Brains take a ton of energy to keep ticking, and human brains are proportionally huge. Therefore,

humans need to consume a lot energy through their diets. For Last Word on Nothing, Heather Pringle explains that one food, maybe more than any other, could have allowed for our ancestor’s

ever-expanding craniums. Starting 2.5 million years ago, she says,

[O]ur hominin ancestors may have dined extensively for the first time on energy-rich honey, a

food that may have fueled the evolution of our large, metabolically costly brains. The earliest

member of our genus, Homo, emerged some 1.5 to 2 million years ago, equipped with brains

significantly largerthan their predecessors. Moreover, they possessed smaller molars, suggesting

that they were dining on an easily consumed food. Honey.

As a modern analogue, Pringle points to the hunter-gatherer society of the Hadza people, a

culture in eastern Africa that “prize honey above all else in their diet.” This preference for honey

has lead the Hadza hunters to develop a symbiotic relationship with a local bird species know

as the greater honeyguide. Pringle says,

The bird dines almost entirely on beeswax and bee larvae, but it needs help to crack open hives. So the honeyguide calls to both honey badgers and Hadza hunters. When human hunters whistle back, the bird gradually leads the men by call-and-response song to the nearest colony. The Hazda’s preference for honey may have stemmed from the same drive as some of our earliest ancestors: honey is energy dense and can even provide protein and fat on top of its abundant sugars. But if it’s true that honey is one of the pillars that brought us so far as a species, that lends extra gravity to the recent epidemic ravaginghoneybee populations known as colony collapse disorder. Potentially caused by a combination of pesticides, food stress and parasites, colony collapse disorder is wiping out bee populations across the western world. The disorder has so far had a profound effect on honey production, with 2011 being “one of the lowest crops in recorded history of honey production.”

Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/09/honey-was-the-wonder-food-that-fueled-human-evolution-and-now-its-disappearing/#ixzz2SbufX62c 
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

 BUMBLEBEES IN DANGER TOO!

 

 You may have heard of a little thing called Colony Collapse Disorder—a “disorder” with no pinned-down cause that leads bees to abandon their hives or get lost on the way home. Beekeepers, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture, report hive population losses of up to 90 percent, but the cause of CCD isn’t definitively known. Possible culprits range from stress to parasites to pesticides to fungus, or a combination of them all. Colony Collapse Disorder, however, has not been affecting all bees—it targets honey bees. But now, says the Associated Press’ Seth Borenstein, bad news for the American bumblebee:

 ”It was the most dominant bumblebee in the Midwest,” [University of Illinois entomologist Sydney] Cameron said, saying it now has pretty much disappeared from much of its northern range. Overall, its range has shrunk by about 23 percent, although it is still strong in Texas and the West, she said.

People call them the big fuzzies,” Cameron said. “They’re phenomenal animals. They can fly in the snow.

A research team who spent weeks in the field cataloguing southern Illinois’ bees could find but one lonely American bumblebee, Borenstein reports. And, the humble bumblebee wasn’t the only thing missing: compared to the observations of a 19th century naturalist, the researchers could find only 54 of 109 expected bee species. The current dearth of bees, he says, could be due to forces similar to those affecting honey bees—”a combination of disease and parasites,” according to the AP.

The absence of bumblebees aligns with previous research described by Smithsonian Magazine‘s Sarah Zielinski a few years ago:

A group of biologists from Illinois and Utah examined the current and historical distributions of eight species of bumblebees from the genus Bombus, looking at thousands of museum records and data from recent nationwide surveys. They found that the abundances of half of those species (B. affinis, B. occidentalis, B. pensylvanicus and B. terricola) have declined by up to 96 percent and their ranges have contracted by 23 to 87 percent in the last 20 years. The other four species, however, remain abundant and widespread.

Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/03/the-american-bumblebee-is-crashing-too/#ixzz2Sbuxz9mJ 
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 May 2, 2013

   ARTICLE #3:So exciting for Europe, but not yet for us.  Hope we can come around to making Rachel Carson proud.  Article below...

We did it -- Europe just banned bee-killing pesticides!! Mega-corporations like Bayer threw everything they had at this, but people-power, science and good governance came out on top!!  Bee "die in" at Bayer's headquarters, Cologne Vanessa Amaral-Rogers from the specialist conservation organisation Buglife, says:  “It was a close vote, but thanks to a massive mobilisation by Avaaz members, beekeepers, and others, we won! I have no doubt that the floods of phonecalls and emails to ministers, the actions in London, Brussels and Cologne, and the giant petition with 2.6 million signers made this result possible. Thank you Avaaz, and everyone who worked so hard to save bees!” Bees pollinate two thirds of all our food -- so when scientists noticed that silently, they were dying at a terrifying rate, Avaaz swung in to action, and we kept on swinging until we won. This week’s victory is the result of two years of flooding ministers with messages, organizing media-grabbing protests with beekeepers, funding opinion polls and much, much more. Here’s how we did it, together:  Keeping France strong. In January 2011, 1 million people sign our call to France to uphold its ban on deadly neonicotinoid pesticides. Avaaz members and beekeepers meet the French agriculture minister and fill the airwaves, pressing him to face down fierce industry lobbying and keep the ban, sending a strong signal to other European countries. Bernie, the huge inflatable bee, helps deliver our 2.6m strong petition to Brussels Tackling industry head on. Bayer has faced Avaaz and allies protesting at its last three annual meetings. The pesticide giant's managers and investors are welcomed by beekeepers, loud buzzing, and massive banners with our 1 million plus call on them to suspend use of neonicotinoids until scientists reviewed their effect on bees. Avaaz even makes a presentation inside the meeting, but Bayer says 'no'. Making the science count. In January the European Food Safety Agency finds that three pesticides pose unacceptable risks to bees, and we jump in to ensure Europe's politicians respond to their scientific experts. Our petition quickly grows to 2 million signatures. After many talks with EU decision-makers, Avaaz delivers our call right to the EU HQ in Brussels. Later that same day, the Commission proposes a two-year ban! Beekeepers help deliver our massive petition to Downing Street Seizing our chance. The battle to save the bees heats up in February and March. Across the EU, Avaaz members are ready to respond as all 27 EU countries decide whether to welcome or block the proposal. When farming giants UK and Germany say they won't vote yes, Avaaz publishes public opinion polls showing huge majorities of Brits and Germans in favour of the ban. Avaaz members also send almost half a million emails to EU Agriculture Ministers.Apparently afraid of dealing with citizens rather than industry lobbyists, UK minister Owen Paterson complains of a “cyber-attack”, which journalists turn into a story in our favour! And then comes Bernie -- our 6 metre bee in Brussels -- a powerful visual way to deliver our petition as negotiations enter the final stages. Journalists flock to Bernie, and we hear we've helped get the Spanish ministry to look harder at the science and shift position . But we didn't get the majority we needed to pass the ban. Bernie the bee featured in The Independent Turning the red light green. In April the bee-saving proposal is sent to an Appeals Committee, giving us a glimmer of hope if we can switch a few more countries' positions. In the final sprint, Avaaz teams up with groups including Environmental Justice Foundation, Friends of the Earth and Pesticides Action Network, plus beekeepers and famous bee-loving fashion designers to organise an action outside the UK Parliament. In Germany, beekeepers launch their own Avaaz petition to their government, signed by over 150,000 Germans in just two days and delivered in Cologne soon after. More phone calls rain down on ministries in different capitals as Avaaz responds to a last-minute wrecking amendment by Hungary, and positions Bernie the bee again in Brussels. Pesticide companies buy adverts in the airport to catch arriving officials, and take to the airwaves suggesting other measures such as planting wild flowers. But their slick messaging machine is ignored, first Bulgaria then -- the big prize -- Germany switch their stances and this week we win, with over half of EU countries voting for the ban!

 

 Man Found Dead in Home Filled with Bees

Warning to the faint of heart:  this story reported in the MIAMI HERALD, worthy of an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

First Posted: 11/6/11 02:56 PM ET Updated: 11/6/11 06:14 PM ET