27-Aug-10 News -- U.S. may escalate Yemen military role

[John]

27-Aug-10 News -- U.S. considering escalating military role in Yemen

** 27-Aug-10 News -- U.S. considering escalating military role in Yemen
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi ... 27#e100827

Contents:
"U.S. considering escalating military role in Yemen"
"Additional links"
Japan's CPI falls for 17th month in deflationary spiral
UK beekeeper claims to have bred bees immune to colony collapse
Karachi in Pakistan overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of flood refugees
Step by step, Islamist tenets and Sharia law take hold in Russia's Caucasus

[OLD1953]

I'm an experienced beekeeper, having kept colonies for thirty or forty years now, and in my opinion the real problem with the bees today is simply excessive overmanagement of colonies.

THE way to make money with bees in the USA, for nearly a century now, is not what's considered "traditional" beekeeping. What's being done is to sell pollination services, honey or beeswax is a bonus item, not the main item you have for sale. In the days prior to 1970, this was easy and possible, you took the bees to Florida for the winter and they pollinated oranges. You moved north with the colonies, and pollinated apples, then peaches and pears and so forth, following the crops around as they bloomed. There's a lot of money in that, large farmers have contracts for this service and you can make a small fortune that way. This is the problem with the "bee wrecks" you hear about every so often, where bees are all over a highway, that's some beekeeper who just lost it with a load of bee colonies on the way to an orchard or field.

Ok, in the 70's, we got hit with the tracheal mite. If not for a monk in Britain, European honeybees would be about as common as leprachauns. He bred a bee that could live with the mites, while they are called "resistant", it's my understanding that the mites are still present, they just don't do the kind of damage that would kill the bees now.

http://www.beekeeping.org/articles/us/adam.htm

In the 80's, the varroa mite made itself known, and it killed off at least half the commercially raised bees in the world.

Now, we also have the small hive beetle from south africa. (Apparently they came to the USA on a load of half rotten cantalopes. Never could see why anyone would import rotten cantalopes.) I am, in fact, the beekeeper who alerted the state agricultural dept that small hive beetle was now in Tennessee, and they could not believe it until I sent them samples preserved in alcohol, as it was not expected they would come in from the western side of the state.

Added to these beauties we also have the traditional problems, Nosema, American Foulbrood, European Foulbrood and Wax Moth, along with bears, mice and other creatures that regard bees as a tasty treat.

And that's the issue in a nutshell. Bees being moved around for pollination are under heavy stress already, plus being an invasive species in North America. Add in small hive beetles, varroa mites and the ever present tracheal mite, and they just can't take it.

Yes, there are treatments for purging mites and such from the colonies. They are very stressful, in and of themselves. Imagine pure menthol dissolved in steam being pumped throughout a bee colony, keeping in mind the colony is held together and controlled by pheromones - scent in other words. That is a recommended treatment for tracheal mites. There are others, some so nasty that any trace of the material in question in honey renders it unfit for sale. If you read a few hundred words on the subject, you'll rapidly figure out there is some considerable desperation here.

http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushma ... tment.html

Bees are fully capable of living with these pests, if they are not stressed. The only treatment my bees get is feeding of essential oils in the spring. They thrive. Since I'm not there to manage them (being in Iraq), they will swarm, and have increased my colonies by swarming into old bee hives I had stored on the place. I have not as yet lost a hive to colony collapse. In fact, they swarmed again yesterday, a sad thing, as a swarm in August has no chance of making it though the winter. If they also settle in old hives, my wife is going to feed them up on sugar syrup doped with oil of spearmint and oil of lemongrass to try to get them up to making it through the cold part of the year.

But the real problem with honeybees is that they simply cannot be stressed without limit. My bees are under little stress, and they do very well with pretty minimal treatment. People who drag their colonies all over the US are stressing them past the limit, and they will die.

[shoshin]

Yemen, et al:

This is so F****ing predictable. Please read Andrew Bacevich's latest tilt again the windmill of government, it's unbelievable how on target he is.

http://www.amazon.com/Washington-Rules- ... 444&sr=1-1

[John]

Dear David,

> This is so F****ing predictable. Please read Andrew Bacevich's
> latest tilt again the windmill of government, it's unbelievable
> how on target he is.

> http://www.amazon.com/Washington-Rules- ... 444&sr=1-1

You're right, and it is depressing.

Here's a list of US troop numbers in various countries:

> AFGHANISTAN 94,000
> GERMANY 52,332
> IRAQ 49,700
> JAPAN 35,562
> SOUTH KOREA 28,500
> ITALY 9,677
> UK 9,239
> http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE67M1H2.htm

But that's happening because, like it or not, America is policemen
of the world. Which means that, like any police force, we have
to have our policemen stationed around the world, ready for action.

It's the role we took, when President Truman promulgated the Truman
Doctrine in 1947.

So I would strongly disagree with the "permanent state of war" concept
of the book you reference. It's the world that's in a constant state
of war, not America. America is just the policemen, trying to sort
out the wars.

John

[Jack Edwards]

Old1953

I'm an experienced beekeeper, having kept colonies for thirty or forty years now, and in my opinion the real problem with the bees today is simply excessive overmanagement of colonies.......

Thanks for the extensive insight on bees, very informative.

Regards

Jack

[at99sy]

I'm an experienced beekeeper, having kept colonies for thirty or forty years now, and in my opinion the real problem with the bees today is simply excessive overmanagement of colonies.

Thanks for this great insight. In NH a lot of keepers lost hives last year for a variety of reasons. I lost mine (it was my first) last winter when a tree branch fell during a storm and dislodged the cap. Stupid rookie keeper mistake on the location of the hive! I'm going to start again this coming spring.


I wish you well in Iraq

sy

[at99sy]

But that's happening because, like it or not, America is policemen
of the world.
It's the role we took, when President Truman promulgated the Truman
Doctrine in 1947.

So I would strongly disagree with the "permanent state of war" concept
of the book you reference. It's the world that's in a constant state
of war, not America. America is just the policemen, trying to sort
out the wars.

John

John I would disagree with this concept on the likely possibility that the Worlds Policeman role was designed with the notion that it WOULD keep us in a state of constant or near constant conflict. With out the military buildup and expansion as well as the permanent/temporary bases established all over the planet, imagine how much smaller our GDP would have been this past 60+ years. The Truman Doctrine has been used as an excuse by politicians for years to keep the military machine rolling. This machine gobbles up billions of $$ every week and employs millions of people. IMO It's all a farce. As a Vet. I'm PRO-soldier but have grown disgusted with the way they are being used. I was blessed to be in service during 1984-1988 3/75th Rangers. Prez Ronbo didn't screw around.

sy