The Plight of the Honey Bee

[Roy Neher Wildlife]

As soon as I looked into the plight of the Honey Bees, one thing stood out to me immediately. The beekeepers are continually poisoning the bees with deadly smoke to "calm" them and they have been doing this for generations. Engulfing bees with smoke is a very dangerous, primitive method that has never been changed and I believe the accumulative effect of doing that has finally caught up and is taking it's toll on the bees. Below is a reply I received from my first inquiry to a local beekeeper:

"There are about as many different materials used in smokers as there are beekeepers. I use pine needles because they are handy. The smoke does calm the bees and I use it any time I go into a hive."

Pine needles? I can't even name all the toxins in pine needle smoke. Of course it calms them, they are poisoned into a semi comatose state. Has anyone ever heard of anesthetizing any other animal with smoke? A veterinarian would be sued for medical malpractice. Beekeepers completely fill the hive with this smoke several times a year. The smoke is also getting into the honey, by the way.

But, the ignorance doesn't stop there. When I visited the US Department of Agriculture site and read of their ongoing study of the bees' plight, I discovered the following:

1. The USDA smokes the bees to sedate them while they do studies to see what is making them sick.

2. They wonder why the bees just abandon the hives and disappear. (Wouldn't you if you were continually being poisoned and your hive is growing bacteria and who knows what else?)

3. They have now discovered that smoking bees might kill mites. The USDA is considering recommending smoking bees even more to combat mites. (Of course it kills mites, smoke kills just about everything, including bees. Would they recommend this method for ridding their children or their puppies or birds of mites?)

So, there is a healthy second hand smoke? Wait until the tobacco industry hears that smoking pine needles is good for living things. And being completely engulfed in it has a "calming" effect.

I am amazed that the smoke thing just goes right over their heads. Too bad it's not going over the bees' heads. I've seen a lot of blundering of wildlife in my day but, this has to bee one of the worst. Any dentist can tell you that bacteria love a smoker's mouth. And, if you add sugar to that you have the perfect environment for bacteria to thrive in. What? The bees are being overrun with bacterial infections? Hard to fathom.

Has anyone sat in a smoke filled bar some night and then have to wash it out of your hair and your clothes? Not to mention coughing your head off for a couple of days. Now, imagine all the tiny little hairs on a bee's body collecting all that oily smoke residue and them not beeing able to wash it off. Or, worse yet, having to lick it off. Plus, the effect that breathing smoke would have on their tiny little respiratory systems. They passed laws nationwide to protect us from second hand smoke. I am totally amazed and dumfounded.

Here is a suggestion:

QUIT POISONING THE BEES WITH SMOKE AND WONDERING WHY THEY GET SICK!

[Twitcheruth]

Originally Posted by Roy Neher Wildlife

Here is a suggestion:

QUIT POISONING THE BEES WITH SMOKE AND WONDERING WHY THEY GET SICK!

A very interesting and feesable theory Roy.......one I must admit to not thinking of before (and thank goodness we can now sit in a bar/restaurant in the UK without going home coughing and stinking!)..........it certainly makes good sense doesn't it!

[Roy Neher Wildlife]

Look what I found.......


April 30, 2009 -- Scientists have discovered a new class of chemicals emitted from burning pine trees. From a family of compounds known for their ability to alter human DNA, the findings could change the way we look at the impact of forest fires on public health.

Alkaloids are commonly found in nature; plants produce them to help bolster the structure of leaves and pine needles, and they can be key nutrients to the right organisms. Many are prized for their beneficial effects on humans, while a select few, like morphine and caffeine are downright addictive.

But in high enough doses, alkaloids can be potent toxins.

Now Alexander Laskin and a team of researchers from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington have discovered close to 100 different alkaloids in microscopic smoke particles lofting up from laboratory-simulated forest fires.

"When roots, leaves and needles get burned, these chemicals can be released without modification into the atmosphere," Laskin said. "They can be translated as aerosol particles hundreds or thousands of miles. It is possible that there is an impact on humans, animals, and that they get into the groundwater."

New Toxin Detected in Forest Fire Smoke: Discovery News

[Twitcheruth]

Originally Posted by Roy Neher Wildlife

Look what I found.......


April 30, 2009 -- Scientists have discovered a new class of chemicals emitted from burning pine trees. From a family of compounds known for their ability to alter human DNA, the findings could change the way we look at the impact of forest fires on public health.

Alkaloids are commonly found in nature; plants produce them to help bolster the structure of leaves and pine needles, and they can be key nutrients to the right organisms. Many are prized for their beneficial effects on humans, while a select few, like morphine and caffeine are downright addictive.

But in high enough doses, alkaloids can be potent toxins.

Now Alexander Laskin and a team of researchers from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington have discovered close to 100 different alkaloids in microscopic smoke particles lofting up from laboratory-simulated forest fires.

"When roots, leaves and needles get burned, these chemicals can be released without modification into the atmosphere," Laskin said. "They can be translated as aerosol particles hundreds or thousands of miles. It is possible that there is an impact on humans, animals, and that they get into the groundwater."

New Toxin Detected in Forest Fire Smoke: Discovery News

Case proven I would say Roy.......very interesting indeed!!