Ah. I hate it when the information sources I rely on turn out to be tosh, especially on an issue as important as this.

The Independent it should be said, is something of an alarmist paper that tends to paint the world in apocalyptic terms. Most of its columnists are unrepentant Trotskyites who yearn to take up arms against the corporate dragon. I don't read it anymore. I have enough worries in my own life.

That said, whether or not mobile phones are the cause, and whether or not Einstien did say that quote, I can attest, from a personal conversation with an apiarist, that the intensive use of pesticides has reduced the species variety of potential pollinators, which has led to the overuse of bees as polinators in a large number of crops, so the appearance of colony collapse disorder IS a worry.

__________________
I think fish is nice, but then I think that rain is wet, so who am I to judge?

It's gotten to the point where careful investigation is needed just to tell parody from reality. I think that means reality is broken.- Noclevername.

So, how can individuals like me increase the species variety of potential pollinators in their backyards, besides not using pesticides?

Also, I'm worried about what might happen to agriculture if we stopped using pesticides altogether. Might this in itself cause mass starvation?

- Maha Vailo

__________________
When you get down to it, Science answers how. Religion answers why. - hippietrekx

Not in the developed world. The average citizen of the U.S.A. is far from living on a knife's edge as far as food is concerned. They're not even sitting on a spoon. Prices would rise, less grain would be used in feedlots, investments would be made in greenhouses and biological and mechanical methods of pest control. Restrictions on illegal workers would be eased up to provide cheap labour to implement these practices.

Of course, if you are living in a poorer country and are already spending 30% of your income on basic, unprocessed foodstuffs, then any increase in price will be very painful and possibly fatal.

Proof of the connection between bees and cell phones

LINK

__________________
At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

That's interesting, but what would this mean to the average developed-worlder's diet? Also, would we need to destroy wilderness land in order to grow enough to feed everybody without pesticides? Bear in mind that the world's population is growing, and land (especially agricultural land) is gonna be significant somewhere along the line.

Also, you never mentioned what I could do to increase pollinator diversity in my own backyard. Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, no?

- Maha Vailo

__________________
When you get down to it, Science answers how. Religion answers why. - hippietrekx

I did a bit of an experiment yesterday and walked around outside and did a bee count in my entire neighbor hood block.

Honey Bees: 0
Bumblebees: 2

The weirdness of it is my azalea is in full bloom, and should be covered in both honey bees and bumble bees. (like it has been in previous years) Additionally there are usually bumblebee's in the tulips, and they seem to be leaving those alone, and are just harvesting from rhododendrons only.

I'll do another bee count later this week when it's warmer out, it was a cool day when I did the count so that might have something to do with it.

__________________
"There is no problem that cannot be solved by a suitable application of high explosives" - US Army Demolitions School

http://worldsofothersuns.home.comcast.net/

Well, if I were Douglas Adams....
"So long and thanks for all the flowers"
I'm surprised I'm the first to come up with that!

__________________
"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit."
Stephen Hawking

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
Albert Einstein

I don't know. There will be less of whatever is difficult to pollinate without bees.

I don't know how much you would expect food production to drop without the use of insecticides (presumably herbicides would be okay). But I imagine more use would be made of existing farmland as in most countries there is not a lot of convenient wilderness to farm. In Australia national parks are generally areas of little or no agricultural value. Places where you couldn't fatten a goanna to use the cheerful venacular.

Unless you are growing food in your area it might not be that important and pollinators vary from place to place and plant to plant. Even marsupials can be pollinators, so I don't know what you could do.

Neighborhood Bee Count #2

Honey Bees: 0
Bumblebees: 7

__________________
"There is no problem that cannot be solved by a suitable application of high explosives" - US Army Demolitions School

http://worldsofothersuns.home.comcast.net/

Anecdotal...but in my own yard, I have tons of flowers, including honeysuckle and red apple (honey bee faves); usually by this time of year there are bees all over the place (they don't bother me; in fact, I rather like them). This year I have not seen a single one.

No wasps, either. It's a little bit creepy.

Same here in SoCal, where we've had early spring weather with lots of blooms---I've only seen two bees so far; highly unusual.
Elsewhere:

Neighborhood Bee Count #3

Honey Bees: 0
Bumblebees: 11

The bumbles are still avoiding the Tulips, and the Blueberry bushes, as well as the azalea. However they are having a field day in the rhododendrons now.

__________________
"There is no problem that cannot be solved by a suitable application of high explosives" - US Army Demolitions School

http://worldsofothersuns.home.comcast.net/

Now we're back to mites:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18326745/

Sounds more likely. Bees didn't seem to mind the powerful repeaters CB users in the 70's lit up the sky with.

Maybe it's my wireless router? My bad...I'll shut it off.

__________________
Dude, don't be a Quaid!

Neighborhood Bee Count #4

Honey Bees: 2
Bumblebees: 4

__________________
"There is no problem that cannot be solved by a suitable application of high explosives" - US Army Demolitions School

http://worldsofothersuns.home.comcast.net/

Heh, here's a collection of CTs involving the bees.

Those are funny. Sorry but what does "CTs" mean? Weird bee stories all come from Connecticut?

Anyway, it seems that so far, the current depletion of bees remains a mystery.

__________________
"Insignificant molehill sometimes more important than conspicuous mountain." - Charlie Chan

Conspiracy Theories

__________________
I think fish is nice, but then I think that rain is wet, so who am I to judge?

It's gotten to the point where careful investigation is needed just to tell parody from reality. I think that means reality is broken.- Noclevername.

I've talked to a couple of beekeepers, and a lot of them seem to think that the use of Neonicotinoid pesticides is the culprit.

Oh, OK thanks. (There are so many of those around that I didn't notice the "CT" trees through the "CT" forrest.)

__________________
"Insignificant molehill sometimes more important than conspicuous mountain." - Charlie Chan