Big Bees vs. Little Bees

Comments: 13

LeeAnn D. Mar 22, 2008, 10:02am EDT

That's really interesting. I wish man would stop trying to play God and just let animals (or insects as in this case) do what they naturally do instead of trying to force a bigger yeild out of them by genetic tampering. Some day, they are going to create something they wish they hadn't. With every step forward scientists make with genetic engineering, they end up falling 2 steps backwards when they encounter problems like this.

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Ana L. Mar 22, 2008, 10:17am EDT

wow, that is interesting. I knew it had nothing to do with global warming! It is our own attempts to make things better that ruins things. When will we leave these types of the things up to God. How amazing to learn that He made the bees the exact right size to do there job and not be eaten as often. He new what He was doing! Thank you for this article. It is really eye opening!

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Priscilla P. Mar 22, 2008, 10:29am EDT

Ahhh another theory..Curiosity is a marvelous thing!!! My native bees in West Texas are still very small but I am wondering if they are Africanized? How does one tell?

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Ada D. Mar 22, 2008, 10:48am EDT

There's good evidence the the "colony collapse disorder" thing is a result of pesticides, but I had never heard this theory about bee size. Honey bees are not natives, and there were plenty of pollinators before they were imported. I haven't seen a honey bee in my area for years, but there are plenty of orchard mason bees, bumblebees, and the little metallic ones people call "sweat bees."

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Ian Thorpe Mar 22, 2008, 11:06am EDT

Bees are fascinating creatures. Their sensory system is so highly developed they can navigate by detecting the pull of the sun's magnetic field even after dark. One of many interesting facts about Bees.
Maybe we ought not to try to improve them in case they take a notion to try to improve us.

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Charles A. B. Mar 22, 2008, 12:07pm EDT

We are facing a major problem when it comes to our honeybees. Whatever is going on with the bees is a not good. There are plenty of theories and facts to go around. Ada is right. There are plenty of of other pollinators out there. The question is will they do as good of a job as the non native honeybees.

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Richard B. Mar 22, 2008, 12:38pm EDT

We need the honey bees.

We don't need biger or better honey bees.

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Jerry Kays Mar 22, 2008, 1:32pm EDT

I am all for the understanding of genetics, but completely against the tampering with it ... there is nothing in our universe that is not interconnected in the fuller picture and if we do the wrong things now it will come back to bite us ... big time.

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George McNaughton Mar 22, 2008, 4:17pm EDT

The problem has been greater out west, than here in Vermont. However, the mites were a problem here, but have not been since they figured out that it was related to the bigger size and grooming issue. Its my understanding that it is still a fairly widespread problem out west where bees have abandoned hives and started nesting in the insulation of cheaply sided houses.

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Dundrave of The Black Conclave Mar 24, 2008, 8:20pm EDT

CCD - or colony collapse disorder is very different then the mite infestations. CCD is as yet, totally un-explained, though thought to be triggered by a virus spread from Israel and Australia. It is when, in a sense, the worker bees go out foraging and just forget to come home..... and the hive collapses.

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