Thread: What happened to the bees? It wasn't cell phones

Originally Posted by pramjockey

Oh, look! More insults and trolling!

Don't you cons ever tire of it?


And, yes, I've been looking at that slope since jr. high- the ramp up of population is old news.

Did you have a point? Do you ever?

Point? Yes, that we have additional problems facing our projected food stock, above and beyond bees. But, I thought that point was self evident. Apparently it was lost on you... not that all surprising.:rolleyes:

Originally Posted by Blue Doggy

2/3rds? You sure bout that? Being a gardener, for over 50 years, makes me think this number is wrong. Now granted, I could shake flowers myself, so as to cross pollinate, and pollinate but only on a small scale. It would be hard to do this to several hundred acres of food crops. Not to mention the fruit trees that require cross pollination. Plus, some food crops don't broadcast pollen on their own, but require some device to dig deep inside the flower in order to get to the pollen.

And then of course you have a plethora of wild plants that play important roles in any ecosystem. Doubtful we could send enough folks to the rain forests to keep them alive and viable. No, bees play an integral role in the web of life, and doubtful we would survive for long without them. Bees are some really busy fuckers, and I have yet to see a human that could work as hard and efficently as the bees. National Geographic had a story several years ago about the neccessity of bees, in food production, as well as non food production plants. What I got from the article was that if suddenly we had no bees, mankind would suffer greatly, and it would bring us to the brink of extinction.

And supposedly honey is the only food that never spoils.

Originally Posted by pramjockey

Can you source that, please?

Also, while you're at it, the human race cannot, on a long-term basis, survive on corn, no matter how much Monsanto wants us to believe otherwise.

Rice and most other cereal crops do not require bees for pollination. Many flowering plants don't require bees for pollination, it makes the pollination more efficient.


A 1/3 reduction in food stock of veggies would be catastrophic to the civilization. If you couldn't feed 1/3 of the population, which 1/3 will that be? It means, famine, social disruption and war.

list of plants pollinated by bees:
crop plants pollinated by bees

Bees are not the only means of pollination for all of these plants. But the bees do ensure we get enough out of a crop to get more crop and feed the teaming masses of humanity.

Using honey bees for fruit pollination > IPM - Crop Advisory Team Alerts - Fruit > MSU Fruit Crop Advisory Team Alert newsletter

Bee Colony Collapse Disorder: Not Caused by GM Foods | RIT Skeptics

North American Bees Are in Even More Trouble After a Bad Winter | Cleveland Leader

We need the bees if we want to have our current modern civilization.

Originally Posted by Blue Doggy

2/3rds? You sure bout that? Being a gardener, for over 50 years, makes me think this number is wrong. Now granted, I could shake flowers myself, so as to cross pollinate, and pollinate but only on a small scale. It would be hard to do this to several hundred acres of food crops. Not to mention the fruit trees that require cross pollination. Plus, some food crops don't broadcast pollen on their own, but require some device to dig deep inside the flower in order to get to the pollen.

Pretty sure. A lot of our food crops are cereal. Bees can help some cereals but they are not responsible for the bulk of the pollination. On a small scale you can pollinate plants by hand but I can't imagine that'd ever work on a scale to feed everyone. True loss of bee populations would be devastating and our civilization would be screwed. 1/3 less food for the world over a couple planting seasons, not to mention other impact on the ecosystem and there's still life, there still a human race but the nations and lifestyles we have now are gone.

Enough produce for a family can be grown in a large closet, pollinated in about 30 seconds with a q-tip.

Originally Posted by Commodore

Enough produce for a family can be grown in a large closet, pollinated in about 30 seconds with a q-tip.

What??? You mean I have wasted my time with my 2 acre garden? I could have grown all of that stuff that went into the deepfreeze in my closet?

Sorry, but I grew up on a farm, and have grown gardens all of my life. No way I could grow enough produce in a closet to feed me and the wife, much less me, the wife and 2 kids.

I have seen some small gardens, but never one the size of a closet that could produce enough food as a large garden can produce. Plus, one has to keep seeds for next years crops. A closet garden might supply seeds for next year, but would not supply food and seeds.

The only grain I ever grew in a garden was corn. A closet would not allow me to grow enough corn, except perhaps for one or two dinners. And if I grew wheat, a closet garden would be ludicrous.

Are you a gardener?

Originally Posted by Blue Doggy

What??? You mean I have wasted my time with my 2 acre garden? I could have grown all of that stuff that went into the deepfreeze in my closet?

Sorry, but I grew up on a farm, and have grown gardens all of my life. No way I could grow enough produce in a closet to feed me and the wife, much less me, the wife and 2 kids.

I have seen some small gardens, but never one the size of a closet that could produce enough food as a large garden can produce. Plus, one has to keep seeds for next years crops. A closet garden might supply seeds for next year, but would not supply food and seeds.

The only grain I ever grew in a garden was corn. A closet would not allow me to grow enough corn, except perhaps for one or two dinners. And if I grew wheat, a closet garden would be ludicrous.

Are you a gardener?

I think he's talking about a rather specialized sort of cash crop,

Originally Posted by Sunshine

And supposedly honey is the only food that never spoils.

I've heard that too, too acid, but then how do we get mead, which is fermented honey?

Originally Posted by JDJarvis

Rice and most other cereal crops do not require bees for pollination. Many flowering plants don't require bees for pollination, it makes the pollination more efficient.


A 1/3 reduction in food stock of veggies would be catastrophic to the civilization. If you couldn't feed 1/3 of the population, which 1/3 will that be? It means, famine, social disruption and war.

list of plants pollinated by bees:
crop plants pollinated by bees

Bees are not the only means of pollination for all of these plants. But the bees do ensure we get enough out of a crop to get more crop and feed the teaming masses of humanity.

Using honey bees for fruit pollination > IPM - Crop Advisory Team Alerts - Fruit > MSU Fruit Crop Advisory Team Alert newsletter

Bee Colony Collapse Disorder: Not Caused by GM Foods | RIT Skeptics

North American Bees Are in Even More Trouble After a Bad Winter | Cleveland Leader

We need the bees if we want to have our current modern civilization.

Yes, absolutely, we need the bees.

We also have to consider the larger effects on the greater ecosystem. The disappearance of the bees would have effects beyond plants used just for crops, with potentially devastating effects.

Originally Posted by Commodore

Enough produce for a family can be grown in a large closet, pollinated in about 30 seconds with a q-tip.

Uh, no. Not even close.

Originally Posted by Blue Doggy

What??? You mean I have wasted my time with my 2 acre garden? I could have grown all of that stuff that went into the deepfreeze in my closet?

Sorry, but I grew up on a farm, and have grown gardens all of my life. No way I could grow enough produce in a closet to feed me and the wife, much less me, the wife and 2 kids.

I have seen some small gardens, but never one the size of a closet that could produce enough food as a large garden can produce. Plus, one has to keep seeds for next years crops. A closet garden might supply seeds for next year, but would not supply food and seeds.

The only grain I ever grew in a garden was corn. A closet would not allow me to grow enough corn, except perhaps for one or two dinners. And if I grew wheat, a closet garden would be ludicrous.

Are you a gardener?

Yeah. You can't even fit the finished produce for a family of 4 for a year in a closet (if they're eating appropriate meals).

Originally Posted by John Drake

I've heard that too, too acid, but then how do we get mead, which is fermented honey?

Dilute it with water.

Originally Posted by John Drake

I think he's talking about a rather specialized sort of cash crop,

Ah, then I would agree with him! I know very well about THOSE kind of closet gardens, with timers and lights. And that to flower those bad boys require making the days shorter so you get nice fat buds. Not that I do that these days...but I sure used to. I was doing this before the Phototron or other grow labs were invented. And you don't have to worry about pollination, as NOT making seeds by the female plant is the way to go. Sinsemilla.

Originally Posted by pramjockey

Can you source that, please?

Also, while you're at it, the human race cannot, on a long-term basis, survive on corn, no matter how much Monsanto wants us to believe otherwise.

Native Americans seem to have done OK with it. If I remember correctly the bees we rely on are European honey bees. There were bees here in the America's but not honey bees.

http://mainebee.com/articles/Killer%...wo%20years.php

Originally Posted by kill Devil

Native Americans seem to have done OK with it. If I remember correctly the bees we rely on are European honey bees. There were bees here in the America's but not honey bees.

http://mainebee.com/articles/Killer%...wo%20years.php

Actually, you can't live on corn. It lacks Lysine and Tryptophan. Theoretically, you can live on corn and beans (corn and beans together will provide the amino acids you need) - assuming you get all your other vitamins and other micronutrients elsewhere. But, that's where the pollination comes in - the fruits and vegetables we depend on depend on pollination, mostly from bees.

Originally Posted by Sunshine

And supposedly honey is the only food that never spoils.

Honey and Spoilage

it will however crystalize over time.

it also has antibacterial properties.

For at least 2700 years[citation needed], honey has been used by humans to treat a variety of ailments through topical application, but only recently have the antiseptic and antibacterial properties of honey been chemically explained.

Wound gels that contain antibacterial raw honey and have regulatory approval for wound care are now available to help conventional medicine in the battle against drug resistant strains of bacteria MRSA. As an antimicrobial agent honey may have the potential for treating a variety of ailments.[52] One New Zealand researcher says a particular type of honey (Manuka honey) may be useful in treating MRSA infections.[53] Antibacterial properties of honey are the result of the low water activity causing osmosis, hydrogen peroxide effect,[54] high acidity,[55] and the antibacterial activity of methylglyoxal.[56]

Honey appears to be effective in killing drug-resistant biofilms which are implicated in chronic rhinosinusitis

Honey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia