There are several keys to this thought that maybe some have missed. Long drive yesterday so a chance to put it to paper as they say.
First, this is not a new thing. There is no sudden crisis of bee pollen proteins. If the theory is true, its been going on for 100years or better (this cycle) and is far from any sort of sudden or recent crisis. The bees have been and will continue to adjust. I doubt bees can determine protein levels any better than we can when we try to decide pork or beef, its all part of the diet. But its been diet that’s been changing gradually if the theory is right. One could also add if the theory is right, it should mean more honey, so better overwintering food.
This concept of less protein in goldenrod, is a huge red herring. While intellectual curiosity like Randys is understandable and valuable, to link to this and to play "woe are the bees" is absolutely nothing but the worst kind of politics. Its taking a tiny tiny, tiny potential nugget of truth, and attempting to twist it to a global warming carbon cap justification. No matter your position on the issue, one should be able to see the foolishness of this. Its an attempt to win over naive people in the bee/butterfly loving groups. We as beek are under assault to our common sense to join political causes. This is one of those. Even if we as a group get smarter, truth is most people love us and support us (honey people) so in their ignorance when headlines like this come out, they want to support "us" and think we would all be on board.
Why do I say that? Because its actually got nothing to do anything we can control anytime on our lifetimes. While we may be able to cap carbon and slow it increase, the changes will be gradual and the reason darn well better be a lot more important than protein levels in goldenrod.
No matter where you fall on the GW argument, this is a foolish and trivial piece of the discussion. Nothing in this has anything to do with what the solution may or may not be, or how to implement it. For example, lets say for argument it is true, and now we need to feed our bees more proteins, so what are we going to do? Farm more and add it to bee food? Well seems to my shallow mind, that the extra effort to farm more is going to make the problem worse, not better.
The real problem with the whole GW argument, is the solution, it has to do with human population and personal greed. Guys Like Decaprio, and Al Gore flying around the world and running the largest utility bills in TN should show us exactly how difficult it is to push this rope. How many of us here belive in the GW theory, but still fly around the world to lecture on bees, or see the pyramids? Any of us actually put down a cup of coffee and drink local water from the well, or are we sipping lattes and bottled water?
Whats this have to do with bees? Actually not much at all, what it has to do with is one thing, the politics of beekeeping, and how some want to twist little facts to make excuses for why their bees died.
Keep in mind this is not the Climate change argument of local micro climes being twisted ( I blame that on the windmills screwing up the airflows) this is targeted at the big picture of carbon levels, something the huge majority of us really have no understanding of. Which is why we node sagely, we are to ignorant to realize whether or not what we are told has merit. So we nod and agree..... Human trait.
Just my thoughts. All for the Climate change conversation, as long as we can discuss it with relevant facts and solutions, in the mean time, I hope fellow beekeepers will start to see how focus groups and research funding dreams are being used to push anti pesticide and GW concepts based "save the bees"
I think most of us are brighter than that, unfortunately the general population is not.
Charles
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