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The Honey Bee Crisis of 2007 Escalating Honey Bee Decline Baffles Scientists Sally Morton Feb 17, 2007 The honey bee crisis in the United States has been escalating for several years, rising to "unprecedented" levels of honey bee losses between Oct 2006 and Feb 2007. The honey bee crisis of 2005, which was blamed on the Varoa mite, decimated as much as 50% of honey bee populations in the US, but was weathered, overcome, and quickly passed out of most people’s vocabulary. I wrote an article about it for Suite 101, which you can read here. In it, I gave...

Science traces roots of 'traditional English' apple back to central Asia By Richard Gray, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 12:30am GMT 25/02/2007 It is a taste of the English countryside, but the origins of the apple lie far from our shady orchards. English apples can be traced back over 7,000 years English apples are direct descendants of fruit trees growing in an inhospitable mountainous region of central Asia, plant scientists at Oxford University have discovered. The DNA of England's famous apple varieties is almost identical to that of fruit found in the Tian Shan forest which lies on the border of...

The tree as a metaphor for personal growth. Tom was about to collapse. Three days of trekking through the desolate desert had taken its toll: fatigued and parched from a thirst that only a barren stretch of wilderness could produce. The sun blazing overhead was making his head spin. His stomach constantly reminded him of how empty it was. How long had it been since he had partaken of a decent meal? Just when he could barely take it anymore Tom noticed something looming ahead on the horizon. Could that really be a fruit tree? It must be a mirage...

Fruit's natural sugars a no, no - Edwina Farley "Australian and New Zealand fruit growers are worried new draft standards for health claims on food, could mean certain fruits are considered unhealthy. Food Standards Australia New Zealand has released draft guidelines governing nutrition and health claims made about food. Under the draft, foods with more than 16 grams of sugar per serve can't be advertised as healthy, ruling out fruits like mangoes, grapes and apples."

Pomologists bite off more than they can chew with 200-year-old apple mystery By Richard Savill Last Updated: 2:01am GMT 30/01/2007 The identity of an apple variety that has been growing in Dorset for 200 years has left fruit specialists baffled. For generations, the family of Diana Toms has affectionately referred to the fruit as Granfer's Apple, after her great, great grandfather who planted the tree in 1803. The family has asked pomologists to help establish the cooking apple's identity but they have so far been unable to solve the mystery. Mrs Toms, 83, said: "I am rather pleased it is...

With half of California's navel orange crop destroyed by a cold snap, the wholesale price of the fruit soared Tuesday as agriculture officials warned that consumers will soon be paying more for other produce such as avocados, carrots and lettuce. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday declared a state of emergency in 10 counties hardest hit — even as state officials predicted that the frigid temperatures would continue in many agriculture zones through the weekend. Forecasters predict lows 7 to 10 degrees below normal this week, raising the specter of more crop damage. In the strongest sign of that the freeze will...

"Stepped-up border enforcement kept many illegal Mexican migrant workers out of California this year, farmers and labor contractors said, putting new strains on the state's shrinking seasonal farm labor force. Labor shortages have also been reported by apple growers in Washington and upstate New York. Growers have gone from frustrated to furious with Congress, which has all but given up on passing legislation this year to create an agricultural guest-worker program. Recently, 300 growers representing every major agricultural state rallied on the front lawn of the Capitol carrying baskets of fruit to express their ire..."

Watch video of the festivalWatch an interview with a date palm farmer Farmers exhibited different varieties of dates at a date palm festival in Baqubah. Date palms are a vital crop in the heavily agricultural region. They are also a traditional staple in Iraqis' diet. Department of Defense photo. Residents of Baqubah celebrated a local staple on Monday - a “date festival” placed the town’s focus on a banner harvest from the area’s date palm trees. Situated alongside a river in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, Baqubah has for centuries been a center of agriculture and commerce. Though rich...

LONDON, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A major British supermarket chain is set to begin importing square watermelons from Brazil at a fraction of the price charged for them in Japan. The Tesco supermarket chain announced it will have the boxy fruits in stores by October for less than $9 each, and boasted it was far less than the $85 price tag in Japan, where square watermelon has sold for the past five years. The company's exotic fruit buyer, Damien Sutherland, told Sky News apart from being more convenient to stack and store, the blocky melons offer a new serving method....

What you have done to these the least of My brethren you have done unto Me. CATHOLIC VEGETARIAN SAINTS St Francis of Assisi, St Clare, stigmatist St Therese Neumann, St. Martin de Porres, St John Chrysostom, St Anthony of Padua who preached to fishes when humans would not listen.. St Nicholas of Tolentino* believed they were following the example of Jesus in not eating His animals. Trappists, Cistercians, Benedictines, Franciscans all have had a tradition of vegetarian diet, to which many still adhere. The pretzel was says George Cornell former AP religion writer a Lenten bread, symbolizing arms folded in...

UCR researchers have made a major leap forward in understanding how the brain programs innate behavior. The discovery could have future applications in engineering new behaviors in animals and intelligent robots. Innate or "instinctive" behaviors are inborn and do not require learning or prior experience to be performed. Examples include courtship and sexual behaviors, escape and defensive maneuvers, and aggression. Using the common fruit fly as a model organism, the researchers found through laboratory experiments that the innate behavior is initiated by a "command" hormone that orchestrates activities in discrete groups of peptide neurons in the brain. Peptide neurons are...

See for example this thread first. Someone must have been smoking dope When they invented the (why?) "cuke-a-loupe" "Melon" for the men and "cuke" for the girls, then Hermaphrodite fruit--let's elope!

Kolbe says time not right to push gay immigration rightsGay GOP congressman is in bi-national relationship By JOSHUA LYNSEN | Jul 6, 12:38 AM Retiring gay Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), who is involved in a bi-national relationship, said in an interview this week that he isn't pushing gay issues in the ongoing immigration battle on Capitol Hill because it would only add "baggage" to the debate. "The immigration debate is so heavily laden and so fraught with so many issues that adding one like this into it is not terribly practical," said Kolbe, one of the leading congressional Republicans setting...

EPA plans to phase out use of common pesticide on fruit, other crops 6/12/2006, 9:51 p.m. ET By GENE JOHNSON The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — The federal government plans to phase out a common pesticide that has been used on apples, pears and other crops since the late 1950s, acting amid complaints from environmental groups that the chemical poisons farmworkers. The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that it would end the use of azinphos-methyl beginning next year on nuts, nursery stocks and Brussels sprouts. The pesticide, also called AZM, would be banned on apples, blueberries, cherries, pears and parsley...

Was fig first fruit of man's agricultural endeavours? By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 02/06/2006) The dawn of agriculture may have come with the domestication of fig trees near Jericho some 11,400 years ago, archaeologists report today. The discovery of ancient carbonised figs suggests that fruit, rather than grains that are traditionally thought to have heralded agriculture, may yield the earliest evidence of purposeful planting. The figs date back roughly 1,000 years before wheat, barley and legumes were domesticated in the region, making the fruit trees the oldest known domesticated crop, a team reports today in the journal Science. Nine...

PROPOSALS INVITED TOWARD A MORE CIVIL DISCOURSE RE RELIGIOUS FIGURES AT ODDS WITH VARIOUS SENSIBILITIES The current thread regarding Pat Robertson is but the latest in a long tradition of certain flavors of evangelical Christian and particularly Pentecostal/Charismatic religious figures being thoroughly shredded by what--90% or more of the posts--usually in the harshest, most hostile, even demonizing wording possible. It seems that when folks are perceived to be in such Pentecostal/charismatic categories, all bets are off, no holds barred--the most viscious attacks are the minimal Standard Operating Procedure. Instead of exhorting one another in Christian Love, the worst attitudes normally...

Boy, I sure hope this ends up in General/Chat and not in Breaking News! We are new homeowners and need some advice on eliminating insect infestations on several (about a dozen) fruit trees, mostly apple and pie cherry. The insects in question are black, about the shape of ladybugs but smaller and with white markings. They are prolific - I killed two in the process of mating. Anyone have any experience in this area? Any advice would be very much appreciated!

CHICAGO - Buying organic milk these days - or organic apples, eggs, or beef - no longer has to mean an extra trip to a Whole Foods supermarket or the local co-op. Organic products now line the shelves at Safeway and Costco. And Wal-Mart - already the nation's largest organic-milk seller - says it wants to sell more organic food. Large companies including Kraft, General Mills, and Kellogg own sizable organic- and natural-food brands. Now, they are developing organic versions of their own products, too. Still, while some organic-food fans welcome its broadening appeal and availability, others worry that the...

Did you know that God actually commands us to be joyful? Joy is not an option for a Christian, but must be a part of your daily life if you are to walk with God and grow spiritually. We are not only to rejoice when things are going well, but we are to rejoice at all times, even when things are going badly for us. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  )4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (Philippians...

A funny thing happened to me the other day when my wife and I had, thank God, another baby (a boy). Many of my friends didn’t seem all that happy for me. Sure, they went through the motions of smiles and congratulations. But it was evident that many thought me insane. Why would a young man and his wife ruin their lives with eight children? Who could afford the day-school bills? Didn’t we want to live life a little, and not just be burdened with kids? It got downright surreal when a European film company pressed me, while my wife...