AROUND the world, honeybee colonies are dying in huge numbers:
About one-third of hives collapse each year, a pattern going back a decade. For bees and the plants they pollinate — as well as for beekeepers, farmers, honey lovers and everyone else who appreciates this marvelous social insect — this is a catastrophe.
But in the midst of crisis can come learning. Honeybee collapse has much to teach us about how humans can avoid a similar fate, brought on by the increasingly severe environmental perturbations that challenge modern society.
Honeybee collapse has been particularly vexing because there is no one cause, but rather a thousand little cuts. The main elements include the compounding impact of pesticides applied to fields, as well as pesticides applied directly into hives to control mites; fungal, bacterial and viral pests and diseases; nutritional deficiencies caused by vast acreages of single-crop fields that lack diverse flowering plants; and, in the United States, commercial beekeeping itself, which disrupts colonies by moving most bees around the country multiple times each year to pollinate crops.
The real issue, though, is not the volume of problems, but the interactions among them. Here we find a core lesson from the bees that we ignore at our peril: the concept of synergy, where one plus one equals three, or four, or more. A typical honeybee colony contains residue from more than 120 pesticides. Alone, each represents a benign dose. But together they form a toxic soup of chemicals whose interplay can substantially reduce the effectiveness of bees’ immune systems, making them more susceptible to diseases.
Read more . . .
The Latest on: Colony Collapse
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The Latest on: Colony Collapse
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Eight people were injured after a wall collapsed in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar as strong winds and rain hit the area on Tuesday evening.
- 3 held in Gurugram wall collapse caseon April 22, 2024 at 1:55 pm
The police have arrested three persons, including the president of the Madanpuri cremation ground improvement committee, in connection with the collapse of a wall that claimed the lives of five ...
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Though the official month of celebrating the earth comes each April, environmental stewardship is an everyday concern for many wineries. Here are a few whose recent initiatives are helping make it a ...
- Three held for crematorium wall collapse that left 5 dead in Gurugramon April 21, 2024 at 6:26 pm
The residents of the colony alleged that the wall had been built without any columns or beams in a bid to save money and had tilted about six months back ...
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Three men were arrested in connection with the crematorium wall collapse incident that killed five people in Gurugram's Arj ...
- Girl, 10, becomes fifth to die in Gurugram wall collapse incidenton April 21, 2024 at 5:35 am
The name of the fifth victim is Tanya.In connection with the incident, an FIR was registered against the management of the cremation ground improvement committee, including its president Paramjit ...
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Three men and a minor girl were buried alive and two others were injured at Arjun Nagar colony after a wall of Madanpuri cremation ground ...
- Three labourers killed, one still trapped in house collapse in Rupnagaron April 19, 2024 at 7:30 pm
The incident took place on Thursday when five labourers were engaged in the process of raising the lintel of the house, police said.
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