Wednesday, March 28, 2007

WEED?

Think twice before you reach for the weed killer this summer—did you know that some of the most offensive weeds actually produce the best tasting honey?

Star ThistleStar thistle blooms mid-summer, thriving in dry, semi-arid conditions. Considered a noxious weed by environmentalists, star thistle colonizes and spreads rapidly, displacing vegetation and producing sharp, toxic spines. Ingesting large amounts of the sharp flowers can be fatal for livestock such as horses. Star thistle has invaded California, covering 22 percent of the state and is gaining ground in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Environmentalists and animal enthusiasts agree, star thistle should be eradicated, but bees love the nectar from this prickly plant. Nectar from the yellow star thistle flowers produces a unique honey, light in color with a slightly sweet flavor. Star thistle aficionados claim the flavor resembles candy and is best enjoyed straight from the bottle.

KudzuKudzu was originally introduced to the United States in 1876 as the miracle vine, promising bountiful animal forage and a solution for erosion control. However, it was soon discovered that Kudzu has one fatal flaw—it grows too well.
Kudzu earned its name as "mile-a-minute vine" in the south, where ideal conditions encourage Kudzu vines to grow as much as one foot per day during summer months. The vine can grow as much as sixty feet each year, climbing trees and destroying valuable forests.
With its large leaves and sweet-smelling blooms, Kudzu is a favorite among bees. Nectar from the Kudzu plants produces a rare, very strong, dark honey with a rich, sweet flavor.

DandelionOften considered the bane of lawn-lovers, the dandelion is a widely distributed perennial weed. The weed is difficult to destroy because it can reproduce from its deep roots or seeds released by its bright yellow flowers.
Dandelions do, however, deserve credit as an important source of nectar and pollen during the early spring season across the United States. Dandelion honey and pollen are used in early bee brood rearing to give colonies a boost in population so they are better able to gather more honey from main floral sources available later.
Dandelion honey is a rare treat, bright yellow to deep amber in color with a strong flavor that mellows over time. Dandelion honey is most recognizable by its intense floral aroma.

www.Honeylocator.com

TO BEE or NOT to BE -

Pure honey is exactly what it says it is - 100% pure honey - and has only 21 calories per teaspoon. There are no added ingredients because it is all natural. Honey is simply made by bees and bottled by people. So, why the puzzlement? Because companies are making products that are known in the industry as Honey Pretenders.

Buyer Beware: A honey pretender is a product that looks like honey and may even taste like honey. But if you look closely at the label it is actually made from other sweeteners mixed with honey or colored to look like honey (sometimes referred to as a honey blend).
These non-pure honey products are baffling consumers because the label clearly says honey even though the product has been adulterated and is not 100% pure honey.
Whether labeled as Blended Honey, Honey Blend or Honey Syrup, non-pure honey pretender products appear to represent a serious threat to the sales of pure honey
.

www.honeylocator.com

BEES and The FARMER - FRIEND not FOE -

Modern machinery for agriculture has led to the eradication of nesting sites for wild pollinators of all types. Block monoculture of crops has caused a feast-or-famine situation where pollinators have excess sources of nectar or pollen for a short time but then starve during other periods so that reproductive cycles are not completed at sufficient success rates to continue the species in that region. These two factors are causing the decline of the wild pollinators in areas of intense agriculture. The backyard gardener and small farmer in mixed-use areas are not so badly affected from loss of habitat because of the variety of plants in the area. Pesticide use, however, in suburban, mixed-use, and agriculture areas are further decimating the wild and domestic pollinator populations.

Two types of pesticides are in general use today that are harmful to pollinators. These pesticides carry warnings on their labels under the "environmental hazards" area. It is illegal to apply these pesticides in violation of these warnings. If these regulations were followed, there would be no major pesticide kills of wild or domestic pollinators. The evidence is that these regulations are not being followed. The reasons for not following these regulations include inconvenience, cost, lack of understanding of the regulations, and lack of understanding of the impact. It is believed that if the impact were understood, the others would be overcome.

Non-residual material: Example - Malathion (TM) is an insecticide used for quick knock-down of insects. Its label directions for bees says: "This product is highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment on blooming crops and weeds. Do not apply it or allow it to drift to blooming crops or weeds if bees are visiting the treatment area." The directions do not mention residues.
Residual material: Example - Sevin is an insecticide used on several vegetables and fruits. Its label directions for bees says: "This product is highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment or residues on blooming crops and weeds. Do not apply this product or allow it to drift to blooming crops or weeds if bees are visiting the treatment area."


In each case, it is the responsibility of the applicator to protect all bees through proper application. It is not restricted to "domestic" bees and it covers the area, not the crop. Thus, if clover is blooming on the orchard floor, it is illegal to use a non-residue spray when bees are working the clover. The same situation occurs when residential tree sprayers fail to consider blooming shrubs in yards where trees are being sprayed. Since bees are early risers, this would mean that the spraying would best be done in late evening or at night, not always convenient. It would be illegal to apply a residue type pesticide in these situations. Residue-type pesticides are often preferred because they reduce the cost of protecting the crop by reducing the number of applications. Residue pesticides have the added disadvantage that they are carried back to the brood nest and continue to kill successive generations of bees.

Proper use of pesticides thus requires observation beyond the crop itself. One of the best ways to determine if bees are working at the time is to maintain a hive in the area to check before pesticide use. If they have quit for the day or it is too cold for them to work, it is safe to spray. An alternative is to walk the field and its borders, examining crop and weeds, to determine bee activity. Even clean corn fields can have bee activity, seeking the pollen from the tassels as a protein source, thus posing a hazard if a residue-type pesticide is used.

Irresponsible use of pesticides can destroy pollinators nesting over a mile away. When this happens, the hive is at a minimum greatly weakened and stressed by losing the field bees for a week or more. Residue-type pesticides also cause loss of successive generations. Hives weakened by pesticides often will not recover sufficiently before winter to survive. Beekeepers facing the continual depopulation of their hives stop keeping bees in the area, further depleting the pollination forces. This is one reason bees are moved in for pollination and then out after bloom, in spite of the inconvenience and cost.

Beekeepers can generally do nothing to prevent pesticide kills. It is impossible to monitor spraying within a two mile radius of the hive. The low profit margin on honeybees also restricts the amount of monitoring of individual hives, thus delaying discovery of a pesticide kill until it is almost impossible to determine when it occurred, the pesticide used, and the source.
Losses to predatory mites, drought, floods, and pesticide kills, all effect the beekeeper and pollination fees, which have doubled in northwestern USA in the last three years. It is estimated that it costs $80 to maintain a single colony for pollination which is an alternative use to honey production. The farmer and the bee man should be friends. If they aren't, neither one will be in business for long.


(Ray Lackey has been keeping honeybees for over 15 years on Long Island. He has served as President of the Long Island Beekeepers Association. He often speaks at nature centers, parks, schools, scout troops, and adult meetings on honeybees and pollination. He has earned a Master Beekeeper certification, through Ohio State University, from Eastern Apiculture Society, the principle beekeeping organization in Northeastern USA and eastern Canada.)

BEES and The FARMER - FRIEND not FOE -

Modern machinery for agriculture has led to the eradication of nesting sites for wild pollinators of all types. Block monoculture of crops has caused a feast-or-famine situation where pollinators have excess sources of nectar or pollen for a short time but then starve during other periods so that reproductive cycles are not completed at sufficient success rates to continue the species in that region. These two factors are causing the decline of the wild pollinators in areas of intense agriculture. The backyard gardener and small farmer in mixed-use areas are not so badly affected from loss of habitat because of the variety of plants in the area. Pesticide use, however, in suburban, mixed-use, and agriculture areas are further decimating the wild and domestic pollinator populations.

Two types of pesticides are in general use today that are harmful to pollinators. These pesticides carry warnings on their labels under the "environmental hazards" area. It is illegal to apply these pesticides in violation of these warnings. If these regulations were followed, there would be no major pesticide kills of wild or domestic pollinators. The evidence is that these regulations are not being followed. The reasons for not following these regulations include inconvenience, cost, lack of understanding of the regulations, and lack of understanding of the impact. It is believed that if the impact were understood, the others would be overcome.

Non-residual material: Example - Malathion (TM) is an insecticide used for quick knock-down of insects. Its label directions for bees says: "This product is highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment on blooming crops and weeds. Do not apply it or allow it to drift to blooming crops or weeds if bees are visiting the treatment area." The directions do not mention residues.
Residual material: Example - Sevin is an insecticide used on several vegetables and fruits. Its label directions for bees says: "This product is highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment or residues on blooming crops and weeds. Do not apply this product or allow it to drift to blooming crops or weeds if bees are visiting the treatment area."


In each case, it is the responsibility of the applicator to protect all bees through proper application. It is not restricted to "domestic" bees and it covers the area, not the crop. Thus, if clover is blooming on the orchard floor, it is illegal to use a non-residue spray when bees are working the clover. The same situation occurs when residential tree sprayers fail to consider blooming shrubs in yards where trees are being sprayed. Since bees are early risers, this would mean that the spraying would best be done in late evening or at night, not always convenient. It would be illegal to apply a residue type pesticide in these situations. Residue-type pesticides are often preferred because they reduce the cost of protecting the crop by reducing the number of applications. Residue pesticides have the added disadvantage that they are carried back to the brood nest and continue to kill successive generations of bees.

Proper use of pesticides thus requires observation beyond the crop itself. One of the best ways to determine if bees are working at the time is to maintain a hive in the area to check before pesticide use. If they have quit for the day or it is too cold for them to work, it is safe to spray. An alternative is to walk the field and its borders, examining crop and weeds, to determine bee activity. Even clean corn fields can have bee activity, seeking the pollen from the tassels as a protein source, thus posing a hazard if a residue-type pesticide is used.

Irresponsible use of pesticides can destroy pollinators nesting over a mile away. When this happens, the hive is at a minimum greatly weakened and stressed by losing the field bees for a week or more. Residue-type pesticides also cause loss of successive generations. Hives weakened by pesticides often will not recover sufficiently before winter to survive. Beekeepers facing the continual depopulation of their hives stop keeping bees in the area, further depleting the pollination forces. This is one reason bees are moved in for pollination and then out after bloom, in spite of the inconvenience and cost.

Beekeepers can generally do nothing to prevent pesticide kills. It is impossible to monitor spraying within a two mile radius of the hive. The low profit margin on honeybees also restricts the amount of monitoring of individual hives, thus delaying discovery of a pesticide kill until it is almost impossible to determine when it occurred, the pesticide used, and the source.
Losses to predatory mites, drought, floods, and pesticide kills, all effect the beekeeper and pollination fees, which have doubled in northwestern USA in the last three years. It is estimated that it costs $80 to maintain a single colony for pollination which is an alternative use to honey production. The farmer and the bee man should be friends. If they aren't, neither one will be in business for long.


(Ray Lackey has been keeping honeybees for over 15 years on Long Island. He has served as President of the Long Island Beekeepers Association. He often speaks at nature centers, parks, schools, scout troops, and adult meetings on honeybees and pollination. He has earned a Master Beekeeper certification, through Ohio State University, from Eastern Apiculture Society, the principle beekeeping organization in Northeastern USA and eastern Canada.)

MAN MADE PROBLEMS - man does not learn from past mistakes

Man-made problems - (www.bbc.co.uk)
Dr Sugarto Hazra, an oceanographer at the University of Calcutta says there is more than one cause of the problem.

Ajoy Kumar Patra says his island is being washed away
"Cutting down the mangrove that used to cover the island, to make way for farming, destroyed the ecology," he says. The mangrove used to bind the topsoil in position. Now it is being washed away.
The farmers also used to dig wells to get fresh water for irrigating their paddies. But in time, Dr Hazra says, underground reservoirs emptied and then collapsed.
Added to all that, "The sea level is rising around here, as it is everywhere in response to global warming", the oceanographer said. "So the land is subsiding and at the same time the sea is advancing."
The farmers of Ghoramara have tried to save their island by building dykes around the edges.
But Dr Hazra says this is just a short term solution that may make the situation worse.
"The problem with the dykes is that they stop the sediment the river would normally deposit here from nourishing the island's soil.
"The sediment is being washed out to sea rather than compensating for the rising water level."
So the agriculture designed to feed the community on the island is in fact contributing to its death.
'Tip-toeing into crisis'
Experts in food production say Ghoramara is a symbol of the dramatic combination of factors which mean the world is heading for extreme food shortages in the coming decades.
Similar phenomena are taking place on other islands and in low-lying coastal plains around the world.

The dykes around the island are only a short-term solution
The factors which are impacting on food production include soil erosion caused by intensive farming, and global warming which could reduce the yield of staple grains or make weather patterns less predictable for farmers.
The relatively new phenomenon of bio-fuels - for example, the production of ethanol from corn which can be used to supplement petrol - may take a huge proportion of the output of the big grain farms in the American Midwest.
"The global figures already show a drop in food stocks. We have got less buffer stocks than we have had for many, many decades," said Dr Tim Lang, a food and nutrition expert at The City University in London.
"We are tip-toeing into the most enormous crisis."
The over-consumption of food in many parts of the world is another issue. There are now more overweight people than chronically hungry, and the number of people with "diseases of the rich" like diabetes is increasing, including in developing countries.

WAKE UP from the Pope

this was forwarded to me:

This is a wake-up call. The Pope is requesting that we think more about Hell in our daily lives. I guess there's just too much joy in the Sudan, too much dancing in the streets in Baghdad, an over-abundance of housing for the homeless, a loving home for every animal, and overnight New Orleans has reverted to its pre-Katrina state. So stop being so freaking happy and imagine those flames licking your knees! Get with the program. Karen (is it hot in here or is it just me?)

Saturday, March 24, 2007

ARTand the ARTIST

my comment on the amibiguity of intent and artist
> relationship - i
> personnally usually have an intent - a concept -
> something i need to say
> whether it be a political, social or simply an
> emotional statement but the
> work always starts with a statement 'need'. As it
> evolves, and art does
> evolve in the process, the statement can encompass
> something not thought of
> prior or simply may flow into a cross- over of
> combined statement 'need'.
> This would be the intent. As to an audience
> reaction, I would hope that the
> viewer responds to not only the artist's intent,
> should they grasp it, but
> to the colour, texture and use of space. It is
> through these techniques
> that the intent is carried to the viewer. The
> purpose is always to get a
> rise - like or dislike but something. The art needs
> to be responded to in
> some manner. Colour assault; texture and visual
> assault - assault being
> pleasurable or not; disturbing or evoking
> compassion; excitement or a
> calming feel. Art is to evoke through
> representation, whether it be
> abstract, expressionistic or realism. To evoke
> through the use of colour,
> technique, use of space, medium. I am personally
> interested in that which
> makes the human mind and spirit work; not that the
> mechanism simply does
> but how and why it does.

> Erika Wain
> www.LoonArtHouse.com
> Trade Winds

Friday, March 23, 2007

WINDS - that blow.....

Air has weight - cold air weighs in more than warmer air. Therefore, cold air has more pressure. When the sun warms the air, the air expands - becomes lighter and rises. This movement causes a wind - the air to move. The speed of air movement is determined by how close the cold air and warm air mass together and their pressure or temp difference. The bigger the difference, the faster the wind blows...

Winds do not blow in striaght lines due to the Coriolis force - a result of the Earth's rotation - In the Northern Hemisphere the winds blow clockwise around areas of high pressure - counterclockwise around areas of low pressure.

The Beaufort Wind Force Scale was developed in 1805 by Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort of the British Navy to measure sea winds. This is the common way of estimating wind speed.

Hurricanes - June through November - develop over warm tropical waters (80F or higher), getting their energy from the warm moist air rising from the ocean's surface. To getclassified as a Hurricane, the storm must have winds of 74 milesPH or greater. Some sustained winds can reach 150mph plus with gusts up to 190mph. Such storms are called Typhoons in the Western Pacific and Cyclones in the Indian Ocean.

Tornadoes are violently rotating colums of air known as the Vortex. These require high humidity, extreme atmospheric instability and falling pressure. A Vortex is often created as part of a thunderstorm when swift winds in the upper atmostphere and slower winds near the ground set are into a spinning motion. Those high winds in a Tornado are due to the extreme low pressure forming at the centre of the spinning column of air. Air speads up as it converges toward the low pressure.

GLOBAL WARMING -

According to the Old Farmer's 2007 Almanac this ought to give us food for thought-

It is estimated that 386,000 square miles of seaice have disappeared since 1974.

Record warmth in 2005 is notable, because global temperature has not received any boost from a tropical El Niño this year. The prior record year, 1998, on the contrary, was lifted 0.2°C above the trend line by the strongest El Niño of the past century.

Global warming is now 0.6°C in the past three decades and 0.8°C in the past century. It is no longer correct to say that "most global warming occurred before 1940". More specifically, there was slow global warming, with large fluctuations, over the century up to 1975 and subsequent rapid warming of almost 0.2°C per decade.

Recent warming coincides with rapid growth of human-made greenhouse gases. Climate models show that the rate of warming is consistent with expectations . The observed rapid warming thus gives urgency to discussions about how to slow greenhouse gas emissions.

Current warmth is nearly ubiquitous and largest at high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Our ranking of 2005 as warmer than 1998 is a result mainly of the large positive Arctic anomaly. Excluding the region north of 75N, 1998 is warmer than 2005. If the entire Arctic Ocean were excluded, the ranking of 2005 may be even lower.

Our analysis differs from others by including estimated temperatures up to 1200 km from the nearest measurement station . The resulting spatial extrapolations and interpolations are accurate for temperature anomalies at seasonal and longer time scales at middle and high latitudes, where the spatial scale of anomalies is set by Rossby waves. Thus we believe that the remarkable Arctic warmth of 2005 is real, and the inclusion of estimated arctic temperatures is the primary reason for our rank of 2005 as the warmest year.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

WATER .....WATER.....

Headlines in the Financial Times herald the
APOCALYPSE, NOW -

All of us should be ashamed - it is not too late to act and many lives could be saved -

There is enough water but it does not reach the poor, and that threatens us all -

The solution is in public investment, regulation and public/private sector partnerships -

Water is priced and used not as a scarce environmental resource, but as an infinitely available commodity -

MAKE every drop count -

A massive 400,00 litres of water goes into the production of the average car -

Experts sent to spread the conservation word - company agronomists are introducing new technologies -

In a study of alternatives, Spain is the leading producer of desalinated water in Europe and America -

Every drop of effort brings a gush of rewards -

You may think you have a fair allocation but, because of climate change, availability of water may suddenly drop -

Reaching out to others - how companies have extended their mission beyond the core business -
We want to have a positive rate of return on our investments, but it is not a return-driven fund -

A growing problem why the sector is likely to put increasing strains on supply -

The ups and downs of using gravity - as droughts are more frequent, hydro power becomes less reliable -

Water, water all around: how it can be drunk - techniques for mitigating a shortage -

Pollution adds to a daunting resource shortage - the economy takes precedence despite a fast-looming crisis -

What is it? And why do one billion thirsty people need it?

Two thirds of the world is covered in water. Shouldn't three-thirds of the world's population be able to drink it?

Best option is to clean and re-use waste - consumers may shudder at the idea of recycling but that is not entirely rational -

The average American still uses 400 lires of water a day -


Golf courses are notorious for their use of large amoutns of water -

Sustainable success starts with local commitment -

Coldcomfort as the globe warms - spells out the irony of increased floods and droughts -

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Bees and their importance


The honey bee is of utmost concern to the well fare of the human race - you smile or even laugh at the thought - but without the honey bee to pollinate the fruit there would be no fruit, no vegetables or alphalfa to feed the cows or wild flowers to nourish the bees and without foilage there is no exchange of oxygen - in short... very little life as there would be nothing for the animals to eat or human to chomp on - vegetarians and carnivours alike - we are history. there is a strange happening going in the world of the bees - they are simply disappearing. of course, there are mites and the like of which bee keepers are aware and fight on a regular basis but the total disappearance of whole hives/colonies is quite another story - possibly one due to the use of a
Imidacloprid is a systemic, persistent pesticide manufactured by Bayer Corp. with low toxicity to mammals. Merit is the brand marketed for home use while Marathon is used in the nursery trade. Imidacloprid is also the active ingredient in Advantage, Bayer's spot-on flea killer for dogs and cats. It an analog of nicotine sulfate, the pesticide naturally found in tobacco and petunias. It was first synthesized in Japan in 1987 and registered for use in the United States in 1994. Imidacloprid works by interfering with the nervous system of insects. Its primary effect is paralysis of the insect mouth parts resulting in starvation. Unfortunately French and Canadian sources contend that imidacloprid maybe implicated in "Mad Bee Disease". In France, the beekeepers contend that the trouble began when a form of imidacloprid, Gaucho, was used to treat sunflowers seeds. In response, Bayer has research that shows no link to imidacloprid and "Mad Bee Disease". Bayer contends that "Mad Bee Disease" is caused by a virus or a spiraoplasm that produces similar symptoms. However, we all should be aware that the chemical is known to be highly toxic to honey bees. actually what it does is disable the honey bee from finding its home due to the chemical attack on its nervous system so it simply wanders until it starves ...until it dies..... it is time to ASK these questions - what is the value of the honey bee to the survival of mankind and how can i make a difference - the answer: we NEED RESEARCH and a NEW AWARENESS - pass the word... we are talking life, honey!