Catch-up

Apologies for the recent lack of posts, but it is summer after all. There will be even fewer posts over the next three weeks -- ie none -- since I will be elsewhere. But normal posting will be resumed in early September. Meanwhile here's a quick roundup of news over the past few weeks:

New York Times (subscription needed) reports that

An unapproved type of genetically engineered grass has been found growing in the wild in what scientists say could be the first instance in the United States in which a biotechnology plant has established itself outside a farm.

Indian biologists claim that some males bees and wasps can be made to do some work like feeding larvae instead of just living for sex.

Why do queens, raised from any egg, live far longer than workers? An Australian researcher is on the case. And he wonders if the principles, when discovered, will apply to humans.

A piece about Slovakian beekeeping.

German medical researchers have announced that honey is more effective in healing problem wounds, ulcers and skin conditions than standard antibiotics.

The UK Bumblebee Conservation Trust have set up a £100,000 appeal to create a reserve on the west coast of the Uists (islands off the west coast of Scotland).

Bears reduced Bhutan's developing honey industry by destroying 60 colonies. Apparently, Apis mellifera was first introduced to Bhutan by a private beekeeper as late as 1987. The association has 28 beekeepers, 370 hives producing 8,400 to 10,300 kilos of honey annually.

One of me bees got inside my pants and wrought revenge (no links, no pix!).