My father is awesome

[opticianbart]

So I got a call from my mother the other day, aparently my father was at the White house last week inspecting a beehive they have at one of the gardens. (My father works for the Federal Dept. of Agriculture in the Bee Lab here in Beltsville. - pretty neat stuff actually) Quite possibly the coolest thing ever - when the most important beehive in the country needs looking at - they call my Dad.
Heh, just felt like sharing :)

[Carbon Pit]

That is pretty cool!

[GOS_Queen]

Very cool - my dad was a beekeeper when I was a youngster.

:cheers:


On a sort of side note, does he have any thoughts as to why the bees are disappearing?

[Uncle Fester]

So I got a call from my mother the other day, aparently my father was at the White house last week inspecting a beehive they have at one of the gardens. (My father works for the Federal Dept. of Agriculture in the Bee Lab here in Beltsville. - pretty neat stuff actually) Quite possibly the coolest thing ever - when the most important beehive in the country needs looking at - they call my Dad.
Heh, just felt like sharing :)

Yeah-- Well when he's working on the Aaa Lab then I'll Bee impressed.:D

[Dave Nelson]

You may tell people that, while you can't discuss directly what he does for a living, you can whisper that he deals directly with de-bugging operations at the White House, and that he once single handedly eliminated a nest of enemies of the state there.
Lower your voice, look around suspiciously, then confide that he has a licence to kill.
All true.:cheers:
Oh, he's not the pest control guy

[LilKim]

hehe, that's cool Bart! Havin' to relocate those Presidential Bees, lol :)

[opticianbart]

On a sort of side note, does he have any thoughts as to why the bees are disappearing?

actually, yes, he was involved in a paper about it about a year ago i think.

it's several factors

there are 2 major bee pests that without treatment most hives die. the varroa mite (which if memory serves tends to kill off the larva)
and the tracheal mite (which i believe tends to kill off the adults)

here's the big thing with these two suckers - it generally takes roughly 15 -20 years, give or take, for an insect to become resistant to treatment, and ummmm guess how long we've been dealing with those mites?

the other thing, and I'm a bad son and I didn't read the paper so don't quote me or anything, apparently there's a viral disease that normally remains dormant and does very little to a honeybee population. However, one of the mites ( i forget which) is apparently notorious to "activating" viruses or something like that. From what I understand nobody's quite sure if that's what's going on but its a relatively good bet.

[Now I See]

That's a "honey" of a story, opticianbart! Thanks for sharing it! :cheers:

[Johns]

That's a "honey" of a story, opticianbart! Thanks for sharing it! :cheers:

Yeah...really causing a buzz on the internet!:shiner::shiner::shiner::shiner:

[harry a saake]

sounds like its time to BEE WARY:D

[Pete Hanlin]

So you and your dad have something in common- you both take "bee" measurements as part of your job (oh, that makes even me queezy- sorry). :p

[GOS_Queen]

You guys are so FUN!



:p

[GOS_Queen]

actually, yes, he was involved in a paper about it about a year ago i think.

it's several factors

there are 2 major bee pests that without treatment most hives die. the varroa mite (which if memory serves tends to kill off the larva)
and the tracheal mite (which i believe tends to kill off the adults)

here's the big thing with these two suckers - it generally takes roughly 15 -20 years, give or take, for an insect to become resistant to treatment, and ummmm guess how long we've been dealing with those mites?

the other thing, and I'm a bad son and I didn't read the paper so don't quote me or anything, apparently there's a viral disease that normally remains dormant and does very little to a honeybee population. However, one of the mites ( i forget which) is apparently notorious to "activating" viruses or something like that. From what I understand nobody's quite sure if that's what's going on but its a relatively good bet.

Thanks for sharing - I hope someday there's a way to fix what's wrong

[Now I See]

Yeah...really causing a buzz on the internet!:shiner::shiner::shiner::shiner:

sounds like its time to BEE WARY:D

So you and your dad have something in common- you both take "bee" measurements as part of your job (oh, that makes even me queezy- sorry). :p

Oh, yeah....that's the comedy we've "BEE-n" waiting for! :D:D

[GAgal]

The puns are great btw!

[Johns]

The puns are great btw!

Thanks honey!:cheers:

[DragonLensmanWV]

Those are like Bob Saget puns - 2/3 of a pun - just the P U part.:cheers: