Mystery Illness wipes out honeybee colonies...
(AP-State College PA) Monday, February 12, 2007
Two weeks ago there was a lull in the frgid weather which had hung over Oregon generally and us at the mouth of the Gorge in particular. Sunday morning the sun was out and it looked warm even with a snappy breeze slicing out of the east. Mar and I sat out on the back deck to imagine warmer seasons once again as well as to confound the neighbors. "There's those people again out on that deck in full view of the whole neighborhood and it's not even July!!!"
The little rosemary plant was sprinkled with tiny purple blue blossoms and, as we sat there, a bee did an aerial amble through them, as if astonished that anything fragrant or scented with pollen could be out this early. The white cat, as he so often does, stuck his nose into the blossom clusters and then batted at the bee. Unperturbed, the bee flew off. We laughed.
Bees are not ornamental. Particularly honeybees. The article cited above is frightening. Sure, you say, it's not so bad...just some anomaly. I think back to that early morning of warmth and the single bee and wonder. If there were a year with almost no bees (excluding yellow jackets who aren't bees at all) what would happen? People grandstand on the subject of global warming and argue about whether glaciation is advancing or receding. I look at bees and wonder if the collapse of my garden and the collapse of agriculture are tied together.
I used to catch honeybees in a jar in the summer with never a thought. There were bees everywhere. Busy bees. davidrites
Two weeks ago there was a lull in the frgid weather which had hung over Oregon generally and us at the mouth of the Gorge in particular. Sunday morning the sun was out and it looked warm even with a snappy breeze slicing out of the east. Mar and I sat out on the back deck to imagine warmer seasons once again as well as to confound the neighbors. "There's those people again out on that deck in full view of the whole neighborhood and it's not even July!!!"
The little rosemary plant was sprinkled with tiny purple blue blossoms and, as we sat there, a bee did an aerial amble through them, as if astonished that anything fragrant or scented with pollen could be out this early. The white cat, as he so often does, stuck his nose into the blossom clusters and then batted at the bee. Unperturbed, the bee flew off. We laughed.
Bees are not ornamental. Particularly honeybees. The article cited above is frightening. Sure, you say, it's not so bad...just some anomaly. I think back to that early morning of warmth and the single bee and wonder. If there were a year with almost no bees (excluding yellow jackets who aren't bees at all) what would happen? People grandstand on the subject of global warming and argue about whether glaciation is advancing or receding. I look at bees and wonder if the collapse of my garden and the collapse of agriculture are tied together.
I used to catch honeybees in a jar in the summer with never a thought. There were bees everywhere. Busy bees. davidrites
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