Monday, June 30, 2008

Stung by lack of funds


I've been lulled into a sense of complacency by the buzz in my garden, though I found out recently that Connecticut's bees have not been deeply affected, so far, by the strange malady called Colony Collapse Disorder.

The problem made it to Congress last week where scientists bemoaned the lack of research, and the lack of money to do research, to find out the causes. This year a third of all commercial hives have been lost to the rampaging disease which empties hives of honeybees.

A mathematical projection in yesterday's New York Times is inconclusive, but frightening, nonetheless.

Whether it's the transport of tired colonies to West Coast almond farms, and the resulting intermingling of distant hives, or navigational interruptions due to cell phones, or its a opportunistic virus which was waiting for its time to come, the answer hasn't been found, and that's not comforting to anyone who like a little fruit with their honey.

BTW, honey is one of the few foods that will not spoil. Put a couple of gallons away so your unborn grandchildren will know what it tastes like.

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