bee's and wind turbines

[danno]

Before I even start this thread let me say that I am in favor of clean sustainable energy.    I am not part of the "not in my back yard group or NIMBY group"  I believe that IF we are not going to drill for oil in my back yard, that we should all start growing hay to feed the horses and ditch our cars and trucks.  I'm not willing to do that.  For the past few years the area that I live in has been trying to get wind turbines.   The county has had so many public meeting with the same group of NIMBY and I've heard it all.   Being a Lic. falconer they tryed to get me to state the they killed raptors but I refused.  Then they started with the stobe effect reflection angle.  Then they hit the no sleep heatlth issues.  The noise issues.  The lose in value to there property issues.  The newest issue is that a hobby beekeeper, part of the NIMBY movement will loose his bee's because the sound will disrupt there communication.   One of my bee yards on my farm happens to be next to (25ft) from my shooting bench and 300 ft from a active RR track.  In the summer we spend hour shooting, rifles and shotguns at clay targets.  They never ever pay attention.  Although they do seem to get wond up when the weedwacker touches the sides of the hives the tractor doesnt bother them abit.  I am hopeing that others on this site that have already experienced the bee/wind turbine issues will tell me what they think.  I should also add the these 56 tubines that are proposed are very large with 300ft spans, slow moving on 400 ft towers.  They are all going on farm land.     

[Merlinspop]

Gonna have to re-look at bee-anatomy to be sure, but I thought bees didn't hear, but rather communicated through pheromones and visually (dancing).  The are sensitive to vibrations, as you found when you got too close with the weed whacker.

But again, I am often wrong.  Just ask my wife.

B

[AllenF]

I don't think wind turbines will have much if any affect on bees.

[edward]

Sounds like a good idea , Having turbines on farm land , I hope the farmer gets paid for the uses of his land.

The wind bags should bee placed in front of the turbines so they can do some good besides moaning.  :soapbox:


mvh edward  :-P

[fish_stix]

I'm with you Danno. Drill, drill, drill! Start now and go full steam with the alternatives, but you can't just abandon the petroleum that's available, as these greenies want to do. Practically nobody wants a 400' windmill in their backyard but sooner than later we're going to have to accept them and other power generating methods. If we had continued with construction of nuke power plants instead of letting the tree huggers and greenies reign supreme, we'd be a lot less dependent on oil by now. Fox news today did a piece on the permitting process for new oil wells. One example; the permit application for a single 6600' deep well in Louisiana was 3300 pages long. The Interior Dept. says they're shorthanded and are requesting additional funds to hire 41 new permit processors. They already have a budget of $12 billion; maybe they should just cut out the coffee breaks and golf Wednesdays and kick some lazy butts.

[skflyfish]

Danno,

Good luck with the POWER Coalition. cough, cough

I am as green as they come and I would never be associated with them. I went to some of the public meetings in Oceana county and they were the rudest bunch of jerks I have ever come across. They will not listen to any reason. But that reminds me, they said they wouldn't be opposed to land based wind turbines. Have they changed their tune again. errrrrrrrrrrrr..................

But on to your question. I don't think the normal flight path of a honey bees is over a hundred feet above the ground. Doesn't make sense to fly that high. Too much wind. I also agree with your sound assessment. My lawn tractor never bothers them or their flight.

Again, good luck and I hope the project goes through. I don't know why people don't understand that fossil fuels are finite. The faster we use them, the faster they are gone ...... forever.

Jay

[Kathyp]

but hey....we have lots and lots of coal  :evil:

was driving through eastern Oregon and Washington a couple of years ago.  came over a ridge and there was a wind farm.  quite a sight.  have to say, i heard nothing from them, but then...i was slightly exceeding the speed limit and enjoying the ride.

have picked up a couple of swarms close to the power lines.  if those things don't bother the bees i can't think that windmills will.

[Bee Happy]

I don't consider myself "green" but there are a number of things I agree with them on. Efficiency - apply capitalists to making products that get the same outcome for less input (much less tyvm).
"Diversity" (as applies to energy) wind, solar, passive solar, methane burning on farms, natural gas, drill it don't spill it. - if it makes electricity - put it to work. (I'm still pro nuclear partly in spite of and partly BECAUSE of the Japanese trouble - there is a new lesson in the game)
Independence both in individual scales and national. - get your house off the grid IF IT'S POSSIBLE FOR YOU.  Terminate any dependence on foreign sources of energy.
I've taken most of that from and Overview of the T Boone Pickens' plan someone told me about - I don't know his party affiliation for sure, but he makes sense with respect to energy.

[Brian D. Bray]

I'm as green as they come, I use solar, wind, battery, and generator, as backups or in place of grid power when and where I can.
If I can't get gas I build a cart and train my goat to pull it.  I wonder if they'd let take into the grocery store as an assistance animal?

I also believe that the failure to utilize the energy resources we have, be they petroleum, natural gas, coal, solar, wind, and even wave action is like the Ostrich with its head up....in the sand.  It makes not sense to outlaw oil and gas drilling to make a few fanatics happy.