Honey Bee Update

On September 7, an extraordinary coincidence inspired a "PS" to the Manual Update lesson plan on honey bees.

As the lesson plan discussed, there has been national alarm about die-offs of bees that were reported this summer by about one-fourth of commercial beekeepers. "Colony collapse disorder," as it was called, immediately became the focus of intense scientific scrutiny. At risk was a pollination service valued at between $14 and $15 billion.

On September 7, newspapers and the Internet carried exciting reports that a disease called Israeli acute paralysis virus was strongly associated with die-offs. Scientists cautioned that the virus could simply have been the tipping point for bees rendered vulnerable by parasites, mites, poor nutrition caused by drought, and the stress of travel from being shipped around the country to pollinate crops. The problem has not been solved, and research continues.

Oddly enough, the day before this news broke, the world's most renowned expert on bees, the British scientist, Eva Crane, died at the age of 95. Called "the queen bee among bee experts," she had published in 1999 her masterwork, The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting.

Dr. Crane had begun her career with a master's degree in quantum mechanics and a doctorate in nuclear physics, but her life changed in 1944 as the result of the wedding gift of a swarm of bees.
She became fascinated by the bees and went on to devote the rest of her life to their study.

One must wonder if the queen bee among bee experts was aware of colony collapse disorder in her last days and if her scientist's mind had imagined a research protocol to ascertain the cause.

Worm Ranch Tragedy

The Red Wriggler Teaching Manual was written by Ellen Heath, a professional writer, with the help of sister Kate Heath, owner of the High Desert Worm Ranch in Tajique, New Mexico. Kate, whose primary business is software consulting, had been raising worms since 2001 and had 25 beds under 6,000 square feet of cover. At the end of June, Kate had to shut down her operation for reasons that will be instructive to anyone composting horse manure with red worms.

Worm populations began to fall off radically in the early spring. We monitored everything--
temperature, moisture levels, pH readings, food volumes, etc. We finally had to conclude that horse manure from a horse breeder had been inadvertently contaminated with pharmaceuticals used to "worm" horses. Due to pressing demands on her time, Kate decided simply to suspend operations for the time being.

Our brother, Dr. Wiley Heath, a veterinarian in El Paso, Texas, provided some information that will be helpful to anyone else using horse manure as a composting material. He said that veterinarians advise horse owners to worm young horses (two years old or less) every 60 days and older horses every three months. A variety of pharmaceuticals can be used, but they take about two days to go through a horse's system. To be safe, do not use any manure from "wormed" horses until you are sure the medication has completely cleared their systems--at least a week and possibly even more.

Kate's experience with the worms is sad, and it is also indicative of the ways in which our heavy use of pharmaceuticals in both creatures and animals is contaminating both water and soil. We hope you can benefit from something she learned the hard way.

Red Worm News: Composting Tip

The classroom worm bin may not yet be standard throughout the country, but the state of California has moved to make it a familiar sight in the office.

The state's Integrated Waste Management Board, part of the Environmental Protection Agency, has posted a list of the top ten ways to recycle on the job, and the second is "Keep worms in your office." So far, very few businesses actually have worm compost bins, and part of the problem may be inadequate information about what to feed them.

As The Red Wriggler Teaching Manual prescribes, a bin-keeper must be careful about what worms are fed, and it is important to have some composting tips. The typical office worker's diet is not the best worm diet, but the employee might reasonably be able to compost the following:

• Bran or fruit muffins from breakfast, but without chocolate or butter cream frosting
• Coffee grinds and even the coffee filter
• Leftover fruits, without Cool Whip or poppy seed dressing
• Salad greens without any fattening dressing
• Sandwich bread, but without butter, mayonnaise, or mustard on it
• Celery and carrots, but no dip

The worms should not be fed things like dairy products of any kind or lunch meats like baloney, turkey, or chicken. Salty or spicy chips would also be out. On the other hand, the worms would happily devour the morning newspaper, which is printed with soy ink.

Insofar as employees become conscious of the dietary needs of the worms and conform to them, they will probably lose weight and enhance their health. As the worms go about their business, they will also be producing castings to fertilize office plants. So "taking worms to work" could ultimately have a three-fold benefit. They could (1) enhance employee health, (2) reduce waste, (3) educate workers about the benefits of composting, and (4) beautify the office plants. Not a bad day's work for the humble worm.