Post by beesting on Dec 22, 2005 12:53:56 GMT -7
Hello from the South Pacific,
For those reading that may not know who I am, I have kept bees and sold Honey commercially in Southern Oregon from 1983 to 2004, and used the "net" handle of beesting since 1996.
I watched in dismay as my bees fell in numbers from a high of about 500 colonies to zero over about a 15 year period. Part of this I blame on neglect on my part, part of it on the numerous known,"enemies of Honeybees", named in all the Honeybee periodicals.
But, what I want to write about is a "Theory"discussed between Pat Morris and myself, several months ago.
The theory is there is a "worldwide"virus killing the bees???
My theory is based on observations made over an 11 year period consisting of 4 separate trips to a very isolated island chain in the in the South Pacific region.
1994 trip: Wild Honeybees everywhere.
I saw 4 wild swarms within a 1/2 mile of where I stayed {Rural farming area}
(A) Note: The Honeybees were of the European variety brought from Europe by Christian missionaries an estimated 100 years ago. They had swarmed under ideal Honeybee conditions, many, many years ago.
1996 trip: Bees still everywhere.
I bought new equipment in New Zealand and proceeded to capture and house in standard 10 frame hives 8 colonies in a short time
1999 trip: A flood had swept away all but 2 of my previous 8 colonies but these 2 were, as the saying goes,"busting out at the seams".
The current 2005 trip was originally intended to start commercial beekeeping here:
In 2 & 1/2 months I have seen "ONE" Honeybee on a very isolated part of another island and only a very small amount of bees on some tropical flowers in my front yard,,,,,,once!
Now, I found out in 1999 all Honey & Honey products were banned by the customs officials here,,,so I don't think any of the Known bee killers {Varroa, foulbrood,tracheal mite, etc. etc.} could have reached here and done such severe damage in such a short time. ( 6 years)
For years I have had a theory that a virus killed "ALL" the pre-historic dinosaurs.
You see, the entire earth is still in the process of producing new species of every living thing. Some call it a mutations process.
ALL of these species are fighting for ONE thing and that's "SURVIVAL"!
If indeed a living virus killed all the dinosaurs{similar to the avian flu virus???} when the host dinosaurs died the host parasite virus's eventually died too.
Anybody know how to detect and isolate viruses?
Thanks For Reading.........beesting.
Permission to reprint granted.
For those reading that may not know who I am, I have kept bees and sold Honey commercially in Southern Oregon from 1983 to 2004, and used the "net" handle of beesting since 1996.
I watched in dismay as my bees fell in numbers from a high of about 500 colonies to zero over about a 15 year period. Part of this I blame on neglect on my part, part of it on the numerous known,"enemies of Honeybees", named in all the Honeybee periodicals.
But, what I want to write about is a "Theory"discussed between Pat Morris and myself, several months ago.
The theory is there is a "worldwide"virus killing the bees???
My theory is based on observations made over an 11 year period consisting of 4 separate trips to a very isolated island chain in the in the South Pacific region.
1994 trip: Wild Honeybees everywhere.
I saw 4 wild swarms within a 1/2 mile of where I stayed {Rural farming area}
(A) Note: The Honeybees were of the European variety brought from Europe by Christian missionaries an estimated 100 years ago. They had swarmed under ideal Honeybee conditions, many, many years ago.
1996 trip: Bees still everywhere.
I bought new equipment in New Zealand and proceeded to capture and house in standard 10 frame hives 8 colonies in a short time
1999 trip: A flood had swept away all but 2 of my previous 8 colonies but these 2 were, as the saying goes,"busting out at the seams".
The current 2005 trip was originally intended to start commercial beekeeping here:
In 2 & 1/2 months I have seen "ONE" Honeybee on a very isolated part of another island and only a very small amount of bees on some tropical flowers in my front yard,,,,,,once!
Now, I found out in 1999 all Honey & Honey products were banned by the customs officials here,,,so I don't think any of the Known bee killers {Varroa, foulbrood,tracheal mite, etc. etc.} could have reached here and done such severe damage in such a short time. ( 6 years)
For years I have had a theory that a virus killed "ALL" the pre-historic dinosaurs.
You see, the entire earth is still in the process of producing new species of every living thing. Some call it a mutations process.
ALL of these species are fighting for ONE thing and that's "SURVIVAL"!
If indeed a living virus killed all the dinosaurs{similar to the avian flu virus???} when the host dinosaurs died the host parasite virus's eventually died too.
Anybody know how to detect and isolate viruses?
Thanks For Reading.........beesting.
Permission to reprint granted.
