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(Image of a honeybee on a satsuma orange blossom sent to me by reader wangdangdoodle.)
Writing on this blog, I get a lot of e-mail. And when I say a lot, I really mean it -- my gmail in-box has something like 7000 e-mails in it and counting at the moment. Sometimes I get to it faster than others -- this week, with the Gonzales liveblogging, I'm way behind, for example -- but every once in a while I get an e-mail that just grabs me and I have to share it with everyone else. The one that I got from wangdangdoodle was just that sort of e-mail.
...I had been concerned about the news lately of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), especially after hearing something on the radio last weekend that Einstein had said; that if the bees go, mankind had only about 4 years left. Scared the crap out of me!I'm in (north)...Texas and there are no high-powered transmission lines in my 'hood (we have underground); no cel phone towers close by either. And being in town, we're not near big agriculture that may be growing GM food. We had gobs of bees on the Satsuma Mandarin Orange tree that is in the side yard. (Actually, it is not my tree, it's the neighbor's.)
So, I was wondering what some of the other Firepups may be experiencing this season regarding bees. And if they have any of the suspected contributing factors near them that may be affecting them.
Living in small town America, in a rural state with lots of trees and meadows and wildflower areas, I just have not noticed the same drop-off in honeybee population that a lot of folks around the country have been talking about in the threads lately. But, when you think about how dependent a lot of food crops are for pollination, substantial losses could cause an enormous difficulty for all of us. And then some. And when you start thinking about it beyond this one question to the broader implications that ripple out from there? Aiiyee.
The Boston Herald recently had a good article explaining some of the basics and its implications of the loss of honeybees for farmers -- and those of us who consume the produce grown on those farms. And it truly is startling the types and numbers of crops we are talking about -- I mean, if you haven't actually spent time on your cousin's farm in the summer helping out, it would be startling. For me, it was a very good reminder of how unconnected to the land I have become the last few years -- and a much needed wake-up call. For a much more comprehensive look at this issue, take a peek at this fantastic compendium from Celsias, but prepare to be amazed at the sheer magnitude of the issues involved.
On the recommendation of several readers, I recently picked up Francis Moore Lappe's book "Hope's Edge." It is subtitled "The Next Diet For A Small Planet," and I am looking forward to the read when I can set aside a bit of time. But I also know that I'll have a lot of accompanying guilt in the read -- no matter how much I try to do well with environmental decisions, it never, ever seems like I'm doing well enough.
And I saw an ad recently for an upcoming discussion on Frontline on the political ins and outs of environmental discussions inside the Beltway -- and how much politics has played a role in skewering the science in this. It is set to air on April 24th, and I'm intrigued, but not expecting any good answers from it -- just a lot more questions that will need to be asked, I'm afraid. But questions are, at least, a decent start. And after watching the amazing Planet Earth series that Discovery Channel has been broadcasting, I'd say we should all be asking and answering a whole lot more questions.
I thought we could take a little time this morning to talk about what we are -- or are not doing to make our world a better place. Big things, little things, recycling, reducing energy use or turning to alternative energy sources...nothing is too small or too big as a suggestion. But by talking about this together, I thought maybe some of us might get some great ideas from someone else -- and vice versa.
We're all riding on this bright blue planet of ours together. I thought it was well past time that we started talking about how to keep living here with a little more care for the world around us. Let's talk about our environment, protecting it, and protecting our place in it...for the family of man and every other family that rides on our great blue orb as well. Pull up a chair...
PS -- Bob Geiger has the Saturday Funnies up this morning. I'm particularly fond of the first Nick Anderson one. Mwee hee.
PPS -- Bill Maher hits this issue as well at HuffPo. (H/T to twolf1 for the link.)
PPPS -- Just a reminder, today's Blue America guest will be Victoria Wulsin, who will be running against Mean Jean Schmidt again in the OH-2. Please join us for a great conversation with Doc Wulsin at 2 pm ET/11 am PT.
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Spotlight
Monin’ Christy. It’s a beautiful spring day here outside of Annapolis. Thanks again for all you and the others do. Your reporting on Gonzales’ testimony was outstanding. Here’s my shorter version…
Abu’s Wheel of Testimony
Spin the wheel
“I don’t remember”
Spin the wheel
“no recollection”
Spin the wheel
“I don’t recall”
Spin the wheel
“not about the election”
Spin the wheel
“Nothing improper”
Spin the wheel
“I wasn’t involved”
Spin the wheel
“I should have been clearer”
Spin the wheel
“It was Sampson’s call”
:)
Christy!
Morning all. Love this cartoon linky on Saturdays.
Good morning, Christy.
Morning, Pups! Christy! I was getting desparate for some morning chat. Thanks to twolf1, from downstairs, who alerted me to come upstairs.
Morning all — coffee just finished brewing, it is a gorgeous day here…life is good.
Brownandserve — that is hilarious.
Good morning, Christy!
Going to the botanical gardens today [suburban, not DC].
Re bees, my brother-in-law is a beekeeper in rural CT, he had an unexplained collapse of his colonies last year, lost something like 1/3 of them and couldn’t figure out why.
Morning.
The bee topic is new to me.
First question off the top of my head would be
“Are geneticly modified crops a factor?”
Good morning from L.A.
Always been a recycler. Cutting down on waste of all kinds keeps this planet blue, so personally throwing away as little as possible is primo.
Happy to say I recently bought a Prius. What a great car :)
Looks like the Sierra Club is asking my question.
That’s an excellent book Christy(so is Democracy’s Edge,which would be a good book salon choice,ahem,lol).
Because our winters in Metro Atlanta have been so mild and wierd,we now have a proliferation of red wasps. Mean little suckers too.Owie.
Bees are still around,though I have noticed not quite as many as in prior years. I have an old apple tree in my back yard,and this year the bees were happily buzzing in and out of all the blossoms. I need to plant more bee friendly plants/flowers,maybe we all should.
I’m trying to grow as much of my own food as possible. And looking for places to buy local. America’s suburbs aren’t friendly to any of that,but I’m not giving up. My son and I hope to grow and sell our own pumpkins,gourds,sunflowers and herbs this year. We won’t get rich,but it will be a pretty hefty return on our investment.(100 pumpkins,if we can sell all of them for 5 bucks a pop is 500 dollars. The seed was free,the garden space already cleared,all that’s needed is weeding and watering,not a bad deal.The trick will be finding buyers)
I’m looking at using worms in the compost heap too,I’ve noticed a decline in earthworms where I live. We need worms in places where we grow food.
Christy - I agree that we need to come up with ways to help save the planet. I also might add that reading Diet For Small Planet years ago (when I was in college) made me feel very guilty. In fact, my roommate and I, who frequently made the Savory Onion Quiche recipe, used to call it “The Self-Righteous Cookbook.” Now I feel guilty for so much disrespect.
Oh,I forgot,duh,I’m also thinking of keeping bees,I just have to save up some money to buy the equipment and the bees.
Great topic, now that spring is finally here in the northeast (the morning birdsong is fabulous!).
One of my favorite food-environmental writers is Michael Pollan, and I can’t recommend his Omnivore’s Dilemma highly enough.
He puts forward a great argument for eating both seasonally and locally, as much as possible. And he is a real foodie, in that he loves to both cook and eat and writes beautifully about the pleasures of both.
OT for a discussion of small steps, but:
http://www.wired.com/science/d.....5/07/68045
Mack @ 8
Good morning everyone. There are several possible reasons being put forth, one of which is genetically modified crops. Pesticides have been mentioned too, but the newest theory is the possibility that cell phone towers are responsible for affecting the bees’ navigational systems. Bill Maher had quite a bit to say about that last night.
I picked up a cookbook several years ago entitled “More With Less” that I remembered a Great Aunt using when I was a kid. Thought it might be of interest to other folks who are trying to reduce their environmental footprint a bit — the recipes in this are fairly simple, but the intent is to be more careful about the choices we make and the impact that those choices have on the world around us.
wangdangdoodle: I’m in (north)…Texas and there are no high-powered transmission lines in my ‘hood (we have underground); no cel phone towers close by either.
Underground lines actually emit more radiation to the surface than overhead lines because they are closer, and the ground doesn’t appreciably attenuate radiation at such a low frequency (60 Hz). Also the intensity of the radiation is so low there’s just no way it could have any effect on organisms (like bees or people). Frontline did a good show on this a few years back.
Cell phones– I don’t know cell phones. But I think this is one good way to approach the problem– look at the things that have changed recently that could be causing the problem.
Several years ago when I heard of the bee problem I noticed that it was rare to see a honey bee in my flower garden. But last year I saw more so I thought maybe they were coming back. You’d think anything this important would immediately cause the government to announce a major effort to address the problem. But haven’t heard of anything.
‘Morning, Christy!
Let’s see:
– Most of our high-use bulbs are the low-wattage compact fluorescents (we’ll have the rest switched over soon)
– We recycle aluminum, glass, plastics, cardboard and paper, to the point where we only need to throw out one small bag of actual garbage each week
– We don’t own a Prius, but our Mazda 3 gets 30-35 mpg and gives us 140 HP
– We use warm or cold water when washing clothes and low heat when drying them
– We put 3M window insulation sheets on the insides of our windows each winter (saves $$ on heating costs, plus it keeps condensation from rotting our windowframes)
We could do a lot more, but we’ve been amazed so far at just how much a few easy-peasy actions can do.
retirin’ in five @ 3
Ya know, you’ve been with us for a long time now. Shouldn’t it be “retirin’ in four”?
I noticed a drop off last year around my house since I photograph a lot butterflies, bees and flowers. I didn’t give it much thought iuntil I started reading about the collapse of bee colonies.
Switch away from petroleum based cleaning product. From the label of Seventh Generation Dish Liquid. Bold is theirs
If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 25 oz. petroleum based dishwashing liquid with our 25 oz. vegetable based product, we could save 81,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 4,600 homes for a year!
Seventh Generation Products
And more importantly cut our dependence of oil.
Another brand that I’ve used and liked trhe results of
http://www.methodhome.com
Create the demand and these companies will thrive.
Re environment, I’m pushing myself to walk much longer distances. The grocery is about 1.5 miles away, and that will be within range by midsummer if I keep up my program.
Yeah, right. Typical left-wing narrative:
1. Find an enemy of America, who wants to harm the Homeland and take away our Security.
2. Portray said enemy as oppressed victims of America.
3. No, not just victims, actually our friends, who just want to help us.
4. Destroy American liberties and economy in order to accommodate the polleno-fascists.
Colony Collapse Disorder is in fact just another fantasy from the hate-America-first crowd,
with about as much scientific basis as global warming.
Oh, wait…
Years ago in Boulder, CO I rented a room from an “animal rights activist”. She said one of her friends refused to eat honey because she thought it was exploiting the bees!
denise @ 16
I remember reading recently that there was a bee die off in France in the 90s, and that they identified certain genetically (and patented, btw) modified crops and ended up banning some of them.
This makes particular sense to me, because some are being modified to be insect resistant (hello????) and others so that they don’t reproduce–so as to force the farmer to continue to buy seeds from the big companies like Monsanto.
The demise of the honey bee has been greatly exaggerated. This is precisely the same group of alarmists that have been warning about the end of chocolate due to cocoa dying out.
Honey bees are not somehow immune from harm because they are environmentally and economically important, but the resources people are willing to invest to protect their bees should not be underestimated.
If you really want to protect the bees, go buy some honey or fruit that is pollinated by bees. Agribusiness isn’t very friendly on a number of issues, but one thing it does very well is look out for its own interests.
It’s pretty obvious when you think of it… that life is a web and if you undermine a part of it.. it puts severe strains on the rest.
We are almost at the point where we have emptied the oceans of many species of fish and we may not be eating them for dinner.. but neither will other fish and they will then die out and we will have a pretty dead ocean in very very short order.
The bee population collapse will have catastrophic effect.. and I wonder if it is a world wide thing of just a north american thing?
Man has done a nice job of destroying nature wherever he treads and “develops” civilization. We’re not dealing with over population and the carrying capacity of the planet.
The rich nations are using enormous resources… one american uses as much as the next 24 largest nations is something I recall. That is frightening. We waste, consume, and pollute all in the pursuit of comfort and wealth (more comfort).
The solutions are going to be very painful to selfish unthinking americans and they won’t be doing it voluntarily. But the third world has to seriously stop the breeding… too many people means more and more poverty.
When gasolene is chaper than milk… we gonna drive drive drive.
Personally I consume as little as I possibly can, take public transport and sail which is quite environmentally friendly. Next a smaller car. We changed all our bulbs to fluors and next it will LEDs. Almost anyone can do this and should.
We buy locally grown produce from farmer’s markets whenever possible.
We need more Inconvenient Truths and less media liars in our faces all the time.
I personally don’t think we will make it much further…But I suspect I will be gone before the real pain hits. It will be very ugly.
Read: The Long Emergency by Howard Kunstler. He paints a picture of the not too distant future and it is not pretty.
Also you can choose the source of your electricity in the Midatlantic area here.
www.cleanyourair.org.
egregious @ 20
Somebody asked that yesterday. In this BushCo economy, the five’s on hold. But I only de-lurked last fall so it’s still valid for a while longer.
‘Morning, FirePups, Christy.
Making the rounds of greenhouses and landscape shops today, will watch for bee counts. I only know I have a LOT more wasps than I’ve had in the past. Is there a correlation? Do wasps not have issues with navigation or GMO crops?
I also don’t remember seeing a single bee while I was in central Florida for ten days, again only wasps. ??
Will check in later. We are so screwed if we have to learn how to pollinate all our own foods by hand…
I don’t think WE need to save the planet.
I think we have done enormous damage and Gaia needs to rid itself of homosapiens.
The beautiful blue earth will be a lot better off without human pollution… and hence without humans.
Homosapiens = a failed evolutionary experiment
Wow! I’ve been offline for the weekend staying on the beach in Naples Florida and imagine my surprise when I saw this here computer in the hotel lobby……anything new since Friday?
There’s a time limit so please be short…Is Bush still pResident??
This is sort of tangential to the discussion but I’ve become a fan of Freecycling. The Goal of a Freecycle group is
Whether you’re looking to discard or acquire an item, this is the place to do it.
EVERYTHING must be FREE- no trading, no buying, and no selling!
Sometimes things still have usable life in them but they end up in the landfill because people have upgraded or otherwise no longer have use for them. By posting a message to your local Freecycle message board (there are currently 4,026 local groups) you can arrange to put it out on the porch if someone offers to pick it up.
And lastly before I go and plant some
bird foodwildflower seeds and sunflower seeds, use canvas bags at the grocery store, or big box retailers, talk to the check out people and let them know that more then 3 items can fit in one bag, and think about how you spend your money.Consumerism with all the packaging, use of resources, exploitation of manufacturing countries with lax environmental and labor laws, and all the trash that rampant consumerism produces, creates a big enviromental challenge.
Reward the comapnies that do it right, and create the market that will allow them to thrive.
DefJef @ 30
I think you should lead by example, DefJef. I remember when you were lecturing Christy about doing her Christmas shopping online and I know you think we should all take responsibility for doing our small part to make the world a better place.
Also, it is worth noting that this issues is one that we can build common cause with, with a growing segment of Evangelical Christians.
This article from the NY Times is particularly interesting.
Many are calling it “Creation Care” and have published the following manifesto.
Millineryman reminded me of our shift recently to ordering flowers and plants which are organic.
If you simply look at all the garbage in the streets of NYC and surrounds you can see we are a nation of slobs.
Look at the train right of ways in NY.. they look like continuous garbage dumps. Who owns and maintains these right of ways? Why… our government and it is a major slob… and example setter.
We are a nation of slobs with a few people of evolved conscious scattered about. Not much hope for merikans.
Re politicization of the EPA: In 2003, my husband applied for a position, fairly high, in the EPA. He caught their interest and a phone interview was set up. In the interval between arranging the interview and the actual phone call, he signed a petition of Vietnam Vets Against the Iraq War. The interview began with, “Well, have you heard from the President about your objection to the Iraq War?” Chilling then, chilling now. He expanded his job search abroad at that point.
NZexpat—
Great to see you! How was your move back to the States? Hope things are going well with your family.
That story is chilling indeed.
Rayne @ 31
In general, most wasps are not pollinators. Some are scavengers and others are predators preying on flies and other insects.
Fischer…
Excuse me.. I was lecturing someone about online shopping?
I try to leave a small footprint here… when I pass there will be no accumulated junk and I have not polluted the planet with children… nor has my sister. Our brother has two kids… so people with families are all about accumulating property to pass along.
I don’t think I need to be an example… and I don’t think anyone else does. You need to think rationally and leave a clean wake and a small footprint.
Brownandserve @
1
Hilarious!
Requesting permission to include my favorite on the wheel;
“I searched my memory about that“
Gives me the image of Gonzo sticking a flashlight to his ear to look around.
The Bush administration is a good example of what happens when all possible cross-pollination is eliminated.
Deny admission to anyone who has any opposition to their ideas, and Presto!! The rot begins from within.
Politicization to the bone.
I heard an elementary teacher explain to her students that “throw away” is not something we do but rather a place.
This is her intro to recycling and the prelim for a landfill field trip.
DefJef @ 37
NYC uses far less energy “per capita” than any other place in “merika” because of those train right of ways. Most of us do not even own a car and we walk and ride public transit. We live in smaller dwellings, and we buy less “stuff” because we have no place to put it.
If you took the population of NYC and spread it out into the average suburban dwelling (house, yard, driveway), it is estimated that it would cover 6 New England states.
Yes, there is garbage in the train right-of-ways, but when you consider the literally millions of people who travel through them on a daily basis, it is not all that bad.
I have seen worse garbage strewn by the side of the road in rural areas with a tiny fraction of NYC’s population.
Which is to say that most people here are considerate and conscientiously use can’s on the platforms, which happen to be divided into recyclable categories in some places like Grand Central Station.
Actually, I am somewhat optimistic about the future. I follow alternative/renewable energy trends quite closely, and there are discussion groups that keep up on these trends.
As for the bee population, I have only followed it in a cursory manner so I can’t say anything with authority about it.
Still, there is enough solar and wind and bioenergy available in the US for us to be completely independent. Sorry I don’t have links at the moment, but I will work on it and report later.
As for organic foods, it is growing at a very rapid rate and small organic farmers are efficient if only there were the political will to support them rather than the megafarm industry.
STTP in Ohio @ 44
I thought that was code for: “I asked Karl Rove”
There’s a time limit so please be short…Is Bush still pResident??
’bout as much as he ever has been.
I have been worried about the bees. All of my fruit trees seem to have been pollinated this year.
Except for one tree that was growing in my yard when I came, all of the trees now there are due to composting.
I have several new peach trees sprouted this year. . .found one when I was in the compost last night too.
BTW, I again raise my objection to calling the WaPoo the Compost. Because compost makes something good out of miscellaneous clippings and such. The Wa is just Poo.
Hey egregious! I thought I had waited long enough to avoid the cold weather (unseasonably warm March here), but there was a real cold snap and snow in mid-April. But it is warming up here now.
It may be life with kids again, but I have been in a car more and in stores more in two weeks here than in two months. I’m trying to cling to my more peaceful Kiwi ways, but there is pressure to hurry up and do more. And the amount of choices in the stores is overwhelming and unnecessary.
It is glorious, though, to be with my daughter after a year and a quarter of not seeing her. And reunited with the sweet galumph of a son, age 16, whom I hadn’t seen for three months. He has been particularly kind and affectionate, even as he seems so mature.
I haven’t heard that Europe is facing this bee problem and they have cell towers all over. They do have underground power lines though.
I was in banking for 25 years and when our bank was bought by one of the big banks, I knew my job would be eliminated so I waited for that severance package, thinking that would give me the time to retool. (I was wrong, but I learned to live cheaply.) All I knew is that that I wanted to be self-employed and work on community redevelopment projects. I discovered that unless you have a lot of money (which I didn’t) to finance your own projects, it’s tough to get contracts working on these projects. For the last year, I’ve been studying alternative energy and eco-industrial development, and will soon try my hand at convincing businesses, particularly industrial plants, to convert to geothermal and solar energy. Installation of a geothermal pipe field and use of ground source heat pumps can cut heating and A/C energy usage by almost 50%, and that’s a big chunk of energy usage. If solar panels are added, the company starts generating its own energy, and in my state (OK) the utility (unless it’s a rural electric co-op) is required to allow net-metering, so if excess electricity is generated, the electric meter essentially runs backwards. If they add battery backup to the solar panels, they can keep essential systems running even if there is a power outage and the sun doesn’t shine for a few days. With the ice storms we had this winter, that is a real benefit. And the third benefit (in addition to cutting utility costs and being able to operate during power outages) is that it will reduce the company’s carbon footprint. I’m hoping that I can make living while doing a small part in helping the planet.
STTP in Ohio @ 43
“I searched my memory about that“
Gives me the image of Gonzo sticking a flashlight to his ear to look around.
Yeah, that was one of my favorites too. I also like “This was a process that was ongoing that I did not have transparency into.” Talk about being opaque ;)
For the bee experts: can you tell me if Africanized bees suffer from the same “lost colony” syndrome as European-strain bees? I have never see this reported and I expect that is because African hoey bees (killer bees) are not highly regarded. On the other hand, I hear they do the same sort of work (pollinating things) in the environment. SO what I am getting at is: does this mean a niche opens up for the spread of Africanized bees albeit naturally, not industrially?
It is finally warm here and sunny!!!
We had snow/ice storm last weekend and sunny and 60 this weekend!!!
I know Cornell University is worried about the bees and rightly so. The last I heard, it was a world wide problem. Yesterday was the first warm day, the bees usually take a while to show up. We have had lots of birds at the feeder and they are providing hours of joy.
Happy Weekend to Everyone!!!
PS Didn’t Gonzalas look like an idiot on the stand? This is our best and brightest?
Emma,
You might want to study the LEEDS guidelines and contact Mays Lin (she’s in NYC) who is very involved with green buildings and energy use reduction, recycling and so forth.
the problem wrt to feeling guilty is, imo, that i don’t think it really is completely (or even mostly) possible to live in a way that is consistent with our values.
or at least i have’t found it.
just think of the social injustices and environmental damage done by the manufacture (and disposal) of the computers we are all typing on.
we need to make major social/cultural/political changes…. but, in the mean time, while we’re working on systemic change… we can also try to be honest and careful about the everyday choices we make.
at least that is what i tell myself. not saying there is even one day that i live up to it…. a goal to be persued…
p.s. i found “hope’s edge” to be, well, hopeful… not depressing or guilt inducing…
Emma @ 53
That is a truly inspirational story
Good morning everyone. Back from my vacation in TX where I met a fellow firepup GrandmaJo. Had a great time and she taught me to make fish soup. Really. Quite good. Have made it twice and it has been widely ‘eaten with gusto.’
Am up to my armpits in boxes. I have to be out of my house next Friday. I will be living with my daughter for a while so she can go back to school and work on her small business. But between the ‘get out’ date and the ‘move in’ date there is a gap. I will be calling in alot of favors among friends I guess. Have small bag — will travel. Wondering if I need to buy me a traveling computer.
Speaking personally, there are lots of bees here in Minnesota in my small town. And they all prefered my shed vent for their home. I guess the combination of all the weeds I had let bloom and the warm coziness of the protected shed was irresistible. But the problem is very real.
sofistic @ 48
solar manufacture:google
in US Konarka is one.sorry no links
also dye sensitized solar cell
i’m pretty sure there is a thriving permaculture
scene in US.
it’s not hard to do and the results are good
google again.
for the person with few earthworms.
sheet mulching starting with wet ground layered newspaper underneath grass clippings or hay
or wood chips etc,will give the right breeding conditions.avoid inorganic pesticides and detergents.they dont mind soapy water.
if you are real country,horse or cow or sheep manure or blood & bone under the newspaper.
cheers.
Here’s an interesting (if not scary) link to a UK article on this topic. Makes me think if we’re doing our children a favor by popping cellphones in young one’s hands for their “safety”?
In a different direction, I attended a funeral this week (my dentist’s 57 year old wife…AGHH!)but a poem from her to her family was included in the service. I thought it was amazing, especially during this week of horror in this country as well as Iraq, and a reminder of our humanity.
TO THOSE I LOVE (Isla Paschal Richardson)
If I should ever leave you whom I love
To go along the Silent Way, grieve not,
Nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk
Of me as if I were beside you there.
(I’d come, I’d come, could I but find a way!
But would not tears and grief be barriers?)
And when you hear a song or see a bird
I loved, please do not let the thought of me
Be sad..For I am loving you just as
I always have..Your were so good to me!
There are so many things I wanted still
To do..so many things to say to you..
Remember that I did not fear..It was
Just leaving you that was so hard to face
We cannot see Beyond..But this I know:
I loved you so..’twas heaven here with you!
At Arizona State, Tuscon, they have developed a mathematical model of Bee Population modeling
Good morning Christie, from a fellow West Virginian. We live in the eastern panhandle, and used to keep bees. But about 5 years ago when the varroa and trachael mites moved in we started losing our colonies every winter and gave up. After that, it became very rare to see any honey bees at all, and even native bees seemed rare. Last year,we decided to try beekeeping again. It was that or sell off all of our equipment. So far so good, they survived the winter. But other beekeepers out here have been losing many of their colonies for no apparent reason, and CCD comes to mind. Every beekeeper I know is very concerned about this.
Emma @54
Thisd is an interesting little company too. I read about it in Architectural Record…wind power for the home without having to be in the Great Plains or the Beach!
http://www.aerotecture.com/
Selise@58 you make an excellent point. Makes me think of the obnoxious argument used by nut-job-Inhofe and wingnut cohorts against Al Gore. By accusing Al of not being 100% consistent with his principals (which, you are correct is impossible) the wingnuts’ next argument is, since you can’t be 100% consistent with protecting environment, then no one should do anything to protect environment.
here in MA… spring has arrive today. sunny, with a forcasted high of 77!!!!
and this, after snowing last week. wow.
headed out to enjoy the day….
wvng at 65 — Wow, if the eastern panhandle area is having bee issues, that isn’t good. You all produce a heckuva lot of the apple crop every year, along with a lot of other fruit (including some of my favorite peaches). Am glad your current colony is doing well, but if we’re having problems in WV then I am really going to have to dig into this issue a bit more. We still have so much of a rural setting in so much of the state (although the easter panhandle has really built up the last few years as the DC sprawl has moved our way).
All it takes is imagination and will (Duh). But seriously, we need to change (or return to) a culture we once had. There is no need for Americans to consume 25% of the world’s energy. That means some serious changes in cultural values.
There is an old Vermont farmer’s saying: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without”
Mae @ 67
i think it is a convenient way to deflect feelins of guilt about their own personal responsibility for the choices they make.
the truth is not convenient.
It seems to me that we are not losing our bee populations in small suburban areas but in large farm belts where genetically modified seeds are used. The number of cell towers are not that concentrated in those farm belts. It doesn’t look like too much research is needed to answer this question. It’s a matter of which large corporate interest will squelch the research.
selise at 68 — It is absolutely gorgeous here today. We are definitely going to have to get outside a bit today — it is too pretty to keep The Peanut in this afternoon.
I’m wondering how many of us use any form of renewable energy. Our first step will be solar water heating, followed by small scale solar generated electricity. WV doesn’t have any state incentives for this yet, but many states do. You can find out what your state offers here. There are also federal subsidies and incentives. If you can combine them, you can end up paying only about a third of the cost.
sofistic @ 70
thats not just a Vermont saying.
we had it drummed into us as children here on the other side of the world
DefJef,
Yes, LEEDS offers a great blueprint for going green. I attended a sustainability conference last year and there was a presentation by Paul Westbroo, an engineer at Texas Instruments who convinced the company to build their new plant in TX rather than overseas (as TI had originally), and to make it a green building. They agreed, but only if the plant could be built for 25 or 30% less than their previous plant. The new plant met the LEED requirements, cost 30% less than the previous facility, and saves more than $4 million in operating costs a year. If you want to read about the TI plant, here’s a link:
http://www.analogzone.com/grnrept26.htm
A number of years ago Marshall McLuhan sagely observed that the medium is the message.
Do you realize that FDL’s interactive live-blogging is a new medium? The implications of its message is a bit mind-bending.
With Gonzales I participated here during the day. That night I caught the first hour on the tube. I discovered the medium did impact the message. You are really onto something good.
Good morning FireDogs! A gorgeous day in central Indiana, gonna work on that honeydo list today…
old gold at 77 — Thanks — very cool perspective on the liveblogging. Much appreciated.
One of the simplest, smallest things taught to me by my mother was the use of heavy drapes (unfashionable, I know). In the deep cold of winter, they were closed. In the intense heat of a Kansas summer (we had no air conditioning), they were closed. She would just spend a few minutes closing the drapes on the east side in the morning, then open them in the afternoon as she closed the ones on the west side in the afternoon.
My father planted shade trees all around the house in 1947, even before he finished building the house. When my husband and I moved in here in 1989, the house had been here for 13 years and no trees had been planted. My dad brought up starter trees, more than enough for us. My neighbors took them so there are other trees on the street, tall and shady, besides our own from him. Dad died in 1997, but of course, I see his tall legacy here on our street.
Don’t let the teevee tell you that you need the new this or that. Get out your old toys and enjoy them again. Play catch with an old rubber ball. Simplify and save. Teach your kids to enjoy the simple things. Slow down and breathe. Let’s all do our homework and save some cash while we’re at it.
Oops…typo above. The engineer’s name is Paul Westbrook, not Westbroo. For some reason the K key on my new laptop is sticking this morning.
Mac…thanks. I only wish I had taken physics and electrical engineering classes….I have the business and accounting background, but I have a liberal arts degree…the one thing I avoided in high school and college was science…funny how those ‘who’s going to need it in the real world?’ statements come back to haunt us. So I have had to learn the basics so I could understand how all the solar and geothermal systems work.
Off Topic-
Larry Johnson has an amazing post up at DKos
dailykos link
Brownandserve @
1
Uh, you forgot a couple:
Spin the wheel
“You can’t prove anything”
Spin the Wheel
“You can’t catch me”
:})
NZ Expat, now in KS @ 80
Very nice. ;0)
For the record, I live SW of Austin, and I have millions of honey bees on my flowering trees and wildflowers. I too, do not have any major power lines in the vicinity.
dude,
Wow! I had never heard of Aerotecture. This is a very cool concept. Thanks for the link!
denise @
42
Waiting for my partner in greenhouse touring to arrive…My question was really whether wasps’ larvae deposited in caterpillars that eat GMO plants are not affected. Seems odd that they wouldn’t be, or maybe they are affected in a different way, being almost 2nd generation removed from the GMO material.
This is a very important issue. Currently, the scientific community has not been able to figure out the cause. I’m hoping that progressive websites don’t start proclaiming otherwise.
There is lots of good information in the Celsias article, however, I disliked its anti-science attitude. Solving this problem is going to take lots of time from people who have dedicated their lives to science. Too many people take this work for granted.
Riesz Fischer @
18
I worked on a Navy communications program over twenty years ago that was called “ELF” (Extremely Low Frequency) where low frequency transmissions were/are broadcast from sites in northern WI and the UP of MI. Sen Proxmire was vehemently opposed to this program on environmental grounds. Sounds like he wasmost likely correct. Again.
from Cathy’s link at 83, Larry Johnson on George Tenet:
“The reality of Iraq demonstrates that fruits of your efforts have in fact made our country less secure.”
More of that pollination problem at the White House.
I am proud to say I am an exterme green Demo.
I bicycle my 18-mile round trip to my job every day, except when it snows, then I take the bus. We line dry our laundry, Colorado weather permitting, which it usually does. We have a low-flow shower head. We use compact fluorescent light bulbs. We recycle everything we can, using Denver’s excellent program;
http://www.denvergov.org/recre.....fault.aspx
I use a push lawn mower. Our front yard has mulch, which decreases the need for scarce water. We own one car, a Honda Civic. We live in an older, central neighbourhood where we can walk to stores, or take a bus downtown, or take light rail out to many suburban destinations. I still don’t think we do enough. I don’t think “enough” is an appropriate term.
Check out Chelsea Green publishers, a great resource for practical books on how we can do more;
http://www.chelseagreen.com/
Democracy = public service
BushCo = public, serve us.
Bookwoman, thank you for sharing that remarkable poem.
Plant a tree, plant a seed, save a planet.
Morning, Gang! I rarely make it here for Pull up a chair, but I’m off to judge more band contests this morning. It is time for HS solo and ensemble contests in Alaska, which means school’s out soon.
No GM crops in Alaska - yet. And less cell phones in the whole state than in, oh I don’t know, but probably less in Alaska than in Spokane. But I can’t see the sign of a single bee anywhee. Oh, yeah! I’ve still got a foot or so of snow in the northern shadows of the front yard, and it is 30 degrees F. But the sun is coming up in a few minutes - it barely got dark last night. It’ll get into the mid-fifties today.
The bees start showing up in two weeks. But I brushed a huge mosquito out of my dog Strider’s hair late yesterday evening.
Somebody above recommended Michael Pollen’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I’ll add my hearty endorsement!
Its a beautiful day in northern Ohio.
Hey, DefJeb in #43, I don’t see my children as pollution. Also, people with families are not ALL about accumulating property.
Many parents want to leave their children a legacy of hope, humor, resilience, connection, love, and public service– All things with no atoms.
The accumulation of property sometimes just happens to hard working people. Any passing along can be seen as recycling.
I’m glad you were born. No footprint-guilt I hope. You add to the conversation and appear to think a lot about the world.