Archive for February 2016
It’s Not Easy Being the Queen Bee
It’s Not Easy Being the Queen Bee It’s become fairly standard for beekeepers to order honeybee queens from breeders who ship the queen bees in the mail. You can pretty much bet these parcels are marked “handle with care!” According to reports, high temperature levels during shipping and elevated pathogen levels are causing the queen…
Read MoreDallas County Announces Ability to Test for Zika Virus
Dallas County Announces Ability to Test for Zika Virus This just in: Dallas County can now perform a test to detect the Zika virus. The Dallas County Health and Human Services Department recently announced that they are able to perform tests on their own, without having to send samples off to the Centers for Disease…
Read MoreThe “Society” of Ancient Ants
The “Society” of Ancient Ants If you’ve ever seen an ant farm or even observed a bee’s nest (from a safe distance, we hope!) you know that insects seem to have strong organizational skills. Duties are assigned and each insect seems to know its place. This observation has recently been scientifically proven by researches studying…
Read MoreZika: Coming Soon Through an Airport Near You?
The Zika virus is causing many travelers to cancel or postpone trips to countries with active Zika transmission, particularly countries in Latin America. But there are still thousands of travelers coming through U.S. borders who have traveled to or live in Zika hot-spots every day. This is concerning, as it has recently been confirmed that…
Read MoreThe Rush to Create a Zika Virus Vaccine
The Rush to Create a Zika Virus Vaccine Scientists are rushing to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus since its massive spread. While it still looks like it could be at least a year or two before we see anything, pharmaceutical companies are locking their best scientists in their labs to start working on…
Read MoreHurdles Ahead for Zika Virus Vaccine
Hurdles Ahead for Zika Virus Vaccine The world is demanding a vaccine for the Zika virus be developed yesterday. Well, unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how much researchers and experts are pushed and urged to quickly develop a vaccine out of thin air that will save us all, reality is settling in and with the hurdles…
Read MoreBug Tasting
Bug Tasting Pierre Thiam has come out with a new top-rated cookbook, where he is blending ingredients and frying fritters of black-eyed peas. His “snack of the future” includes pulverized dried mealworms and crickets! “Insects are not gross,” he says. “They are great for our planet. We are going to need to eat insects in…
Read MoreChoosing a Pest Professional
Spider Super Hunters
Spider Super Hunters Most people are familiar with spiders catching prey in a web or a scorpion stabbing another insect with its tail, but there are some insects out there with hunting techniques out of the norm. I’ve found a few of those today, and thought I might share them with you. One spider uses…
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