Hello All,
The other night I took my wife to the movies to see the movie "Australia" 
now in theaters. Go see the movie as i think you will enjoy as much as we 
did!

We had to wait for awhile for the movie to start so we went next door to 
Barnes & Nobles book store. The store had both of the new CCD books in 
stock.  I bought both and plan to put in the Midwestern Beekeepers library 
when done reading myself.

"A Spring Without Bees" by Michael Schacker I suspect might be as Jim & 
Peter suggested a very bias book mainly from an environmental stand point 
but as you can not tell a book by its cover I decided to get and read but 
have only thumbed through so far.

The other book "fruitless Fall" I started reading at the book store and am 
on chapter 8 of eleven. I can say right now the book is a must read for 
those interested in the current bee crises.

 "Fruitless Fall"
 "The collapse of the Honey bee and the coming agriculture crisis"
 by Rowan Jacobsen

Rowan does a terrific job of explaining the  bee hive and CCD from a 
commercial beekeepers perspective. Rowan walks the reader from before CCD, 
through CCD, through problems around the world and up to todays 2008 
findings.

Very interesting findings about  antibiotics ( other than chloramphenicol) 
being found in Chinese honey.
 from page 116 of the book:
"As I write this I have on on my desk a lab report from ADPEN Lab ,a leading 
food safety lab, saying found in a random honey packer sample of Chinese 
honey 48 PPB ciprofloxacin in it. The antibiotic was also found in catfish, 
shrimp and other farmed seafood from China"
The U.S. has zero tollerance for cipro as cipro remains one of our last best 
remaining antibiotics and resistance could occur if in our food supply.
I am on a first  name basis with the beeks he interviewed and know Rowan 
must have taken
 notes of exactly what each said as Rowan even included the cuss words from 
Rhodes & Bell (Florida).
The book is done similar to the book "Follwing the Bloom". A must read in my 
opinion . Not so sure about "A spring without bees' as looks like the author 
simply went on the net and pulled up various research and gave his own 
interpitation of said research but will comment after I have read the book.

 On the back is praise from a lady highly respected in beekeeping circles 
and
 a member of the CCD working group.

 quote May B.:

 " The apiculture industry now has its own Upton Sinclair. Fruitless Fall is
 an eye opening , attitude changing , and exceptionally engaging examination
 of America's most overlooked multibillion dollar industry"

 -May Berenbaum, professor of entomology, University of Illinois, and chair
 of the National research council committee on the status of Pollinators in
 North America.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

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