Where are the bees? Interesting & informative interviews on NPR

[Mind_your_head]

Listened to (most) of this NPR's "The Story with Dick Gordon" broadcast "Where are the bees?". It was very fascinating and informative program, so I thought I would share it here with anyone else who has an interest in this subject.

Here's a little snip about the two gentlemen that were interviewed for the story:

Dick visits beekeeper Jeff Lee at a North Carolina apiary in Mebane, N.C., learns about his business of renting out colonies, and gets a first-hand lesson in beekeeping.

Dick later has a conversation with entomologist Dewey Caron from the University of Delaware, who has been researching bees for over 40 years and is now working with a team of scientists trying to unravel the mystery of the bees' disappearance.

If you would like to hear the whole hour-long show, click the "listen" button on the upper right side of the page:

http://www.thestory.org/

[question everything]

1. Bill Maher talked about this the week before last

and he was dead serious

[Mind_your_head]

2. Didn't see that one - what did Maher have to say about it all? n/t

[Straight Shooter]

3. I was very excited to see honeybees on my ornamental pear tree this morning.

Eastern Oregon. Not as many as last year in my yard, that's for sure, but at least they're buzzing around here.

It made my day, but I've always liked honeybees anyway. :)

[ceile]

4. Normally at work our trees are "alive"

The buzzing gets so loud it sounds like drill. So far this year-nothing.

[old guy]

5. We have a similar situation

Our flowering crab trees are usually alive with bees. They are not ready to blossom as of yet and we are a little nervous as to what is going to happen. Hearing of your problem does not bode well for things. I still have hope.

[Mind_your_head]

6. Beekeeper Jeff Lee talked a little bit about how bee disappearances

vary from one area to another. He said that he's got 1300 hives with approximately 50,000 bees in each hive. Some hives are stronger than others. Mr. Lee said that recently he's lost 35% of his bees, whereas historically it was only about 10% (or less) per year. Mr. Lee has been studying and raising bee's for about 35 years (since he was 12).

[Eurobabe]

7. thank you for posting this!!

[Parche]

8. Bees

Found in my bed this morning a Boo Bee................

[Mind_your_head]

9. Interestingly, Mr. Lee has degrees in organic chemistry and worked for a pharmaceutical

company (until his job was outsourced and he couldn't find a chemistry job here in the US anymore). That's when he turned his lifelong hobby into a "new profession" for himself at 45-something, instead of the 65-ish that he expected.

His scientific background (and that fact that he worked many years for big pharma) - give this interview a lot of interesting elements.

Again, I highly recommend giving it a listen....even just the first 15-20 minutes talking about how a bee hive actually 'works' is extremely fascinating.

[marions ghost]

10. interesting interviews

well worth listening to---

They really don't have a conclusion about what's decimating the bees, but these guys seem to favor some disturbance or substance (pesticide) disrupting the bees' homing instincts.