Migratory beekeeper John Miller hauls his hives back and forth across the West, pollinating everything from almonds to apples, but a nasty little parasite called the varroa mite and the mysterious, deadly Colony Collapse Disorder are making life much harder for him and his buzzing business partners.
The Silence of the Bees
The perilous existence of a migratory beekeeper amid a great bee die-off
Two weeks in the West
Guvs get their green on
Driven to fight
A retired BLM special agent finds herself battling the very agency she once worked for
Rail out of town
Schwarzenegger budget says hasta la vista to bullet train. At least for now.
Busy as a Buchmann
NAME: Stephen Buchmann HOMETOWN: Tucson, Arizona AGE: 53 VOCATION: Pollination ecologist FAVORITE INSECT: Bees, especially the genus Centris, which can be seen visiting paloverde blossoms in the Sonoran desert. FAVORITE HONEY: The honey from the lady bee, “Xunan Kab,” a stingless bee kept by the Maya of southern Mexico. MOST STINGS IN A DAY: 200-300…
Reefer madness is a lie
I object to author John Dougherty’s assessment that “Marijuana isn’t the only drug being smuggled” across the Tohono O’odham Nation’s border with Mexico. Marijuana is not a drug. It is a plant that is smoked without any processing necessary, unlike the commercial tobacco that kills millions every year. There has never been any legitimate proof…
Mecklin ha visitado a México quince veces
“Whack-a-Mole” is Editor John Mecklin’s free expression about opposition to immigration, but if one opposes illegal aliens one is branded “xenophobic” by Mr. Mecklin. I ask Mr. Mecklin, how many times has he visited Mexico, or been billeted with blacks, Hispanics or Asians? Ever had Hispanic roommates? People that oppose illegal immigration (70 percent of…
Border truths
I really enjoyed the article “One Nation Under Fire.” I am a contract archaeologist working at the San Miguel Gate, monitoring the archaeological sites during the construction of vehicle barriers. I thought that your article was very true to the situation. So many people seem to underestimate the issues along the border and on the…
Mortal fear and a state of wild grace
“Grace” is not the first word that comes to mind when you picture two naked women running hell-bent through the desert night, fleeing from UFOs. “Fear” seems more apt — the primal kind that stems from being chased in the dark by a faceless predator while having numerous opportunities to impale tender flesh on ocotillo…
Taking the conservation movement to task
Tired of discussing the alleged death of environmentalism? Fear not: Why Conservation is Failing and How It Can Regain Ground is no dirge, but a complex and cogent analysis of the American environmental movement. University of Illinois law professor Eric Freyfogle claims that “The conservation cause … is stymied less because of its disciplined opponents…
The romance of deceleration
As we back the snowmobiles off the trailer, the couple in the car nearby is scowling. I can see their faces through the windshield, and I know why they’re unhappy: They have to share the trail with us. They’ll be on skinny, light skis, using only as much power as their muscles can generate, while…
Heard around the West
CALIFORNIA Sometimes you can be too vigilant. Someone who spotted a black bag on the side of a road in eastern California reported that it had a suspiciously “foul odor.” A sheriff’s deputy investigated, says the Grass Valley-Nevada City Union. Inside the bag, wrapped in a blue towel, was a dead fish. WASHINGTON AND…
Have bee, will travel
For our cover stories, we generally try to look where other journalists do not, so we can tell important and interesting stories that have been ignored, underreported, misreported, hidden or hidden in plain sight. Hannah Nordhaus’ “The Silence of the Bees,” on the other hand, might seem to have been ripped from the headlines. Of…
Dear friends
VISITORS Denis Brunke, a longtime subscriber from Logan, Utah, stopped in to say hello. He was taking the scenic route back home after visiting a friend in nearby Snowmass. An HCN reader since the days of Tom Bell, Connie Brown of Lander, Wyo., visited us. She was in the area to study yoga with teacher…