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Forums - Politics Discussion - Bumble bee is proposed for U.S. endangered species status

lynksseus on 22 September 2016
Octane said:
At first I was a bit surprised, because a bumblebee isn't even a species, but the article makes it clear that it's the rusty patched bumble bee. Unless you're a trained entomologist, I don't think you can easily differentiate all the species of bumblebees. That explains why you may have seen plenty of bumblebees this year, whilst this specific species is actually endangered.

Still, endangered doesn't have to mean on the brink on extinction. It can also mean that the population is slowly declining. It's easier to prevent extinction early on than to wait until there's barely an individual left of the species. They're vital to orchards and several species of crop, so I think it's in everyone's interest to keep the diversity of pollinators up. The same is true for several species of bees. Those have been on a decline too..

There's going to come a time where we will need to human-proof everything.



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lynksseus on 22 September 2016
crissindahouse said:
I love bumble bees! You can touch them lightly on their back and they are fine with it

Lol, this post.



Octane on 22 September 2016
Nymeria said:
Octane said:
At first I was a bit surprised, because a bumblebee isn't even a species, but the article makes it clear that it's the rusty patched bumble bee. Unless you're a trained entomologist, I don't think you can easily differentiate all the species of bumblebees. That explains why you may have seen plenty of bumblebees this year, whilst this specific species is actually endangered.

Still, endangered doesn't have to mean on the brink on extinction. It can also mean that the population is slowly declining. It's easier to prevent extinction early on than to wait until there's barely an individual left of the species. They're vital to orchards and several species of crop, so I think it's in everyone's interest to keep the diversity of pollinators up. The same is true for several species of bees. Those have been on a decline too..

Well put.  There are concerns about types of insecticides and agricultural methods such as how genetically modified crops affects bees leading to potential colony collapse.  The reason we should concern ourselves is actually a selfish one, bees are incredibly valuable for the proliferation of many food sources we enjoy.

Agreed, I guess the bees and bumblebees are lucky that humans depend on them?

Although I should stress that it's not all GMO plants that cause a decline in bee population, only those that either produce a specific form of insecticide, or produce low quality or no pollen at all (some plants only polinate under specific conditions in the presence of specific fertilisers that are also patented by the same company). Low quality pollen leads eventually to starvation of bee colonies. It's a big issue that not many people are aware of unfortunately.



SvennoJ on 22 September 2016

Any chance wasps can be endangered anytime soon.

I had to remove a wasp nest above my hot tub earlier this year. Now they're buzzing around the pears the squirrels pick out of my tree and leave half eaten on the ground. And worst of all, one flew up my shorts while cycling this summer and stung me in a rather bad spot, twice, then again in my hand trying to catch the thing. Now I know why those tight fitting cycle shorts are popular.

Yet I have indeed not seen many bumble bees around. Pill bugs seem to be the popular thing this year, lots of spiders feeding on them too. I wonder if we'll get another ladybug infestation this year.



hershel_layton on 22 September 2016



Bees are very important to our ecosystem. I have received 30+ emails from organizations explaining how pesticide companies are doing everything they can to keep this out of the light and to keep getting rid of bees. Guess they weren't phony emails after all.

As much as I dislike bees, it would be horrible for any species to be endangered or wiped out.

 

 

Edit; the company was Monsanto. The comments helped me remember



 

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12/22/2016- Made a bet with Ganoncrotch that the first 6 months of 2017 will be worse than 2016. A poll will be made to determine the winner. Loser has to take a picture of them imitating their profile picture.

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pokoko on 22 September 2016
crissindahouse said:
I love bumble bees! You can touch them lightly on their back and they are fine with it

I used to work in a greenhouse so I had bees buzzing all around me all the time.  They're completely fine to be around unless you hurt one.  However, now and then, we'd get a teenaged girl playing drama queen who would shriek and swat at them like she was being attacked.  It would make me so pissed off.

Ka-pi96 said:

Are bees and bumblebees different things? I thought it was just shortened to bee sometimes because people were too lazy to say the bumble part.

There are many, many different species.  Bumble, Honey, Carpenter, and "Killer" are probably the most well known.



mountaindewslave on 22 September 2016

must be a particular type of bumblebee because I still see them fairly often, especially obviously in the summer. probably a kajillion various species



darkknightkryta on 22 September 2016

I blame wasps. Those assholes hunting regular, gentle bees... fuck them.



mountaindewslave on 22 September 2016
SvennoJ said:
Any chance wasps can be endangered anytime soon.

I had to remove a wasp nest above my hot tub earlier this year. Now they're buzzing around the pears the squirrels pick out of my tree and leave half eaten on the ground. And worst of all, one flew up my shorts while cycling this summer and stung me in a rather bad spot, twice, then again in my hand trying to catch the thing. Now I know why those tight fitting cycle shorts are popular.

Yet I have indeed not seen many bumble bees around. Pill bugs seem to be the popular thing this year, lots of spiders feeding on them too. I wonder if we'll get another ladybug infestation this year.

fuck wasps



mjk45 on 22 September 2016

I live in the Australian state of Tasmania, being an Island that didn't have bumble bees , I was surprised many years ago to find them hanging around our flower garden and found out that 4 weeks earlier they had been discovered at Kingston a southern suburb of the capital Hobart .( about 70 km and 3 major water crossings from where I lived) and had be blown 1600 km or so across the Tasman sea from New Zealand, since they are great pollinators and not considered a threat to native bees they where welcome and not treated as pests.



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