One of the interesting quotes from this exceptional PBS program is that in terms of immediate ramifications the Bee Colony Collapse Syndrome (CCS) will be more catastrophic than Global Warming. I cannot vouch for this superlative statement, but CCS should be on your radar. The mainstream media in general has not done its job in making this environmental issue, the possible loss of bees, up-front-and-center of our attention.

The loss of bees could affect a third of the things we see growing around us and it will certainly profoundly affect our agriculture, meaning our economy, if this problem is not solved. The point that needs to be hammered on is that our government should make sure there are sufficient funds to conduct all the studies necessary to find out why bees are dying off. We cannot leave this to private industry or educational facilities. Check out “The Silence of the Bees” to get the importance of this issue—don’t wait for mainstream media to get in your face with this because they won’t get it until it’s too late.

Hi,
I’ve heard that the contrails from aircrafts may be infuencing viruses as they seed the air bacteria attach to the aluminum-fibers from the aircraft and fall to earth. Could this be affecting the honeybees as well as many deformed amphibians see by other scientists?

this gave me no information what so ever.

Has anyone looked into the low frequency sound known as “The Hum” which is being heard all over the world as a possible cause of Bee Colony Collapse Syndrome. I know this is affecting humans already. How is it affecting wildlife, including bees?

This was a very informative podcast and I hope more people can learn about the honeybee and what we can do to help them. I am proud to say I am going to have this as my topic for a problem/solution essay in my english class.

Hi
This was a very informative podcast and we hope more people can learn about the honeybees and what we can do to help them. We are proud to say we are going to have this as our topic for a science fair project.

it was good

it was increadibly horrible

Iam a local Beekeeper in East Tenessee. I found this program very enlighting and educational. Hope to see more programs on honeybees. Thank you

is there any thing special that i should be planting to help the bees or will my garden plants and wild flowers be enough?

If you take a look at Partners for Sustainable Pollination’s Bee Friendly Farming program (http://www.pfspbees.org/bff.htm) you will find a list of flowers that are beneficial for bees. Some of the ones included in mixtures they pass out at events are: Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnatum), Perennial Blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata), Bachelor Button (Centaurea cyanus), Lacy Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), Mexican Hat (Ratibida columnaris), Plains Coreposis (Coreopsis tinctoria), and Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis). Hope this helps!

When looking for species of plants to grow for habitat, wildlife or bees, please recognize that plants that are appropriate for one area of the country can act as invasive weeds in areas to which they are introduced. For example, Bachelor Buttons spread like a weed in parts of Callfornia. A CA native plant can become a weed in Maine. We must dig a little deeper, contact local native plant societies for advice or ask questions before buying seeds and planting them. Just because a nursery sells it, doesn’t mean it’s not invasive.

You can do plenty of damage trying to help nature if you forget that the balance in each ecosystem is the result of many hundreds of thousands if not millions of years. That balance is upset when you introduce a plant to a place where its natural enemies do not live or the conditions favor its growth over that of native plants.