Placerville Rotary eClub

Richard keep the Rotarians enrapt with his explanation of hidden lives of bees, the not so hidden lives of beekeepers, and the struggles of the high mortality rates of bees caused from viruses, genetically engineered plants, and natural bee killers like Buckeye.

Richard also explained that the meat bees (yellow jackets) that we see around the BBQ are not commercial pollination bees.  These bees, or wasps, are much more interested in our steaks then in pollen.  He suggested the plastic bag type bee traps as they use pheromones to attack yellow jackets, not pollination bees.

Richard is pictured as he told us about the day that he went to see a hive with 300 bees and only found 87 alive.  Bee mortality is a critical issue to beekeepers and the agricultural industry that depends on pollination to sustain production.  He also explained how beekeepers are managing the migration of "Africanized" bees through culling the queen and replacing it with a queen from another stain of production bees.

The audience was so interested that the meeting was adjourned and the audience stayed and continued to ask question of Richard for some time more.

Thanks to Richard, Becky, and Linda for a great program.