Re: poison
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: poison
- From: B* S* <B*@hsc.edu>
- Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 08:38:07 -0700 (MST)
Bravo, Rick.
Let me add that I am not an organic 'purist' and I am not interested in the
quasi-religious, new-age awe in which organic methods are held by some.
Like Rick, I just believe that we as a society have become too dependent on
these chemicals when we don't need to use them.
There also seems to be some confusion over bees. Our use of insecticides
has seriously harmed populations of NATIVE bee species, such as the Mason
Bees that before European colonization were responsible for most
pollination in North America. While feral honeybees (Apis mellifera, a
European species) are also harmed in this way, the demise of honeybee
populations around the country has been accelerated by the attacks of two
kinds of mites. Farmers and orchardists are dependent on honeybees for
pollination and often hire beekeepers to truck in hives during the bloom
season. If, as seems to be happening, domestic stocks of bees are also
attacked by the mites, we're in trouble.
Had the native bee populations remained at high levels, they might have
taken up the slack.
Note also that all of these sorts of bees may still be abundant in some
parts of the country.
A good read on this subject is THE NATURE WARS, by ......some guy. Oops, I
took it back to the library!
Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@hsc.edu>
