
 |
|
Oct. 13, 2008
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Happiness Quotient
Jonathan Rosenblum: Ignore the Grandchildren
Oct. 10, 2008
Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The limitations of scientific miracles
Caroline B. Glick:
Lebanon on the brink --- and why it matters
Oct. 8, 2008
Rabbi Berel Wein: The day when the sane talk to themselves
Ana Veciana-Suarez: Many nonobservant Jews are finding religion
Oct. 7, 2008
Gary Rosenblatt: Of politics and prayer
Caroline B. Glick: The ironies of the West's collusion with the Arabs and Iran
Oct. 6, 2008
Rabbi Yitzchok R. Rubin: Mamma to the masses
Jonathan Tobin: Ahmadinejad Isn't Too Impressed
Oct. 3, 2008
Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The 'living dead' are all around us
Caroline B. Glick:
Olmert's parting blows
Oct. 2, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: Often customers looking for our competitor accidentally enter our store. Can we just serve them without comment?
Jonathan Tobin: Jewish pundit quiz on next year's news
Sept. 29, 2008
Rabbi Eli Gewirtz: Lehman Brothers and the Day of Judgment
Rabbi Leiby Burnham: Apples, Honey and You
Sept. 26, 2008
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The shofar and the Echo of Sinai
Caroline B. Glick: A road paved on reality
Sept. 24, 2008
Greg Crosby: Home for the Holy Days
Ethel G. Hofman: Rosh Hashanah Favorites: Old-fashioned taste, reduced calories
Sept. 23, 2008
Caroline Glick: Liberalism or lives!?
Michael Ledeen: Dear President Ahmadinejad
Sept. 22, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I gave a check to a local merchant, but it hasn't been cashed in months. Probably they lost it. Do I have to tell them?
Diana West: We are losing Europe to Islam
Sept. 19, 2008
Rabbi Berel Wein: On harvesting success
Caroline B. Glick: It is time to act
Sept. 18, 2008
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Is camping the panacea to save Jewry from self-destruction?
Craig Gordon: Was SNL hilarity too much for Hillary?
Sept. 17, 2008
Jonathan Tobin: The Whole World Is Watching
The Kosher Gourmet
By Linda Gassenheimer: East meets Southwest in this quick meal: MEXICAN-ASIAN TOSTADOS
Sept. 16, 2008
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. : Into the fire
Everything's Relative : Your Official Jewish Guide to the 2008 USA Presidential Election
Sept. 15, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Enabling risky behavior
Diana West:
A day that will live in ... accommodating Islam
Sept. 11, 2008
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The skeleton in my closet
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein: Persecution and systematic destruction of Christians in the Middle East must be stopped
Sept. 10, 2008
Jonathan Tobin: There's Something About Sarah
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: Who needs Chili's when you have these? Recipes for Mexican that taste great and are dietetic!
Our commitment to freedom
Sept. 9, 2008
Daniel Pipes: Must counterinsurgency wars fail?
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.:
Sept. 8, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: How far must one go to help somebody out of a contract?
Barry Rubin: Waiting For Something
Sept. 8, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : How far must one go to help somebody out of a contract?
Barry Rubin: Waiting For Something
March 22, 2007
J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)
|
| |
Jewish World Review
How Colony Collapse Disorder works
By
Marshall Brain
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT)
It sounds like something out of a Science Fiction novel, but in this case we are talking about reality. For some reason, honeybees are vanishing from their hives at an alarming rate. One beekeeper lost 2,000 of his 3,000 hives this spring, and the problem has spread to 24 different states in the United States The problem is called Colony Collapse Disorder, and right now no one knows what is happening.
Here's what we do know. A typical commercial beehive is a wooden cube measuring about 20 inches by 20 inches square. Inside the hive you find a single queen bee who lays all the eggs, and perhaps 50,000 worker bees. In a healthy hive, most of those workers fly around all day collecting nectar and pollen and bringing it back to the hive. Other workers stay in the hive to take care of the queen and help raise new bees from the queen's eggs.
Once a hive is afflicted with Colony Collapse Disorder, nearly all of the worker bees fly off and die in the field. The queen and a handful of workers are left behind. Except for the remarkable lack of worker bees, the hive looks fine. There are no dead bees lying around, there is plenty of honey and pollen in the hive, and there is also plenty of brood (baby bees in different stages of development). But without workers to maintain the hive and feed the babies, the queen and the baby bees cannot survive. The hive collapses.
If you make your living as a beekeeper, Colony Collapse Disorder is obviously a huge problem. You can, in theory, go from "successful beekeeper" to "bankrupt" in just a few weeks, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it right now. That's bad enough, but the reality is that CCD may also become a big problem for the rest of us as well. IF CCD were to kill off all the bees, there are a number of fruits and vegetables that would disappear from grocery store shelves. Almonds, for example, are a $2.5 billion industry in California, and almond growers depend on honeybees to pollinate the crop. No honeybees means no almonds. Many berries (blackberries, strawberries, etc.) need bees, as do vegetables like cucumbers and squash. And don't forget tree crops like apples, oranges and peaches. Watermelon and cantaloupes depend on bees. And cotton ... As you can see, many different crops need the bees.
So why, all of a sudden, is this happening? No one is sure, although lots of scientists are looking at the problem very intensely right now. One theory is that a new breed of nicotine-based insecticides may have something to do with it. These insecticides are systemic, meaning that the plant absorbs the insecticide through the roots and spreads it to every part of the plant. Another possibility that has been suggested is genetically modified crops. These plants have a bacteria gene inserted into the genome that produces a natural insecticide in every part of the plant. Another possibility that has been suggested is cell phone radiation. The problem with all three of these possibilities is that CCD started abruptly in the fall of 2006, and all of these things have been around for some time. Cell phones, for example, have been in use since the 1980s, and they have been widespread for a decade.
The other possibility is that some new kind of disease, mite or fungus is to blame. One of the very odd things about CCD is the condition of the bees left in the hive. They usually are infected with several different viruses and fungi. It looks as though the immune system of the bees is failing. If so, it might be something like AIDS in human beings, where a collapse of the human immune system leaves a person unprotected from a host of diseases. It might also be that a new bee fungus has appeared. One of the very strange things about CCD hives is that other bees leave them alone. In a normal situation, bees from other hives will fly in and rob all of the honey out of a weak hive. In CCD hives, that does not immediately happen.
As you can see, Colony Collapse Disorder is a complete mystery right now. It is a mystery that could, potentially, have a multi-billion dollar affect on many different crops if we don't figure it out soon.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
Previously:
How airbags work
How the U.S. income tax works
How gum works
How caffeine works
How Daylight Saving Time works
How a cruise missile works
How snow making works
© 2007, How Stuff Works Inc. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
|
|

Mitch Albom
Michael Barone
Dave Barry
Tony Blankley
Andy Borowitz
David Broder
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Rod Dreher
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
John Fund
Frank J. Gaffney
Lloyd Garver
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Laura Ingraham
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
James Klurfeld
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Jonathan Last
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
The Medicine Men
Dick Morris
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Jonathan Rauch
Celia Rivenbark
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Culture Shlock
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Jonathan Tobin
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
Gary Brookins
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holber
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Ranan R. Lurie
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Jeff Stahler
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

How 2
Know-It-All
Lori Borgman
The Savvy Consumer
Elder matters
Fixit
Dr. Peter Gott
Marybeth Hicks
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Tech Maven
Nutrition Myths
Bruce Williams
How Stuff Works
|