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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>>…</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Gordon<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] bees again<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='color:black'>spike,<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='color:#1F497D'>></span><span style='color:black'>> </span><span style='color:#1F497D'>…</span><span style='color:black'>Hey check this, watch these hummingbirds hassle each other....<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><div id=yiv1680244732><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='color:blue'><a href="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xHkq1edcbk4?rel=0" target="_blank" title="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xHkq1edcbk4?rel=0"><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xHkq1edcbk4?rel=0</span></a></span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='color:blue'> </span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='color:black'><br></span><span style='color:#1F497D'>>…</span><span style='color:black'>Wonderful! I shared with other people who feel the same way. Thanks for posting it!</span><span style='color:#1F497D'> </span><span style='color:black'>-gts </span><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Glad you liked it Gordon. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>On the subject of bees again, I am seeing a bunch of dying bees this summer. I saw dying bees for the first time about five years ago, and every year since then but at a lower level. I didn’t know for sure if they were always there and I just hadn’t noticed but in any case, I am seeing way more of them this year. I should have kept a log, but individual observations are of little use: not enough data. If we were to get a few thousand bee watchers to keep a log, noting date, time and place of observation, perhaps we could see some patterns. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>As I noted a few months ago, I observed something this year that led me to believe the cause had to be some kind of pesticide: two bees staggering about on the sidewalk about a meter apart, both too weak to fly, both dead within an hour, neither with parasites that I could tell. I had no handkerchief or other means to carry them, so I picked them up in my hands and carried them home, hoping for the best. Neither stung, but it felt weird. I kept them in a jar for a few weeks to see if anything would hatch out of them. This season I have had five negative observations for parasites, no positives.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I never have been able to figure out any alternate explanation for that observation of the two dying together other than a pesticide on the roses.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The biggest challenge I can see in having a site for observations is in getting the participants to record negative findings. It is difficult to distinguish between active observers seeing no bees and observers going inactive. Doctors have faced this challenge since forever: if patients start feeling better, they just go away and don’t report back until they are sick the next time. We need a better way of recording negative observations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>spike <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>