ANYWAY, the official position about the bee situation (Colony Collapse Disorder) is that they are dying from the compounding effects of a variety of man-induced factors: mites, viruses, bacteria, migratory beekeeping, and sub-lethal effects of pesticides used both outside the hive and inside that cause those poor bees to be brain damaged and they can't find their way home (and it really is the saddest thing. all these "slow" bees don't remember how to dance because of fipronil and its friends and end up wandering around until they die). we like to call it "the case of a thousand cuts." and then when people stare blankly at us we say, "you know, you get cut once, you don't die. you get cut a thousand times, you bleed to death."
the unofficial position is that it is all a big media conspiracy, brought on by the loss of government subsidies for beekeepers (some of whom are very rich and very noisy), decline in the practice, rise in the california almond pollination industry, and slow news days that can be brightened by whacked-out theories of our impending doom from lack of pollination (CELL PHONES! RADIATION! RADIATION!!). these huge losses have occurred and been documented many times in the mellinia-old practice of beekeeping, and this one will surely right itself over time if we can stop using pesticides as preventative cure-alls and start using the biology of the honey bee as our yard stick for husbandry instead of the convenience of man.
the official position of eleanor is that it falls somewhere in between those two, or is a mix of both things. we're not going to die if the honey bees die. native pollinators are very effective at pollinating crops.
now i can sleep at night. thanks e. you're so smart. love the yardstick. miss you bunches.
now. here's some pretty pictures of what i saw with the folks yesterday.
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