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  • Mites Hawaii and the Varroa Mite: A case study
    August 14, 2017 Scott Derrick

    Mites Hawaii and the Varroa Mite: A case study

    An archipelago of volcanoes in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and the supposed birthplace of our old two-term president, the state of Hawaii is the most isolated population center in the world. For a heavenly stretch of years, it had miles and miles of virtually uninterrupted ocean to buffer it against the spread of pests and diseases swarming the planet elsewhere. Then came globalized man. Whether by accident (as with the coffee borer beetle) or the wayward good intent of conservationists (as with the mongoose), our bungling ways have since played havoc with the island’s natural biodiversity.

    As much can be said for the varroa mite – the feature pest of our weekly blog series this past fortnight, and the rampant terror laying low domestic and feral honey bee colonies worldwide.

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  • Put Down That Banana, Beekeeper
    August 14, 2017 Scott Derrick

    Put Down That Banana, Beekeeper

    It’s early April, and dusk is settling in. At odd moments throughout the day, you’ve found yourself pausing to admire the spring flowers, winking open their petals to the warming day, splashing the fields and gardens with purple crocus, butter-yellow calendula and cherry-pink milkweed.

    What better time to check on the bees.

    They’ve been cooped up all winter, doing little else than surviving. Or so you hope – last year, you opened the hive to find heartbreak: dozens of little bodies littering the comb, the brood chambers run afoul with the varroa mite, dread king of honey bee pests.

    It’s been a long day though, and you’re famished. As your stomach growls a need, your eyes catch the fruit bowl on the dining table. Striding over, your hand reaches, hovers, grabs…

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  • Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlemagne, and Goop Bee Venom Masks
    August 14, 2017 Scott Derrick

    Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlemagne, and Goop Bee Venom Masks

    Here’s a question: what do the first Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne and Gwyneth Paltrow have in common? Now here’s the answer: bee venom masks. Yeah. The founder of ‘find harmony by inserting a jade egg up your cooch’wellness brand Goop is into that too.

    “It’s a thousands of years old treatment called apitherapy,” said Paltrow in an interview with the New York Times last year. “People use it to get rid of inflammation and scarring. It’s actually pretty incredible if you research it.”

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  • We, the Bee-people: Honey Bees in America
    August 14, 2017 Scott Derrick

    We, the Bee-people: Honey Bees in America

    Honey bees are United States immigrants. They are relatively recent newcomers (on the species movement timescale anyway), arriving at the time of colonization sometime in the 17th century. Some are presumed to have made the trans-Atlantic journey as hitchhikers and stowaways; others were brought here purposefully under the provision of their European guardians. ‘White man’s flies’, the Native Indians called them.
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  • What’s the Deal with Hexagonal Honeycombs?
    August 14, 2017 Scott Derrick

    What’s the Deal with Hexagonal Honeycombs?

    You see them in the secret chambers of the Pantheon; you see them form when you blow soap bubbles across a water surface; you see them coddling green goods in transport truck freight. Hexagons. This six-sided polygon appears in myriad nooks, crannies and infrastructures throughout nature, and there’s a reason why humans have been incorporating them into designs grand and humble over history. Where the hexagon features in its most marveled-at architecture, however, is the beehive.
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