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Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 15 Nov 90 07:48:36 -0400
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I came across the following in a novel by David Brin "Earth" 1990 by Bantam    B
ooks.
     "At least the bee zapper was working.  For years their hives had been     u
nder seige by Africanized swarms, seeking to take over as they had everywhere  i
n the area, ruining all the once-profitable apiaries in the parish.  Chemicals a
nd spray parasites did no good.  But a few weeks ago Claire had found a net    r
eference by a fellow in Egypt, who'd discovered that the African strain beat   t
heir wings faster than the tame European variety.  Burrowing into archaic      T
wenCen military technology, he had adapted sensor-scanner designs from an old,
defunct project called "Star Wars."  Now Claire and a few thousand others were t
esting his design and reporting weekly results to a network solutions SIG.
   Like a glittering scarecrow, the cruciform laser system watched over her
squat hives.  When she had first turned it on, the surrounding fields had come
startlingly alight with hundreds of tiny, flaming embers.  The next morning
ash smudges were all that remained of the viscious invaders within line of
sight.  But her own honeybees were untouched.  Now she looked forward to a
sweet profit and her first stingless summer.....pg 232-233.
 
An interesting idea?  R.-K. Smith  RSMITH6@SCTNVE

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