March 24, 2010 10:07 AM

What's Killing The Honeybees?

By
John Blackstone
(CBS)  In California the almond orchards are in blossom and millions of honeybees are at work, pollinating, doing a job only they can do.

Almonds are the first big bloom of the season and the first big test of honeybee health, CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports.

"It's not a vibrant hive, it's not full of bees," said Brett Adee. "A hive this time of year should be just busting bees. And it's just a scrawny little bee hive."

Adee, whose family runs the largest beekeeping operation in the country, says bees are dying at least as fast as they did last year.

"It's off the chart this year. It's not a sustainable thing, what's happening now," he said.

What's happening in the almond orchards doesn't bode well for crops everywhere that require pollination.

U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher Jeff Pettis has been tracking the bee die off.

"Certainly if the bees are not in almonds they're not going to be available for apples and pears and vine crops: the fruits and vegetables we need," he said.

What is called "colony collapse disorder" hit bee keepers in more than half the country last spring. Now it has spread to all but a handful of states.

Hives can go from healthy and active to dead and gone. Theories on what's bugging the bees include mites and viruses and pesticides to poor nutrition. Maybe all of those together.

"That's been a frustrating part," Pettis said. "We know some things that are contributing, but we can't point to a single factor as a cause."

Two years ago Louise Rossberg had nearly a thousand hives. Now she has just 200 and is struggling to stay in business.

"What else am I going to do?" Rossberg asked. "I like doing bees, I've been here so long."

But Rossberg has lost so much income, her house is in foreclosure, and even the spring blossoms don't seem to bring much hope.

"I've lost my home, I've lost my vehicle, let's see, so I'm living with a friend right now," she said.

But beekeepers say this isn't just a crisis for them - it's a crisis for everyone.

"I mean bees are vital element to the production of food in this country and if we can't feed ourselves, then we got a problem," Adee said.

As an essential link in the food chain, the hardworking bee has suddenly become the weakest link.

Copyright 2010 CBS. All rights reserved.
Add a Comment See all 29 Comments
by JohnHarding1 March 16, 2011 1:00 PM EDT
My name is John Harding and I have found the answer and solution to stop honeybees dying.

It is nothing to do with any man-made product.

Honeybees were dying before the Varroa mite or any Pesticides, Mobile Phones, G M crops, Global Warming or whatever you care to mention was manufactured or thought of.

Below, in two parts are the reasons why.

First part is an extract from my book.

The second part is from a proof copy leaflet that was presented by myself to all delegates of the International Bee Research Association (IBRA) Conference held in the UK on the 29th January 2011.

Please enjoy reading and realise honeybees have been dying for centuries, not just recently.

Kind regards

John

First part;

I am sure you are aware of the plight of the Honeybee worldwide.

Beekeepers need an answer. Initially Apiarist worldwide was putting the blame for the Honeybee demise on the doorstep of the Chemical and Mobile Phone Industries.

Honeybees are dying out at an alarming rate with no one knowing why. Pesticides, CCD, GM crops, Climate change, Mobiles, Global warming or perhaps someone or something to blame would be acceptable to everyone.
There are many possibilities being put forward but as yet, no answers.

The parasitic mite called Varroa is not helping matters with its contribution.

However there are two common denominators why Honeybees are dying worldwide. A short explanation first.
Chemical companies are investing millions worldwide in Universities, Scientists, Professors, Doctors, Institutes, Beekeeping Organisations and whoever, so they just might find a chemical or bacterial answer for the parasitic mite called Varroa that is sweeping the continents devastating Honeybees. Mobile Phone Companies are in denial not wanting the blame.

Chemical companies need an answer whether it is one or the other so they may recoup their investment and profit from beekeepers worldwide in selling their product.

Was Albert Einstein right in his alleged statement? "If Honeybees die out then mankind will follow 4 years later" the chances are that it won't be 4 years due to other foods such as rice being available but it will happen eventually as honeybees do pollinate 35% of what we eat.

Once Honeybees are gone, Honeybees are gone for good!

I am a beekeeper of 30 years` experience, keeping up to 300 beehives,
My beekeeping puzzle is based on observation and logic over the past 30 years with each piece complimenting the next, eventually creating a picture and discovering;

"The answer and solution to the Holy Grail of beekeeping".

I have always thought there was a natural way to treat the parasitic mite Varroa. After 18 years without treatment of any chemicals or sugar in my hives I have found the answer and it is a "World Exclusive!"

It didn't start with the Varroa mite 20 years ago, what the Varroa mite did was escalate the problem to what beekeepers had done worldwide, but it did bring it to the attention of the media and mainstream public in the last few years causing an over re-action due to Albert Einstein's alleged quote.

Honeybees started dying out when man found honey, tens of thousands of years ago, when man wanted to domesticate honeybees to harvest honey, putting them into logs, boxes, skeps eventually beehives but taking them away from their natural source of survival and requirements, which keeps their delicate micro-environment alive.

The first common denominator for the demise of Honeybees is???

Mankind!......Well, Beekeepers now and in the past to the very first one!

So what is the second common denominator?

"I have found a natural phenomenon, the bees need it to survive to complete their micro-existent world, and is free. I am the first person in the world to combine honeybees with this phenomenon, so you can imagine how the chemical companies are going to react after spending millions around the globe. I have approached Universities and Beekeeping Organisations here, in the UK, and abroad, with my hypothesis but due to the infiltration of funding from chemical companies or others, University Scientist, Professors or Scholars are unable to take my hypothesis due to inevitably losing their precious funding and being biased to a chemical or bacterial answer".

Yes! It is topical, political and controversial! One single person taking on the might of a billion-dollar pharmaceutical industry and the Hierarchy of the Beekeeping World with every beekeeper past and present being the reason for their demise and the answer being a natural phenomenon which is free.

An HOLISTIC Way in Saving The "Honeybee"
Available from
Northern Bee Books UK
"http://www.groovycart/beebooks"
Reply to this comment
by fightNWO June 24, 2010 5:35 PM EDT
Where are the honey bees you ask? They have died off from the chemical trails...aka...chemtrails. They have sprayed our skies for the past week. Honey bees are the foundation of our source for survival. Kill off the bees and kill off the p.....well, ya know.......
Reply to this comment
by hubsboy March 17, 2009 3:27 PM EDT
I think Mel Brooks is responsible!!
Reply to this comment
by grammawhamma March 10, 2008 9:55 PM EDT
I laughed at some of your comments...my favorite was the dingoes ate your bee bees.

This really is not a laughing matter...bees are important. I did not see many honey bees last summer (there were plenty of hornets and wasps though). I do think it has something to do with sonic navigation and is related to the bat mystery.
Reply to this comment
by Mikebos March 10, 2008 6:54 PM EDT
European reseach has shown that it is cell phone signals that are disturbing the bees navigation and communication systems.
Reply to this comment
by Mikebos March 10, 2008 6:52 PM EDT
Research in Europe has shown that it is the radio signals used in cell phone nets that are misdirecting bees, so they can''t find their way back to the hive. Bees apparently use the same frequencies for their internal communication and navigation systems as those used for cell phones. I can''t remember where I found this, but someone please check it out before it is too late and there are no more bees at all.
Reply to this comment
by rf35 March 10, 2008 4:55 PM EDT
What''s killing the bees? See the article on what''s in our water supply.

Actually, the bees are being killed off as part of a republican plot to force us to import the majority of our food from China. We saw how well that worked out with pet food.
Reply to this comment
by baileyccc March 10, 2008 3:26 PM EDT
Corporations are killing the bees with their chemicals, just like they are slowly killing people for large profits. Will it ever end? Organic food is slowly on the way back.
Reply to this comment
by scottyusa March 10, 2008 8:38 AM EDT
The trees in California are homosexual, so bees are no longer have a purpose.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by downsteamjim

Too funny! I almost fell off my chair. The bees are heading north. All this globa warming hysteria has them scared.
Reply to this comment
by brianbwb-2009 March 10, 2008 3:17 AM EDT
What''s Killing The Honeybees?

Monsanto.
Reply to this comment
See all 29 Comments
.
Scroll Left
Scroll Right More »
CBS News on Facebook