Well, yes, that's true, but at what cost? Bubonic Plague wiped out 1/3 of European population and certainly extended the length of the dark ages. And yes, eventually, bees will adapt. A world-wide die off is pretty unlikely. Survival of the fittest, that sort of thing. The more important thing that you should be concerned about is - what happens to YOU. Humanity may survive, whether you personally do is another issue. FWIW, I understand that there are alternative pathways for pollination to bees by other insects, just that bees are the most efficient.
<i>"not a big deal, humanity has always made it through its problems. bees going extinct would send food prices soaring then people will figure out other ways to produce, people will change their diets, take supplements, whatever"</i> Humanity has not "always made it thru its problems"</i> with nil consequence. Thru the history of mankind, there have been waves of near extinction and widespread decimation of populations along with waves of population growth. These days we consider an event like 911 an unthinkable tragedy. In times past, the body count from that day would have represented one small blip in the USSR famines of WWII, black plague in Middle Ages, smallpox in American Indians, potato famine in Ireland and literally hundreds of other natural / manmade events. I never said anything about eliminating chemical use for farming. Where was that written by me? I specifically stated that rearing bees resistance to all which afflicts them thru selective breeding is what I believe to be best solution. One of my fun pasttimes is removing bees from old houses or buildings and hiving them up for reproduction. In my area of upstate NY, extensive logging, wood cutting and land clearing has removed many hollow trees. Feral bees living in the wild are more & more using old houses and outbuildings as homes. I advertise for free honeybee removal and get lots of calls. People respond with bee colonies that have lived & thrived for years in their (usually decrepit) houses or outbuildings. No medicines, no coddling, nothing but drafty quarters for living and that's it. Those feral bees left alone by man are often the most vigorus of all. Last fall I bought a few hives from someone who did nothing with them except extract 100lbs - 200lbs of honey from each colony in the fall, and that's it. A state bee inspector who examined them before purchase found everything wrong with bees that could possibly afflict an apiary. One hive had AFB and had to be destroyed. The remainders had varroa mites, trach mites, nosema dysentary and they lived in rickety old boxes with gaps & holes everywhere. The bee inspector doubted any of them would survive the winter... it was too late in the year for treating them with anything. I gave the seller $500 and figured it was a dice roll. If they die, they die. This spring all remainders overcame everything, are thriving with huge populations and putting up honey in record fashion. They commonly produced 100+ to 200lbs of excess honey per hive each season before... helps that they live next to a farm which grows red clover and black-oil sunflowers. Those bees are pretty much wild in their boxes, and are the most vicious I've ever handled. Brush up against a hive and they boil out to attack like africanized "killer" bees. Hot tempered like I've never seen, but their genetics allow them to survive and prosper. ** Rearing these localized bees with no coddling will hopefully produce strains resistant to everything which kills other bees. That includes tolerance of chemicals used by farmers and homeowners alike. Accomplish that, and sideline beekeeping operation can grow to a healthy six-figure annual net income for me as monetary motivation. Big picture result will be security of pollinated food sources our nation and world enjoys now. It's a cold, rainy day here. If not for that, I'd be out wrangling bees from some dilapidated house instead of extolling on here with you
So How many of you are still blaming pesticides for all the woes of the world? http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upsho...ntified-in-massive-worldwide-honeybee-die-off
"...pinpointed likely culprits: a fungus and a virus, both of which flourish in cool, wet environments." Cool, wet environments?