Gardeners Told to Give Exhausted Bees an Energy Drink

In an effort to help Britain's declining bee population, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is urging gardeners to leave out a homemade energy drink for tired bees. The RSPB says that a mix of two tablespoons of sugar with a tablespoon of water makes a perfect bee-boosting drink. Val Osborne, head of wildlife inquiries at the RSPB, said, "Many people keep seeing bees on the ground and assume they are dead, but chances are they are having a rest. Much like us, a sugary drink could boost their energy levels and a simple sugar and water combination will be a welcome treat."

Comments

Those aren't honey bees, they're yellow jackets

[swb]

Yellow jackets are protein eaters (other bugs, roadkill). They don't make honey. In the late summer / early fall they lose their normal food sources and they start going after carbohydrates -- sugary soda and pretty much anything on the picnic table.

They're also super aggressive at that time of year and can sting repeatedly. Which is why I hang a yellow jacket trap to kill as many as possible. 10 in the last day!

Colony Collapse Disorder

[BigHungryJoe]

Is Britain having the same problem the US is with CCD?

  I talked to a guy that sells honey at the local farmer's market, and this past year was the first time in 15 years that he actually had to purchase more bees because he'd lost over 90% of his hives to CCD.

Anyhow, the symptoms described in the article sort of sounded like CCD, although I've never seen it, just had it described to me.

 

Re:Colony Collapse Disorder

[mc1138]

They are, while not quite as conclusive, there has been a decline in populations, and resources are being applied to monitor the situation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder#UK_Bee_database

Re:Colony Collapse Disorder

[Jane Q. Public]

A cure for "Colony Collapse Disorder" has recently been announced. It turns out (after an exhaustive study, in more ways that one), that there were a combination of microorganisms causing the problem. And it takes a mix of antibiotics to cure it, but it does work. The recovery has been pretty dramatic.

Re:Colony Collapse Disorder

[LateArthurDent]

any links to that story?

It was actually on Slashdot a while back. I remember having seen it.

Sugar Water - Common Knowledge

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone who knows anything about bees, already knows about sugar water... it's a common Bee Keeping practice... at least in the States it is.

Disinfect your feeding containers

[Guppy]

Just like with Hummingbird feeders, if you do this I recommend dis-infecting your container periodically by boiling (or use disposable containers).

Otherwise, you eventually have microbial contamination problems which could be dangerous to the bees you're trying to help. Growth of yeasts, bacteria, and other organisms should not be assumed to be necessarily visible to the naked eye, either.

Re:Look, I know a dead bee when I see one

[xaxa]

No, it's Eric the Half-a-Bee.

Re:Nice picture

[Reziac]

Then I noticed the filename and imemdiately thought, "That's no bee, it's Thumbelina!!"

There's a wild beehive somewhere on my place (never have found it, tho it might be high up in one of the old hollow trees) and being we're in the desert, a lot of the year they clearly do not get enough to eat (lots of them being small or weak). But they've completely ignored the sugar water I've put out for them. [I used to work for a beekeeper, so I knew to do this.]

Even better idea

[geekoid]

you actually learn what the hell you are talking about.

A) If we stopped using pesticide, 1/3 of the human population will die from starvation.

B) 'Pesticides' are not bad. They are a good thing when properly used. Most, if not all, modern pesticides have a very short half life

C) At this pojnt it looks like its two things causing this, a parasite, and a fungus. Not all the data is in, but it is strong

D) There are no issues with genetically created crops. That is panic based on ignorance and an ideology.

E) AS I mentioned befroe, it is really starting to lok like a double whamy of a parasite and a fungus. Something Humans can help cure.

Re:Even better idea

[mdalal97]

D) Actually, there are, but it has less to do with eating it and more to do w/ the terms of use imposed by companies like Monsanto/ADM. Primary, you can't use any of the seed from your own field to plant in the following year. You always have to buy the seeds again. Then say you are a farmer who has a field next to another farmer who uses genetically modified crops that, somehow, cross pollinate with your crops. If Monsanto tests your crops and finds their genetic markers, you are screwed. I won't even go into the problems with our monoculture of food production.

Re:Even better idea

[mwbeatty]

Don't see how my comment deserves to be modded as 'troll' but anyway, I would really like to see the sources for the statements in your comment. The only people I've seen claim that pesticide use prevents starvation are the pesticide manufacturers. And as for genetically modified crops, this from another website

According to the French Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini, a molecular endocrinologist and a member of two French government commissions evaluating GM food, the corn variety in question, called MON 810, has shown statistically significant problems in animal studies.

They found the effects of the GM crops were similar to that of pesticides, causing inflammation disorders, and problems with livers and kidneys, two major organs involved with detoxification.

This website provides a lot of information about genetically modified food and unlike your post, actually provides sources for its facts.

Re:nothing new

[Misanthrope]

http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/percentage-of-dependence-of-us-agric
A huge percentage of US crops require bees for pollination.

Re:Traps are great

[Alaska Jack]

I don't know about your situation, but I can tell you here in Alaska there are without question two different types of mosquitos. The ones that come out first in the spring are big, slow and dumb. As the summer wears on these are replaced by mosquitos that are clearly smaller, faster and much more aggressive and cagey.

It's not a one-time thing, but rather happens like this every year.

    - AJ

Re:What could possible go wrong?

[phayes]

Either crawl out of your mother's basement or learn to use the internet/wikipedia in order to avoid embarrasing yourself in public.

There are just so many ways that you are wrong.

Bees cannot live on nectar alone & need a source of protein. The initial food of all larval bees (other than vulture bees) is a mixture of pollen & honey without which the larvae would die. This is the reason they have evolved special hairs on their legs in order to better collect & retain pollen.

Re:Bee Pollen

[Fluffeh]

isn't bee Pollen one of those things

No, it's not one of those things. Bees don't make pollen. Plants do.

The stuff they sell at pharmacies is royal jelly which is in fact made by bees, secreted from a gland in worker bees heads. While commonly a myth that only the queen gets to eat this stuff, it's generally used to feed just about all the larvae, but if a queen is needed, they gorge the larvae on the stuff for the first four days which gives the bee enough of an energy kick to kick-start the development of ovaries which are (obviously) needed by the queen.