Thursday, January 12, 2017

"Bee placed on endangered list after US habitat loss"

Miami (AFP) - US officials for the first time have placed a bee found in the continental United States on the endangered species list.

Authorities said Wednesday the move was taken after a precipitous decline in the rusty patched bumblebee population, due to pesticides, disease and climate change.

These once common bumblebees are now "balancing precariously on the brink of extinction," said a statement from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Abundance of the rusty patched bumble bee has plummeted by 87 percent, leaving small, scattered populations in 13 states and one province," down from 28 states in the 1990s.

The final rule listing the rusty patched bumble bee as endangered appeared in the January 11 edition of the Federal Register and takes effect on February 10.

Experts say the bees are important because they pollinate economically important crops such as tomatoes, cranberries and peppers across the central and northern United States, as well as parts of Canada.

Their decline is likely due to a combination of factors: loss of habitat, disease and parasites, use of pesticides, climate change and extremely small population size.

Via Drudge: Link

8 comments:

Known Unknown said...

Oh. I thought this was about Samantha Bee. Nevermind.

The Dude said...

How does the made up "climate change" threaten that particular bee? Lefties may not have noticed but things change over time. For instance, there used to be dragon flies with a two foot wing span. Adapt or die, eh?

ricpic said...

Blame the rusty patch for its own near extinction. The mating dance was so complicated that half the youngens couldn't learn it. Oh yeah? Well that's as plausible an explanation as any other out there.

ricpic said...

It could also be that the rusty patch bumble bee queens are into third stage feminism and refuse to mate with the beta drones that reach them in the mating flight. And since beta drones outnumber alpha drones like ten to one a lot of the queens never, you know, do it. Just offering possibilities here.

Leland said...

Sixty, you need to understand the religion of climate science doesn't recognize evolution. Creatures were created to live in the earth of the 16th Century, and all changes to the earth since then are the original sin of mankind, and by that, I mean men. Some do argue that creatures were created earlier, but your example of dragonflies with a two foot wing span relies on supposed fossil records for which many are skeptical that the earth was actually warmer during that period.

bagoh20 said...

So the climate warms by an imperceptible degree that has so far had no effect on weather, but it is still the cause of all bad things. Climate change has clearly caused erectile dysfunction? increasing Kardashian ass syndrome?, libtard political failure, and the rise of pussy grabbing golden shower extremism? Oh yea, and fake news.

ndspinelli said...

Well. I had a great conversation w/ a professional beekeeper ~2 years ago on my way out west. I was having breakfast @ the hotel and struck up a conversation w/ a guy wearing a Sue Bee Honey jacket and cap. Sue Bee is sorta like the cranberry cooperative, Ocean Spray. Only, professional beekeepers gets paid not only for the honey, but by farmers for use of the bees for pollination. This guy and his wife operate out of South Dakota. But, they have houses in Texas and California, riding a circuit for different crops @ different times of the year. He sells all his honey to Sue Bee. At the time, the beekeeper was on his way to Cali for the Almond pollination season. He said that was his must lucrative biz, almond growers need lots o' bees.

The guy was very down to earth, as was his wife. I asked about bee health issues. He said they were going through a fairly tough time. However, his family have kept bees for generations and there are always problems w/ bacteria, parasites, drought, etc. I asked him if the climate change issue was real, both he and his wife gave belly laughs and said in unison, "Bullshit."

So, who you gonna believe. A hard working guy whose biz is bees, or some girly man scientist who is probably allergic to bees. On the topic of bees, Ulee's Gold is a good flick.

Methadras said...

Of course the bee goes on an endangered species list that includes none other than, DUN DUN DUN!!! CLIMATE CHANGE!!! The horror of it all.