Where have all the bees gone?

Remember the song "Where have all the flowers gone?"  We could now be singing that about where have all the bees gone!  Have you heard of colony-collapse disorder or CCD as the apiologists refer to it?  Honey bees are dying in huge numbers, and considering how many of our foods they impact, it is very concerning.  We automatically think of honey, but these precious bees are also responsible for pollinating crops worth $200 billion a year.  So one of the projects adopted by the California DAR is to help researchers get to the bottom of bee colony collapse so the problem can be turned around.

Last month some friends and I drove up to the UC Davis Research Lab for a special program about CCD and so the DAR could present a check to UC Davis to help with their research.  The program was followed by a tour of the Haagen-Daz Honey Bee Haven which is a bee friendly garden where we could learn how to plant our own bee friendly gardens, and observed many species of bees.

 

 

 The photo I took at the top of this post is a honey bee, but below I captured a carpenter bee in flight  ~ they are large, black and glossy:

We learned so much from these little signs posted throughout the gardens, but there were also well-informed scientists with displays to explain things as well:

 

  A colony of live bees on display in the science building:

Beekeepers checking out some hives:

The picture below didn't turn out well as it was taken of a glossy poster on display ~ 

all I can say is no bee beard for me!

To learn more check out the UC Davis website:
http://beebiology.ucdavis.edu/

Encyclopedia of Moi: B

B is an especially meaningful letter to me with both my first name and maiden name starting with B's.  You can't go through life with the initials BB or even B without forming an attachment to the letter and all the nicknames that go with it (Bibi, Baby, Bea).

Bees - What fascinating insects!  Between flowers and honey they have such sweet associations.  Because of my initials and part-time nickname "Bea", bees have become my mascot. 

Books - I always have at least one book going -- usually a novel ,  Every night I read right before going to sleep. No book?  Plan on a restless night.  Besides a novel, I usually have a biography, philosophy, educational, work-related, self-help or some other such book going.  Kindles look handy, but I doubt I'll ever give up the luxury of a real book in my hands, the smell and feel of the pages. My shelves are full.  Browsing through bookstores is sheer entertainment in our family.

Blonde and Blue-Eyed - Chalk it up to our Northern European heritage, towheads abound in our family. Although we each look quite different, you could always tell we were siblings when you walked in the room from our fair hair.  Only my sister Chris and my daughter Ash ended up with my mother's truly green eyes.  The rest of us carried on my dad's blue eyed genes.  And yes, I hate blonde jokes.

The Fab Four won my heart the first time they appeared on the Ed Sullivan show all those years ago.  I've had a crush on Paul McCartney ever since!  In high school my brother and I collected all of their albums, then when things converted to CD's we got rid of them -- silly move.  Now I'm working on recreating my collection in CD format.  Such talent!  What songwriters!  Fabulous music that stands the test of time.  Hey Jude, The Long and Winding Road, Let It Be, Penny Lane, A Day in the Life, Good Day Sunshine, Hello Goodbye, In My Life, She Came In Through the Bathroom Window, You Can't Do That -- to name just a few old favs.

Which brings me to another composer....

Bach - When it comes right down to it, my favorite classical composer is musical genius Johann Sebastian Bach. There is nothing like popping the Brandenburg Concertos into my stereo on a Sunday morning, making a batch of French Toast, grabbing my journal and relishing the peace within my soul.  The Brandenburg Concertos is an exquisite composition, my all time favorite classical piece. I fell in love with it when I attended a Music Appreciation class to satisfy a humanities elective back in college.  See, there are reasons to take those "annoying electives."  My life is so much richer for it.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Please, please have a listen to this guaranteed-to-lift-your-soul youtube presentation:  Brandenburg Concerto No. 1  AllegroModerato


Join in and create your own Encyclopedia of Moi.  Link to:
http://shannonsswell.blogspot.com/2011/02/encyclopedia-of-moi-volume-d.html

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Photos are courtesy of Wikipedia.

Bees in Your Meter

We've heard of bees in your bonnet -- but bees in your meter?! While staying with Dad in July the water meter man stopped by to announce he was unable to lift the metal lid of Dad's in-ground water meter because there appeared to be a swarm of bees entering it. The meter man said he would send someone to get rid of them. When I went back two weeks later, the water company still hadn't sent anyone out, so Dad decided to take matters into his own hands.

No, these are not pancakes from my kitchen -- they are honeycombs!

By some miracle, no one was stung.