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what's up with these dying birds?
- Thread starter I am.
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fraterS.O.L.
Bill Nye
HAHA! Thats my state! I've been hearing about this every day. Its not just birds but a bunch of fish in the ozarks have been dying too. IDK whats happening but I guess its just a random act of nature. It is pretty wierd tho. Imagine driving down the road and having a flock of birds divebomb you outta nowhere!
TrustLoveMan
Rising Star
:shock: I figured someone had already brought this up. This is some pretty freaky shiit. It reminds me of the movie 'signs' where the birds hit a UFO force field and died.
Maybe our friends are finally here in person, lol.
Maybe our friends are finally here in person, lol.
cker
Rising Star
It looks like the fish died from a bacterial infection but the birds are still a mystery.
And then there's the bees. It's been in the news that agrcultural honeybees are suffering from Colony Colapse Disorder. No one knows why this is happening for sure but around 30% of beekeeper's hives get wiped out each year. Now it turns out the wild bees are getting wiped out as well:
www.dailymail.co.uk
It's not fun talking like a doomsdayer, but things are changing that aren't a good omen for this planet. Supposedly Albert Einstein once said: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more men!”
If anyone is interested in low cost Beekeeping, take a look here: balanced beekeeping for everyone, natural beekeeping, top bar hive
And then there's the bees. It's been in the news that agrcultural honeybees are suffering from Colony Colapse Disorder. No one knows why this is happening for sure but around 30% of beekeeper's hives get wiped out each year. Now it turns out the wild bees are getting wiped out as well:
Bumblebees 'at risk of being wiped out' in the U.S. after 96% decline in four species
The 'alarming' results of a study confirm scientists' fears that the agriculturally-important insect is in decline worldwide.
It's not fun talking like a doomsdayer, but things are changing that aren't a good omen for this planet. Supposedly Albert Einstein once said: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more men!”
If anyone is interested in low cost Beekeeping, take a look here: balanced beekeeping for everyone, natural beekeeping, top bar hive
Ah yes, our friends the bees. Think they've recently figured out the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder...it's a fungal and a viral pathogen hitting the bees at the same time, leading to very damaging results. Coupled with bad management and poor genetics, with bees forced to subsist on sugar syrup out of season (not a substitute for honey), these undernourished, overstressed honeybees in particular are much more vulnerable to diseases and parasites, which themselves act as disease vectors. And that doomsday quote, although very widely attributed to Einstein, is not actually from him...it's really bugging me I can't find the name of the original source of this. And while it would be disastrous, and much blander and less flowered world without bees, a fair proportion of our food is wind pollinated, so the basis on which this quote rests must be called into question. That sucks about the wild bees too.
No idea what's going on with the birds though, very odd.
No idea what's going on with the birds though, very odd.
cker
Rising Star
Bancopuma- You seem to know quite a bit about bee abuse so I'm guessing you might keep bees. I have a small urban top bar hive and I really like having bees around. I wasn't aware they found the cause of honeybee CCD but it looks like they have. Now, what will 'they' do to stop it? Probably some new type of chemical treatment added to the existing chemical treatments in most agricultural hives. Man is good at optimizing 'production' but perhaps not so good at seeing the consequences. Sorry to go off the bird topic but it's possible all the environmental stress is related to decline for many types of wildlife.
Once
Rising Star
The Bee mystery is quite intriguing. I have a beekeeper in the family so I have been aware of this problem for quite a while now. Just last week I read a cable from wikileaks that reported that the FDA knowingly approved an agricultural chemical that was shown to have very negative effects on bees. I don't know if that is part of the problem, but it really pissed me off, what the hell are they doing over there at the FDA?
The Birds seem to be a real mystery as well. I have read theories ranging from concussion from firworks on New Years to shifting magnetic poles affecting migration to new Bird flu. Hopefully this die-off isn't a trend. I don't know if this is human caused, but it seems that we will have many more surpises in store as nature corrects the imbalance that we create.
The Birds seem to be a real mystery as well. I have read theories ranging from concussion from firworks on New Years to shifting magnetic poles affecting migration to new Bird flu. Hopefully this die-off isn't a trend. I don't know if this is human caused, but it seems that we will have many more surpises in store as nature corrects the imbalance that we create.
When i first heard about the birds i thought it must have been the military doing tests with new radarsystems or something. But then the fish came.
Does BP have some drilling site nearby maybe?
Does BP have some drilling site nearby maybe?
cker - That's great you have a hive in an urban area. I'm a beginner beekeeper and studying postgrad entomology. Here in the UK, honeybees actually do much better in urban areas than they do in the countryside, as they have access to gardens and the flowers over much of the year, while in agriculture dominated countryside, they can have droughts when certain crops aren't flowering, as we don't have much in the way of wildflowers here in the UK like we used to. It's great you have done that though, individuals doing this can make a difference. I think more people should keep bees, they are amazing creatures, and the hive mind is a fascinating phenomenon to experience firsthand. We mistreat our bees, and it's a shame as they are entirely beneficial for both food production for humans and for the ecosystem service of pollination they provide. Yet we have messed with their genetics, use pesticides near them, expect them to gain all their nutrition from monoculture crops, and force them to subsist on nutrient devoid sugar syrup out of season. So their systems are already stressed, which leaves them incredibly vulnerable to parasites and diseases. That wikileaks cable sounds ominous.
Not sure about the birds though, very strange. I have a few ornithologist friends so I'll ask them what they make of it.
Not sure about the birds though, very strange. I have a few ornithologist friends so I'll ask them what they make of it.
cker
Rising Star
I like that phrase "Hive Mind". That's exactly how they act. For those that aren't familiar, all eggs the queen lays are equal and non-sexed. The nurse bees determine the sex of a given bee depending on what they feed the egg. The ratio of males to females changes throughout the year depending on what the bees need to accomplish. Every bee has a job and they'll do that job the absolute best they can. They have nurses, studs, undertakers, janitors, food service, soldiers, gatherers, bouncers, carpenters, queen's maids, usually only one queen and other bee types I can't think of.
If you spend time sitting around the hive, they will come out, land on you and check you out. It can go on like that for months, but, if one day you take a little honey, you won't be able to sit near the hive because they will send a soldier bee out and it WILL sting you. They have a very good memory and they smell you very, very well.
The "hive mind" is a lot more complicated than anyone understands. A lot goes on in a hive and watching them over a period of time lets you see how cool they are. They are self similar but each one is different. It's almost fractal like.
If you spend time sitting around the hive, they will come out, land on you and check you out. It can go on like that for months, but, if one day you take a little honey, you won't be able to sit near the hive because they will send a soldier bee out and it WILL sting you. They have a very good memory and they smell you very, very well.
The "hive mind" is a lot more complicated than anyone understands. A lot goes on in a hive and watching them over a period of time lets you see how cool they are. They are self similar but each one is different. It's almost fractal like.
How many species of bees are there anyway? I've seen hives several times and noticed that not all bees behave the same way. I've seen hives where bees are constantly flying around in a frantic sort of way, but i also saw hives that where very quiet. Is that a species dependant thing or a matter of circumstances?
There are roughly 20,000 species of bees, with members of the genus Apis employed as pollinators and honey producers, the western honeybee domesticated here in Europe and used in the US is the species Apis mellifera. Within this species there are a variety of different strains and subspecies, such as the European dark bee, Apis mellifera mellifera. It is a sad fact that the honeybee, here in the UK anyway, is entirely domesticated and cannot survive in the long term without human intervention. The majority of honeybees used in the UK are of Italian descent, which makes them a little more vulnerable to our weather conditions. The native honeybees aren't always as productive and can be more aggressive. But yes there are certainly noticeable differences between how different hives behave...this is largely down to the individual genetics of the queen in that hive. Beekeepers will usually kill queens which show particularly aggressive traits, or those which show low levels of productivity, but there will always be variation. The behaviour of the hive can also be down to individual circumstances as well...they have an incredibly sensitive sense of smell, some which aggravate them, and they are sensitive to vibrations.
A few summers ago I was out swimming in my pond with family and a some friends present, it was a stunning summers day in June. It just so happened at that precise time, a swarm from elsewhere decided to move into one of our empty hives. The swarm was massive, numbering tens of thousands of bees, and we all heard it before we could see it. A truly awesome spectacle indeed I feel lucky to have witnessed.
A few summers ago I was out swimming in my pond with family and a some friends present, it was a stunning summers day in June. It just so happened at that precise time, a swarm from elsewhere decided to move into one of our empty hives. The swarm was massive, numbering tens of thousands of bees, and we all heard it before we could see it. A truly awesome spectacle indeed I feel lucky to have witnessed.
cker
Rising Star
I'm not sure how many species of bees but there are many types of honeybees. Mine are Italians and are especially gentle. Wild populations of honeybees are essentially extinct (at least in the developed world). Beekeeping has been around for many thousands of years and bees have been bred for certian characteristics over time. It's probably similar to dairy cows being bred for large milk production.
Bees have a rhythm with the seasons and change behavior accordingly. There are certian times when the whole hive is flying around the back yard buzzing (whenever a new queen is born). Sometimes they find some kind of flower they like and all the workers form a frantic 'river' of bees to and from the food source (called a beeline). Sometimes, when it's hot outside, they form a big clump on the outside of the hive and just hang out (called bearding).
These bees are gentle enough so that I can walk up to the clump and touch it gently with my finger and they won't sting me. Imagine touching a clump of (say) 30,000 bees without any protection. You can see thousands of bee eyes looking at you while walking towards them. They could kill me if they chose and they know it, and I know it, but I'm a pretty good neighbor and I guess they respect me too. They really do have a bit of a personality. Funny.
Bees have a rhythm with the seasons and change behavior accordingly. There are certian times when the whole hive is flying around the back yard buzzing (whenever a new queen is born). Sometimes they find some kind of flower they like and all the workers form a frantic 'river' of bees to and from the food source (called a beeline). Sometimes, when it's hot outside, they form a big clump on the outside of the hive and just hang out (called bearding).
These bees are gentle enough so that I can walk up to the clump and touch it gently with my finger and they won't sting me. Imagine touching a clump of (say) 30,000 bees without any protection. You can see thousands of bee eyes looking at you while walking towards them. They could kill me if they chose and they know it, and I know it, but I'm a pretty good neighbor and I guess they respect me too. They really do have a bit of a personality. Funny.
CosmicFool
Rising Star
TrustLoveMan
Rising Star
CosmicFool said:Did anyone see THIS radar image from Plymouth State? What are those 2 "burst" of clouds around Louisiana and Arkansas where the first(?) dead birds were found. And media says these two occurrences had nothing to do with each other
I hope that was a ufo, because exploding clouds could be bad!
...2012 is getting closer
I think there will be a logical explanation for the bird deaths. Those radar images possibly suggest a microburst:
en.wikipedia.org
These freak occurrences are short lived but are powerful enough to knock over trees and have caused plane crashes, so I think they would be more than capable of killing birds. With the Arkansas red winged blackbirds, NYE fireworks have also been cited as a possible cause of disturbance, causing the birds to fly in the dark when they are disorientated and prone to crashing into things, and this species is also considered an agricultural pest, so a mass poisoning isn't unfeasible.
Downburst - Wikipedia
These freak occurrences are short lived but are powerful enough to knock over trees and have caused plane crashes, so I think they would be more than capable of killing birds. With the Arkansas red winged blackbirds, NYE fireworks have also been cited as a possible cause of disturbance, causing the birds to fly in the dark when they are disorientated and prone to crashing into things, and this species is also considered an agricultural pest, so a mass poisoning isn't unfeasible.
CosmicFool
Rising Star
TrustLoveMan
Rising Star
Birds are very susceptible to toxins on the air. If they are going down in larger numbers, it's us next...
Just like canaries in a mine shaft/
Maybe we should blast off and ask the fourth dimensional people about it.
Just like canaries in a mine shaft/
Maybe we should blast off and ask the fourth dimensional people about it.
I understood that these kind of things are happening all over the place all of the time, it's not a recent thing. What is recent is that due to the new communication methods like the internet the news of these things happening are faster spreading and with this hype more cases are reported as usual.
The problem now is that since this is new for many people they tend to come to the wrong conclusion, they think it's something new all together and that this didn't happen in the past.
Check these interesting links:
* New and Ongoing Wildlife Mortality Events Nationwide
* Quarterly Mortality Reports
So counting back to 1995 (where the list starts) this happens actually quite a lot. And this is only USA territory and I guess not all incidents are reported.
Kind regards,
The Traveler
The problem now is that since this is new for many people they tend to come to the wrong conclusion, they think it's something new all together and that this didn't happen in the past.
Check these interesting links:
* New and Ongoing Wildlife Mortality Events Nationwide
* Quarterly Mortality Reports
So counting back to 1995 (where the list starts) this happens actually quite a lot. And this is only USA territory and I guess not all incidents are reported.
Kind regards,
The Traveler