Hi all
In my opinion, at least two things stand in the way of scientific understanding and progress. These are: anti-science as exemplified by Rudolf Steiner, BioDynamics and that whole litany of Cosmic Mumbo Jumbo. The other is pseudo-science as voiced so eloquently here by Edward Lloyd Sechrist in his epic screed aptly titled "Scientific Beekeeping"


> According to the books, the heat value of honey is only 6,030 British thermal units per pound and to produce 1,400 thermal units per hour, the bees would have to consume about 6 pounds of honey in 24 hours or 180 pounds a month! We know, from practical experience, that they just do not do that. Therefore we must conclude that the bees get a great deal more energy out of honey than the mere 6,030 units indicated, which is based almost entirely on the union of carbon and oxygen molecules but does not allow for the rearrangement of the atomic structure.

> We find that the bee cluster does produce about 45,000 British thermal units instead of a mere 6,030 --7 1/2 times the figured amount of energy! Were the bees splitting the atom long before we knew anything about it? It is quite possible. I do not have the figures, but I have good reason to believe that these activities of the bees in producing heat, in making honey, in producing beeswax, and in secreting that strange and powerful food-royal jelly or brood food, are closely related to the production of atomic bombs.  It appears to be a fact that whether we consider the bee cluster to be warmblooded or otherwise, it is able to use the laws of the conservation of energy and the systematic control of the random velocity of the molecule.  

> Are such things Utopian?   

> How comparatively little we have done with our bees in all these years we have been working with them! Verily, there are atomic bombs in our business, even though we have not suspected it!  With absolute control of colony activity, we can control pollination of fruits, vegetables and legumes and, if we move quickly enough, we can provide sufficient bees for adequate pollination of all the countless plants that will be grown from the tons of seed we are sending to Europe. Without enough bees, the plants will fail to produce and children will continue to starve all over the world. What are we going to do about it? I wish someone would tell me!

Sechrist, E. L., & McFarland, D. F. (1946). Scientific Beekeeping. Earthmaster publications.

Contribute by PLB
             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm