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2012 Dieback Already?

105K views 327 replies 52 participants last post by  JRG13 
#1 ·
I have heard from a beekeeper here in NY that he has been hearing of and seeing dieback in his outfit and others across the Nation, many different parts and in parts of Canada. How about y'all? Seen or heard something similar? What's going on? What are your observations or conversations about this like?

Is it mites? One guy I corresponded w/ thinks it has to do w/ the mild Winter (11/12) which was not only easy on the bees but the mites too, allowing an earlier buildup in the colonies.

Thanks for your input.
 
#328 ·
In terms of RR resistance, most of the weeds have developed a novel pathway, has nothing to do with outcrossing, so you can't compare the two pathways in terms of Amino Acid synthesis, as I do not know how weeds are dealing witht he glyphosate. That being said, reproductive tolerance (typically associated to male sterility) to Round-up is something to look at. Commercial lines are fine in this regard but it wouldn't surprise me if pollen quality or quantity is reduced, just not to any level that affects yield at all. Could this mean problems for bees, I don't know.

As to almonds, all the offers I've seen with people offering up bees are in the $140 range so $200 seems pretty high. Also, availability is a little variable by region/county, so maybe a part of the state seeing a shortage was paying those prices but some areas with excess bees will be paying less.
 
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