Tom's Corner

New podcast series: Pollinators and Power by Terry Oxford

 

Pollinators and Power, new podcast by Terry Oxford, click through to listen

This is the link to Urban Bee’s main site, however there is currently a certificate mismatch issue: https://urbanbeesf.com/podcast

Perhaps best known as the San Francisco rooftop beekeeper, Terry Oxford has also been a tireless campaigner for neonicotinoid-free trees for the major tree plantings planned for San Francisco. Her interests have expanded to the propagation of native bees, mason bees and leafcutter bees. As an advocate for the health of bees and the environment, Terry has recently begun a series of podcasts. The first two are linked below and I will be posting subsequent podcasts as they are completed.

The first is an interview with Dave Goulson, a leading voice on the worldwide environmental damages being wrought by the neonicotinoids.

The second is an interview with Stacy Malkan of  U.S. Right To Know. Stacy is an informed and articulate voice on the corporate manipulation of science and  the media, and what she has to say bears directly on the capture of the beekeeper seat on the Colorado Department of Agriculture Pesticide Advisory Committee and the creation of the Colorado Professional Beekeepers Association, both engineered by Bayer CropLife to divide and confuse beekeepers and divert attention away from the devastation of neonics. I encourage you to take  the time  to listen to both of  these excellent interviews.

Posted in Tom's Corner

Seeds That Poison

This video, Seeds That Poison, by Beyond Pesticides is only five minutes long and hits almost every aspect of the neonicotinoid controversy. It should be shared widely with others.

Posted in Tom's Corner

USDA whistleblower Dr. Jonathan Lundgren interviewed on Beekeeping Today

Here is Dr. Jonathan Lundgren interviewed by Jeff Ott and Kim Flottum on the Beekeeping Today Podcast about Regenerative Agriculture and Honey Bee Health.

Click the image to access the Jonathan Lundgren’s interview on Beekeeping Today.

Dr. Lundgren left the USDA because his research on neonicotinoids and modern agriculture was being stifled. He founded the Ecdysis Foundation and Blue Dasher Farms. This 40 minute interview is filled with facts and observations critical to the challenges we face. Long, but worth the time for those of you seeking a deeper understanding of the issues before us.  Dr. Lundgren will be the featured speaker at the Summer meeting of the Colorado State Beekeepers Association in Silt, CO, June 7 – 9, 2019.

Posted in Tom's Corner

A Bug’s Death

On a cold winter day this past week I was in my Honey House doing a run of hand dipped beeswax candles. In the background I could hear the radio, tuned to the Public Radio station. Because I was an inside captive I had the good fortune to catch the following program, A Bug’s Death. It is 47 minutes long and full of important information for those of you who want to better understand the environmental crisis we are facing. I was astounded by the report by Emma Pelton of the Xerces Society that they are documenting a 99.5% decline in West Coast Monarch population. When you have a little time, settle in and listen closely to what this program has to say.

Click this image to go to WAMU, then click the blue arrow in the upper left to listen.

Posted in Tom's Corner

Massive insect decline

Below you will find links to a very significant paper on the massive decline of insect life. You can read this news report, Massive insect decline could have catastrophic environmental impact, for a condensed explanation of the paper.  For those of you wanting more detail, an abstract and access to the full report are here: Worldwide decline of entomofauna: a review of its drivers

The findings and conclusions reaffirm what scientists and close observers have been reporting  for more than a decade. Those calls for concern were largely ignored by the chemical companies and the regulators, particularly here in the United States. I have said repeatedly over the past few years that the evidence was showing that we were being subjected  to the most massive poisoning of the environment in the history of humanity. This paper confirms those concerns, I believe.

Posted in Uncategorized