Article 1:
The concept of a systemic pesticide is really quite frightening, as it seems to be done to cut corners and save money, but by doing so, farmers completely overcommit to the pesticide and there isn't much opportunity for turning back. It's especially rediculous being that private corporations are the ones to test their pesticides.
This really is outrageous how it was blatantly stated that the new pesticides were harmful to the bees, but were approved anyways by congress to get them on the market. It's going to be this short-sightedness that hamstrings us in the future.
It's quite convenient how the private companies are not subjected to independant critcism over their results, which are clearly fundamentally flawed by using such a miniscule test area in comparasin to the realistic space that honey bee colonies actually use.
I'd like to know how local farmers are treating this and the various opinions and theories around the causes and solutions of colony collapse.
This video talks about how all the American farmers are loosing massive numbers of bees, but I wonder how serious this is in Canada.
Article 2:
It's somewhat distrubing that organic food manufacturers aren't forced to record their use of chemicals by quantity. This seems to take them down the same path of the unregulated pesticide manufactureres where the government just believes that the companies will do the right thing, which as one can see from the pesticide manufacturers they don't.
I'm somewhat frightened that in one report, 10% of the Organically farmed produce contained E. Coli, while it was only 2% in food farmed by conventional methods. However, this is only one report. Still not very assuring.
It's understandable why organic producers refuce to genetically modify their food, despite the obvious benefits. If they did support it, I suspect they would take a lot of flak from their supporting community, and would seem somewhat hypocritical of them.
I'd like to see what kind of chemicals -if any- local, small scale farmers use, and get their opinion on the matter.
I wonder how they know what genes to encode into the yams to make them resistant to the whatever virus kills them. Same for the nuts that wouldn't produce their tell-tale proteins that trigger allergic reactions.
Article 3:
It's too bad that the long standing laws around milk pasturation still stand today. The data from the 1910's and 1920's definetly seem to support the mandatory processing of milk. However, I've heard many a story about local farmers drinking their own unpasturized milk and being fine! It's suppose to be delicious.
I think it's great that Schmidt is taking a stand, and proving that the whole raw milk controversey have shifted in the last century... A point clearly needs to be proven that things have changed and it's ok to drink unpasturized milk.
I think it would be great to purchase raw milk! I've heard great things about it, however there are the obvious conerns of the hormones that are given to the cows to increase yield...
I'd like to see how farmers deal with milk pasturization, and whether they drink their milk raw or not.
Why is transporting crops across state borders not allowed? It seems rediculous, being that “even if a farmer lives close by, he cannot cross the state line”.
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Sunday 27 November 2011
Weeks 6-7
Article 1:
Bacillus larvae must be pretty serious for farmers to burn entire hives because of it, it's too bad. Though, I wonder why it is that the larvae don't form properly and turn to goo.
It's nice too see a more natural counter to tracheal mites, other than the commercial menthol packet. Getting the bees onto the oil patty by baiting them with sugar seems to be great way to cover up the trachea's odor.
Haha, I was waiting for the bear problem to come up in this article. I think that rather than erecting an electric fence, couldn't one just elevate the hive to the top of a post, or hang it from a large tree, then when one needs to tend to it, the hive could be lowered.
I'd like to see how farmers and other bee keepers deal with bears, they seem to be the most pertinent problem here in B.C.
How would one find that their hive is infected before it is too late, as the fixes for them seem to be fairly drastic.
Article 4:
It's astounding how fast these Varroa mites can grow, from undetectable to colony collapse in a few months. It really encourages proper and regular inspection of hives, else you could be in some serious trouble. It doesn't help that 85% of them are undetectable.
After the comparison of Verroa mites to the relative size of a basketball to us, its a wonder that the bees cant deal with them themselves by simply knocking them off or eating them.
It's unfortunately -for bees- ingenious that the mites can smell the scent that the bees use as a cap command for the brood combs, so that can get into the brood cell and down to the royal jelly to use to reproduce.
I'd be interested to see how often bee keepers check for mites, and the various precautions they take against them, as I'm sure there would be more than a few home-grown methods of dealing with them.
I wonder if there are any methods underway to interrupt the mite's ability to smell the bees cap command pheromone. Maybe a smell could be used that only the mites could smell, that would overwhelm them and block all other scents.
Bacillus larvae must be pretty serious for farmers to burn entire hives because of it, it's too bad. Though, I wonder why it is that the larvae don't form properly and turn to goo.
It's nice too see a more natural counter to tracheal mites, other than the commercial menthol packet. Getting the bees onto the oil patty by baiting them with sugar seems to be great way to cover up the trachea's odor.
Haha, I was waiting for the bear problem to come up in this article. I think that rather than erecting an electric fence, couldn't one just elevate the hive to the top of a post, or hang it from a large tree, then when one needs to tend to it, the hive could be lowered.
I'd like to see how farmers and other bee keepers deal with bears, they seem to be the most pertinent problem here in B.C.
How would one find that their hive is infected before it is too late, as the fixes for them seem to be fairly drastic.
Article 4:
It's astounding how fast these Varroa mites can grow, from undetectable to colony collapse in a few months. It really encourages proper and regular inspection of hives, else you could be in some serious trouble. It doesn't help that 85% of them are undetectable.
After the comparison of Verroa mites to the relative size of a basketball to us, its a wonder that the bees cant deal with them themselves by simply knocking them off or eating them.
It's unfortunately -for bees- ingenious that the mites can smell the scent that the bees use as a cap command for the brood combs, so that can get into the brood cell and down to the royal jelly to use to reproduce.
I'd be interested to see how often bee keepers check for mites, and the various precautions they take against them, as I'm sure there would be more than a few home-grown methods of dealing with them.
I wonder if there are any methods underway to interrupt the mite's ability to smell the bees cap command pheromone. Maybe a smell could be used that only the mites could smell, that would overwhelm them and block all other scents.
Wednesday 16 November 2011
Weeks 3-5
Article 1:
I think it's great how you can compost 500 kilos of material that would otherwise be waste, it seems to be the most effective and realistic alternative to the current disposal system.
It's really decent of the city to subsidize the cost of the composter, should you choose to install one in your backyard at any point. That seems to be one of the more practical ways of encouraging people to implement them, as it is a substantial change in lifestyle.
I never realized how significant aerating your compost was, but it seems to be quite significant in the process of aerobic bacteria, lest you want that pleasant ammonia smell...
I will be looking for easy methods of aerating compost, as it does seem fairly labour intensive to shuffle it around everyday.
What I don't understand is how they get 500 kg of waste into 100 kg of fertilizer, does the other 400 kg just decompose into the soil and evaporate?
Article 2:
This seems to be a fairly effective way to dispense of a wide range of organic materials, particularily meats such as poultry and steak. I hope it has worked out for him!
I'm glad that he included a way to make your own Bokashi mix, so as not to strictly market it, but rather pass the information along in good will.
Bokashi seems to be a great alternative to conventional aerobic composting, which from the sounds of things tends to get quite smelly, while Bokashi is supposidly odour free!
When at various farms, I'll keep an eye open and ask about how many people actually use the Bokashi mix.
I wonder how wide spread the use of it is, as it seems to be quite effective, but I can't imagine many people going through the trouble of making the mix, while conventional composting mostly just requires your organic materials and some hay to keep the smell down.
Article 3:
Well the leaf mould certainly seems to be effective if you have enough leaves to use, either by themself or in conjunction with a composter.
The mesh cage looks like a great idea, being that it allows maximum airflow through into the leaves, while maintaining the sides of the composter. It could be even more effective to add rows of empty space throughout the cage (ie. 2 rows of mesh about a 1cm apart) to allow greater air flow.
Contrary to the video, I would never consider using pine needles, being that they air so acidic and they have a tendancy to reek havoc on production gardens which I tend to focus on.
I'm going to look for how people adapt on this design, as it is perfectly sound on itself, but I'm sure one could increase its efficiency a number of ways.
I'm curious to know how many people use these, and why. Whether becuase they have an excess of leaves or if it produces a higher quality fertilizer.
Article 4:
Worm composting looks like yet another great alternative to conventional composting, especially if you life in an appartment and can't have a smelly compost.
I'm suprised at how effective the worms are at breaking down compost, even just a single bed of them at the bottom of a container are supposidly able to turn an entire bin of waste into compost.
It seems the worms take a fair bit of taking care of as well, between their climate, what you feed them, and separating them out when decomposition is complete.
I'm going to be looking for various uses of worm in composting, as I'm sure there are other ways to apply their decompostive abilities.
My only quesiton about worms is: how are you suppose to separate then from the decomposed fertilizer?
Article 5:
It's astounding that those students managed to get 13 8x12 foot beds , a greenhouse, and a aquaponics system in, that's huge! Plus they aren't even students at the school, talk about devotion!
I love how they're not just using it as a garden, but as a means of community building and expansion by reaching out and getting the community to donate, while encouraging leader roles within the school.
An orchard seems like a great idea also, but it would take a fair amount of time for some of the trees (like apple trees) to mature, so it's a shame that those who plant them might not get to the the.... fruits of their labour :p
I'm going to look around and see how many farms actually incorporate orchards into them, as I'm sure they're easy enough to fertilize, and take far less effort than plants to maintain.
I wonder how the students managed to promote their project to such a degree that it got enough public exposure to recieve grants and community donations.
I think it's great how you can compost 500 kilos of material that would otherwise be waste, it seems to be the most effective and realistic alternative to the current disposal system.
It's really decent of the city to subsidize the cost of the composter, should you choose to install one in your backyard at any point. That seems to be one of the more practical ways of encouraging people to implement them, as it is a substantial change in lifestyle.
I never realized how significant aerating your compost was, but it seems to be quite significant in the process of aerobic bacteria, lest you want that pleasant ammonia smell...
I will be looking for easy methods of aerating compost, as it does seem fairly labour intensive to shuffle it around everyday.
What I don't understand is how they get 500 kg of waste into 100 kg of fertilizer, does the other 400 kg just decompose into the soil and evaporate?
Article 2:
This seems to be a fairly effective way to dispense of a wide range of organic materials, particularily meats such as poultry and steak. I hope it has worked out for him!
I'm glad that he included a way to make your own Bokashi mix, so as not to strictly market it, but rather pass the information along in good will.
Bokashi seems to be a great alternative to conventional aerobic composting, which from the sounds of things tends to get quite smelly, while Bokashi is supposidly odour free!
When at various farms, I'll keep an eye open and ask about how many people actually use the Bokashi mix.
I wonder how wide spread the use of it is, as it seems to be quite effective, but I can't imagine many people going through the trouble of making the mix, while conventional composting mostly just requires your organic materials and some hay to keep the smell down.
Article 3:
Well the leaf mould certainly seems to be effective if you have enough leaves to use, either by themself or in conjunction with a composter.
The mesh cage looks like a great idea, being that it allows maximum airflow through into the leaves, while maintaining the sides of the composter. It could be even more effective to add rows of empty space throughout the cage (ie. 2 rows of mesh about a 1cm apart) to allow greater air flow.
Contrary to the video, I would never consider using pine needles, being that they air so acidic and they have a tendancy to reek havoc on production gardens which I tend to focus on.
I'm going to look for how people adapt on this design, as it is perfectly sound on itself, but I'm sure one could increase its efficiency a number of ways.
I'm curious to know how many people use these, and why. Whether becuase they have an excess of leaves or if it produces a higher quality fertilizer.
Article 4:
Worm composting looks like yet another great alternative to conventional composting, especially if you life in an appartment and can't have a smelly compost.
I'm suprised at how effective the worms are at breaking down compost, even just a single bed of them at the bottom of a container are supposidly able to turn an entire bin of waste into compost.
It seems the worms take a fair bit of taking care of as well, between their climate, what you feed them, and separating them out when decomposition is complete.
I'm going to be looking for various uses of worm in composting, as I'm sure there are other ways to apply their decompostive abilities.
My only quesiton about worms is: how are you suppose to separate then from the decomposed fertilizer?
Article 5:
It's astounding that those students managed to get 13 8x12 foot beds , a greenhouse, and a aquaponics system in, that's huge! Plus they aren't even students at the school, talk about devotion!
I love how they're not just using it as a garden, but as a means of community building and expansion by reaching out and getting the community to donate, while encouraging leader roles within the school.
An orchard seems like a great idea also, but it would take a fair amount of time for some of the trees (like apple trees) to mature, so it's a shame that those who plant them might not get to the the.... fruits of their labour :p
I'm going to look around and see how many farms actually incorporate orchards into them, as I'm sure they're easy enough to fertilize, and take far less effort than plants to maintain.
I wonder how the students managed to promote their project to such a degree that it got enough public exposure to recieve grants and community donations.
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