CROPfm Forum

Eine Studie an der "University of Virginia" warnt vor den Auswirkungen von Auto- und Kraftwerkabgasen auf die Duftausbildung von Blüten, die für die Bestäubungsprozesse der Pflanzen von grundlegender Wichtigkeit sind.

Wie das Team um Professor Jose D. Fuente, Quinn McFrederick und James Kathilankal im Fachmagazin "Atmospheric Environment" darlegt, binden und zersetzten die Abgase den Duft der Pflanzen. Damit unterbrechen sie den Bestäubungsprozess der durch Insekten ausgeführt wird, die eigentlich von den Düften angelockt werden sollen.

National Geographic Spezial | Wissenschaftler warnen vor einer globalen Katastrophe. In den vergangenen sechs Monaten sind rund 80 Prozent der amerikanischen Bienen spurlos verschwunden. Nun breitet sich der Albtraum in Europa aus. Sind Bienen die Vorboten eines globalen ökologischen Kollapses? Mithilfe faszinierender makroskopischer Aufnahmen geht die Dokumentation dem Rätsel des Bienensterbens auf den Grund und lässt führende Wissenschaftler zu Wort kommen.

While apiaries around the United States grapple with what researchers are calling Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) — the mysterious disappearance of entire honeybee colonies that began last November and has been reported in 27 states — Vermont beekeepers remain virtually unaffected.

The South is among the regions of the United States hit hard by colony collapse disorder, in which large numbers of honeybees are dying off and disappearing, never to be seen again. The United States in recent months has lost about a quarter of its colonies, five times the typical winter losses.

Bee colonies have begun dying off in alarming numbers all around the world. The collapse of bee populations has multiple causes, none of which have easy remedies, a German biology professor has warned.

Some German apiarists lost their entire stock of bees over the past winter.

"It's almost a natural disaster," Juergen Tautz of the University of Wuerzburg, said Wednesday.

Tautz warned that bee populations are dwindling dramatically, with the losses averaging more than 30 percent despite the mild winter. Normally, a winter kills about 10 percent of swarms in Germany, Tautz said.

Anstatt vorsorglich das Gift der Firma Bayer zu verbieten, empfiehlt das BVL, die Bienen von den Maisfeldern zu entfernen

Bees in the German state of Baden-Württemburg are dying by the hundreds of thousands. In some places more than half of hives have perished. Government officials say the causes are unclear -- but beekeepers are blaming new pesticides.

A German prosecutor is investigating Werner Wenning, Bayer's chairman, and Friedrich Berschauer, the head of Bayer CropScience, after critics alleged that they knowingly polluted the environment.

The investigation was triggered by an Aug. 13 complaint filed by German beekeepers and consumer protection advocates, a Coalition against Bayer Dangers spokesman, Philipp Mimkes, said Monday.

bee deaths

August 31, 2008 Gainesville, Florida - It was 18 months ago in February 2007 at Earthfiles that I reported my first interviews with Penn State and University of Pennsylvania scientists about honey bee disappearances that came to be known as “Colony Collapse Disorder,” or CCD.

"The firefly populations have dropped 70 percent, in the past three years," said Preecha, 58, a former teacher who started providing dozens of row boats to compete with polluting motor boats. "It's sad. They were a symbol of our city."

The fate of the insects drew more than 100 entomologists and biologists to Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai last week for an international symposium on the "Diversity and Conservation of Fireflies."

Laut einer Elektrosmog-Studie von Ulrich Warnke, Professor an der Universität Saarland, sind die Auswirkungen von Mobilfunkmasten, Wi-Fi-Systemen, Hochspannungsleitungen und ähnliche Quellen elektromagnetischer Strahlung auf die Tierwelt ernorm. Warnke untersucht diese Problematik bereits seit dreißig Jahren und ist erneut zum Schluss gekommen, dass der Elektrosmog unter anderem zum Bienensterben wie auch zum Rückgang der Spatzenpopulationen geführt hat und die Migration von Zugvögeln stört. Die Betreiber von Mobilfunkunternehmen stehen diesen Erkenntnissen jedoch naturgemäß kritisch gegenüber. Das berichtet die Zeitung "The Independent".

You can keep up with the film's progress at www.vanishingbees.com.