the damage done by their actions. Today is the 4th and our Linden Tree is in full bloom. You can get the aroma a half mile away downwind. Right now it is full of flies and not honey bees. At least the wild insects that are somehow surving around here are helping. This should be a major concern we all need to do something about.
[...] many years now. The native bees are charming pollinators who continue doing their thing while colony collapse threatens the imported honeybee. But in the last two years, a new bee has taken over the holes in [...]
I agree with other readers that genetically modified crops may very well be a culprit with CCD. I also would not be surprised if the global expansion and use of cell phones and microwave technology are having a strong impact.
[...] cockroaches are my favorites. So I was quite disturbed back in October of 2007 when I saw a show on Nature about the disappearance of the honeybees. Colony Collapse Disorder made lots of headlines after [...]
I have not heard another thing said, good or bad, since having seen your special about CCD, and am wondering if the disappearing honey bee issue has been resolved or not? Please advise.
I’m surprised no one has even considered the possibility of radiation.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/are-mobile-phones-wiping-out-our-bees-444768.html
“German research has long shown that bees’ behaviour changes near power lines.”
If you want to contact her Sen Barbara Boxer is working on this problem in her role as a member of the Senate Agriculture subcommittee. There are some excellent posts on this thread. Things I had not thought of. Good stuff. Thank you
I first saw this show in June 08. It gave me a knot in my gut that won’t go away. I’d been unaware of the scope of the issue. We have to solve this mystery ASAP! I haven’t seen a local honeybee all summer yet- for the first time ever this year.
I’m posting about it this week, linking here.
Please keep the research going- so many factors, so little time-
I agree with #8 Noah Sanders. In the name of a fast buck the Chinese first tried to poison our kids with lead paint. Then they tried to kill our pets with bad dog food. Now it looks like they are killing the bees with bad Royal Jelly.
[...] A recent episode of Nature, on Public Television, on this very topic, was entitled, “Silence of the Bees.” It was compelling, with the message that colony collapse disorder is probably caused by many factors. The full episode can be viewed on the PBS website: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/silence-of-the-bees/introduction/38/ [...]
i have an idea for keeping bees myself using brown japenese knot weed tied together i am going to try this and i hope it will work.
Imagine our world without bees, This would be an incredible problem, for food. I hope the current scientists can come up with some way to Restore Precious Bees..
Nature Freak I am, Thank you PBS for all of the Content on Nature, I Love IT!!!
If you happen to be a viewer of the PBS television network in the USA, which is watched by 73 million people a week and provides “high-quality documentary and dramatic entertainment”[vii] then you may have come across a documentary called “Silence of the Bees,” which showed the potential impact of Colony Collapse Disorder. I hesitate to quote from the trailer, but here goes:
“Life as we know it, I don’t think will exist.”
“You won’t get any fruits, and you won’t get any vegetables.”
“We’re scared to death!”[viii]
I hope those people were quoted out of context because they really looked like they were gearing up for global collapse. Actually, that may not be such a stupid idea, but it probably won’t have anything to do with bees. The sober truth is that if the world’s bees disappeared we would be faced with a disaster of sorts, but that disaster would be far more economic than ecological.
http://www.farnish.plus.com/amatterofscale/chapter4.htm
the humans are busy killing them selfs.Imagine life without bees,no fruits no vegetables camon people treat nature with respect because without nature we cant survive
Great Documentary! And you can’t blame the Chinese for adopting capitalist ideals in terms of ‘lets make a buck’. How often has the western hemisphere done exactly the same thing? Only we’ve covered it up numerous times and not been caught. They were just unlucky in my opinion. And this has been shown to contact the what? Israelian Bee disease? And where would that have come from? So we have an Israeli export to China which is now destroying our bees. Don’t go blaming China in this case, follow it back to its source, thats your problem.
Why isn’t more being done to encourage the local native bees? We should be encouraging the local bees and other pollinating species and going back to basics. At least then if we can produce food we can build upon it, but at the moment without pollinators we’re screwed. What this should show us is that if you get dependant upon one product or service it will eventually bite you, and at the moment we’re getting bitten! Hopefully we’ll learn from this? Hopefully
I watched this video and was intrigued enough by the subject to do some additional research. Unfortunately, I found out some disturbing facts that show some bias by the filmakers in their coverage of this important event-
According to Michael Shacker’s book, ‘A Spring Without Bees’ the French first began to face CCD in the mid 90’s and are far down the road in understanding CCD and in resolving it. Having run all the traps from mites to genetically modified crops etc. the culprit appears to be a class of chlorinated nicotine based neurotoxin pesticides called neonicotinoid most typically imidacloprid and Fibronil. Sometimes called IMD’s these products are marketed under the names GAUCHO and the product is made by BAYER, the German Chemical Company (known here in the US for it’s aspirin products). In any case, after the French banned their use, bees in southern France did recover and ‘came back’ as early as 2005.Curiously, this film did not mention the French conclusions nor the recovery of the French Bees as early as 2005. The film seemed to show extraordinary sympathy to the researchers at Pennsylvania State who are working so hard to address CCD. However, as Schacker points out, Page 106 and 107, Bayer’s US operations are in Pittsburgh and Bayer has close ties to Penn State having given over $3.7MM to the university and $300,000 in scholarship grants. Curiously, the Penn State CCD Working Group has spent no time, according to Schacker, researching the French conclusions about Bayer’s IMD products.Schacker feels that Bayer is influencing the Penn State work away from examining its product.
I don’t suspect NPR is biased in any way but find it curious that I’m the only one in this blog to have commented on the ‘French Connection’. I’ll be pleased if NPR allows my post to stand or if Bayer will somehow file a protest. But Schacker’s work is available for anyone to review and is clearly in the public domain. I don’t feel there should be harm in asking others to consider his conclusions and when last I checked the French are serious enough scientists regardless of what else we may think of them.
Thanks. give http://www.planbeecentral.com a look see too.
Bob Tormey
well i can say everyone has a different theory as to why they are dissappering. so all i can say is my piont of veiw. with the first time i started to hear about CCD and talking with other beekeepers some had problems and some did not and from what i see and hear from the first case to now.. is care..health care for bees..if you work to hard and dont get time to rest your immune system gets weak and you can at times get sick..if you ship your bees from wisc. to florida, to calif. and ect place after place with forced to work certian fruits then they naturaly are not getting the proper food they need.. if u eat fast food for a long period of time and thats it then your body will start going backwards. you get your honey let them sit and take care of themselves dont get greedy for that extra dollar there like kids take care of them our bees sit for almost 5 mons before they go to calif. for the pollination and then we sit them and work them back to health so the are good for the next crop yr we dont push them to the end……dont be greedy take care of you kids(bees)…
Thank you Bob Tormey! I am headed to http://www.planbbecentral.com right now. I am on a focus group to advise our local Board of Sups as to the need for a ban on GMO’s. I have bees and formed the opinion there is a link in CCD and increased GMO production in our area. This will give me another tool to use. Thanks again,
Larry Heine
[...] Colony Collapse Disorder. (A Congressional Research Service report and an episode of PBS’s Nature provides a good background of CCD.) Between 1945 and 2005, there was a a major decrease in the [...]
I want to thank PBS for providing such a wonderful Educational material, my students at BCIS watched the documentary and are preparing Power Points based on the Silence of the Bees.
They learned so much….
[...] Silence of the Bees, by Nature on PBS This was an excellent special I caught back in June. Taking an investigative view by attempting to get to the root of the problem, researches seem to go in circles trying to find what is causing colony collapse. Have you caught it yet? You can watch it here. PLUS a ton of more information from Nature and Nova. [...]
[...] For more information on the Honey Bee, watch the PBS Nature Special. [...]
I’m a Horticulture major at West Virginia University. Multiple factors effect disease in the Western Honey bee (Apis Mellifera). We’re dealing with Mites, Viruses, Fungi, and even the bee’s own behaviors. Will brings up a very good point about the Earths magnetic field. Honey bees build their combs North to South. Without that magnetic field the combs are built in a random direction. However I don’t believe this would effect their ability to forage during the day since they don’t need a strong magnetic field to function.
Well, this is interesting debate. #36 Wesley finally points to multiple factors causing CCD. I think He’s right.
I’ve been a commercial beekeeper for 40 years, working 5 species of bees on four continents. I worked for a number of years as a “problem-crusher” with A. cerana and have worked particularly on disease, pest and absconding.
I’ve seen CCD in many populations at many different times and localities since 1972. It is most often caused by a new disease, and the bees tend to overcome it after some years, the always-present “resistance” being transmitted to the offspring of those colonies that survive and manage to swarm. I’ve seen it with the Thai Sackbrood virus in Apis cerana, and I’ve seen it in my own bees when Varroa entered my country (Denmark). We saw it with the “Isle of Wight-disease”, which wiped out the bees on that island. Widespread collapse was also seen for some years, caused by using formic acid for treatment. And now, after 25 years, I can lean back and see that the mites are all gone.
(Well, I did go to Primorsky and collected some queens and brought back home for hybridization with my own stock. That was a successful idea…)
The CCD is most probably a phenomenon which takes place at various localities at various times, and the beekeepers weep for a while but then they cheer up when it is all over, because they now have better bees. Americans are notorious for weeping very loud when misfortune strikes, and there are many great beekeepers who see their livelihood threatened.
Man always mis-estimates his impact on Nature. Sometimes he does great damage, sometimes Nature repairs Herself easily.
The honeybees have been around for a long time and though they are easily killed locally, they’re also very adjustable and mobile. I don’t think they’ll die out globally, and if they’re badly hurt in one locality because of Man’s stupid actions – well, the people of that locality will have to bear the loss and learn from experience.
I also agree with those who claim that the beekeepersw “overwork” their bees, moving them continously among crops for pollination. It is quite possible, that bees have to undergo a natural annual development-cycle to maintain their immune-system.
Excellent observations Bob (#29) – I am highly suspicious that there is a STRONG chemical lobby at work here that is controlling the research. Bottom line for beekeepers……don’t use chemicals in your hives and avoid exposure to pesticide chemicals whenever possible. Can’t understand why they keep saying that CCD is a ‘mystery’ when we know the answer is chemicals. The ‘French Connection’ is right-on. Thanks for bringing that to light.
is it possible for human communications tech to somehow disturb bee communication?
[...] threats and a mysterious disease called Colony Collapse Disorder. Watch this to learn more: Silence of the Bees. As we all know, bees are necessary to our continued existence, the food chain on Earth and if [...]
Why aren’t researchers looking into or even mentioning the wireless boom in the disappearance of the honeybees? ‘Think’ cell phone and wifi towers and antennas especially. Colony Collapse Disorder parallels the wireless boom perfectly, and it might explain why the bees just fly off and die, instead of returning to the hive. See graph below, and google the Bioinitiative Report to see what chronic exposure to unnatural levels of electromagnetic/microwave radiation can do to the body’s immune system.
http://www.mobilemastinfo.com/information/history.htm
Bye bye, bees. Can you hear me now?
[...] http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/by-title/introduction-2/38/ [...]
Hey everybody, We are talking about bees right. Let’s back up and remember that the United States is killing millions of babies. That would be human beings! God created babies and bees. If we kill His babies then do you blame Him for allowing the bees to be killed! Think about it. God rules everything!
Don’t blame genetically modified blossoms or pesticides alone until you’ve listened to B. Blake Levitt’s ‘What’s Happening in Nature?’…
http://electromagnetichealth.org/audio-archives-and-more/#patients
Check out an informative (and very entertaining) video about bees: http://www.whatyououghttoknow.com/show/2008/07/01/bees/
Interesting!
I’m sure there are MANY reasons for the demise of the bees. I was saddened to see the cell phone theory dismissed so suddenly when Dr. Frank Carlo in Florida has been researching this topic in bees as well as homing pigeons and has tons of anecdotal evidence. The bees can’t get home because their homing mechanisms are operating at the same frequency.
The theory about disease from the study by the professor at University of Florida, I found was funded by T-Mobile. As usual, FOLLOW THE MONEY! A lot of my non-American friends were disbelieving and appalled at this obvious self-serving largesse.
Having said all of this I’m sure that lack of habitat, pesticides, GMO’s, etc. play a role as well, and always have. But the sudden rise in CCD can be attributed to much of our wireless technology.
Either way, no one is willing to make any sacrifices to give up their conviences or profits … if they can’t see it, it’s not dirty.
I was surprised to watch this program and then I saw it was made a couple of years ago. I remembered that I read that the bee collapse had been explained and addressed. http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13226733.
It seems to be human nature to swing to the wildest explanation and then not update our understanding in light of new information. Each year some bees die. Some years more than others. It requires constant work but not panic. (Honey bees are not native to North America, BTW, and have always been a “managed resource” here.) This year there is a surplus of bees working in California.
The program carried a lot about China. China is an ecological disaster. We did not go down that route and I hope the Chinese get off it. Otherwise we are all doomed.
I would like to see more on comments #29 and #37 covered- A parallel reporting of the French bee issues and resolution would have made a lot of sense. Also, why haven’t the Chinese pear farmers re-established the honeybee on their hills? If the pesticides are gone, this is a natural next question. The Royal Jelly looks like the real culprit in spreading the issue so widely in such a short period of time.
I’ve noticed recently that bees seem to be getting into buildings more than before. Why would bees and wasps come inside a building ? I’ve seen them flying around and I’ve seen them dead on the floor. Also, one summer when it was extremely hot in our city, I was seeing butterflies dying and I assumed it was just too hot for them and not enough rain to cool things off..
I found this documentary to be far too alarmist throughout in its delivery. There are numerous other species of bees, leafcutters, orchard mason, bumble bees, that pollinate crops and are not effected by CCD. Hell even in the documentary they mentioned the Africanized honey bees as being immune to the virus they believe was the culprit to the most recent wave of hives losses. The idea we’ll all be eating gruel if the commercial honey bee industry collapses is just not true.
I do think that there are many factors that are affecting the honeybee population- diseases, pesticides, viruses, and others. The chinese royal jelly probably plays a part. But what I have seen on the program and on this blog, I think I may of came up of what how the world’s bees are dying. Now before I start I must say that I’m not pointing fingers at anyone.
It may of started with the large usage of toxic pesticides on plants that bees pollinate, getting it into their systems, weakening them. Also, the toxins may of gotten into the royal jelly that was being collected in China and being shipped to bee breeders to feed the larvae with so the toxin travels from hive to hive, weakening them and getting the toxin in all the things they make. Also, disease may of had a role to play. On the program, they talked about a disease called IVAD that was present in all the hives that were suffering from CCD. It’s from the Middle East, so it may of gotten carried from the bees there to Australia, where a bee convention is held yearly,there it was transfered to other bees there, which spread it world wide. It also may of been in the bees that the chinese royal jelly was obtained. But this may not be the sole culprit. There are other factors to consider, so they may be only two of the probems causing CCD to occur but they may be the major culprits- the heavy use of pesticides and disease. This is just my idea of what happened.
I have not read all the comments above, but watched the program tonight on PBS. I am astounded that no one seems to notice that, in the cities at least, all insects are disappearing. In the last few years I have not seen any hornets, wasps, bumble bees, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, etc. and also incidently no honey bees. There are a few flies lately because of the garbage workers strike, but usually I may see one or two a year. Are they all subject to CCD? There are also no bats, no songbirds, no spiders, very few skunks, etc., because of the lack of insects. I am convinced that it is diet drinks doing the damage. Schoolchildren take two gulps and leave the rest for the wildlife. If you go two miles or more into the wilderness you start to see small polinators and I suppose if you go far enough you will actually find bees. I have tried to get government officials to investigate this poison but have had no luck. I assume it is fear of reaction from certain corporations but if consequences are as bad as pedicted –
@John Matel (and possibly others (didn’t read every comment)) anyway – just watched the show then wiki’ed ccd to find out more. Boy was I surprised to find out that the honey bee is NOT-NATIVE to North America and that no native species really require such pollinators except at large monocultural scale…WOW. can they even be considered non-genetically modified themselves?
It’s sad that people dont pay attention to this wonderful creature, the honeybee. Its work is fundamentally important…try pollinating as much as they do. Cant do it.
This was a very interesting show tonight, very interesting. And I enjoyed reading all the comments as well.
I know where the bees are- in my organic backyard garden! We were just recently commenting about how many bees we have in our yard this year- noticeably greater in number…hmmm. I think it may be that our bees are smarter than we know (or are). Maybe they don’t like the industrialized farms with their genetically altered crops as much as we don’t like the watered/pus filled, anemic looking, tasteless vegetables in our markets :). Could it be that hanging out in these fields, working diligently as bees do, lowered their immune systems and when we introduced these Australian bees to our already physically compromised bees, their little bodies couldn’t fight off a new virus? I mean seriously, does anyone really expect there to NOT be problems when we play around with genetics? We are at the top of the food chain, are we not? What we do to the environment on a large scale will effect us- duh! Doesn’t anyone notice that we are all unhealthy, and have problems ranging from women having hysterectomies earlier to little girls starting their menstrual cycles earlier, people dying all around us, some at much younger ages? Pesticides, hormones, synthetic fertilizers, genetically altered foods- yes, foods- tomatoes are top, soy is another top and it’s in everything. There are (especially in the US) so many hectares of land dedicated to GMOs- it is staggering! They, in turn, affect (or infect!) the organic farms that are near by.
Why is it that we can’t learn that maybe their might be something wrong with a seemingly harmless synthetic fertilizer- when the worms take off in soils where they’re used? Are we smarter than the worm? Are we really so stupid that we don’t see that we need to go back to small acre or 2 sized micro farms located in cities or just right outside that produce ‘real food’ locally, fresh. Does anyone even remember what a tomato is supposed to taste like?
Okay, I’m done ranting- great program and one that obviously got my panties in a wad!
Could the approaching of the year 2012 have something to do with this problem?
The year 2012 has nothing to do with it at all. It’s just a myth that the world will end in 2012. Not trying to insut you here.
By the way, we need to reduce pesticide use. Unless we want to kill other animals becides honey bees>
What jumped out at me in the piece was the bit about fungus, that the bees were all found with the same fungus that is found in all humans with auto-immune disease. so, is it pesticides that cause auto-immune disease?? What will cure an internal fungus (in a human?)
Also, the fact that the Chinese are sure it’s pesticides that killed their bees….makes sense to me that is must be pesticides that are killing our bees as well….but the chemical industry is paying researchers to continue to look…so that we look the other way too.
Well Friends my vote goes to the pesticides that we are now using everywhere. Mostly though as a culture
we have lost touch with our Earth and where our food comes from. As a first grade teacher I am astounded at how little the parents know about insects and how
freaked out they are when they see one. I am doing a small bit to try to get children interested in our
environment. We all need to pitch in to educate.
This program and others like it are significantly silent on one of the major sources of chemicals to which bees are exposed to routinely and that is the chemicals put in the hive by the beekeepers themselves. Just go to https://www.dadant.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=26_52&sort=2a&page=3 the Dadant BeeSupply Online Catalog and see the variety of chemicals available to and used by most commercial and many hobbiest beekeepers. Chemicals to kill mites, bacteria, protozoa, hive beetles and also chemicals for storing empty hives boxes to prevent wax moths from invading. All these chemicals hurt the bees and reduce their immune systems and also get absorbed into the wax which is reused every year to store honey and eventually can make their way into the honey. There are about 3000 of us organic beekeepers who do not use any chemicals at all and as far as I know have not experienced the Colony Collapse Disorder. We do lose hives from time to time but usually that’s because of beekeeper stupidity, misjudgment or really bad winter conditions, bears, skunks etc. For a really good explanation of what we are doing go to http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm
Thanks,
Ed
Genetically modified food were created to relace insecticides…Once-as an experiment-I bought an apple ..I kept it for one year and it never rotten. It shrank because it became dehydrated…These apples were difficult to digest…they never ripened…With genetically modified pollen and nectar, bees are dying because they can not digest them…DOWN with Monsanto: GM Vegetables and Plants…Lets go back to Nature and the real thing..
[...] Silence of the Bees, though, shown in full on PBS.org, explains a lot about what’s happening and where research is now on it. It’s not as dry as some PBS specials, I recommend giving it a look. [...]
[...] To learn more about the mystery behind the disappearing honeybees check out a video produced by PBS called Silence of the Bees [...]
I live in virginia and i watch the program the other night. i really didnt think that it was all that serious untill this morning when i stepped outside my house and looked at the flowers to find no bees on them at all. there are no bees in site still.
I live in Michigan and we have a lot of flowers up here, so ther should be a lot of bees but this yea has had the least amount of bees I’ve ever seen.
Hey guys, this ‘CCD’ order is simply the bees dissapering, leaving behind their Hive, young and queen, right?
Where’d they go?
For the last week now eveytime I go outside there is a bee on it’s back with it’s legs waving around and it can’t flip over. Sometimes when I find them they have no pollen on them and ants were begining to swarm and eat them.
Could other symptoms of CCD be Loss of balence, Direction problems, dizzyness, moter skills failing and death by the common ant that finds the confused bee on the ground?
I’m not finding one or two bees, i’m find 20 to 40 bees, I pick up every one I can and place them on flowers and trees to escape the horeds of hungry ants. Ants often cut up their prey and take it to the nest to be eaten, so that would explain why no bodys are found, the bodys are in pieces underground.
I don’t know how or why the bees fall but when they do, they don’t get up without help. Bees are very importen to the world and to people.
If this helps then i’ve done my good deed, if you need to know where I am finding the bees, I live in NW Arkansas, Springdale. I find them on sidewalks and roads everywhere. From the tiny honey bees to the huge bumble bees.
I do the best I can but it’s not enough.
~Ray Monya.
I am very surprised at the comments here. This has already been deifinitvely determined to have been caused by Clothianidin, made by Bayer Pharmaceutical. Check google. The Germans outlawed it and everything returned to normal. Does pbs have anything to fear from Bayer? sponsorship maybe?
Okay so Germany has bees. No need to panic. Bees are just one of the pollinators anyway. How come all these “scientific” documentaries are made as warnings and seem to create panics and sell $19.95 videos to raise money for public programming? This is bogus science.
I believe strongly that Caroline (the first post) is correct on her theory. Google key word ” GM Foods affecting butterflies. ” This will bring up articles on how GM foods have a porportion to kill off 50% of the butterfly population when tested.
Note that Albert Einstein quoted ” “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” This is pure logic and reason in which he used.
“In fact, about one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”
Also, the chemicals that farmers spray on their crops could play a role.
But how can we reduce the GM food, and the chemcial spraying with the demand of the food world wide? And if we do not reduce these two entities, then it seems inevitable that the bees are going to be reduced drastically like they have been already, and thus will pass a threshold of no return?
This show made me feel real sad… A few weeks ago i found a beehive in my rose bush and decided to just leave it there. Something told me, they must be something wrong with them if they are not attacking me, or just hanging in such an odd place. After watching this I didnt know what to do with myself, wow! what are we as humans gonna do? those poor busy workers are dying on us!
I recently processed a research paper on the declining honeybee & how it is & will continue to affect agriculture. I found this research paper very interesting. I had no idea this was such a serious issue. I have seen various news clips on the disappearing honeybee; however I didn’t realize what a significant decline there has been over the past 2-3 years. I can see that if this continues our agricultural crops will be in danger of pollinating. I realize there are many other insects that can pollinate; however the honeybee is the most dominate of them. I feel there should be more publicity on this matter as there are many people that don’t realize how serious this is, nor do the even know there is a problem with the honeybees disappearing. I feel everyone should be informed of this & take steps to protect the honeybees we have. We need these little insects to keep food on our tables.
[...] giving it away, I recommend you visit PBS.org for updates on the topic and even the chance to watch an episode. It is very educational and [...]
Hey Mel, accourding to the documentary regarding ccd is that both wild and kept are some what effected. They have narrowed it down to a Virus, plus the fact of Chemicals, pollution, and even diet play a role in all bee’s. It actually has been traced to bees from Australia, which in 06 with the USA decline in bee’s we got replacements from Australia. The bee’s had traces of the virus but it wasn’t totally conclusive at the time of this documentary.
Anyways I can’t wait to harvest my honey….
Bee healthy eat your honey.
I love Bees. I love Honey Bees. I lived and managed an apt complex in Arkansas & I used to purchase Bee- Alive Honey Products & Royal Jelly from this company in 1994 so had some in my refridgerator. Seeing a bee on the ledge seemingly die from its 28 days of work or what, I was prompted to go get some Royal Jelly ( cold or not) and put some by its little mouth area. After the shaking quit of chills, it got up slowly and began doing a cross walk of back & forth movements to probably direct itself back or however they find you again. I then saw a spider coming after it so I picked it up in the spoon and it of course let me as it was near more jelly, to which I sat it on the Mum Plant I had.It took off approximately 10 minutes later and more came back with it that afternoon. The moral of this story is I love bees. I had a similar story here in Ok this spring. By feeding one little dying bee some sugar water, no Royal Jelly this time, I sat that slow walking little bee on the spoon and put it near the bowl of sugar water. Thinking I had done my best to save it’s life I came inside forgetting about it. About 4:30 when my husband went out to feed our dog there were over 1,000 bees swarming that bowl and spoon to which he was a bit disgruntled at me as he could have been stung. I said, “Oh No, they love me and know this is an offering of love.” To which I went out and moved the bowl near the garage and most of them followed and soon all were pretty much moved.
Oh I forgot to mention the entire bunch was back the next day wanting more sugar water…and thus I did give them two bowls….but a little further from our back door. I live out in the country and my mom used to have two Supers and we all enjoyed that part of the farm life. I still do but rent now so can’t harvest honey without owning a home where I can care for them. I do not know why most of the Bees are leaving or dying however I do believe it has something to do with the current process of pesticides, and chemicals in our current foods where by many may swarm trash cans, flowers that have been sprayed. I also noted a film of sorts or fungas growing on the bees dead bodies. We had a whole hive here at our back door in an old elm tree that is over 75 years old and the hum was so loud I got it on video camera. Then we had a drove of Big Black Carpenter Ants which invaded the tree. Which in no time at all, less than a month, all the bees were being found dead on our porch and at the bottom of the tree areas. Either they brought a disease to them or they had some form of way of killing them with a virus or fungus. I do not know but they all died out in less than a month. I was so sad. Then our landlord came and sprayed with the strongest poison available for the embedded Scorpions under the house and all around it. We were being invaded by them as well. It has shown us something is out of kilter with the animal kingdom here for one reason or more. The bees relocated and come back with I put out sugar water. We have good ecology here now because we also have Hummingbirds, Swallows, Cardinals, Blue Jays, House Wrens, Mocking birds, Bluebirds living in my gourd and we buy good quality song bird feed. We like to see checks and balances in our yard and all working together for Gods blessings in our lives of Nature. God bless you for your work and may you see, hopefully a clue through some of this here in the countryside of Davis, OK where nature may be trying to come back to “Balance City.” Sincerely yours, Joyce Day Guy, Minister
Interesting documentary, but I was disappointed to hear towards the end that genetically modified bees may be the only solution to the problem. Don’t get me wrong, I love african bees, but i love diversity more. i don’t want to see the extinction of *any* bee species. why are we looking for the “one” cause of the disorder and not taking action based on what we’ve already found out? If there are multiple problems causing the suppression of bee immune systems, isn’t that enough to address to begin with? Maybe taking some straws off the camels back will help the camel survive under the weight of the “one”? I vote for bee diversity.
[...] have all the honeybees gone? An episode of NATURE called “Silence of the Bees” takes us all over the world to ask scientists that very question. Since the winter of 2006, [...]
I’ve noticed over the last month that the bees are eating the dog food like crazy. They just don’t have any flowers? I leave water out for them, but they are attracted to dog food.
although i really don’t like bees i know they play a very big part in our world. they help so that more flowers grow. and if you are like me and don’t like bees but want to help them here are some tips.
it’s good to plant flowers out side your house but far away from you as posible.
i also notice that if you take some honey or peanut butter and spread it on the grass they come in and eat that too.
I feel we as consumers should give up honey for 5 years so the bees can eat food meant for them. Hey they’re stressed enough as it is.
[...] (We don’t have the mite as of this writing.) We recently watched the re-broadcast of Silence of the Bees on Nature on PBS. It really is a great overview of what is happening with the Bees right now and [...]
A few posters have suggested that wi-fi and cellphone towers and/or the change in the Earth’s magnetic field may have something to do with declining bee populations worldwide. Australian bee populations haven’t experienced the decline occuring in the US and elsewhere and the big difference is the absence of Israeli acute paralysis virus and the parasitic honey bee tracheal mite here. I’ve referenced a paper on the former below:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;318/5848/283
Given that we rely on bees to pollinate about one-third of the crops/vegetables/fruits that end up on our dining table, we do need to be proactive in finding a solution. I’m aware that Australia has been exporting bees to the US, China and Europe and being used to populate irradiated hives in these countries. This is good, but ultimately we need to eradicate the virus and the mite causing the problems.
I’d hate to think what would happen if these two vectors ever managed to get a toehold in Australia.