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Originally Posted by "Colony Collapse and the Consequences of Bee Disease: Market Adaptation to Environmental Change", Rucker et al, July 2019, in part
Moreover, and in stark contrast to perceptions formed from surveying media sources as well as a substantial body of academic literature, we find that CCD has not had measurable effects on honey production, input prices, or even numbers of bee colonies. We attribute these findings to a factor largely overlooked in the scientific and popular literature on pollinator decline: the ability of well-functioning markets to adapt quickly to environmental shocks and to mitigate their potential negative impacts.
I ask a "why not let free market handle it" question, and the free market delivers with an answer.
But here's what you might not have heard. Despite the increased mortality rates, there has been no downward trend in the total number of honeybee colonies in the United States over the past 10 years. Indeed, there are more honeybee colonies in the country today than when colony collapse disorder began.
Beekeepers have proven incredibly adept at responding to this challenge. Thanks to a robust market for pollination services, they have addressed the increasing mortality rates by rapidly rebuilding their hives, and they have done so with virtually no economic effects passed on to consumers. It's a remarkable story of adaptation and resilience, and the media has almost entirely ignored it.
You do realize that bees do more than produce honey, don't you?
You really need to read the linked articles to understand that the bees in question are a livestock commodity used for pollinating crops, and the market has responded and adapted to the point that even with CCD losses, the crop pollinating bee population is greater than before CCD was even documented.
There is no bee-pocalypse or bee-mageddon coming. Beekpers and breeders looking to make profits have continued to adapt and respond.
But if panicking out of ignorance is your thing, have at it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicano3000X
Shh, he knows more than scientists..
Appeal to ridicule with an embedded appeal to authority. Does not refute or effectively counter anything in either linked article that I provided.
Birds each the bees, and birds have been dying en masse as well. So, ironically, we're also killing off one of the biggest insect killers. The pesticides also kill frogs and earthworms.
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