http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2628372/Have-scientists-solved-mystery-dying-bees-Hives-exposed-insecticide-ARE-likely-suffer-colony-collapse.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2628372/Have-scientists-solved-mystery-dying-bees-Hives-exposed-insecticide-ARE-likely-suffer-colony-collapse.html)
Randy O;iver questions the methods in the study as being agenda driven:
http://scientificbeekeeping.com/the-harvard-study-on-neonicotinoids-and-ccd/ (http://scientificbeekeeping.com/the-harvard-study-on-neonicotinoids-and-ccd/)
Oliver writes "In response, Bayer Crop Science claims that imidacloprid has never been used on more than about ½ of 1% of corn plantings in the U.S. "
In an article http://news.msn.com/science-technology/bees-crucial-to-many-crops-still-dying-at-worrisome-rate-usda (http://news.msn.com/science-technology/bees-crucial-to-many-crops-still-dying-at-worrisome-rate-usda)
it is stated"Last year, the European Union said it would ban neonicotinoids used for corn and other crops, as well as on home lawns and gardens. Similar constraints in the United States could cost manufacturers millions of dollars"
I find it confusing that 1/2 of 1% on the corn crop could lead to millions of dollars lost. I think both sides of this issue are omitting facts that might give us an understanding of what's happening.
You don't realize how much corn is planted in this country do you? We feed the world.
The us averages 12.5 to 13 biliion bushels of corn a year amounting on 84 million acres with a value of almost 64 billion.
If the government requires corn alcohol for fueling cars, the same corn acres cannot feed cattle and human consumption. The farmer needs to maximize their yields to stay in business and insect control is one way to maximize the yield. I think in the article I posted Randy Oliver also noted these modern chemicals are not as hard on the bees as the chemicals they replaced. If we eliminate all pesticides ,people better be prepared to fend for themselves, because the government likely will not reduce the requirement of alcohol in fuel from grains to be reduced just because of a food crisis. You need to remember they never let a good crisis go to waste.
Be careful what you wish for, the results may not be what you want.
i did a speech on agriculture in the u.s. in high school. in 1980 3 percent of the u.s. population produced something like 80 percent of the food consumed by the world population.
we grow a lot of grain and produce a lot of beef, pork and chicken.
ken, it's coming. the activists are determined that neonics and gmo's are the work of satan. if you have the room to do it you had best start growing your own.
beef is at the highest price in 27 years and not projected to get cheaper. two deer went in the freezer last year and two more will this year.
i've got about 2000 corn plants, 100 potato plants, 100 onions and 30 squash plants and 50 or so tomato plants going right now and i'm getting ready to plant beans and okra. my chickens should be laying buy august.
i'm going to learn to can this summer. i may go broke under obama but i won't go hungry.
i wish i had started farming on this scale a couple of years earlier but that's spilt milk now.
when the neonics and gmo's are gone and the large scale beekeepers keep losing bees what will we blame next?
Rob; Kale is very nutritious so plant some this winter. If you plan to eat out of your garden make sure you have crops that provide a lot of different vitamins.
We've been canning for a couple of years now. Ball Blue Book is great. I have a couple of websites (somewhere) about canning that I've sifted out of the pack. Do not use your pressure canner to cook in, you can but don't. Buy a new one, they're a lot safer. Yes, you can pressure can squash. I'll send you the info. We had problems finding if you could so we asked some of the elderly folks and they did it for years. If you want to keep the nutrition value put your jars in a dark room. Sunlight is not good for canned food. Let me stop before I hijack the thread...
pm me if you have any questions.
Quote from: buzzbee on May 15, 2014, 07:36:23 PM
If the government requires corn alcohol for fueling cars, the same corn acres cannot feed cattle and human consumption.
The byproducts from making beer, whiskey and ethanol are used to make animal feed, they are called brewers grains and dried brewers grains.