BEE'S....MILLION YEARS OF EVOLUTION (+playlist)

For millions of years bee's have been crucial to the survival of our planet and all living things. Today bee populations have collapsed, bee colonies have vanished.

Plants are genetically altered like the round up resistant canola, plants with 'terminator' genes so the seeds are useless. Bees are dying from a toxic soup of pesticides and fungicides in the pollen.

Modern technology is changing the planet for good, there will be no putting the genie back in the bottle. Still there is something special about watching bees on a flower like it is meant to be.

All sequences were filmed on September 20 and 22 at the Summerhill Pyramid Winery in Kelowna, the winery is government certified ORGANIC. The bee's like it that way.

Music:  by Elixirion http://www.elixirion.com

Bumblebee Apinae Bombus has a tongue!

The bumblebee is any member of the the bee genus Bombus. There are 250 known species. They exist primarily in the Northern Hemisphere but are also common in New Zealand and the Tasmania, Australia.

The soft long hair on their bodies is called 'pile'. It covers their entire body, making them appear soft and fuzzy. Like their relatives the honey bees, bumblebees feed on nectar and gather pollen to feed their young.

Like all bee tongues, the bumblebee tongue (the proboscis) is a long structure.  It extends from a sheath-like modified maxilla. The action of the tongue is lapping, i.e. repeated dipping of the tongue into liquid. During lapping, nectar is drawn up the proboscis by capillary action. When at rest or flying, the proboscis is kept folded under the head.

I had never seen the probiscus of a bumblebee before. It quite amazing! 

Bee's Pollinating Orchard - Bee Collapse?

I love cherries, but it turns out these might be apricots trees getting pollinated by the bee's. Cherries are my favorite fruit, but I also love apricots, peaches, watermelon cantaloupe, almonds, mango's, garden ripened tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. Plus many more, and the thing they have in common -  bee's have to pollinate the flowers of the plants or there are no crop's.

By some estimates more than 30% of the global bee population has died off and this will have major consequences on all food production. This is not exclusive to North America. Bee's are dying all across the planet - The honey trap: How the demise of Britain's bees could cost us £1.8billion a year,  Bee Emergency: Unexplained Mass Die-Off Hits German Hives,

European beekeepers observed similar phenomena in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland and Germany, albeit to a lesser degree while the Northern Ireland Assembly received reports of a decline greater than 50%.Possible cases of CCD have also been reported in Taiwan since April 2007

music by Kendra Springer 04 - Sus Ojos Se Cerraron (Your Eyes Are Closed)