Global Deforestation Rate Slows - And Disappearing Bees

[Guest guest]

Howdy Marcia,

 

Since you included the bees in your post .. I took out the OT cause

its danged sure applicable to what this list is about. Almost all the

oils we use (except maybe Vanilla) are pollinated by wild critters.

 

>> As long as mankind's population continues to increase .. and

>> economic expectations climb up the ladder of the heirachy of

>> needs .. we will be faced with some tough decisions regarding

>> mankind vs nature.

>

> Hey Butch,

>

> No doubt we have much to grapple with and maybe hard decisions to make.

> Here's a good link to check in now and then to keep abreast of

> deforestation. As Butch reports, deforestation could have slowed . . But

> it is difficult to assess, and most scientists believe it hasn't slowed

> enough. With a population increasing exponentially, our beloved Earth

> cannot hold up to the human demand and abuse for the long term. At any

> rate, here's NASA's Earth Observatory site with several good articles

> http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Deforestation/

> Here's more http://www.wrm.org.uy/deforestation/ and here's National

> Geograpahic's Eye in the Sky

> http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/deforestation/effect.html

 

Very good links .. thanks much. :-P

 

> Along these lines and much covered in alternative press (but not much

> mainstream press), the advent of disappearing bees (discussed

briefly here)

> continues to perplex and alarm. Rob is working on an updated blog on

> aromaconnection that will give current information - watch for it

early next

> week. There isn't a lot of information regarding how aromatic crops

depend

> on bee pollination (some are hand pollinated), but we could be adversely

> affected by this phenomena in our industry. I believe that when

reported

> here earlier, most thought it was limited to the US and domestic

bees . . .

> Appears that it is more widespread across the globe and scientists are

> quickly assessing the wild bee populations. Watch for Rob's blog; he's

> digging up current information for us.

 

Will be watching for it.

 

On the bees .. I read something a year or so ago that said something

like 25% of the food Americans eat are pollinated by bees and during

the last 50 years or so roughly 50% of the domestic (honey) bee

population vanished. Said there was a need to supplement the honey

bee population with wild bees and that doing that made the honey bees

more efficient.

 

The article said that pesticides are but one cause of the shortage of

domestic bees .. and said the main cause was natural bee diseases and

mites and parasites and such. Said that most farmers had learned not

to spray pesticides on their crops while they were blooming and that

had helped some .. and that scientists were working hard to find

remedies for the ails of the bees.

 

When I was a yonker my grandpa (and other farmers) kept honey bee

hives around the farm .. we had our share of wild bees in the woods

and those that didn't have hives would cut into a wild bee tree every

year or so. I don't see near as many honey bee hives when I go back

home now.

 

Bee men are becoming a regular trade here in Turkey and in other parts

of Europe. Nomads travel from place to place with truck loads of bee

hives .. they are contracted in advance and set them up in orchards,

on farms and even in the Rose Fields of Isparta. I spent most of an

hour last year just photographing bees on Damask Roses. ;-)

 

> Be Well,

> Marcia Elston http://www.wingedseed.com

> http://www.aromaconnection.org

> " Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot. " Hausa Saying from

> Nigeria

 

Yes ma'am .. and y'all keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

[Guest guest]

Interesting links. Thanks for all the information.

Florida, the state where I live, had to import bees for the first time in

decades last year. We lost a lot of our native pollinators years ago due to

overdevelopment and pesticides and now mites are wiping out our honey bees.

Interestingly enough Africanized bees have become so common place here the

Florida department of agriculture has decided they cannot be eradicated and is

now running educational programs on how to " live " with them. However, they

have also decided that all wild hives that are discovered are to be destroyed.

I don't understand the two policies but I'm not a bureaucrat.

The theory behind non-eradication is that the Africanized bees will

hybridize. But what has been found in the most recently destroyed hives that

were African bees are testing genetically pure up to 99.7%. It will be

interesting to see how it all pans out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sucker-punch spam with award-winning protection.

Try the free Mail Beta.