What Is So Great About Bees Anyway?
Without bees, the human race is unlikely to have advanced as quickly as it has. In fact, even today our survival depends on the humble but industrious honey bee and the humble and industrious beekeeper.
An over-generalization? Perhaps, but let us look at the work of bees and honeybees in particular and see how this might be true. Understanding the relationship between bees and plants will help us to understand how they are so important to us.
Flowers are the reproductive organs of plants. All, or nearly all plants need to be fertilised, i.e. they must have pollen moved from the anther in the flower (usually of another plant) to their stigma in their own flower.
It must of course be pollen from the same type of plant. Very few plants can self-fertilise.
All the crops that we know today, like fruit, and seed crops, need to be fertilised. Bees also pollinate clover and grass on which many other forms of food production depend. This can occur naturally in several ways but by far the most common and effective one is by the intervention of insects.
And, by far the most active insect in this area is the Honey Bee.
If it were not for the honeybee, our agricultural endeavours today would not be anywhere near as productive as they are. If there was no insect to perform this function, honeybee or other, it is very likely that the evolution of plant life would have slowed to a crawl or might even have evolved in a different direction altogether.
Einstein is quoted as saying, "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the earth, man would only have four years of life left." Assuming that this statement is true, beekeepers have become our saviours. This is because the wild honeybees have been all but wiped out in recent years by varroa mites and a few other organisms that seem to have sprung up so suddenly that the bees have not had a chance to develop a defence against them.
The most common being Foulbrood, Tracheal Mites, Chalkbrood, Nosema.
Beekeepers and breeders are developing new strains of bees that are resistant to these infections and in the interim are maintaining the colonies of "domestic" honeybees so that honeybee extinction and ours are unlikely just yet.
However, the greatest threat to the survival of the honeybee in the future is likely to be from insecticides. I do not propose to discuss this here it is a subject for a much larger forum than this. Suffice it to say that great care should be taken when using any chemicals.
The domestic colonies are transported to the orchards and fields of crops to fertilise them.
The beekeeper benefits by improving his harvest of honey and the farmer gets his crops fertilised. The farmer comes out of this deal best so the beekeeper usually charges for the service. I think you will agree that it is only right that he should.
Now after all that do you not think that life would be a little bit different, were it not for the beekeepers.
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Tips For Comfortable Traveling During Pregnancy
Women today take pregnancy in their stride and continue to work and enjoy everyday activities. Pregnancy does not mean termination of all work and play. If you plan carefully you can enjoy all activities throughout the pregnancy and travel for work and pleasure without experiencing any difficulties.
Here are a few tips:
? Avoid stress by leaving quite early for the airport. To alleviate rushing across terminals or parking lots have a friend drop you to the airport. Find out whether the travel agent or airline has pick ups and drops for special passengers.
Travel light and only pack what you really need. Use a bag with wheels or buy a fold-up luggage rack.
? Keep your sense of humor and wits with you at all times. Eat a light meal before leaving for the airport and listen to music or read a book you love. A full stomach and happy frame of mind will ensure that you view all hassles like long queues, uncomfortable chairs, and tedious...
Fruit > Tips For Comfortable Traveling During Pregnancy
Reducing Sugar in the Diet
You may publish this article in your newsletter, on your web site, or other publications, so long as the article's content is not altered and the resource box is included. Add byline and active link. Notification of the use of this article is appreciated, but not required. Total word count included resource box is 675.*** ***Sugar from milk and fruit sources, for instance, should not exceed 10% of total kcalories. Concentrated refined sugars (e.g., table sugar) should be limited as much as possible.
The objective is to look for other names on food packaging that are sugars, including corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose, corn sweeteners, glucose, fructose, lactose, honey, molasses, maple sugar, maple syrup, sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltose, or anything with ?sugar' in the name, e.g., confectioner's sugar, or invert sugar. The next step would be to reduce or replace simple sugars with these suggestions:
Fruit > Reducing Sugar in the Diet
Seven Secrets Makes a Protein Shake taste good?
Copyright 2006 Geoff Morris
London February 2006
Here you are, trying another way of keeping down your body fat, so you look in your special diet cupboard, and look at the rows of different protein shakes. You hesitate because your mouth does not salivate; how many times has your mother told you ?If it doesn't taste good ? it must be good for you?'
So why not try and get over the normal state, that protein shakes containing whey powders produce may not be the best tasting drinks you've ever had?
Well what about trying to make your own?
I do and they are much, much better, so give it a go!
Try this out
Choosing What to Put in Your Protein Shakes
Before rushing off to your refrigerator to blend everything in site, let's go through some basic principles you will want to consider first. Not only do you want to create the best tasting shakes but you should also aim to make the most effective...
Fruit > Seven Secrets Makes a Protein Shake taste good?
Reducing Sugar in the Diet
You may publish this article in your newsletter, on your web site, or other publications, so long as the article's content is not altered and the resource box is included. Add byline and active link. Notification of the use of this article is appreciated, but not required. Total word count included resource box is 675.*** ***Sugar from milk and fruit sources, for instance, should not exceed 10% of total kcalories. Concentrated refined sugars (e.g., table sugar) should be limited as much as possible.
The objective is to look for other names on food packaging that are sugars, including corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose, corn sweeteners, glucose, fructose, lactose, honey, molasses, maple sugar, maple syrup, sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltose, or anything with ?sugar' in the name, e.g., confectioner's sugar, or invert sugar. The next step would be to reduce or replace simple sugars with these suggestions:
Fruit > Reducing Sugar in the Diet
Add A Gourmet Taste With Cilantro
Cilantro is a common ingredient in salsa and Mexican dishes but did you know it dates as far back as the ancient Egyptians? Coriander seeds which stem from the same plant as cilantro have been found in Egyptian tombs and writings involving coriander can be seen in Sanskrit which dates from around 1500 BC.
Cilantro is a versatile herb that is is commonly used in salsas, dips, dressings and sauces. This aromatic, citrus flavored herb is a member of the carrot family and can be used...
Fruit > Add A Gourmet Taste With Cilantro
Airfare - Not Always Fair
Need a vacation but don~t want to stay around town? Want to go somewhere exotic, somewhere different? Want to fly but worried about the airfare? Sourcing the cheapest airfare available has been made easier with competition growing between travel agencies as people realize that a vacation need not be all that expensive. Airfare can be a hindrance to the best of vacation plans but it need not be. With so many travel companies vying for your business - securing cheaper airfare is a given! The airline...
Airfare - Not Always Fair
Fruit > Airfare - Not Always Fair
A Christmas Story ? The First Christmas Lights
One would think that Christmas lights have been around for as long as Christmas itself. Can any of you imagine Christmas without lights? How would the children find their way in the dark, so early on Christmas morning without them? The history of Christmas lights is intricately tied to the dawn of the modern era, when houses began to be supplied with electricity.
As you are likely aware, Thomas Edison invented the first functioning light bulb back in 1879. A few years later,...
Fruit > A Christmas Story ? The First Christmas Lights
Auto Repair
Modern-day automobiles are complex, as most auto manufacturers are using high technology to make the cars more durable. However, being machines, automobiles also encounter the usual problems related to breakdowns as well as normal wear and tear. Repairing automobiles can be very confusing and finding someone qualified to make the correct repairs is becoming even more difficult.
It's a common proverb that "prevention is better than cure." Similarly, the best way to avoid auto repair...
Fruit > Auto Repair