蜜蜂都快死光了

几个月前，在蜂群衰退之谜里列了列世界，尤其是北美，蜜蜂大量消失（鸡死亡，叫蜂群衰竭失调现象或蜂群衰竭失调症（Colony collapse disorder，CCD)）的原因，昨天，美国农业部一个新的报告说现在越来越严重了：

2015.05.13
路透社：U.S. honeybee losses soar over last year, USDA report finds

“Losses of managed honey bee colonies hit 42.1 percent from April 2014 through April 2015, up from 34.2 percent for 2013-2014”
“Causes: pesticides, loss of food and tiny mites”

综合原因跟我上次说的相仿，不是单一的。时报周刊的科普：

2015.04.15
You Asked: Are the Honeybees Still Disappearing?

不过，前几个月，大家嚷嚷的，是农药乃最主要的因素：

2015.04.22
全国广播电台：Buzz Over Bee Health: New Pesticide Studies Rev Up Controversy
技术时报网站：Bees Could Be Getting Hooked On Nicotine In Pesticides - Is This The Cause Of Colony Collapse Disorder?

这是全国广播电台报道的采访录音：
里面的化学成分叫Neonicotinoid（维基），和尼古丁非常类似，说是蜜蜂吃上瘾，吃死了。人类够厉害，不过你又得咒骂农药商（孟山都之类）恶毒，为了利润啥都不顾。

普通媒体上听不到的是怀疑的声音：
2015.03.18
EPA Study Finds That Neonics Not Causing Colony Collapse Disorder In Bees

（参见在蜂群衰退之谜里的资料）

时报周刊：

Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp—a University of Maryland entomologist who helps collect and publish the winter death data each spring—says there are three “primary drivers” of honeybee loss: The varroa mite, pesticides and poor nutrition. He doesn’t hesitate when asked to name the largest threat to bees: “I’d get rid of the varroa first.”

Varroa mites, properly (and frighteningly) named Varroa destructor, likely migrated to the U.S. sometime in the 1980s. They attach to a honeybee’s body and suck its blood, which kills many bees and spreads disease to others. The varroa can jump from one colony to another, wiping out whole populations of honeybees, vanEngelsdorp explains. There are treatments that combat the varroa. But many small-scale beekeepers don’t use them. “That’s bad, because they can spread mites to neighboring colonies,” he adds.

Of the two other major bee-killers vanEngelsdorp listed, pesticides have arguably gotten the most press—especially a commonly used category called neonicotinoids. While considered safe for humans, research suggests neonicotinoids may be extremely harmful to bees and many other insects, and so have been banned in some European countries. But the amount these chemicals contribute to bee deaths and colony collapse disorder is still debated. “We don’t find levels of neonicotinoids that are indicative of widespread exposure or harm,” vanEngelsdorp says.

坚持综合症。这也是我相信的：原因难说单一的。

回顾一下：
公共电视（PBS）老片（2011）：Silence of the Bees


有什么用呢？如以前说过，直接的经济损失并不大，所以物价也不会大幅提高，就像气候变暖似的，温水煮青蛙，没感觉，大家忙着下馆子，来杯星巴克，死几只蜜蜂,小事儿。


华邮：How the White House plans to help the humble bee maintain its buzz
路透社图：




【参见 】
合众社：Survey: More than 40 percent of bee hives died in past year