View Full Version : How are we gonna make Sugar (now there are no bees) After WWIII?
I'm all for eating cake, but not without sugar.
grusomhat
2007-12-25, 09:29
Source! Always post a source.
Some species of Sorghum can contain levels of hydrogen cyanide, hordenine and nitrates lethal to grazing animals in the early stages of the plant's growth. Stressed plants, even at later stages of growth, can also contain toxic levels of cyanide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghum
Sorghum seeds are those hard tan things that make up the bulk of wild bird seed, I think.
Yeah, so that's where we will get sugar from.
Salt can be made from evaporating sea water, maybe using the same evaporating pan used to make sugar. An automobile hood could make a good evaporating pan.
Salt + Sugar
moonmeister
2007-12-25, 10:05
From...schoolgirls? "Sugar & spice..."
A heap of diamonds won't keep out the cold, so window glass will be worth more than diamonds. I don't know how to make window glass.
glass is blown into a cylindrical iron mould. The ends are cut off and a cut is made down the side of the cylinder. The cut cylinder is then placed in an oven where the cylinder unrolls into a flat glass sheet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylinder_blown_sheet
So that's what diamonds are good for: Cutting the ends off bottles to make window glass.
Sugarcane. Palm trees. Bees. There are still bees. I can't believe I'm replying to this thread.
In the event of a nuclear war not everyone has palm trees. With wild bird seed everyone could be making sugar next summer.
Megalodon
2007-12-26, 20:16
lol good thread.
Trousersnake
2008-01-03, 22:47
:confused: Wtf...
Slave of the Beast
2008-01-03, 23:03
:confused: Wtf...
Only Trousersnake can save this thread now.
supperrfreek
2008-01-05, 02:18
I'm pretty sure there are still crossbreeds with africanized bees which cause problems in regular pollination operations, Mexican bee farmers are managing to get non aggressive africanized bees.
colony collapse disorder doesn't seem to effect organic beekeepers either http://www.informationliberation.com/index.php?id=21912
people think it's got something to do with beekeeping practices.
also sugar has nothing to do with bees but more to do with plants in south america and in the Caribbean.
Prometheus
2008-01-05, 06:46
No one mentioned sugar beets. Sugar cane makes up 1/2 of the US sugar crop, and sugar beets make the other 1/2. Sugar beets are easy to grow, and fairly easy to process. I've done both before (for a school project). Sugar beets are a major crop here in Michigan.
Addendum:
Sugar beets do not need to be pollenized, they can be cloned easily, just like carrots and potatoes.
Barbapapa
2008-01-10, 13:32
Aaaaah Pollenization, at least someone said it !
True, bees are under a lot of stress, specially since Monsanto released its infamous Gaucho pesticide, a killer for bees. Some beekeeping malpractice as well, cause there's an outbreak at the moment among bees, some kind of viral disease, hence swarms have to be shipped from far away... Causing all sorts of malfunction in the ecosystem...
I'm not sure we'll survive till WWIII without fruits or pollinized product (only halfway ironic...)
Think about it : no more :
Honey
apples
cherries
Lavander
peaches
apricot
pears
flowers-and their untapped medicinal properties
etc etc...
Now that would be a big catatrosphy, or maybe a big bussiness opportunity for the people who have no interest in humanity having self replicating plants-thru the flower/pollenization process, people selling Genetically Modified plants, Monsanto again, hmmmm naughty naughty.
Beware of the Ellerbee sting !
B.
Prometheus
2008-01-14, 15:27
I've always had a gripe against Monsanto, especially since they sue farmers that have corn accidentally pollinated with their proprietary GE corn. Bastards.
No bees doesn't necessarily mean the end of those fruits and flowers. It does mean that we'll need to find a way to massively artificially fertilize them.
letsnukechina
2008-01-22, 16:00
I think the original poster is confused.
Honey = comes from bees
Sugar = comes from sugar cane
High Fructose Corn Syrup (The sugar substitute in everything that used to have sugar in it) = comes from corn.
Also, why would there be no bees after WW3?
And why would honey/sugar be our biggest concern after WW3?
I think the original poster is confused.
Honey = comes from bees
Sugar = comes from sugar cane
High Fructose Corn Syrup (The sugar substitute in everything that used to have sugar in it) = comes from corn.
Also, why would there be no bees after WW3?
And why would honey/sugar be our biggest concern after WW3?
2. Sugar could also come from sugar beet
4. Bees are hardly the most resistance animal species but still yes it would be hard to wipe out bees entirely but there numbers could (and are actually) going down
5. Bees pollinate a large portion of the worlds crops
Slave of the Beast
2008-01-22, 17:56
Genetics, the answer to most of the world's environmental problems, I think.
Prometheus
2008-01-22, 22:21
Genetics, the answer to most of the world's environmental problems, I think.
Just remember what happened last time we tried to 'improve' bees.
wolfy_9005
2008-01-23, 12:54
Just use SUGAR CANE??. If there is a nuclear war/etc, dont you think it'd make sense that they would bomb where you live anyway?
Slave of the Beast
2008-01-23, 13:23
Just remember what happened last time we tried to 'improve' bees.
I wasn't specifically talking about improving bees. Even if I was, scientific success may be the end result only after a hundred failed attempts and revisions.
I never suggested it was going to be easy.
EtherFreak
2008-02-08, 20:36
umm, bees=honney and sugar=sugar cain
Prometheus
2008-02-10, 16:55
I think he was referring to pollination, not honey.
EtherFreak
2008-02-11, 22:33
humming birds, butterfly's, and other insects pollinate as well…
Prometheus
2008-02-12, 15:10
Don't forget bats.
I was just taking the concept and running with it.
skidmeister927
2008-02-29, 01:39
We can't make honey though. Biscuits are gonna suck if the bees go :(
And so will mead :(:(:(:(
SonicXtreme
2008-03-19, 03:30
it pains me to say it, but round up ready sugar beets look like they're going to become BIG
Numberjumbo
2008-03-21, 06:40
I have no idea why I clicked on Clean Tech.
moldykorn
2008-03-25, 02:17
I have no idea why I clicked on Clean Tech.
Rofl.
Phanatic
2008-04-01, 00:49
Genetics, the answer to most of the world's environmental problems, I think.
Pah. Genetics won't stop factories pumping industrial waste into the rivers, pesticides turning males into females and fucking up ecosystems and soil. Unless you mean taking the higher ups in the corporations out of the gene pool, which I wouldn't mind.
THIS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed_vault
Slave of the Beast
2008-04-03, 07:36
Pah. Genetics won't stop factories pumping industrial waste into the rivers
Engineered microbes to break down the waste.
pesticides turning males into females
GM insect-resistant crops would eliminate the need for pesticides.
and fucking up ecosystems and soil.
Examples?
Phanatic
2008-04-03, 22:24
Engineered microbes to break down the waste.
So you'd say the problem is that we have a lack of these microbes, not that assholes are not being held accountable to their actions?
GM insect-resistant crops would eliminate the need for pesticides.
You know how well that's going?
http://www.keepmainefree.org/suesuesue.html
Examples?
http://www.helpfulgardener.com/organic/2006/insects.html
http://www.squidoo.com/try-using-mothernatures-own-pest-controls-in-your-garden
http://tinyurl.com/yo33q6 That and the next page.
Prometheus
2008-04-04, 10:55
First let me say that I really hate Monsanto. They rank just below Haliburton as far as I'm concerned. They look the RIAA look like they hand out hugs and kittens.
Fuck the Roundup Ready Cotton. Botanists have shown how the herbicide immunity can be crossbred through a couple different plants and eventually end up in plants that currently are weeds in cotton fields. Good work there.
But especially fuck Monsanto for their stupidass lawsuits. It's one thing if a farmer is saving seed. That's a contract violation. But going after farmers that had their corn unwittingly pollinated. That's evil.
That said, BT corn, with the built in non-toxic environmentally friendly pesticide is a great feat in genetic engineering.
(Information on how BT corn works can be found in the book Mendel In The Kitchen, which does an excellent job of explaining technical genetic engineering concepts to the layman.)