Apparently Bee hives are suffering massive die offs in parts of the US
It sound like something to keep an eye on, since honey bees are rather important both commercially and ecologically.
Lots of conjectures about causes, one that caught my attention as mildly plausible is that "nicotinoids", a (new?) class of pesticides, is weakening bee immune systems rendering them vulnerable to infection.
(Hm, nothing on them on wikipedia, curious, nor on neonicotinoids, here to make up for it is the wiki entry on Imidacloprid - one of the new nicotine based pesticides).
There is a wiki on Colony Collapse Disorder
Anyway, the link is to a PSU agri site keeping track of things, so linking for linking's sake.
(h/t kos)
More like this
Since everyone is talking
Aggressive African bees were accidentally released in Brazil in 1957.
Bees represent some of the most resilient, adaptable and enterpris
Turns out that honey bees might not have the ideal socialist society after all. Researchers at Otago University in New Zealand have discovered that worker bees behave like drones because of a powerful, brainwashing pheromone released by the queen.
This entertaining craziness comes via Dave Bacon's blog
http://www.synchronizm.com/blog/index.php/2007/03/29/the-bees-who-flew-…
It pertains to your post.