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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2><FONT color=#000000 size=3>Are we just talking honey bee's
here? or are all bee types in decline?</FONT><BR></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Excellent question, Al. I don't know. I haven't
seen any dying bumblebees or any other types of bugs perishing, which
counter-indicates a pesticide. The leading theory I understand is CCD is
caused by a virus carried by mites other than varroa mites. Damn. We
are going to miss eating fruit and nuts.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>We are starting an offlist group, analogous to the M-Brain
group we had a few years ago. A couple of hipsters have contacted me
who know from internet protocols better than I. Hell, the bees know
more from internet protocols than I. Understatement! The POLLEN
knows more from...</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Al, do you want to be part of the spinoff bee discussion
offlist? Anyone else? Or would the rest of you want to just have us
post highlights here? I am looking for advice or help designing a
website that is a little like the earthquake site the USGS set
up. In that one, any time you feel a tremor, you log on and tell them
where you live and how much shaking you felt. They can estimate a
magnitude and location within minutes.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2><A
href="http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ca/">http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ca/</A></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2><A
href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/">http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/</A></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Wicked cool, ja? Ain't it fun being alive and
internet hip in 2008? {8-] </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>I want a bee version of these sites, where I can map
epicenters of colony collapse. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I am told I need
a domain name?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>spike </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=576365904-01042008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV><BR>
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style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
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<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org] <B>On Behalf Of
</B>ablainey@aol.com<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, March 31, 2008 9:57
PM<BR><B>To:</B> extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [ExI]
The Bee Problem<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Are we just talking honey bee's
here? or are all bee types in decline?</FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: Kevin Freels
<kevinfreels@insightbb.com><BR>To: ExI chat list
<extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org><BR>Sent: Tue, 1 Apr 2008
3:28<BR>Subject: [ExI] The Bee Problem<BR><BR>
<DIV id=AOLMsgPart_3_72b1a221-54b2-4e82-b516-eb302c7ee303>
<DIV><BR>I've seen a few of you mention the declining bee population lately. I
just thought I would pass this on.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.physorg.com/news126203432.html"
target=_blank>http://www.physorg.com/news126203432.html</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ore. Farmers Press for More Bee Research<BR>Sponsored Links </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>(AP) -- Oregon farmers are hoping that the state's premier academics will
help them figure out what is causing a sudden decline in the bee population
that's hitting home in the Pacific Northwest.</DIV>
<DIV>Bees are critical for the pollination of signature Oregon crops, from
Hood River Valley pears to coastal cranberries. </DIV>
<DIV>But commercial bee colonies that travel around the country to pollinate
crops have been decimated in the past few years by a mysterious malady loosely
known as colony collapse disorder. </DIV>
<DIV>In many cases, beekeepers have found their hives suddenly empty, the bees
gone and presumed dead. </DIV>
<DIV>The disorder has been linked to a virus that can be transmitted by a tiny
mite that infests bees. </DIV>
<DIV>But little is known about the cause of the disorder. And Oregon State
University, the state's land-grant university that supports agricultural
research, no longer has a full-time professor focused on bees. </DIV>
<DIV>Growers, beekeepers and others around the state are holding a meeting
next week in Corvallis to make the case for increased research into honey bee
health and pollinators in Oregon. </DIV>
<DIV>Oregon State cut back faculty positions as state funding decreased early
in this decade, said Stella Coakley, associate dean in OSU's College of
Agricultural Sciences. </DIV>
<DIV>But she said college officials recognize the rising concern about the
health of bees. </DIV>
<DIV>Coakley told The Oregonian that Oregon State has located some funding so
its extension service could expand the services of its insect identification
laboratory. </DIV>
<DIV>In the past, the main way Oregon State has been able to expand its
research positions is through endowments created with the help of private
donors and supportive industries. </DIV>
<DIV>For example, the hazelnut industry in Oregon created an endowed
professorship focused on hazelnut research. </DIV>
<DIV>Robert Whannell, who cultivates 25 acres of cranberries south of Astoria,
said the beekeeper from Washington who usually brings bees to pollinate his
crop lost 4,000 hives' worth of bees this winter out of 13,000 total hives.
</DIV>
<DIV>Without the extra bees to pollinate his cranberries, Whannell said his
production would probably drop 70 percent to 80 percent. </DIV>
<DIV>"We're hoping this is going to be a wake-up call that we need to be
focused on this issue that affects the whole food chain," Whannell said.
</DIV></DIV><!-- end of AOLMsgPart_3_72b1a221-54b2-4e82-b516-eb302c7ee303 -->
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