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Study finds bee lifespans are now 50% shorter than 50 years ago

submitted by Spaceman84 to Nature 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 11:40:43 ago (+19/-0)     (newatlas.com)

https://newatlas.com/biology/puzzling-study-honeybee-lifespan-decrease-by-half/



14 comments block

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[ - ] NaturalSelectionistWorker 9 points 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 13:05:11 ago (+9/-0)

Save the bees, plant more trees, clean the seas, kill refugees.

[ - ] PostWallHelena 7 points 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 15:50:01 ago (+7/-0)*

Artificial selection of beekeepers is favoring high honeynproduction at the expense of longevity. Bee burn-out. Similar phenomenon in lab mice. Mice are bred for high robustness but they all die prematurely of cancer. Higher metabolic rates probably lead to higher honey production but also earlier cellular senescence.

[ - ] MayhemInChief 4 points 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 17:29:22 ago (+4/-0)

First thing I thought of was inadvertent artificial selection. Aka, humans "breeding" bees for one trait, and inadvertently affecting other traits.

[ - ] PostWallHelena 2 points 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 18:11:59 ago (+2/-0)

Yup.

[ - ] PotatoWhisperer 0 points 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 20:26:39 ago (+0/-0)

We've done it with the lab mice we use in all testing. That's a fun rabbit-hole to go down with some dire consequences.

[ - ] Belfuro 2 points 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 21:59:23 ago (+2/-0)

No.
5 year bee keeper.
Our two breeds in nz are 200 years old.

They are dying because globalism spread the pests of bees. Like varroa. And diseases. Like American foul brood. Around the world.

Bees are dying because they never evolved protection.

Now honey bees are symbiotic with humans.
They literally cannot live without us or in the wild.

They need our care.

[ - ] PostWallHelena 0 points 2.4 yearsNov 22, 2022 05:53:06 ago (+0/-0)

But these bees were found to have reduced lifespans in controlled conditions. Not when infested with varroa. I understand theres a problem with colony collapse. But they seem to be talkiing about something else entirely here, which is healthy bees just dying younger.

[ - ] Belfuro 0 points 2.4 yearsNov 23, 2022 01:50:28 ago (+0/-0)

All bees have varroa. We can knock it back. Cannot eradicate.

[ - ] AntiPostmodernist 3 points 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 13:26:40 ago (+4/-1)

It's 5G and all the other forms of radiation we have floating around.

[ - ] KeepPoal4fags 2 points 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 15:06:42 ago (+3/-1)

I bet thats right, these foraging insects are highly reliant on earths natural electromagnetism to navigate.

[ - ] lord_nougat 3 points 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 12:40:40 ago (+3/-0)

Clown world is driving them to the bottle. Probably.

[ - ] Lordbananafist 1 point 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 12:17:20 ago (+1/-0)

i blame women bees

lolol jk. I will hold my judgment on the lady bees until 3 generations after we get environmental toxins under control.

[ - ] Weredawg 1 point 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 13:07:18 ago (+1/-0)

Queen bees did 9/11.

[ - ] Steelerfish 0 points 2.4 yearsNov 21, 2022 19:01:07 ago (+0/-0)

Are the bees turning gay too?