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Read "The Beekeeper's Lament" by Hannah Nordhaus

http://www.amazon.com/BEEKEEPERS-LAMENT-Nordhaus-Paperback-May-24-2011/dp/B00551XV5A/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307642484&sr=1-2

Fascinating!

i noticed a large quantity of bees when i went to the bronx zoo even at the local park. is there any particular reason why?

Anyone interested in bees in NYC should check out www.greatpollinatorproject.org. This local NY initiative is looking for New Yorkers to submit data on bees in backyards, community or rooftop gardens, or parks to help understand urban bee populations!

Is there an MP3 available for this?

The Lopate Show responds: The MP3 of this segment will be available later this afternoon.

I had a large hive in my yard (in the hollow of a tree)last summer, but there are no longer bees there this year. What could have hppened to them? Do bees move on?
The honeycombs have been pulled out by, I assume, squirrels, but I think that happened after the bees went away.

A fellow shopper at--& former employee of--Integral Yoga Natural Foods told me he thinks beekeeping practices like feeding honeybees sugar water instead of leaving them some of their own honey to eat, suppressing swarms, & artificially breeding queens are contributing to colony collapse. He referred me to an article in The Valley Table, "What the Bee Said" (at http://www.farmingmagazine.net/Articles/What%20the%20Bees%20Said%20PartII.pdf; I couldn't find Part I). Are the guests familiar w/this idea, & what do they think of it?

Bk-
Carpenter bees may be similar to carpenter ants- which we have here in Central Texas. Carpenter ants push their dead fellow carpenter ants into little holes in wood- essentially creating little tombs. But sometimes it gets crammed. :)

sew doubt? perhaps...

i should add that i've no reason to think their work is compromised but bee research in general has been flooded by Bayer AG - not for the purest of reasons it seems....

Could use of specific pesticides be the source of bee disappearance and general ill health?

Are either of their work sponsored by Bayer AG - the German chemical company?????

Because Bayer AG is spending allot of money to sow doubt about the fact that their treated plant seeds is a prime suspect in the kill-offs - (they make the bees "drunk" and can't get back to their hives...)

What is the guests' relationship to Bayer AG????

Are the Russian honeybees sturdier than the Italian, and are they feistier?
I seem to need the veil more with the Russians, they sting more?

My honeybees look very good today!!
When the sun shines they hurry out.

Is there any connection between genetically modified crops, which tend to have lower nutritional value, and ccd?

I've heard about New Yorkers that bee-keep on their roofs. What are the challenges and advantages of small scale personal beekeeping, especially in an urban environment?

1) Do all bees have stingers, and is bee venom as virulent as the wasps?
2) What is the proper way to deal with a ball of bees, or who should be called if one is spotted?
3) Is that really large, slow flying thing that LOOKS like the traditional bumblebee representation in cartoons and children's books a true bee?

Could you please talk about the Carpenter Bees?
I live in an old, un-restored loft building in Tribeca - last summer I saw huge bees hovering at the window sill for a month or two. Then I started finding dead bees on the ledge (& the street right below.) I kept one to try & figure out what it was. Eventually I saw a bee hovering at the sill & then disappear INTO the old wooden sill. When I looked closely I discovered a perfectly round hole (about 1" in diam.) going up into the sill. I freaked a bit & got some compound & plugged it up. What is that about??