Thursday, 14 June 2012
Sygenta Put In Its Place
Reading: http://www.twincities.com/ci_20712618/syngenta-agrees-settle-herbicide-lawsuit
1. Many community water systems in Illinois have been trying to settle a lawsuit with Syngenta, wanting Syngenta to reimburse them for the money required to filter out a weedicide called atrazine, which has been circulated by Syngenta. The weedicide is potentially harmful to public health through runoff into drinking water supplies.
Syngenta's not winning this one.
2. As for personal reflection on the article, one need only look at the blog post title.
It's a start.
1. Many community water systems in Illinois have been trying to settle a lawsuit with Syngenta, wanting Syngenta to reimburse them for the money required to filter out a weedicide called atrazine, which has been circulated by Syngenta. The weedicide is potentially harmful to public health through runoff into drinking water supplies.
Syngenta's not winning this one.
2. As for personal reflection on the article, one need only look at the blog post title.
It's a start.
Picky Bees
Reading: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2149103/Pesticide-kills-bee-colonies-turning-insects-picky-eaters-crave-sweeter-nectar--ignore-nearby-food.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
1. It appears that pesticides (even miniscule amounts of pesticides) will make bees become "picky". The bees will eschew perfectly normal/good food, eating only very sweet nectar. This goes as well as you'd expect: bees begin to starve like a rich guy in a zombie apocalypse refusing to eat canned beans.
In addition, the pesticides affected the bee's ability to communicate, causing them to become less likely to perform their waggle dance. This makes sense, as a waggle dance is meant to recruit other bees to "good" food. Something in the pesticides makes the bees think that less food is "good" enough.
2. Well, that's certainly an unexpected way we're killing animals.
I've recently started watching Doctor Who, and just got to the episode where the Doctor finds out that one of his "world-saving" actions was actually devastating.
I'm feeling a little bit of that.
1. It appears that pesticides (even miniscule amounts of pesticides) will make bees become "picky". The bees will eschew perfectly normal/good food, eating only very sweet nectar. This goes as well as you'd expect: bees begin to starve like a rich guy in a zombie apocalypse refusing to eat canned beans.
This will be his fate.
In addition, the pesticides affected the bee's ability to communicate, causing them to become less likely to perform their waggle dance. This makes sense, as a waggle dance is meant to recruit other bees to "good" food. Something in the pesticides makes the bees think that less food is "good" enough.
2. Well, that's certainly an unexpected way we're killing animals.
I've recently started watching Doctor Who, and just got to the episode where the Doctor finds out that one of his "world-saving" actions was actually devastating.
I'm feeling a little bit of that.
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Salmon Farm Quarantine
Reading: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/05/25/bc-third-fish-farm-quarantined.html
1. A salmon farm was recently forced to "cull" (presumably, that's newspaper for "kill"?) more than half a million fish due to a virus called IHN - the third facility to have to do so in the past ten days. Fortunately, the virus doesn't affect humans who happen to eat virally infected fish.
2. Man, William Shatner really should have been elected as Governor-General.
1. A salmon farm was recently forced to "cull" (presumably, that's newspaper for "kill"?) more than half a million fish due to a virus called IHN - the third facility to have to do so in the past ten days. Fortunately, the virus doesn't affect humans who happen to eat virally infected fish.
2. Man, William Shatner really should have been elected as Governor-General.
Cell Finishing Colonies
I'll be perfectly honest.
I've read this article over about four times now.
I still have no idea what it is saying.
It might be the time of day, or it might be that the writer and I have brains that work in completely different ways, or maybe I'm seriously out of practise in reading comprehension, but this isn't really making many licks of sense.
I'm going to look for different sources about "Finishing Colonies."
I'm so confused right now.
I've read this article over about four times now.
I still have no idea what it is saying.
It might be the time of day, or it might be that the writer and I have brains that work in completely different ways, or maybe I'm seriously out of practise in reading comprehension, but this isn't really making many licks of sense.
I'm going to look for different sources about "Finishing Colonies."
I'm so confused right now.
Clipping/Marking Queens
1. The article tells you how to mark the bees with paint (by holding them down in a Baldock Cage - something that looks like a medieval torture device), and how to clip the queen's wings.
2. No. No no no no no no no.
I read Trumpet of the Swan as a kid. If you've never read it, go get it. And all the other E.B. White books; if not for you, then for your child(ren).
In the story, a (mute) swan named Louis falls in love with another swan. At one point, both of these wild swans ended up in a zoo (temporarily), and the zookeepers are conspiring to pinion Louis's romantic interest in order to ensure that she never escape.
I won't spoil it, but suffice to say that I have been staunchly anti-clipping of any wings ever since.
This ... the article ... it just sounds awful. I think there's a difference between helping your bees along and dipping into their honey once in a while, and then just flat out exploiting your hive. I feel like this crosses the line immensely.
2. No. No no no no no no no.
I read Trumpet of the Swan as a kid. If you've never read it, go get it. And all the other E.B. White books; if not for you, then for your child(ren).
In the story, a (mute) swan named Louis falls in love with another swan. At one point, both of these wild swans ended up in a zoo (temporarily), and the zookeepers are conspiring to pinion Louis's romantic interest in order to ensure that she never escape.
I won't spoil it, but suffice to say that I have been staunchly anti-clipping of any wings ever since.
This ... the article ... it just sounds awful. I think there's a difference between helping your bees along and dipping into their honey once in a while, and then just flat out exploiting your hive. I feel like this crosses the line immensely.
Starting Queencells
Reading: http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/cellstarting.html
1. The article introduces different methods of starting queencells. Among them are: the Miller Method (a frame contains either 1) triangular portions of new foundation or 2) used comb that is cut, both in order to produce a zig-zag on the bottom) and the Alley Method, which appears to be the method used by the FatBeeMan.
2. I seem to have read these out of order.
In any case, here comes another "whoa reflection on humanity" bit. Feel free to skip. Anyhow.
The tingly, cold feeling of wrongness came back again as I read about the Alley Method. "[E]very 2nd and 3rd larva is destroyed". Destroyed - that's rather cold, isn't it?
Except that's exactly what the FatBeeMan did. He took some comb and some larvae and then he stuck them onto a frame and then he killed 2/3 of the baby bees in there.
And what did I do?
I giggled and I thought he was awesome. To be exact, I said:
I liked him, and I didn't give a second thought to what he was doing.
Isn't that scary? That a kindly word, or a confident voice, or a warm presentation can take something that would normally be appalling and make the entire experience a lark? That I'd nod along just because the delivery was endearing, the deliverer charismatic?
Perhaps it's simply a part of human nature (for examples, see all demagogues everywhere throughout history). But it's a commonly ignored, easily exploited, and loosely guarded part.
And that's rather terrifying.
1. The article introduces different methods of starting queencells. Among them are: the Miller Method (a frame contains either 1) triangular portions of new foundation or 2) used comb that is cut, both in order to produce a zig-zag on the bottom) and the Alley Method, which appears to be the method used by the FatBeeMan.
2. I seem to have read these out of order.
In any case, here comes another "whoa reflection on humanity" bit. Feel free to skip. Anyhow.
The tingly, cold feeling of wrongness came back again as I read about the Alley Method. "[E]very 2nd and 3rd larva is destroyed". Destroyed - that's rather cold, isn't it?
Except that's exactly what the FatBeeMan did. He took some comb and some larvae and then he stuck them onto a frame and then he killed 2/3 of the baby bees in there.
And what did I do?
I giggled and I thought he was awesome. To be exact, I said:
I like this guy.I liked him. I liked him because of his snark, and I liked him because he seemed like the stereotype of a wizened old Southerner, just mindin' 'is own bidness, putting youngins in their place.
Is he Southern? He sounds Southern. He sounds like he ain't gonna take no young whipper-snappers' lip.
I looked it up. He's from Lula, so either Georgia or Mississippi.
Allow me to reiterate. I like this guy.
I liked him, and I didn't give a second thought to what he was doing.
Isn't that scary? That a kindly word, or a confident voice, or a warm presentation can take something that would normally be appalling and make the entire experience a lark? That I'd nod along just because the delivery was endearing, the deliverer charismatic?
Perhaps it's simply a part of human nature (for examples, see all demagogues everywhere throughout history). But it's a commonly ignored, easily exploited, and loosely guarded part.
And that's rather terrifying.
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