• Tattorack@lemmy.world
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    25 minutes ago

    I mean… We still don’t know why the honey bee is dying (yes, specifically the honey bee. Other bees seem to be doing OK).

    Yes, it could be the industry, or it could be climate change, or it could be the use of pesticides… But while it could be all of those things, none of those things fit entirely.

    So even if a whole lot of people are willing to do something to prevent the honey bee population from going poof… We wouldn’t know what to do exactly.

  • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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    10 hours ago

    In North America, honey bees are an invasive species that cannot effectively pollinate native plants, but compete with native pollinators for resources and spread disease. They only exist here to make money for their owner while degrading our collective environment. When you hear about honey bee colonies collapsing, that is perversely a GOOD THING.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago

      I would do further reading on this, and not just rely on the “hot take” from one progressive youtuber. It’s a lot more nuanced and complicated than this.

    • Zanathos@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      Do you have a source on this? First I’ve read about honey bees being invasive.

      If the claim were about yellow jackets I would believe it as they are still pollenators but not as effective as honey bees. Not to mention I see way more wasps, hornets and yellow jackets than honey bees combined in a single season. I’ll see maybe one honey bee (if I’m lucky) a year in northern Ohio, but the latter are everywhere up here.

      • kuvwert@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 hour ago

        Its much more nuanced than that. Honey Bees are not native, but that does not technically make them invasive by most definitions. Oversaturation on a local ecosystem can push out native bees in some cases (maybe)…

        https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/native-north-american-bees-mostly-seem-untroubled-by-invasive-honey-bees-391892

        As for the claim about them not being effective pollinators… Ive not come across anything that would make me believe that yet. In fact my understand was that its specifically because theyre good pollinators that they outcompete native species. Without additional information those two statements are incompatible.

        They can spread diseases, but my understanding is that this is a result of the conditions the artificial colonies are kept in, not attributed to their inherent nature or biology, and might happen to any species that is subjected to those environments.

        “Colony collapses are a good thing” does not pass the smell test in any capacity and I would disregard that opinion without some significant evidence to back it up.

        • ameancow@lemmy.world
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          54 minutes ago

          Also, nobody is talking about beetles. Beetles are one of THE biggest pollinating insects and are suffering massive decline, but I guess people are far more concerned with bees because they’re kinda cute.

      • musubibreakfast@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        This guy is a giant wasp, don’t listen to him. He’s just trying to distract you so he can drink all the soda in your house

      • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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        4 hours ago

        Most people don’t go out of their way to learn about animal exploitation. But you definitely SHOULD. Please look it up and report back to us what you learned.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      56 minutes ago

      If enough individual people who own land with yards grew native plants and flowering bushes and stopped using so much pesticide outside, it would make a huge difference.

    • XM34@feddit.org
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      10 hours ago

      While true, “we did fucking nothing” is also entirely true. The fast majority of humans don’t give a shit about the environment. No matter their wealth and power. It’s only a lot more noticable and harmful when Jeff Bezos flies to space. But let’s be real here. If aberage Joe White (43) had the means to fly to space, he would do so without a second thought of the environment!

      We’re dealing with a pandemic of selfish assholes and one of its symptoms are selfish billionaires who destroy in seconds what a few thousand conservationists achieved in a year!

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      52 minutes ago

      Ain’t nobody going to educate the millions of people who don’t give two shits about facts and science about the vast diversity of bee species and other flying insects.

      If people start doing more to help “honey bees” broadly like growing wild flowering plants and reducing pesticide use, it will also help the other native species.

      Let me put it another way, we need to BE VERY CAREFUL about trying to over-lecture about this kind of situation. We’re in a climate where trying to teach people knowledge isn’t received as a gift or benefit. Teachers are tuning their lessons for 7-minute attention spans and high emotional sensitivity, we all need to do the same.

    • JaymesRS@piefed.worldOP
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      1 day ago

      Sometimes jokes where the punchline are based around absurdity will simplify or ignore the nuance of reality for the sake of a joke.

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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        24 hours ago

        The distinction is key. Honeybees are one of the biggest reason other Bees and native pollinators are going extinct. Honey bees are voracious foragers and will out compete almost all other pollinators.

        There are anti honey bee non profits with missions between eradicating honey bee nests they find to just relocating them to places where they can be used for monocrops.

        If the extreme native pollinator crowd got their way we would all be fucked as honey bees currently account for 75% of ag pollination, with the remainder mostly being self pollinated plants.