Save the Bees!

Something is killing hundreds of millions of bees, and nobody knows why.  CBS News reports:

 

What CBS does not report is that last year, there were a record 3.8 million bee colonies in the United States.  So why the big die-out?  Scientists are on the case, but since the Tyrant just shut down research at the USDA, Cornell University is picking up the work.

I recall that ten or twenty years ago, the bee decline was in the news, and after a long interval of research, it was determined that a certain pesticide was responsible.  So I thought that had been taken care of - but here we are again.

This massive die-out is really bad news.  If the bees die, we die.  No bees, no crops, no food - result, famine and starvation.  Then goodbye, human race and life as we know it on Planet Earth.

But do you think the circle jerks now in power give a fuck?

-----

Donald Duck: Bee at the Beach, 1950

I think we all need a nice, relaxing day at the beach, don't you?

-----

Sunday Drive: El Baile

For the first time this year, it's 80 degrees outside as I write, hooray!  Therefore, your Head Trucker is happy to report that winter is over and spring has sprung, and isn't that wonderful news?  As it always is, year after year--the birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees turn our minds from the sordid and vulgar to the lambent and sublime.  As Emily Dickinson wrote:

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,—
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do
If bees are few.

And this:

A little madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown,
Who ponders this tremendous scene—
This whole experiment of green,
As if it were his own!

And finally, this:

Spring is the Period
Express from God.
Among the other seasons
Himself abide,

But during March and April
None stir abroad
Without a cordial interview
With God.

And so, let us tend our gardens and take delight in the perpetual miracle of renewal and grace that is the divine gift of this glorious season.  Rejoice--lift up your hearts--drink deep of inward refreshment while you may--and dance with the bees who toil so happily upon the pretty flowers, though they last but a day.

For as someone else has said, There are just so many summers, babe, and just so many springs.

To put you in a terpsichorean mood, here is Juan Carlos Quintero with "El Baile"--The Dance:

More Flutterbyes

Believe it or not, your Head Trucker is not really much into bugs, but I'm having a helluva good time with photographing 'em.  Two or three, maybe four new species today. Click on the pics to enlarge. 

These tiny little silver-winged fellows look very elegant:

But they seem to prefer eating their dinner upside-down.  Go figure.

Then there were some striped ones:

Of course, when the dinner bell rings, everybody comes a-runnin':

I felt sorry for this ragged little fellow,

wonder what the other guy looks like?

But maybe that's just the way he's made. 

And then there were these spotted fellas - baby monarchs, maybe?

Digital photography is the best damn thing since sliced bread, and you can quote me on that, guys.  I never would have given a second glance to all these little critters if not for my Kodak.  Which is not the latest and greatest, either:  just a little $150 point-and-shoot, with a close-up setting.

The beauty of this digital stuff is, not only does it make beautiful crisp, clear pics, but it also gives you the freedom to take lots and lots and lots of pictures.  Without having to stop and reload film, and without worrying about the cost of developing.  That's the only way to get really good shots, because the more pics you take, the higher your chances of getting some good ones.  (Conversely, that's also why most of our family snapshots from years gone by don't look so great:  you didn't want to "waste" your film, so you only took a relatively few photos, and didn't give the law of averages a chance to work in your favor.) 

FYI, I took 48 snaps today, got about a dozen good ones out of all that, and as you can see above, 3 or 4 really cool pics.  And I have never had any training whatsoever in photography.  Totally fucking awesome. 

If they'd had this technology when I was in school, think I would have gone in a whole different career direction.  I'm lovin' it.