The Great Beekeeping Debate

...aps. Just because a mite treatment is “natural,” such as dousing a hive in essential oils, does not mean that it’s healthy for the bees. We also must not lose sight of the fact that we are in a relationship with honeybees that goes back many thousands of years. They aren’t exactly wild animals in most places and may depend, to varying degrees, on our support. Someday we might reach a kind of sweet spot between highly interventionist and low interv...

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The Blue Bear

...ship with Blue Bear is an odd one. He was never one of my favorite stuffed animals, and yet I have kept him with me all these years, while the others have fallen by the wayside. He was never particularly soft or cuddly–though age has softened him, as it does all of us– and he did not meet my arcane childhood standards of cuteness. I had my favorites; he was not one of them. I never even gave him a proper name. But he formed the reliable back cente...

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Composting the Deceased/ My DIY Funeral Fantasies

...nd knowledge of the subject: A Hypothetical Method of Composting Humans or Animals: This is entirely above ground. First you build a platform of sticks/small logs to provide drainage and aeration, about 1.5 feet high. The deceased is placed on the stick pile. The body is covered with a 1 foot layer of mixed greens and browns–the makings of compost. Then over that goes a massive pile of carbonaceous material (“browns”: dry leaves, wood shavings, et...

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Saturday Tweets: Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

...Your Own Window Box https://t.co/tHKk0Q0meS — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 17, 2018 At least 70 people have been employed, since we began work with border communities. https://t.co/FXUHO89VWF — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 17, 2018 Here are some of the animals found in Ireland, according to Gerald of Wales (d. 1223): the crane and barnacle geese; stag, fox, badger and beaver; leaping salmon of Munster; kingfisher and stork #StPatricksDay htt...

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On the Possibilities and Problems of Groups

...st goal is “connectivity.” People can connect to feed the homeless, rescue animals or plant trees. Unfortunately, people can also connect to promote racism and hate, something the internet has made worse. I wish I had an easy set of points on how to form positive, long lasting and effective groups or just how to be a better member of a group. I don’t. But, as in most worthwhile tasks, perhaps the answer is to take things one step at a time. We, in...

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