Category Archives: Ecology
Sterile Radioactive Bugs Arrive in Croatia
Why did a kibbutz in Israel ship 380 million sterile, radioactive fruit flies to Croatia? That might be the most unusual introduction this blog has ever used. Here’s the backstory… Ceratitis capitata – the lovely but insidious Mediterranean Fruit … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Ecology, Pesticides, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged BioBee, citrus, Croatia, Israel, medfly, Neretva Delta, radioactive fruit flies
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Buzzing Out-of-Sync
If flowers bloom a month earlier than usual – as they reportedly did last year in Maryland – what does that mean for bees? According to Will Plants and Pollinators Get Out of Sync? it could mean trouble. The story … Continue reading
The Tired Honey Man
Friends just back from Uzbekistan shared this photo with me. The gentleman is selling honey and he doesn’t seem too happy about it. We’ll get to that in a moment. First, what is Uzbekistan? It’s a place on the other … Continue reading
Who is the Saint?
On this day in 1970, Norman Borlaug accepted his Nobel Peace Prize. You probably never heard of him. A few days ago, I read an interesting piece in an old New York Times column, written by author/philosopher Steven Pinker. He … Continue reading
Posted in Ecology, Genetics, History, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged genetic modification, Norman Borlaug
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Happy Dusty Anniversary
You know what they say about new technology – someone always finds a way to put it to nasty use. Combine airplanes and chemicals, and what could possibly go wrong? Let’s fly back to 1921 and visit a grove of … Continue reading
Posted in Diseases and Pests, Ecology, History, Pesticides
Tagged citrus, Florida, Florida's Natural, poisoned bees
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Our Bees, Ourselves
Interesting Op-Ed column in the New York Times. Mark Winston, a senior prof at British Columbia’s Simon Fraser, wrote about the widespread collapse of honey bees. Winston is one of those super-brains who studied bees and entomology for years and … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Pesticides, Save the Bees
Tagged colony collapse disorder, Mark Winston, synergy
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Wild bees again
A few days ago, I wrote a snarky blog entry about one researcher’s efforts to alert us to a hazard of urban beekeeping. It is Dr Cartar’s contention that keeping bees in an urban environment robs wild native bees of … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Ecology, Science
Tagged habitat loss, Native Bees, Ralph Cartar, urban beekeeping
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Going native
A Calgary University professor has this to say about urban beekeepers: “It is not as rosy as they think. Every jewel* of honey that they get on their plate or in their jars is a jewel that has been robbed … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology
Tagged invasive species, Native Bees, Ralph Cartar, urban beekeeping, Xerces Society
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Did I goof up, or what?
Last week’s blog post drew a few interesting responses. Not from Monsanto, whom I expected would be outraged because I wrote that it is perhaps justifiable to vilify “the huge multinational for all manner of environmental ills.” Instead, incredibly, the … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Pesticides, Save the Bees
Tagged Bayer, corn, Monsanto, neonicotinoids
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Dead and Dying
California almond pollination season is finished. And so are many of the bees which made the trip to the west coast to participate in the largest honey bee mosh pit ever in the history of beekeeping. (For those of you … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Ecology, Pesticides, Pollination
Tagged almond pollination, EPA, lawsuits, migratory beekeeping, neonicotinoids
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Bad Beekeeping Blog 