[ExI] bees again

[Giovanni Santostasi]

Some species of roaches are considered pests for a reason:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pests-730/2009/5/roaches.htm

Giovanni



On Sun, May 19, 2013 at 9:42 AM, spike <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:

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> OK so we have now an ongoing experiment where Europe has banned neonics to
> see if that can stop the decline of honeybees.  We can now compare Europe
> with America to get some actual data, cool.****
>
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> I have been working on an idea; perhaps you can help.  Please skip to the
> last paragraph if you are in a hurry.  ****
>
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> I have seen way more dying bees this year than any before.  Even ignoring
> the presumably anomalous event on 1 January where I saw hundreds of dying
> bees in one place at one time, I have seen perhaps three to four times more
> dying bees this year than the typical 15 to 20.  My notion has been that we
> are seeing a combination of factors, one of which might be the
> neonicotinoids.  The neonic theory explains the anomalous event but not the
> other observations, where I often see bees clearly distressed but not
> perished, out on a nice bee-day, no apparent explanation, no varroa mites
> on them.  I have a notion that part of the problem, or a contributing
> factor, might be household pesticides, largely aimed at cockroaches.  This
> gave me an idea.****
>
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> Bees are beauty queens of the bug world.  Without reading the article,
> look at this picture at the top of this article and really look at a bee.
> Isn’t she gorgeous?****
>
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> http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/05/13/183704091/what-is-it-about-bees-and-hexagons?ft=3&f=111787346&sc=nl&cc=es-20130519
> ****
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> The transparent wings, the yellow and black transverse striping, the sexy
> hourglass shape, it’s just a pretty bug.****
>
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> Contrast the reviled American cockroach:****
>
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> http://www.google.com/search?q=american+cockroach+palmetto+bug&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Ft2YUcaxOujUiwKosIGADg&ved=0CEgQsAQ&biw=984&bih=754
> ****
>
> I have looked carefully at these, even dissected them, I have watched
> people’s reaction to them, everything from revulsion to terror to
> uncontrolled panic at seeing these perfectly harmless insects.  They don’t
> bite, they don’t sting, they don’t give you any dreaded disease, but they
> are so hated that we intentionally introduce known toxins into our own
> homes, chemicals with both known and unknown harmful effects to humans,
> pets, birds and beneficial insects, to try to slay the bastards, and yet
> they survive with a vengeance.****
>
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> I have a theory that household pesticides may be one factor contributing
> to the decline of honeybees.  I have seen proles use half a can of Raid,
> indoors, after seeing just one roach.  This cannot be good.  Even I, the
> oddball who really likes bugs, will admit that the cockroach is an ugly
> bug.  ****
>
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> My idea is to try to use genetic engineering to make the cockroach more
> attractive.  We do the gene sequencing, see if we can figure out what makes
> a bee’s wings transparent and what makes for those yellow and black
> stripes, then see if we can gene-splice those sequences and create a
> cockroach that looks like a huge bee.  Or failing that, see if we can get
> them to at least have colorful wings like a butterfly, something other than
> that ugly shit-brown they now have.  Then perhaps we can get people to
> grudgingly accept them and stop using so much pesticide, which would reduce
> costs and perhaps remove a possible factor in honeybee decline.  If we can
> make sheep that glow in the dark, we should be able to make prettier
> cockroaches.****
>
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> Have we any gene-splicing hipsters who can suggest a way to do this?****
>
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> spike****
>
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> ****
>
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