Animals
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Question

US, North Carolina: Mysterious disorder impacts some area beekeepers, others faring well

Colin McCandless
The Franklin Press
Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:39 UTC
Beekeeping hobbyist Tom Hill's eight hives have faired poorly this year. Only three survive and two of those are not strong.

In the hives that are weakened, no dead bees are actually found in the hive and not all the bees have died. A tiny cluster of living bees survives, but they are lethargic.

For example, Hill said the bees would not sting you if you stuck your hand in the hive.

They could recover if there is no big freeze this year. If a freeze does occur though, there are not enough bees for the hive to stay warm and the rest will die.

Image
©Unknown
Property across the road from Franklin High School will be the site of Cross the Road Ministries Youth Center
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X

Over 30 dead seals washed ashore in Caspian


RIA Novosti
Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:23 UTC
Employees at an oil company have discovered the carcasses of 32 seals along the northern Caspian Sea coast near the Kalamkas oil field in Kazakhstan, the republic's emergencies ministry said on Friday.

The region has already been plagued by a similar tragedy in March 31 - May 14 2007, when a total of 928 seals, including 710 baby seals, died near the Kalamkas oil field.

A research group from Kazakstan's Biological Security Research Institute and Institute of Microbiology and Virology cited the phocine distemper virus (PDV), which has been blamed for the deaths of fin-footed mammals all over the world since 1988, as responsible for the deaths.
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Stop

A swarm of so-called "killer bees" attacked two people and a dog in Phoenix


Associated Press
Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:50 UTC
The dog was chained up in the backyard when the Africanized honey bees attacked.

The dog's owner Chantel Armenta tried to get him free but could not, and when she ran in the house, the bees followed, stinging her and her husband.

Her husband is allergic to bee stings and had to be rushed to the hospital. He is expected to live, but the dog may not.
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Stop

South Africa: Man attacked by swarm of bees

Jeff Wicks
IOL
Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:48 UTC
A man is fighting for his life in hospital after he was stung more than 1 000 times by African honey bees at a Drummond farm on Wednesday.

A paramedic who rushed to the man's aid was also stung several times and was admitted to hospital briefly after he showed signs of a severe allergic reaction to the stings.

Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said that when paramedics arrived they saw a man collapsed on the ground.

"When the paramedics got out of their ambulance they realised a large swarm of African honey bees was incensed and had stung the man repeatedly. The bees continued to swarm around the man.
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Roses

S.D. beekeepers concerned as die-off continues

Wayne Ortman
USA Today
Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:30 UTC
The California winter has been a tough one on South Dakota beekeepers like Richard Adee.

Last fall he sent 155 semitrailer trucks to California loaded with hives containing bees fit and ready to pollinate the almond crop.

"We lost 40% of the hives we sent there. We sent 70,000 out and lost 28,000," said Adee, whose Adee Honey Farms in Bruce is considered the largest beekeeping operation in the nation.

"I would say overall the losses of South Dakota bees - from what I've heard - from what they started in the spring of '07 until they came out of the almonds is at least 50%. It's not good."

Now, in preparation for the honey-making season in South Dakota, he's working to get back to full strength from a mystery called colony collapse disorder.
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Frog

Zoologists Unlock New Secrets About Frog Deaths


Science Daily
Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:30 UTC
New research from zoologists at Southern Illinois University Carbondale opens a bigger window to understanding a deadly fungus that is killing off frogs throughout Central and South America, and that could threaten amphibian populations in North America as well.

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Sherlock

US: Additional evidence of wolverine found in the Tahoe National Forest


US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station
Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:28 UTC
During ongoing investigations by an Oregon State University graduate student, the Forest Service, and California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), two additional wolverine photographs were captured this past week. A variety of hair, track and scat samples were also sent for analysis to determine if these were from a wolverine. After the initial photograph of a wolverine was taken by a remote camera on Feb. 28, 2008, in the Tahoe National Forest, researchers, biologists and volunteers intensified the search for more detections in the same general area, north of Truckee, Calif.

Image
©US Forest Service and Oregon State University
Side view of a wolverine photographed in California's Tahoe National Forest by a remote-controlled camera. A wolverine was first photographed on the national forest on Feb. 28, 2008, the first scientific confirmation of the animal's presence in California since the 1920s.
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Binoculars

UK: Garden birds decline by 20 per cent in four years

Paul Eccleston
The Telegraph
Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:22 UTC
Garden bird numbers have slumped 20 per cent in the past four years, the latest survey reveals.

Polly Morgan
©Polly Morgan - The Drawbridge UK
Dead garden birds
Polly Morgan
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Bug

Studies Show Alarming Insect-eating Bird Declines in Canada


Wildliffe Extra
Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:57 UTC
An article by Bird Studies Canada biologist Jon McCracken examines substantial population declines for 'aerial insectivores ' - birds that specialize on feeding on flying insects.
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Butterfly

Bee plague worsening, anxious keepers say

Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:18 UTC
It's been 16 months since Dave Hackenberg of Dade City became the first beekeeper in the country to say publicly that something was terribly wrong with his insects.

In the intervening time following the identification of the malady now known as Colony Collapse Disorder, things haven't gotten any better for the nation's bees, which pollinate about one-third of U.S. crops - some $15 billion worth.
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