Enjoy those Gardens and Flowers....We May Be Running Short on Time

Charlie · 2007-06-17T01:21:08+00:00

We could be heading for a massive die-off, and I'm not talkin' bout thebees.......I'm talkin' 'bout us.I know this has been talked to death, but solutions aren't appearing,whilst excuses are rampant.Charlie------------------ Collapse: Do Massive Bee Die-Offs Mean an End to Our Food Systemas We Know it?Excerpt:"It is real," argued Dewey M. Caron, professor of entomology at theUniversity of Delaware and one of several authorities investigating theissue with the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and ExtensionConsortium's Colony Collapse Disorder Working Group (MAAREC). "Wesurveyed a few states and figured out that half to three-fourths of amillion bee colonies have died. This is no urban legend. It isserious."What is so serious is not only that the bees themselves are dying offwithout a smoking gun present, but that most people have no idea of therole they play in the food supply at large. Commercial beehivespollinate over a third of America's crops, and that web of nourishmentencompasses everything from fruits like peaches, apples, cherries,strawberries and more, to nuts like California almonds, 90 percent ofwhich are helped along by the honeybees. Without this annualpollination, you could conceivably kiss those crops goodbye, to saynothing of the honey bees produce or the flowers they also fertilize.But as the world has grown, so has its hunger and crowds, which haspaved the way for the death of wild pollinators as well as theimportation of honeybees from different climates in order to havemassive crop pollination.In the case of California's aforementioned almonds, the largest managedpollination event in the world, the growing season occurs in February,well before local hives have suitably increased their populations tohandle the pollination load. As a result, the region is increasinglydependent on the importation of hives from warmer climates.The same goes for apple crops in New York, Washington and Michigan, aswell as blueberries in Maine. Almonds alone require more...

Jun 17, 2007 25 Replies

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Billy Rose 19 years ago

Way off subject. French movie called "Le Bal". No French spoken. Covers about forty years of French history through a Bal Musette. Repertory cast plays different characters during different periods. The parts I like best, strangely enough, is the old guy opening up and then at the end, closing down. The 2 periods of calm in his day. Reminds me of working in tasting rooms.

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Billy Rose 19 years ago

Thank heaven, I'm not young anymore. Now I want to be Maurice Chevalier.

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Charlie 19 years ago

Working in a tasting room, though I have no clear idea how it works, is pictured in my mind as a rather holy, monastic experience. If I am off base, don't ruin the vision for me. If it is not as I envision, well.....it should be.

Friar Charlie

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Billy Rose 19 years ago

Used to do some mean 4 part Gregorian Chants. "Lydah Rose, oh, Lydah Rose",

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Ann 19 years ago

Billy Rose expounded:

Lydia oh Lydia, say have you met Lydia,

Lydia, the Tattooed Lady......

(sorry, couldn't help myself. See here

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Billy Rose 19 years ago

You can learn a lot from Lydia.

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