In principle, we probably all know the importance of honey bees. But the numbers are always impressive nonetheless:
- 80% of our total domestic flowering plants are pollinated by honey bees.
- Without the contribution of bees would reduce the yield in orchards, for example by 75%. Bees pollinate including stone and pome fruit trees, berry bushes, rape, peas, beans, clover, alfalfa, cabbage, carrots and all kinds of flowering plants.
- Therefore, measure the value of bees to their honey not only performance, but on their pollination and thus their contribution to biodiversity conservation.
- To collect the nectar for 1 pound of honey, place the honey bees back a distance equal to three times the circumference of the earth.
- German bees (identified at present in the black-red-gold probe savers) to cover their work with about 20-25% of German honey demand.
- Every German eats an average of 1.3 kilograms of honey per year
More than 80,000 beekeepers are still in Germany, but they have, and that is worrisome, with an average age of 65. There is a lack of young beekeepers and the inside.
1952, there were only 182 000 beekeepers in Western Germany with 2.1 million bee colonies.
In 1972 there were 87 100 beekeepers with more than one million people.
The last census of the German Beekeepers' Association, based in Wachtberg near Bonn in 2009 revealed a number of 81 500 members with about 614 000 people.
A worrying trend in total!
Bees were caught in the last few years in the headlines. In the United States was reported in the 2006/2007, about a mysterious bee deaths this and immediately covered with a slogan: the "Colony Collapse Disorder" (CCD), then to German "colonies collapse." Of particular concern appeared the fast death of the bees, without prior symptoms: You came back just not in the floor and disappeared, her brood and honey behind. In other countries like it has been reported but not as pronounced as in the United States. There, supposedly, about half of all U.S. states with losses up to 80% of all bee colonies were affected. (A loss to the fruit crop was, for example, in California, but thank God, from below, which is also attributed to the increase in premium location for hives, and to some extent ambiguous data with possible exaggeration.)
To the bee deaths is still a big secret and made a lot of speculation about possible causes, it has long been one thing straight: Bees do not like agrochemicals and monocultures.
In the U.S., the growing of genetically modified maize and soybean monoculture prevails, which is known to have higher pesticide tolerance. Pesticides for crops such as corn can be sprayed directly into the corn flower. That bees suffer under the heavy agrochemical have is a truism. In Spain I beekeepers reported losses of almost all peoples for the use of pesticides during the Orange Blossom.
In the Rhine Valley, 2007 saw a "mysterious" death of bees. After it was proven from studies of the Julius-Kühn-Institut (Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants) in Brunswick, that a maize seed was responsible mordant light called clothianidin.
For example, reported the science information service 2008 causes of bee mortality in the Rhine Valley from the previous year: 2007 was the first time, the western corn rootworm occurred, after which the EU had decreed a quarantine policy. These consisted in part of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria that were established by the references of infestation and safety zones, was moved to where the seed of the total area with an extra dose of the highly toxic seed treatment. Presumably, the poison at sowing machine was brought into the environment.
Often beekeepers from bee deaths reported by authorities in connection with actions on the movement of agricultural pollutants in any region for any actual reason. Therefore it is very likely that the syndrome has bee collapse each concrete, quite understandable reasons, and was not so mysterious as it was frequently represented.
In a very interesting report of TIME "The bee, the money and death" , 4.2.2009 says Peter Rotkranz, Chairman of the Association of bees Institute and researchers at the University of Hohenheim even bee mortality was a very well-known phenomenon, "'bald flying the technical term is called '. The background: 'Bees are loyal servants of the state until death.' If their end is near, they fly away. Her last service relieves the people from the corpse and possible germs. If not soft sick animals, they beat their counterparts from the floor. "
In fact, the situation in the U.S. is hardly comparable to Germany. While here outweighs the hobby beekeeping, the queens are already inseminated there. The TIME continues: "In the monocultures, the routine use of pesticides, the bees are preventively with antibiotics (as against foulbrood) or treated with pesticides, for example, against one of the biggest enemies of bees, the varroa mite."
The GA Bonner reported on 25.6. in the article "bees swarm to the City" also by the difficulty of the buzzer and Brummer pronounced in monocultures, such as the large-scale maize cultivation for biomass production to survive. Because bees are in the country under these conditions are often not consistent, more varied food supply, but only flowers of a particular species in a given time window. Therefore, in the beekeeping trend "inner cities" and more popular, the same with their lime and acacia lined avenues and beautiful gardens, bees often true paradises. The beekeepers have even discovered the cemeteries for themselves, "the bees feel really comfortable there."
In Berlin, too, of course geimkert. Here is an interview of Nuoviso (Frank Hoefer) with the Berlin "urban beekeepers" Thomas glove.
Even after the former government district of Bonn Rheinaue are surrounded by trees, a bee house. There are regular meetings and demonstrations of beekeeping beekeeping activities for children take place: One can learn, honeycomb open carefully with a metal comb and catapult himself into the honey then spin the honey from the honeycomb.
A current, or not-to-find honey supply is due to the particular tree stand of the former National Garden Festival site, the type of honey "Japanese Cherry-Chestnut": In the first approach, sweetly - almost dangerously kirschig yet delicate as Japanese porcelain, then a fuller bouquet develops on the tongue and wins in abundance. In the aftermath, it is then refined, bitterly: The chestnut flower gains the upper hand.
I turn the lid of the jar with the inscription "Genuine German honey" and the characteristic Glasschraffur and a beehive included, together with landscape in a honeycomb, which stands out in relief - the seal of authenticity Papierne tear it crackles. I turn the lid down and discover it some pale yellow honey drops, stick out my tongue to dab it carefully with the tip of the tongue from the cover lying cardboard, because my eyeballs flip abruptly inwards, as in the cover displays a message for me, something with "love" in red letters, I tear myself away the cardboard as a far-sighted of the nose and read:
"For a new love
It is never too late "
Ah yes!
"Now beekeepers / are in
and keep bees. "
www.deutscherimkerbund.de
Well, I think, for this reason and many others, I will be well soon "Beekeepers / In" are.
Tags: bee , bees dying , beekeeping
It is a fatal mistake, that we need more beekeepers. This is the well-known 101Dalmatiner effect that occurs after such films or 101Dalmatiner or Finding Nemo. Suddenly everyone wants to have a Dalmatian or a funny fish - without thinking, however, whether the prospective pet owner also brings the expertise. The breeders are overrun, raided the pet stores, but a year later, the sweet little Dalmatian is suddenly a big dog and the animal shelters are filled with dogs.
It does nothing for bees to a hive by buying these and then lets go to the bad lack of expertise. It will be a source of infection for the neighborhood. And of those beekeepers we have more than enough.
What is needed is a sound education even at the recreational beekeepers. Similar to the hunters and anglers every aspiring beekeepers should first undergo a theoretical and practical training with exam before being released on the bees.
Bees are important, as that they may have degenerated into a plaything.
The call that more young people should care about the important bee, comes from the beekeepers, Mr. Maresch. It goes without saying that only a very foolish creatures would set "a toy" a beehive. Is there such a thing at all? Example, I have before me "buy and possibly squander" no hives to leave, but to attend a training course only once during the beekeepers in the area, go to a beekeeper at hand and then later possibly my garden hives for someone to make available. Would that be ok for you?
Dear Mr. Maresch,
in fact, are "wild bee" a problem because they spread diseases. If a Wildcat as a foulbrood has not and probably familiar with its peoples still moves that were the case worsed - and that's certainly happened many times.
But is the problem has been around for many years and there is a problem that is caused by unregenerate old grouch who perform no adequate treatment for disease, etc. (we've always done it the häufugste response), the young, however, are usually up to date
The young beekeepers, which are now mostly go into beekeeping organized within Beekeepers Association. They take as opposed to the old men regularly participate in courses. Even the young are usually after a few seasons in terms of Varoatosebehandlung and early detection of diseases and epidemics much more than their counterparts in retirement. Simply because they are better connected, warning of outbreaks reach them faster and they get through the Beekeepers Association a better education today than in all other generations. Although no one fault-free and I will start with errors are undermined, but leave things in the meantime Nosemaprävention Varoabehandlung and the elder man to advise me.
The Beekeepers Association urgently needs young! The bee will die without a beekeeper. And for how long to make the old men still in their view? Our club has an average age of almost 70 and I hit my 29 years with the average already considerably. The gentlemen will cease in the next few years because they simply can not. And then go to 4,000 of them managed easily lost among peoples and the knowledge that there is no one to whom they can pass it on. Certainly not an isolated case.
I agree with you that we do not need a wild bee. The need nobody. But young people who have a serious interest in beekeeping, is before they can buy animals trained on the Beekeepers Association, and then begin to gain experience at some point after a few years, perhaps to serve more than 20 nations that are in the current situation golden.
Without the bee dies from a bee in our latitudes. This is certainly at the moment and unfortunately died already from the beekeeper.
Thank you Mrs. Beck for her blog post