What's happening to all the bees

Regular viewers of Dr Who will know that the Dr and Donna found that all of the bees had left to follow a trail into the Medusa Cascade.

Norman Carreck from the Linnean Society however presents a scientific rather than science fiction approach to the issue.

On the 19th February, 6:00 PM the society will hear an evening talk about the declining bee population. Topics such as natural variations in population, viruses, parasites and mites will be covered. The talk will also cover recent work into this area.

"Tea will be served in the Library from 5.30pm and the lecture will be followed by a wine reception. This meeting is free and open to all; registration is not necessary."

Captain Peacock - Lice Hunter

Maureen Claydon has kindly sent me a link to for Captain Peacock "Lice Hunter" which she found via the Tyne and Wear Archives.

Herman Melville - Not a flea fan

I'm not in agreement with Herman Melville who claimed that

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be who have tried it.

Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 104

I suggest Herman needs to read one of the many flea books that are around.

Too dirty for fleas

The Manchester Evening News reports of a house that was so dirty even the fleas refused to live there.

Anna McDonald, prosecuting at Manchester Magistrates Court, said: "These cats walked, sat and slept in their own excrement. The conditions were so bad that even flea eggs could not survive. This is a case where a life ban from keeping animals is appropriate."

Obviously this is very unfortunate for the cats but I found it facinating that there were such conditions that would be damaging to flea reproduction.

Was it the lack of humidity that stopped the eggs? Or could be other cat illnesses within the excrement that have affected the fleas such as toxoplasmosis, bartonella or tapeworms (that use fleas as a carrier) that could have killed off the fleas? It could also have been a high quantity of ammonia from the cat urine.

Japanese Flea Poem

Fleas! Lice!
A horse peeing By my pillow

--Basho, seventeenth century Japanese poet, staying at a roadside inn.
(Translated by R.Toby)

from "Bugs in the system" by May R. Berenbaum

Flea Chariot

I've just finished making a tiny flea chariot, the details of which can be seen over on the workshopshed blog.

Fresnel Lenses

Earlier in the week a colleague returned from his lunch break with an A4 sized Fresnel lens. He'd bought from a bookshop to help out an aging parent for a very reasonable price of £9.99. Further investigation reviled that most of the big bookstores such as Waterstones or Foyles have these and various magnifying glasses for reading books and maps. The magnifiers are described as "page magnifiers" or "sheet magnifiers" and range from credit card sized thru to full page magnifiers.



It's also possible to get these online direct from Magnifico

I've bought a couple to allow people to see my latest miniature creation (more on that later in the week).