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Scientists Breeding Super Bees

Elliot Chang writes "Over the last five years the world's honey bee population has been steadily dwindling, with many beekeepers citing 2010 as the worst year yet. In order to save these extremely important insects, scientists are working on breeding a new super honey bee that they hope will be resistant to cold, disease, mites and pesticides. If all goes well, the new and improved insect will continue to pollinate our crops for years to come."

5 of 248 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Awesome. by Captain+Sarcastic · · Score: 3, Informative

    I couldn't think of a good response to this. I guess I'll have to wing it.

    --
    Strike while the irony is hot! -- The Freethinker
  2. Re:What's the problem? by AutumnLeaf · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is a fair bit of info on the wikipedia page for Colony Collapse Disorder...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder

  3. The widely-cited "90%" is wrong. by sirwired · · Score: 4, Informative

    The widely-quoted "90% of the world's crops depend on bees" is simply wrong.

    The vast majority of the world's caloric intake comes from grains, legumes, and tubers, the vast majority of which require do not bee pollination.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_bees

  4. Re:They tried this already. by IICV · · Score: 4, Informative

    Thinking that nature thinks, and that if it does it cares at all about our survival, is pretty much the stupidest thing I can imagine.

    Nature doesn't give a shit about us, or about anything. It just is - and if, in the process of nature taking its course, humanity is wiped out in the most horrific way possible, then nature doesn't care at all.

    So yes, we can know better than nature - because nature doesn't know anything at all.

  5. Stop using pesticides by ubergeek65536 · · Score: 1, Informative

    Hmm. Maybe if you stop spraying all that shit on out food we (and the bees) wouldn't be in such a mess.