Just how much can they stand?
It occurs to me, after reading for months about how bee parasites eventually become resistant to each pesticide used, and the effectiveness of antibiotics become ineffective with time as well....that, well,
I guess I see trends based on what people write here and elsewhere- trends indicating that mite treatments and other bee pest and disease treatments are being used not only in Spring and Fall, but during Summer as well, ...and yet the problems they are supposed to cure are not being eliminated...but rather just seem to get worse. Will bees eventually be treated on a constant basis, 365 days a year? And would that even do any good?
Will the eventual trend be for all beekeepers to use pesticide and medication treatments on their hives all throughout the year regardless of honey contamination health and agriculture laws, in a desperate attempt to keep their bees alive? Are bees getting more and more stressed and sickened by the very 'cures' that are being imposed on them? Are bee parasites and diseases actually able to get more and more of a foothold when bees are overloaded with various miticides and medications?
Are we killing bees off by overloading them with a concoction of so many chemicals, pesticides, and medications that they no longer have resistance to anything and all too quickly succumb to any and all threats? Is CCD not actually being caused by some undiscovered 'mystery virus', or by one particular pesticide- but is it rather just a case of the straw that broke the camel's back?
Are bees finally succumbing to the multi-chemical soup they are forced to ingest at every turn, both from their caretakers and from the environment and food supply around them?
I don't have an answer, but I do see that more and more people seem to be pondering this possibility.
It occurs to me, after reading for months about how bee parasites eventually become resistant to each pesticide used, and the effectiveness of antibiotics become ineffective with time as well....that, well,
I guess I see trends based on what people write here and elsewhere- trends indicating that mite treatments and other bee pest and disease treatments are being used not only in Spring and Fall, but during Summer as well, ...and yet the problems they are supposed to cure are not being eliminated...but rather just seem to get worse. Will bees eventually be treated on a constant basis, 365 days a year? And would that even do any good?
Will the eventual trend be for all beekeepers to use pesticide and medication treatments on their hives all throughout the year regardless of honey contamination health and agriculture laws, in a desperate attempt to keep their bees alive? Are bees getting more and more stressed and sickened by the very 'cures' that are being imposed on them? Are bee parasites and diseases actually able to get more and more of a foothold when bees are overloaded with various miticides and medications?
Are we killing bees off by overloading them with a concoction of so many chemicals, pesticides, and medications that they no longer have resistance to anything and all too quickly succumb to any and all threats? Is CCD not actually being caused by some undiscovered 'mystery virus', or by one particular pesticide- but is it rather just a case of the straw that broke the camel's back?
Are bees finally succumbing to the multi-chemical soup they are forced to ingest at every turn, both from their caretakers and from the environment and food supply around them?
I don't have an answer, but I do see that more and more people seem to be pondering this possibility.
