Zarafa's Bee-Hive Mind

2011-11-14T19:28:00.001-05:00

Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey

Ultra-filtering Removes Pollen, Hides Honey Origins

by Andrew Schneider | Nov 07, 2011

More than three-fourths of the honey sold in U.S. grocery stores isn't exactly what the bees produce, according to testing done exclusively for Food Safety News.

The results show that the pollen frequently has been filtered out of products labeled "honey."

The removal of these microscopic particles from deep within a flower would make the nectar flunk the quality standards set by most of the world's food safety agencies.

The food safety divisions of the World Health Organization, the European Commission and dozens of others also have ruled that without pollen there is no way to determine whether the honey came from legitimate and safe sources.

2011-11-10T12:18:00.001-05:00

BUG GUIDE
with a clickable guide
More than just a clearinghouse for information, this site helps expand on the natural histories of our subjects. By capturing the place and time that submitted images were taken, we are creating a virtual collection that helps define where and when things might be found.
check it out!

2011-10-29T08:47:00.002-05:00

Here is the URL for my new Bee-Hive Mind Redux http://zarafsbee-hivemindredux.blogspot.com/

Please leave me a msg there until I can work all this out ----

How to get to your list of posts

2011-10-25T11:39:00.001-05:00

Google describes it this way:
Viewing your posts: The gray Post List icon will take you to a list of your published and drafted posts for a specific blog.

When it would be better described as "Grey Blogger Logo" on right top corner of page will take you into your list of posts.

Zarafa's Bee-Hive Mind

2011-10-25T11:18:00.001-05:00

Using our upgraded interface

Along with several other Google products, Blogger’s taken on a whole new look: A clean, sleek interface designed for a streamlined blogging experience. Not only does the new interface load faster, but we’ve also added shortcuts to your most important blogging actions. Check out our quick list of what’s changed below. "Google."

Well after getting stuck in the new interface I am not sure that I want A clean, sleek interface designed for a streamlined blogging experience. Google must have hired a mad Madison Ave type and I have the Mad Avenue Blues video
the interface in a word (or two) is a sad empty sterile environment --- come on Google what is going on!!!!!!!!!

Zarafa's Bee-Hive Mind is on the move !!!

2011-10-25T10:59:00.002-05:00

It seems to me that Google is trying to corral the blog community into the new interface
as it has become very difficult to post and to see the pages on the back -end to edit --- so I plan to move
not to change this blogs layout --- I have been blogging on this site since about 2008 and
the same for my "Green!" site --- which I did try the new interface and lost a lot of wonderful
information, videos etc, --- although the new interface offers a few different layouts -- it takes a new
approach and figuring out --- but I am willing to have a go!

So Please visit me on zarafa's bee-hive mind redux
I will post my problems here on this blog

Guardian Article

2011-10-25T10:46:00.004-05:00

Action - not research is needed to save our pollinators

Zarafa's Bee-Hive Mind

2011-10-25T10:25:00.002-05:00

Google has made some kind of error with their new interface which makes it impossible for me to add article -- Thanks for coming to Zarafa's Bee-Hive Mind -- I hope to resolve this and start posting again

2011-10-02T10:47:00.000-05:00

Asian Honey, Banned in Europe, Is Flooding U.S. Grocery Shelves

FDA has the laws needed to keep adulterated honey off store shelves but does little, honey industry says.

by Andrew Schneider | Aug 15, 2011

A third or more of all the honey consumed in the U.S. is likely to have been smuggled in from China and may be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals. A Food Safety News investigation has documented that millions of pounds of honey banned as unsafe in dozens of countries are being imported and sold here in record quantities.

And the flow of Chinese honey continues despite assurances from the Food and Drug Administration and other federal officials that the hundreds of millions of pounds reaching store shelves were authentic and safe following the widespread arrests and convictions of major smugglers over the last two years. Read article at Food Safety News.

2011-10-02T10:38:00.004-05:00

By Dr. Mercola (link)

Honeybees are perhaps one of the least recognized workers in the agricultural industry. They contribute $15 billion in annual agriculture revenue to the U.S. economy alone, as a full one-third of the U.S. food supply depends on them pollinating crops.
Apple orchards, for instance, require one colony of bees per acre in order to be adequately pollinated. So, unless the mysterious disappearance of bees is reversed, major food shortages could result.
This is not a brand new issue.
For several years now, scientists have been struggling to determine why bee colonies across the world are disappearing—a phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD). In a series of reports and videos, PBS talks about the bee colony devastation and its impact on the food supply and U.S. agriculture.
For a great review, please watch the PBS episode, Silence of the Bees.

Also watch the full episode. See more Botany of Desire.

2011-10-02T10:32:00.000-05:00

Silence of the Bees
Video: Full Episode

In the winter of 2006, a strange phenomenon fell upon honeybee hives across the country. Without a trace, millions of bees vanished from their hives, leaving billions of dollars of crops at risk and potentially threatening our food supply. The epidemic set researchers scrambling to discover why honeybees were dying in record numbers — and to stop the epidemic in its tracks before it spread further. You can watch then purchase the DVD from PBS at their site.

Bees in the hood: urban beekeeping in the Queen City

2011-07-12T05:24:00.000-05:00

Liz Tilton stands in a Northside backyard garden and holds a wooden stick with an upside-down arch of bee comb dangling from it.

Bees: amazing little creatures

2011-06-14T15:01:00.000-05:00

One of the first articles I posted on this blog Zarafa's Bee-Hive Mind, was in April of 2007, about the ability of bees to recognize human faces. A World Science news item dated December 9, 2005 reports Adrian Dyer's study published in Journal of Experimental Biology, Honey Bees Can Recognize Human Faces!

"Scientists used to believe that facial recognition required a large brain. Adrian G. Dyer of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, a leading scientist in the field feels that this may not be the case. He found in his study on honey bees that even with a smaller brain than that of the humans, they could recognize human faces. According to Dyer the finding is the first time an invertebrate has shown ability to recognize faces of other species."

Bees are the most amazing little creatures, busy buzzing around, taking bundles of pollen on their little furry legs, around their knees, from that the expression "Like the bees knees" came I suppose! So they go from flower to flower and without them the plants would not be pollinated and bare fruit ---

Our fruit and vegetables are highly contaminated with pesticides, the EWG at this link you can get a down loadable list of highly toxic foods. The most toxic. Although it is best to eat organic produce whenever you can it is not always possible and there was an article in WSJ telling that --

The apple industry faces a potential public-relations headache in the wake of federal testing that found pesticide residues in 98% of America's second-most-popular fresh fruit, the highest rate among the produce screened by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a yearly survey.

The last part of the article says the following about our little friends. "The World Science report adds: "The bees probably don’t understand what a human face is, Dyer said in an email. “To the bees the faces were spatial patterns (or strange looking flowers). Bees are famous for their pattern-recognition abilities, which scientists believe evolved in order to discriminate among flowers. As social insects, they can also tell apart their hive mates. But the new study shows that they can recognize human faces better than some humans can—with one-ten thousandth of the brain cells."

Bravo little friends without you we are lost.

I appreciate the comments of thanks and gratitude from readers who come by this and any other zarafa sister sites of which, I must admit there are many, and who appreciate the collection of articles stored in one place --- I do them as a repository, a place to keep important information, rather than putting it in my bookmark file.The bee issue is really dire and must be addressed in a profoundly pragmatic way.
I will always be eternally grateful to Google for giving us this fabulous tool.

vanishing of the bees

2011-06-14T12:49:00.001-05:00

Vanishing of the Bees - Trailer from Bee The Change on Vimeo.

AfricaNews - MALAWI: Fishermen catching bees - The AfricaNews articles of FRAZER POTANI

2011-02-05T08:18:00.000-05:00

AfricaNews - MALAWI: Fishermen catching bees - The AfricaNews articles of FRAZER POTANI:

"Fishermen elsewhere on the planet are associated with canoes, boats, water and nets and of course fish catching. But due to low fish catches as a result of rising human population and fishing practices unfriendly to the environment in Lake Malawi, some fishermen in Nkhata Bay District, about 50 Km from Mzuzu (Malawi's major city in the northern region) are harvesting bees.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

The ABC's of Bees

2011-02-05T08:15:00.000-05:00

The ABC's of Bees:

"ASk ANy SCHOOL CHILD “WHAT DO BEES DO?” and he or she will most likely answer “Bees make honey.” That is certainly true, but only for honey bees. Even more important than making honey is that bees pollinate plants. Only honey bees make honey. Now firmly established across the continent, the popular honey bee is not a native bee, but was brought to America by European settlers 400 years ago. Its full name is the European Honey Bee.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

IMPACT OF NEONICOTINOID PESTICIDES ON BEES AND OTHER INVERTEBRATES: EDM 1267

2011-01-23T09:08:00.000-05:00

IMPACT OF NEONICOTINOID PESTICIDES ON BEES AND OTHER INVERTEBRATES: EDM 1267:

"The EDM acknowledges the report by Buglife (2009) (1) which concludes that our regulatory system is inadequate for the assessment of this group of pesticides.

Indeed, there is significant and serious doubt that these pesticides are safe, yet I am aware of a number of erroneous arguments opposing this motion:

1. The Buglife report, 2009 has been examined by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides/DEFRA . Given the evidence, there is no need to change the system that regulates pesticides.

a. The Advisory Committee on Pesticides have examined the Buglife report (2).

This document appears to completely ignore very relevant (and difficult/impossible to refute) data contained within the Buglife report.

It actually fails to address the key points made and instead, focuses on scenarios primarily concerned with ‘mistakes’ made during application, or what they consider to be “unlikely” scenarios (without justifying how they came to these conclusions).

Additionally, they have not justified why or how they can consider the regulatory system to be acceptable, when it fails to require sensitive and specific data that: Read further at Buzz About

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Honey laundering: The sour side of nature’s golden sweetener - The Globe and Mail

2011-01-12T18:44:00.000-05:00

Honey laundering: The sour side of nature’s golden sweetener - The Globe and Mail:

"None of this is on the label. Rarely will a jar of honey say “Made in China.” Instead, Chinese honey sold in North America is more likely to be stamped as Indonesian, Malaysian or Taiwanese, due to a growing multimillion dollar laundering system designed to keep the endless supply of cheap and often contaminated Chinese honey moving into the U.S., where tariffs have been implemented to staunch the flow and protect its own struggling industry.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Michael McCarthy: BBKA oligarchy has buried the truth in its cosy relationship with the pesticide lobby - Commentators, Opinion - The Independent

2011-01-12T18:27:00.000-05:00

Michael McCarthy: BBKA oligarchy has buried the truth in its cosy relationship with the pesticide lobby - Commentators, Opinion - The Independent:

"This is something which may skew judgement. One of the claims in the open letter sent to the association by independent beekeepers is that 'the BBKA appears never to have issued any public statement that is critical of any pesticides or pesticide manufacturer'. That's a sweeping statement, but it's certainly the case, if you leaf through BBKA News, that pesticides are not viewed as a major problem.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

WikiLeaks Uncovers Government Bee Killing Conspiracy | Animals | Change.org

2011-01-09T20:15:00.000-05:00

WikiLeaks Uncovers Government Bee Killing Conspiracy | Animals | Change.org:

Please Sign the Petition

"- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Is a Renowned Honeybee Scientist in Bayer's Pocket? | Sustainable Food | Change.org

2010-12-30T23:46:00.000-05:00

Is a Renowned Honeybee Scientist in Bayer's Pocket? | Sustainable Food | Change.org:

A joint study between the military and scientists concluded that a virus-fungus combo could be what's sending bees to their graves. But as Fortune recently reported, this study might not be all it's cracked up to be. Montana bee researcher, Jerry Bromenshenk, served as lead author of the study pinpointing the virus-fungus duo. Bromenshenk serves as CEO of a company that produces sensors to detect bee diseases, and he also received a hefty grant from Bayer, a leading pesticide producer. Uh oh, Bromenshenk — the buzz is that your study could be biased.

"- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Blackawton bees — Biology Letters

2010-12-28T20:05:00.000-05:00

Blackawton bees — Biology Letters:

LONDON – It came with wobbly writing and hand-drawn diagrams, but an elementary school science project has made it into a peer-reviewed journal from Britain's prestigious Royal Society.

Biology Letters published a report Wednesday conducted and written by a group of 8- to 10-year-olds from an English elementary school investigating the way bumblebees see colors and patterns. The scientific organization — which is more than three centuries old and includes some of the world's most eminent scientists — said the children reported findings that were a "genuine advance" in the field of insect color and pattern vision.

"- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Genetic breakthrough in fight against honeybee killer | Environment | guardian.co.uk

2010-12-22T16:58:00.000-05:00

Genetic breakthrough in fight against honeybee killer | Environment | guardian.co.uk:

"A breakthrough in the battle against a deadly mite responsible for decimating the honeybee population has been welcomed by conservation groups.

The varroa mite is the biggest killer of honeybees and has become resistant to medication developed to destroy it. But now scientists have identified a genetic technique that could stop the mite in its tracks.

Researchers from the government's National Bee Unit and Aberdeen University have worked out how to 'silence' natural functions in the mites' genes.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Landing lights for bees - how Snapdragon flowers got their stripes | infonews.co.nz New Zealand's local news community

2010-12-16T10:27:00.000-05:00

Landing lights for bees - how Snapdragon flowers got their stripes | infonews.co.nz New Zealand's local news community: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

What a scientist didn't tell the NY Times on honeybee deaths - Oct. 8, 2010

2010-11-16T18:57:00.000-05:00

What a scientist didn't tell the NY Times on honeybee deaths - Oct. 8, 2010:

A cheer must have gone up at Bayer on Thursday when a front-page New York Times article, under the headline "Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery," described how a newly released study pinpoints a different cause for the die-off: "a fungus tag-teaming with a virus." The study, written in collaboration with Army scientists at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center outside Baltimore, analyzed the proteins of afflicted bees using a new Army software system. The Bayer pesticides, however, go unmentioned.

"- Sent using Google Toolbar"

2010-10-05T19:54:00.000-05:00

Getting busy with it - The Irish Times - Thu, Aug 05, 2010

2010-08-05T06:15:00.000-05:00

Getting busy with it - The Irish Times - Thu, Aug 05, 2010: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Irish beekeepers are an industrious lot: this year’s conference featured sessions on honey and husbandry, stings and queens, and how bees love a good chat, writes ROSITA BOLAND

Honey bees disappearing in the U.S | CRWE NewsWire

2010-07-24T10:09:00.000-05:00

Honey bees disappearing in the U.S | CRWE NewsWire

The State News

2010-07-22T11:37:00.000-05:00

The State News: "A waffle cone full of MSU’s Dairy Store ice cream might get pricey as the summers pass, and the problem isn’t cows — it’s bees.

MSU Dairy Store ice cream flavors such as Coconut Chocolate Almond and Hoosier Strawberry, which depend on the pollination of honey bees, ultimately might become higher priced than others because the species is inching closer to becoming endangered, said John Partridge, an adviser in MSU’s Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.

Although ice cream ingredients are dependent on the diminishing honey bee populations, nature also has a role to play in ingredient availability, Partridge said."

Plants for Bees & Butterflies : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce

2010-07-20T11:07:00.000-05:00

Plants for Bees & Butterflies : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce

Plants for Bees + Butterflies

Honey bees at risk as 'foot and mouth' style disease hits Scotland - Scotsman.com News

2010-07-17T12:08:00.000-05:00

Honey bees at risk as 'foot and mouth' style disease hits Scotland - Scotsman.com News: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Study - Bee Population Decline - Cell Phones Responsible? | Geekosystem

2010-07-01T15:11:00.000-05:00

Study - Bee Population Decline - Cell Phones Responsible? | Geekosystem

Why the decline in bees matters | Environment | guardian.co.uk

2010-05-04T18:07:00.000-05:00

Why the decline in bees matters | Environment | guardian.co.uk

2008-06-28T16:14:00.000-05:00

Highlands and Islands reporter, BBC Scotland news website

A lack of suitable flowers may be forcing bumblebees to seek out aphids to feed on their sugary secretions.

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BCT) said it was a behaviour that appeared to be becoming increasingly common.

Images captured by the BBC Scotland news website in a garden in Nairn, in the Highlands, show the bees visiting tree leaves covered with aphids.

The secretions offer a substitute for nectar, but do not contain the protein the insects need to stay healthy.

There have been warnings that bumblebee and wild bee populations around the UK are experiencing "catastrophic declines".

Bees are important pollinators of flowers and crops.

The bumblebees' behaviour of feeding on secretions from aphids could be a further sign of the problems facing the insects.

"There is a fine balance to be struck in the garden - the answer is to put plants in the garden that are of benefit to bees"
Craig Macadam
Buglife Scottish officer

Dr Ben Darvill, a BCT director and research ecologist based at the University of Stirling, said there have been several reports of the behaviour but the reason for it remained unclear.

He said: "It's hard to say for sure, but it does seem as if this behaviour is becoming more common.

"Bumblebees are known to feed from aphid secretions, and from extra-floral nectaries on unlikely plants like bracken - but it's more usual to see it in upland areas where there are few other flowers around.

"The fact that it is now frequently observed elsewhere may suggest that there are fewer of the right sorts of flowers around in people's gardens and in the wider countryside."

Dr Darvill said a fascinating aspect of the behaviour was the bumblebees' ability to apparently smell the sugar.

They normally choose flowers by colour, but are known to have "smelly feet" allowing them to detect if a flower has already been visited by another bumblebee for its pollen.

However, the intrigue is tinged with concern for the insects.

Dr Darvill said: "Bumblebees have struggled in recent decades from habitat loss - three species are extinct in the UK and many more are threatened - so perhaps bumblebees are having to find innovative ways of finding food."

But he added: "Although the aphid secretions provide them with a sugary solution, a substitute for nectar, they provide no protein.

"Bumblebees can only get their protein from pollen, which they feed to their growing young, so it is essential for a healthy population."

Research work at the University of Stirling, has demonstrated that certain pollens are particularly rich in protein, said Dr Darvill.

He said to help declining bumblebees, gardeners, farmers and land managers need to ensure a constant supply of forage plants from March through until September.

Flowers from the pea and mint families seem to be particularly beneficial.

Craig Macadam, Scottish officer with conservation group Buglife, said aphids were considered a garden pest but he would not wish to see them wiped out.

He said: "Ants often protect the aphids from other predators such as ladybirds and in return they take the honey dew secreted by the aphids.

"There is a fine balance to be struck in the garden - the answer is to put plants in the garden that are of benefit to bees."

2008-04-09T23:36:00.003-05:00

Migratory Beekeepers Worry About Their Livelihood

BENTON CITY-- Cherry and apple seasons are approaching, and Washington farmers are looking to migratory beekeepers to pollinate their crops.

As the bee population rapidly decline in nature, beekeepers are traveling from state to state, where their bees pollinate seasonal crops before moving on.

"Einstein's theory-- it's been, oh, a couple years ago-- was that within about four years, there would be no more food to sustain life anywhere on the planet, to pollinate orchards, pollinate everything out there," said Daniel McLaury, a migratory beekeeper from Montana.

Bees may be the fuzzy, buzzing creatures humans try to avoid, but without them, there would be nothing to pollinate our fruit, the plants livestock eat, the cane to make sugar, even coffee.

"Without the bees, there is no life, there is no food to eat," said McLaury. "So we're going to get real hungry really soon without bees."

2008-01-23T11:40:00.000-05:00

UNICEF girl lauded by NCERT

PATNA: A girl from a poverty-stricken family who turned to bee-keeping for a better living and was declared the 'UNICEF girl' has now been hailed as a role model by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The girl Anita Kushwaha, from a backward family from remote Bochaha village in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, took up bee-keeping when she found that she could earn more from it with little investment.

Anita, now a 19-year-old, took to bee keeping when she was ten after her mother Rekha Devi provided her with Rs 3000.

The saga of her success in being described as the 'UNICEF girl' has been incorporated in chapter five in a class IV text book on environmental studies 'Looking Around'.

With the money she received from her mother, Anita bought three queen bees and began running hives to make a profit of Rs 50,000 in the first year of her venture.

She not only met the expense of her family, but also paid for her education till class ten.

UNICEF-assisted 'Mahila Samakhya' volunteers, later, identified her and adopted her as a girl model.

By introducing the concept of rearing honeybees for improving one's living condition, Anita ushered in a silent evolution in the rural areas of Muzaffarpur, UNICEF sources said.

Her path-breaking work caught the attention of UNICEF which honoured her by declaring her the 'UNICEF girl' in 2006.
Anita is now studying English (Hons) from a women's college in Muzaffarpur with a firm resolve to pursue education while fighting poverty.

2008-01-07T14:20:00.000-05:00

Can Burt's Bees turn Colorox green?

In the summer of 1984, Burt Shavitz, a beekeeper in Maine, picked up Roxanne Quimby, a 33 year-old single mother down on her luck, as she hitch-hiked and Burt's Bees was born. After the couple split, the company was sold to Colorex for millions and 'the bee-man' returned to live in a turkey coop.

2007-12-18T12:30:00.001-05:00

Imported Bees Not Source of Virus Associated with Colony Collapse Disorder

from UDSA
Research entomologists Yanping (Judy) Chen and Jay D. Evans, both with the ARS Bee Research Laboratory here, conducted a detailed genetic screening of several hundred honey bees that had been collected between 2002 and 2007 from colonies in Maryland, Pennsylvania, California and Israel.

"Our study shows that, without question, IAPV has been in this country since at least 2002," said Chen. "This work challenges the idea that IAPV is a recent introduction from Australia."

2007-12-17T09:29:00.000-05:00

Almond Pollination Handbook. Joe Traynor 86 pgs. Soft. $7.00pp.

Between the 1950s and '80s, California's almond industry went from 90,000 to 400,000 acres. Approximately 800,000 colonies are needed to pollinate this crop each spring, half of which come from out of state. This annual event is unsurpassed in the history of the beekeeping industry, and without doubt points toward the future of beekeeping and crop production in the U.S., and eventually the world.

2007-11-30T20:24:00.000-05:00

Healing with honey from

Abkhazia

map courtesy cia

2007-11-19T13:32:00.000-05:00

THE CAVES OF API Nino Masetti

This page was automatically translated from Italian.

The Greek mythology has bequeathed us beautiful legend of Zeus Melissaion that to be saved from bulimia father Cronos was hidden in a cave on Mount Ida, where he was fed with the milk of goats Altea and the honey of a swarm of bees attracted by the sound of cimbali agitated by nymphs that custodivano the divine baby [1]

Going dall'Olimpo and trasferendoci at the other end of the Mediterranean is another famous cave in the village of Bicorp in Spain. Questa grotta porta lo strano nome di “grotta del ragno” ma in realtà conserva il simbolo della stretta relazione fra l’uomo e l’ape, una relazione che risale a circa 9000 anni fa. This cave brings the strange name of "cave of spider" but in reality retains the symbol of the close relationship between man el'ape, a relationship that dates back to about 9000 years ago.
In un interessantissimo libro pubblicato di recente Eva Crane illustra più di 300 grotte e località rupestri dove l’uomo preistorico ha lasciato delle impronte e pitture che costituiscono un omaggio al mondo delle api [2] In a very interesting book published recently Eva Crane illustrates more than 300 caves and cave locations where prehistoric man has left an impression and paintings that are a tribute to the world of bees [2]

A parte l’aspetto mitologico ed artistico ci è noto che anticamente l’uomo che viveva sulle pendici delle montagne ha spesso scelto grotte e caverne come dimora, magazzino e rifugio per se e per i suoi ma anche per gli animali che possedeva e che era necessario proteggere dalle intemperie e dai predatori fra i quali primeggiava l’orso bruno. Apart from the artistic and mythological aspect we know that the man who once lived on the slopes of the mountains has often chosen as caves and caverns residence, warehouse and shelter for themselves and for her but also for the animals and that he was possessed need to protect against bad weather and predators among them primeggiava the brown bear.
Quello che è meno noto è che spesso fra questi animali c’erano anche le api. What is less well known is that often among these animals were bees.

Certo a noi, uomini moderni, non è facile immaginare degli apiari installati in delle grotte specie se queste sono formate da una camera sola ma un esame attento ed una visita sul posto ci convincerà di questa possibilità. Of course we, modern men, it is not easy to imagine the apiaries installed in the caves where these species are formed from a single room but a careful examination and an on-site visit will convince us of this possibility.
Quindi, oltre alle”case delle api “, ai “muri delle api” ed altre strutture apistiche oggi dimenticate possiamo veramente parlare di “grotte delle api?” So, in addition to the "houses of bees", the "walls of bees" and other structures apistiche today can really forget talk of "Bee caves?"

La risposta è affermativa e possiamo aggiungere che le grotte e le caverne furono l’habitat primitivo dell’uomo e che fu in seguito all’abbandono di questo habitat che l’uomo si trovo’ nella necessità di ideare e costruire le “case delle api” per difendere i suoi alveari. The answer is yes and we can add that the caves and caverns were the primary habitat and that was later abandonment of this habitat that the man found the need to design and build "houses of bees "to defend his hives.

Fig.1- “Arne” accatastate davanti all’ingresso di una grotta Fig.1- "Arne" piled in front of a cave

Circa due anni fa, al termine di un colloquio sull’apicoltura vernacolare tenuta a St Faust, nei Pirenei, l’amico e collega Robert Chevet ci ha invitati a seguirlo in Spagna per visitare nella provincia di Huesca, nell’Alta Aragona, dei luoghi quasi inaccessibili dove numerose grotte contengono ancora un numero rilevante di arnie orizzontali di tipo intrecciato dette “ arnas ”(parola che potrebbe derivare dall’italiano arnia).

2007-11-19T13:23:00.000-05:00

Dr Eva Crane, founder of IBRA and inspirational bee scientist, passed away on 6 September 2007. A lasting tribute will be established to honour Dr Crane and her contribution to the world of apiculture. Please send donations, made payable to "The Eva Crane Memorial Fund", care of IBRA. Photo: Mary Fisher.

2007-11-19T12:56:00.000-05:00

Eva Crane, English Expert on World's Bees, Dies at 95

Eva Crane, who earned a doctorate in nuclear physics and then abandoned the field to devote herself to expanding and spreading knowledge about bees as a researcher, historian, archivist, editor and author, died on Sept. 6 in Slough, England.

She was 95, 57 years shy of the reputed life span of the 17th-century English farmer Thomas Parr who, she suggested in one of her books, owed his longevity to eating honey that she said he produced as a beekeeper. The International Bee Research Association, which she founded in 1949, announced her death.

For more than a half-century Dr. Crane worked in more than 60 countries to learn more and more about honeybees, sometimes traveling by dugout canoe or dog sled to document the human use of bees from prehistoric times to the present. She found that ancient Babylonians used honey to preserve corpses, that bees were effectively used as military weapons by the Viet Cong, and that beekeepers in a remote corner of Pakistan use the same kind of hives found in excavations of ancient Greece.

The usefulness of her findings was apparent in 2001 when an official of the United States Department of Agriculture in Louisiana read about Russian bees in one of her books. They had developed a resistance to mites, which had been devastating local bees, The Sunday Advocate of Baton Rouge reported. The agency imported some Russian bees, and the Louisiana bees were soon mite-resistant.

Dr. Crane wrote some of the most important books on bees and apiculture, including “The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting” (1999). In a review in The Guardian, the author Paul Theroux, himself a beekeeper, called the book a masterwork “for its enormous scope and exhaustiveness, for being an up-to-date treasure house of apiaristic facts.”

In an obituary published Friday, the British newspaper The Independent said Dr. Crane published more than 180 papers, articles and books. It noted that she wrote most of them when she was in her 70s and 80s, after stepping down in 1984 from the day-to-day running of the association.

The Times of London in 1999 called her the “queen bee among bee experts.”

2007-11-19T12:22:00.000-05:00

Letters from the Hive
An Intimate History of Bees, Honey, and Humankind
by Stephen L. Buchmann and Banning Repplier

Quotes from Letters from the Hive:

"I am not alone in my passion for honey-making bees and their honey. From prehistoric times to the present, we humans have felt a mysterious and enduring connection to these furry little creatures and the food they produce. We have endowed them with magical properties, attributed to them surprising healing and cleansing powers, and seen in them meaningful symbols representing some of our most profoundly held beliefs.

"Our fascination with bees is deeply rooted in our collective consciousness. We see it in the cave paintings that our prehistoric ancestors left behind. We can read it in the rich, complex rituals and traditions that evolved to govern our relationship with these admirable insects. And we can still catch the reverberations of our instinctive connection to that part of the natural world every time a husband calls his wife "honey" or an excited child chases a buzzing bee through a bright summer afternoon. But its influence is much more far-reaching than you might imagine, extending not just to everyday moments of affection and play but to diverse cultures, religious beliefs, cuisines, and scientific study around the world. We can look for its roots in our history and, before that, our prehistory.

"Thanks to petroglyphs, the spectacular painted records still visible on cave walls throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, and even Australia, we know our ancestors definitely had a sweet tooth, and we know that they indulged it by embarking on arduous and often dangerous honey hunts, armed with tools that enabled them to pillage bee nests with remarkable efficiency. We don't know why cave artists put so much effort into recording these often dramatic hunts. Perhaps the honey hunts signified something more profound than the simple harvesting of an ingredient to sweeten their days-something with deep religious or ceremonial meaning. Whatever the reason, vivid paintings chronicling those honey-hunting expeditions-beautifully stylized yet powerfully real-have been found on the ceilings and walls of hundreds of caves spanning the globe.

"In her recent book The Rock Art of Honey Hunters, Dr. Eva Crane, the grande dame of honey bee researchers, has collected some of the most striking examples of the cave art chronicling these prehistoric hunts. As she has vividly documented, there are a number of common elements that recur throughout this pictorial world. The honeycombs are prominently drawn, generally with great exuberance and appearing much larger than they are in real life. Bees, with or without wings, are shown flying angrily about as their nests are pillaged by the daring hunters. The hunters themselves are usually depicted either standing at the foot of a tree or cliff that harbors a bee nest or climbing long rope ladders to reach their prize. And they are typically shown naked-although to modern beekeepers, the idea of raiding a colony without protective clothing seems foolhardy at best. The honey hunters portrayed in African cave art frequently wear penis sheaths and nothing else."

About Stephen L. Buchmann

eco books

alibris

2007-11-15T14:03:00.000-05:00

Historic St Bees

There is evidence of settlement dating back to Neolithic times, but nothing is known of either the Romans or the Romano-British Celts who would have followed them. We know of the Viking influence through the cross shaft at the Priory, but the first recorded history comes to us via medieval manuscripts which describe the life of St. Bega.

2007-11-15T13:41:00.000-05:00

No matter where we live, there is a hidden world going on all around us, full of magic, mystery and adventure. Quite literally what we perceive as ordinary reality is far, far more than this, containing secret knowledge which was understood by an ancient, arcane tradition that still exists quietly in our midst. This knowledge, hidden and carefully preserved over thousands of years is revealed for the first time in this book by Simon Buxton - where magic is only a wing flutter away and reality is seen through compound eyes.

In The Shamanic Way of the Bee the intriguing world of bee shamanism - the Path of Pollen - is revealed and explained as both a vital part of our heritage and a practical system of healing, wisdom and spiritual development. It is written as a marriage of ethnography and autobiographical memoir, detailing the true adventure story of his initiation into this ancient tradition. As with all new and unusual experiences, his immersion in a new world order and way of being was sometimes terrifying, sometimes exquisitely beautiful, and readers everywhere will be enchanted as they share his journey.

"This book is like having a backstage-pass into the actual secret life of bees. Bee Master, Simon Buxton, takes us on his shaman's journey that unveils a tradition that has been held sacred for thousands of years. After reading this book, I felt I had been initiated into the ancient feminine mystery of sacred sexuality."
Tori Amos - Singer/Songwriter

"Simon Buxton's unusually wondrous tale combined with his exquisite use of words brings radiant life to an ancient path; the Shamanic Way of the Bee. Delve into the mystery with Buxton - the story and teachings are brilliant."
Sandra Ingerman author of Soul Retrieval

2007-11-15T12:18:00.000-05:00

This newsletter gives guidance and inspiration on how to include Raw and Living foods in your lifestyle

Healing with Living Foods

2007-11-15T11:55:00.000-05:00

100,000 Bees Invade University Building

HOUSTON -- More than 100,000 bees have invaded a building at the University of Houston, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.University officials said the bees have taken up residence between the walls of the Cullen College of Engineering building."Mother Nature guided them to that spot and it was an easy place for them to get into," bee expert Mike Knuckey said. "It was placed where they could control the temperature and their environment."

Knuckey began removing the bees at about 8:30 a.m. The extrication was expected to take all day. Knuckey said he has to use smoke to subdue the bees and then remove the bricks one by one to get to the hive."Our hope is to safely remove the bees and relocate them to a less populated area on campus," said Alex Alexander, director of custodial and grounds. "The bee population is already under stress. UH is concerned about the environment we inhabit and will choose to protect it whenever possible."Officials said faculty and students noticed the bees several months ago.The bees are suspected to have created a 50- to 100- square-foot hive in the building.The bees have not stung anyone, officials said."Many of the students don't even know we have this situation," Alexander said. "It's been kind of a surprise to them, all this attention that is getting. We don't consider this a dangerous situation."Some students said the infestation concerned them."I'm kind of allergic to them," Fernando Gomez said. "I know I'm not the only one around this campus. There's a lot of students around this campus, if they get bit, Lord knows what can happen to them. I wouldn't want to get bit by one."Honey has been seen dripping from the building's weep holes.

2007-11-09T15:46:00.000-05:00

Clorox Buying Burt's Bees
read article in the NY Times

Clorox posted a quarterly profit yesterday that was slightly less than year’s but still better than analysts had expected, and said it would buy the privately held personal products company Burt’s Bees.

Clorox said it would buy Burt’s Bees, which makes lip balm, soaps and other products from natural ingredients, for $925 million net of an additional $25 million for expected tax benefits.

check out Repel 'em Blog

2007-11-08T12:24:00.000-05:00

The Bees' Needs
Honey bees are mysteriously vanishing across the country, putting $15 billion worth of fruits, nuts and vegetables at risk.

Like carrots? How about cucumbers, broccoli, onions, pumpkins, squash, apples, blueberries, avocados, almonds or cherries? These crops, among others, can't grow without honeybees, and a mysterious die-off of these hard-working pollinators could put $15 billion worth of U.S. crops at risk -- not to mention put a damper on your diet.

Beekeepers sounded the alarm in 2006. Seemingly healthy bees were simply abandoning their hives en masse, never to return. Researchers are calling the mass disappearance Colony Collapse Disorder, and estimate that nearly one-third of all honey bee colonies in the country have vanished.

Why are the bees leaving? Scientists studying the disorder believe a combination of factors could be making bees sick, including pesticide exposure, an inadequate food supply, and a new virus that targets bees' immune systems. But more research is needed to determine the exact cause of the bees' distress.

An olive tree that is 3500 years old!

2007-06-01T15:12:00.000-05:00

It is said that in Italy there is an olive tree that is 3500 years old. Olive trees can be seen as a symbol of tradition and a witness of eras gone by. It is a bearer of long forgotten times and legacies. This is one of the reasons why the olive tree is regarded as a symbol of patience: looking at an olive tree gives a feeling of serenity, peace and tranquility. Furthermore, the olive tree is the symbol of immortality: it gives power to kings and priests, and its boughs crown heroes and Olympic champions.

Olive Leaf

2007-06-01T14:37:00.000-05:00

When the olive leaf was analyzed by researchers, they found the leaf matrix has a phenolic compound to which they gave the Latin name oleuropein. It is considered to be the source of the olive tree's powerful disease-resistant properties. It is this ingredient, oleuropein, that is present throughout the olive tree that effectively counteracts insect and bacterial predators (parasites).

In 1969, a major pharmaceutical company's researchers found that olive leaf inhibits the growth of every virus, bacterium, fungus, yeast, and protozoan that it was tested against. The company's research indicated that Olive Leaf Extract is effective against a minimum of 56 disease-causing organisms. Company scientists found that the viruses that were killed by the olive leaf substance are the coxsackie virus, the parainfluenza 3 virus, the herpes virus, the pseudo-rabies virus, the vesicular stomatitis virus, the encephalomyocarditis virus, Newcastle disease virus, polio virus, and the Sindbis virus, to name a few. The book lists many more viruses as well as a list of fungi.

Rachel Carson -- Happy Birthday

2007-05-26T22:26:00.000-05:00

Rachel Carson,
Born ~ May 27th 1907

The National Council of Women of the United States
Citation
Rachel Carson, Woman of Conscience

Because she is a distinguished scholar in the field of science

Because she is able to communicate her specialized knowledge through her impressive literary talent,

Because she has the courage to express her convictions in the face of powerful opposition,

Because she has shocked men and women into an awareness of their responsibility to protect future generations, and finally,

Because with reverence for all life she dedicates her extraordinary gifts to its service,

Therefore, the National Council of Women of the United States is proud to cite RACHEL CARSON as the outstanding example in this country of a Woman of Conscience

Presented at the Joint 75th Anniversary Conference of the
International Council of Women and
The National Council of Women of the United States

June 19, 1963
Statler Hilton Hotel, Washington, D.C.

Rachel Carson Council

Formerly the Rachel Carson Trust for the Living Environment, the Rachel Carson Council promotes alternative, environmentally benign pest management strategies to encourage healthier, sustainable living.

GMO: Breast Milk in Rice!

2007-05-24T09:07:00.000-05:00

Rice modified to express proteins often found in breast milk will be planted in Kansas. The go-ahead for the planting came on 16 May from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

"Colony Collapse Disorder" This Week in Science-podcast

2007-05-22T10:53:00.000-05:00

Is CCD caused by the verroa mite? Is it an as yet unknown pathogen? Is it poor nutrition? Could it be the stress of migration? Have pesticides finally started taking their toll on helpful insects as well as the destructive? Or is CCD a result of a combination of these, the "perfect storm" of circumstances that is causing the dying off of the bees?

This Week in Science - Thursday May 10, 2007 Broadcast
Karl Mogel of the Inoculated Mind Guest Hosts and Discusses Colony Collapse Disorder,
The Weird From Washington w/ Dr. Mike Stebbins, Nanotechnology, and This Week in the End of the World.

2007-05-21T09:21:00.000-05:00

Report: No Organic Bee Losses

"Sharon Labchuk is a longtime environmental activist and part-time organic beekeeper from Prince Edward Island. She has twice run for a seat in Ottawa's House of Commons, making strong showings around 5% for Canada's fledgling Green Party. She is also leader of the provincial wing of her party. In a widely circulated email, she wrote:

I'm on an organic beekeeping list of about 1,000 people, mostly Americans, and no one in the organic beekeeping world, including commercial beekeepers, is reporting colony collapse on this list. The problem with the big commercial guys is that they put pesticides in their hives to fumigate for varroa mites, and they feed antibiotics to the bees. They also haul the hives by truck all over the place to make more money with pollination services, which stresses the colonies.

Her email recommends a visit to the Bush Bees Web site at Here, Michael Bush felt compelled to put a message to the beekeeping world right on the top page:

Most of us beekeepers are fighting with the Varroa mites. I'm happy to say my biggest problems are things like trying to get nucs through the winter and coming up with hives that won't hurt my back from lifting or better ways to feed the bees. This change from fighting the mites is mostly because I've gone to natural sized cells. In case you weren't aware, and I wasn't for a long time, the foundation in common usage results in much larger bees than what you would find in a natural hive. I've measured sections of natural worker brood comb that are 4.6mm in diameter. This 4.6mm comb was drawn by a hive of commercial Carniolans and this 4.7mm comb was drawn on the first try by a package of commercial Carniolans. What most people use for worker brood is foundation that is 5.4mm in diameter. If you translate that into three dimensions, instead of one, that produces a bee that is about half again as large as is natural. By letting the bees build natural sized cells, I have virtually eliminated my Varroa and Tracheal mite problems. One cause of this is shorter capping times by one day and shorter post capping times by one day. This means less Varroa get into the cells and less Varroa reproduce in the cells. I have mostly done this either with wax coated PermaComb (fully drawn plastic comb) or self drawn comb on foundationless frames or frames with blank starter strips. 4.9mm foundation is available from Dadant and Sons and from Brushy Mt. This size(4.9mm) has been found sufficient to resolve the mite problems. For more information on small cell: Bush Farms

2007-05-13T17:52:00.000-05:00

Please visit Herbs 'n Honey by touching the logo for a lovely visit ~

The oldest bee remains known to exist are preserved in a small bit of amber. This bee is believed to be over 80 million years old and is kept at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The earliest record of honey bees and people interacting is a rock painting found in Spain…about 6000 to 8000 years old. Paintings have also been found in other parts of the world, especially southern Africa. The honeybee was the symbol of Lower Egypt and papyri dated 256 BC tell of a beekeeper with 5000 hives. Honey was an ingredient in over 500 Egyptian medicines and beeswax and propolis were important products used in the embalming process.

The Greeks and Romans were keeping bees 3000 years ago. They called honey "nectar of the Gods" and Greek athletes used honey as a carbohydrate boost. According to the Roman, Pliny, originator of the doctrine of signatures, drinking a glass of honey and cider vinegar every day cleans the system and promotes good health. D.C. Jarvis, M.D. in his book Folk Medicine re-popularized honey and apple cider vinegar in more modern times.

2007-05-09T09:43:00.000-05:00

Sue Bee and 'The Apprentice' Focus on the American Honey Bee
02/02/2007: Press Release from Sue Bee Honey
Sue Bee Honey is the most recognizable honey brand in the world, and is known for its responsible environmental practices surrounding honey production and distribution. The Iowa-based company is able to minimize waste and toxic bi-products in the environment by utilizing all PET (polyethylene terephthalate) recyclable plastics in its packaging, reclaiming beeswax and honey when skimming foam from settling tanks (leaving only biodegradable waste for landfill) and using paper filtration systems.

"Sue Bee Honey has always strived for minimal waste in our production facilities. It makes good monetary and environmental sense. Reducing packaging and shipping our honey in recyclable cardboard boxes or re-usable tote bins makes a difference over the course of time," said Bill Huser, vice president of research and development at Sue Bee Honey.

Huser also stresses the importance of the American Honey Bee to the ecosystem, adding that since the American Honey Bee's introduction to North America by European colonists, crops and fruit trees which were previously scarce now thrive through honey bee pollination. The American Honey Bee has benefited the agricultural industry by substantially outperforming native bee pollination.

2007-05-09T08:49:00.000-05:00

A leading zoologist has found evidence that genes used to modify crops can jump the species barrier and cause bacteria to mutate, prompting fears that GM technology could pose serious health risks. observer

Honey Bee Reserch

2007-05-02T08:59:00.000-05:00

Honey bees are studied extensively, also because they are fascinating organisms. Bees have captured mankind's attention since as early as Aristotle. Not only because they produce honey and honey is the earliest sweetener human beings have found, but because of their industriousness (working to their death), selflessness (producing honey for humans and dying to defend their home), and most importantly, their social organization. Honey bees, like other social insects, show "division of labor" whereby different workers specialize on different tasks. In some sense, the complexity of their society rivals that of our own. Who governs their day-to-day chores? How do workers know what to do in a city bustling with tens of thousands of individuals? Clearly these have been the questions of humankind since long time ago, as evidenced in the Bible: "Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer...Locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks." [Proverbs 30: 25-27].

" Let food be your medicine & medicine your food."

2007-05-01T12:18:00.000-05:00

Post war use of first generation pesticides were mostly highly toxic compounds, such as arsenic and hydrogen cyanide,
their use was largely abandoned because they were either ineffective over time or too toxic.

The first important synthetic organic pesticide was a chlorinated hydrocarbon, DDT. Discovered in 1939 by a Swiss chemist Paul Muller, in 1948, Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize. DDT was also used for many non-agricultural applications, It was used for human delousing of soldiers coming home from World War II, and used to control mosquitoes in residential areas. It was hailed as a miracle for its easy application and seemingly inert action to other than pests. It was toxic to wide range of insect pests but seemed to have a low toxicity to mammals, it didn't break down rapidly in the environment and it was insoluble, meaning it didn't wash off by the rain and it was cheap. DDT treated crops yields increased, malaria was brought under control, pests were brought under control, DDT, was hailed by some as "magic!"

Thank goodness not by all, when Rachel Carson, published her book "Silent Spring" in 1962, attitudes began to change and enthusiasm for pesticides began to be viewed through a different lens. Rachel Carson, a writer, scientist and ecologist, grew up simply in the rural river town of Springdale, Pennsylvania. Her mother bequeathed to her a life-long love of nature and the living world that Rachel expressed first as a writer and later as a student of marine biology. Carson graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham College) in 1929, studied at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, and received her MA in zoology from Johns Hopkins University in 1932. She was focusing on the chlorinated hydrocarbons, such as DDT, and pointed to evidence linking them to death of nontarget creatures (organisms other than those that the pesticide is intended to kill), such as birds. She issued grave warnings about pesticides, and predicted massive destruction of the planet's fragile ecosystems unless more was done to halt what she called the "rain of chemicals." This book woke up the public's concern and in retrospect launched the environmental movement.

Now we have something new that has been introduced into our environment, GMO, Genetically Modified Organisms, and
GE food, Genetically Engineered. Disregarding the basic laws of nature, scientists crossbreed plants to animals, fungus, parasites, viruses,anti-biotics, petro-chemical fertilizers, fungicides and herbicides -- then they bombard the specimen with different radiation techniques to create GMO's, creating something that cannot be recognized by Mother Nature, as plant or animal, which people refer to as Frankenfoods! Industry disclosures reveal that 60 to 70% of all non-organic supermarket food now test positive for the inclusion of genetically engineered ingredients.

" Let food be your medicine & medicine your food." These were the words of Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine,” in 400 B.C.

The Invisible Link

2007-04-30T09:19:00.000-05:00

The honey-bee population in the U.S. is suffering a devastating collapse and is cause for great concern.
Honey-bees are flying off to forage, in search of pollen and nectar and are not returning to their hives.
This phenomenon is refereed to as Colony Collapse Disorder!

So, what is the cause? Investigations have revealed that colony collapse has been experienced by beekeepers
over the past two years -- are the bees dying in the fields or are they too exhausted or disoriented to return
to their hives ? We are very dependent on the invisible link of the bee, every third bite we consume has been helped by the honeybee, these include diverse food sources as almond blossoms, pumpkins, cucumbers, raspberries, avocados, and alfalfa.

Unless we are able to protect the bee population we may lose many fruits and vegetables from the food chain. If we continue to lose honeybees at this alarming rate there will be a dire disruption to our food supply.

Maryann Frazier, a senior extension associate in the Department of Entomology at Pennsylvania State University's College of Agricultural Sciences."During the last three months of 2006, we began to receive reports from commercial beekeepers of an alarming number of honeybee colonies dying in the eastern
United States,"

"Since the beginning of the year, beekeepers from all over the country have been reporting unprecedented losses. This has become a highly significant yet poorly understood problem that threatens the pollination industry and the production of commercial honey in the United States," she said.

Honey Bees Can Recognize Human Faces!

2007-04-28T20:35:00.000-05:00

A World Science news item dated December 9, 2005 reports Adrian Dyer's study published in Journal of Experimental Biology

Scientists used to believe that facial recognition required a large brain. Adrian G. Dyer of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, a leading scientist in the field feels that this may not be the case. He found in his study on honey bees that even with a smaller brain than that of the humans, they could recognize human faces. According to Dyer the finding is the first time an invertebrate has shown ability to recognize faces of other species.

In their study, Dyer and two colleagues presented honey bees with photos of human faces taken from a standard human psychology test. The photos had similar lighting, background colors and sizes and included only the face and neck to avoid having the insects make judgments based on the clothing. In some cases, the people in the pictures themselves looked similar. They tried to train the bees to realize that a photo of one man had a drop of sugary liquid next to it. Other photos had a drop of a bitter liquid. Five of the several bees trained in this way "learned to fly toward the photo horizontally in such a way that they could get a good look at it. In fact, these bees tended to hover a few centimeters in front of the image for a while before deciding where to land." Some "bees apparently failed to realize that they should pay attention to the photos at all."

The World Science report says that "the bees learned to distinguish the correct face from the wrong one with better than 80 percent accuracy, even when the faces were similar, and regardless of where the photos were placed, the researchers found. Also, just like humans, the bees performed worse when the faces were flipped upside-down." “Two bees tested two days after the initial training retained the information in long-term memory,” the scientists wrote. "One scored about 94 percent on the first day and 79 percent two days later; the second bee’s score dropped from about 87 to 76 percent during the same time frame."

The researchers also checked whether bees performed better for faces that humans judged as being more different. This seemed to be the case, they found, but the result didn’t reach statistical significance.

The World Science report adds: "The bees probably don’t understand what a human face is, Dyer said in an email. “To the bees the faces were spatial patterns (or strange looking flowers). Bees are famous for their pattern-recognition abilities, which scientists believe evolved in order to discriminate among flowers. As social insects, they can also tell apart their hive mates. But the new study shows that they can recognize human faces better than some humans can—with one-ten thousandth of the brain cells."
Beekeeping in India

2007-04-28T19:57:00.000-05:00

Zarafa's Bee-Hive Mind

Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey

Ultra-filtering Removes Pollen, Hides Honey Origins

How to get to your list of posts

Zarafa's Bee-Hive Mind

Using our upgraded interface

Zarafa's Bee-Hive Mind is on the move !!!

Guardian Article

Zarafa's Bee-Hive Mind

Asian Honey, Banned in Europe, Is Flooding U.S. Grocery Shelves

FDA has the laws needed to keep adulterated honey off store shelves but does little, honey industry says.

Silence of the BeesVideo: Full Episode

Bees in the hood: urban beekeeping in the Queen City

Bees: amazing little creatures

vanishing of the bees

AfricaNews - MALAWI: Fishermen catching bees - The AfricaNews articles of FRAZER POTANI

The ABC's of Bees

IMPACT OF NEONICOTINOID PESTICIDES ON BEES AND OTHER INVERTEBRATES: EDM 1267

Honey laundering: The sour side of nature’s golden sweetener - The Globe and Mail

Michael McCarthy: BBKA oligarchy has buried the truth in its cosy relationship with the pesticide lobby - Commentators, Opinion - The Independent

WikiLeaks Uncovers Government Bee Killing Conspiracy | Animals | Change.org

Is a Renowned Honeybee Scientist in Bayer's Pocket? | Sustainable Food | Change.org

Blackawton bees — Biology Letters

Genetic breakthrough in fight against honeybee killer | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Landing lights for bees - how Snapdragon flowers got their stripes | infonews.co.nz New Zealand's local news community

What a scientist didn't tell the NY Times on honeybee deaths - Oct. 8, 2010

Getting busy with it - The Irish Times - Thu, Aug 05, 2010

Honey bees disappearing in the U.S | CRWE NewsWire

The State News

Plants for Bees & Butterflies : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce

Honey bees at risk as 'foot and mouth' style disease hits Scotland - Scotsman.com News

Study - Bee Population Decline - Cell Phones Responsible? | Geekosystem

Why the decline in bees matters | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Abkhazia

Quotes from Letters from the Hive:

About Stephen L. Buchmann

Historic St Bees

An olive tree that is 3500 years old!

Olive Leaf

Rachel Carson -- Happy Birthday

GMO: Breast Milk in Rice!

"Colony Collapse Disorder" This Week in Science-podcast

Honey Bee Reserch

" Let food be your medicine & medicine your food."

The Invisible Link

Honey Bees Can Recognize Human Faces!

Silence of the Bees
Video: Full Episode