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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='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='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>spike<br><b>Subject:</b> [ExI] bees again<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>>…</span> The timing of that collapse was even more unfortunate because of the apparent off-the-charts numbers of bee deaths this year. I had the highest bee<span style='color:#1F497D'> [death]</span> count this year of any of the other years<span style='color:#1F497D'>… spike<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Well I just returned from a 3 hr bee watching exercise. The honeybees are missing in action this year, almost completely gone. I found one of my standard trees that should be buzzing with hungry bees today, a perfect bee day, 70F, light breeze, clear skies, perfect. That tree had exactly one bee.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>In my back yard, I noticed the minority bees are now the majority: the secondary pollinators which do about 5% of the pollinating, the ground-dwelling non-colonizers, are now in the majority.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>I have a job for all of you, if you are willing: go find a standard somewhere, something that you can make notes on date, time, weather conditions and bee counts. I fear we have done something to reaaaally screw our bees this time, something really bad. I need to know if it is a local phenomenon, something I can contact the city parks and grounds department, see if they are spraying something new and improved, or if it is widespread.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Do it please, it’s important, davai^3.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>