Even more dead bees due to Zika hype

[Pyropyro]

‘Like it’s been nuked’: Millions of bees dead after South Carolina sprays for Zika mosquitoes

This is why you don't go to the hype train ASAP whenever a new exotic disease comes up. Now you guys get even more dead bees. Colonies are already suffering colony collapse disorder and we just have to hasten their demise via pesticides.

I really suggest that gov't agencies listen to scientists before employing knee-jerk reactions like mass pesticide distribution just to appease the panicking public.

 

[Ex-User (13503)]

Once upon a time before white nose syndrome we had bats that controlled mosquitoes for free.

And once upon a time before the non-native European honeybee was introduced, we also had resilient native pollinator guilds.

We're destroying ourselves due to... basically ignorance and greed.

 

[Not Anyone To Care For]

As a Beekeeper this makes me want to strangle someone

 

[Not Anyone To Care For]

But in all seriousness this is absoulutley ridiculous.. Why didn't they test the spray before killing millions of bees?

 

[Sinny91]

But in all seriousness this is absoulutley ridiculous.. Why didn't they test the spray before killing millions of bees?

Because that lessens the profit margins.

 

[Pyropyro]

But in all seriousness this is absoulutley ridiculous.. Why didn't they test the spray before killing millions of bees?

I lifted this EPA issued Naled fact sheet.

The fact sheet, which is dated June 1983, states:

- Based on studies available to assess hazards to wildlife and aquatic organisms, naled is characterized as very highly toxic to bees and aquatic invertebrates. It is moderately to highly toxic to fish and slightly toxic to upland game birds and waterfowl. Insufficient data are available to assess the toxicity of naled to estuarine and marine organisms.

So yeah, they know that this was toxic to bees but sprayed anyways.

 

[Ex-User (13503)]

So yeah, they know that this was toxic to bees but sprayed anyways.

We are talking about South Carolina, after all... This sort of thing is pretty much the expectation south of the Mason-Dixon line.

 

[EditorOne]

People panic over mosquitoes, and suppressing mosquitoes has been a big industry for a long time. New Jersey has county mosquito control commissions that each spend millions a year. Back in the 1960s and 1970s they relied heavily on insecticides; prior to that they simply poured motor oil over stagnant pools in the swamps and coastal wetlands. Now, after decades of anguished uproar from those who saw the insecticides do everything from kill off osprey (eggshells too fragile) to birth defects on a huge scale among small mammals and the outright killing of fish and invertebrates, they focus more on habitat manipulation and biological controls in impoundments. Habitat manipulation is better, but it is still capable of abuse. In one noteworthy case, I can take you to a housing development that could be built only because the local mosquito commission impounded a swamp, kept it drained with pumps, and blocked off the tidal flow. The area around it would normally be too wet to build. With the mosquito commission, it dried. There was talk recently of opening that area back to the tides; so far as I know that plan was abandoned because someone figured out it would result in a lot of septic tanks floating up out of the ground.
They constantly used public health, especially encephalitis, as justification for wrecking anything they wanted. I did a story early in my career about their practices; a key sentence was "They are burning down the barn to get rid of the rats."

We are cavalier in our attitudes toward nature. Ask the Australians in here about first the rabbits, then the foxes, and now I don't know where they are with that whole invasive species thing.

 

[Nofriends]

is it normal that i like to slowly kill bees?
i find them when they are weak, and tear off their wings, and slowly burn them bit by bit

 

[Not Anyone To Care For]

Wow.. What a wonderful system we have.

 

[Not Anyone To Care For]

is it normal that i like to slowly kill bees?
i find them when they are weak, and tear off their wings, and slowly burn them bit by bit

I really hope that you're joking, and if you aren't bees don't have pain receptors so your efforts are pointless.

 

[Ex-User (13503)]

Damn, not having pain receptors is pretty cool. Didn't know that. Naked mole rats lack them as well.

 

[Happy]

We are cavalier in our attitudes toward nature. Ask the Australians in here about first the rabbits, then the foxes, and now I don't know where they are with that whole invasive species thing.

Here's what EditorOne is talking about:

Spoiler

Someone thought it would be a good idea once to bring rabbits from Europe to Australia. The rabbit population soared, so they figured it would be an even better idea to introduce foxes to the population to kill the rabbits. All of a sudden, there were foxes everywhere. So now Australia is full of rabbits and foxes. There's definitely tons more rabbits than foxes though.

Worse, possibly, is the introduction of Cane Toads. When people started to grow sugar cane crops in Australia, a native beetle species kept ruining the crops, so cane toads were introduced to eat the beetle larvae. The toads thrived in Australia where they had no predators, and now the state of Queensland is basically riddled with them, as well as parts of other states.

Fun fact: people hate the toads so much that they will often use them in place of balls when playing cricket or golf. It's also a popular pastime in the north of New South Wales to stand at the state border with golf clubs and drive them back into Queensland.

Another introduced species is the European Carp - they're so detrimental to the ecosystem that if you catch them it's actually illegal not to kill them (they're also basically inedible).

Also, I noticed a while ago that cats are becoming illegal in some areas because they kill native animals.

Humans have really fucked this country up.

 

[Pyropyro]

@Happy and @EditorOne yeah. People should treat nature as a complex system more to avoid these disasters. Cane toads are a problem here too. However, they make good dissection models. Their skin can also be treated and crafted to makeshift purses.

 

[Happy]

Oh you have a cane toad problem in Phillipines? I didn't know that. How invasive are they?

Pity you dont have any land borders, or you'd be able to up your golfing drive.

 

[Pyropyro]

Oh you have a cane toad problem in Phillipines? I didn't know that. How invasive are they?

Pity you dont have any land borders, or you'd be able to up your golfing drive.

They're more of an annoyance than anything esp. during the rainy season. Golf frogs sounds awesome though

 

[Sinny91]

 

[Not Anyone To Care For]

Damn, not having pain receptors is pretty cool. Didn't know that. Naked mole rats lack them as well.

Most insects don't because it's kind of redundant, they are so fragile that any injury is pretty much fatal so there is no reason for pain.

 

[redbaron]

@Happy German carp stew is good. Carp is a delicacy in some parts of Europe. Also people just eat it wrong. If it's prepared right it's fine.

To control the carp we should introduce a lot of Germans to the ecosystem. The Germans will feed on the carp. Of course...then we'd have a German problem :^)

 

[Conscious AI]

Jeez, Einstein warned us years ago

“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”- Albert Einstein

 

[Nofriends]

Most insects don't because it's kind of redundant, they are so fragile that any injury is pretty much fatal so there is no reason for pain.

i wouldnt mind getting a lizard then

 

[Happy]

@Happy German carp stew is good. Carp is a delicacy in some parts of Europe. Also people just eat it wrong. If it's prepared right it's fine.

To control the carp we should introduce a lot of Germans to the ecosystem. The Germans will feed on the carp. Of course...then we'd have a German problem :^)

I remember when I was a kid we'd give our carp to some European friends. They couldnt believe we were so lazy to not process them. Alas, they were from a different time and place, having survived the war and whatnot. We were accustomed to catching and eating the more prized seafood - why eat free carp when you can eat free lobster?

I've never bothered to try carp. I have faith that it might be good though. Have you tried it, RB?

 

[Not Anyone To Care For]

i wouldnt mind getting a lizard then

EDGY LEVELS ARE OVER 9000

 

[Nofriends]

EDGY LEVELS ARE OVER 9000

i expected better of you, only idiots use the term edgy

 

[Thurlor]

@Happy

Carp (when it is properly prepared) is one of the best freshwater fish I have ever had the pleasure of eating. As an added benefit they have a good bone to flesh ratio.

 

[Not Anyone To Care For]

i expected better of you, only idiots use the term edgy

Yep, because using a certain term defenitley depicts my level of intelligence accurately.