An update on recent colony losses in Scotland from a sample survey covering 2006-2008

Peterson et al. (2009) reported figures on honey bee colony losses from a postal survey of beekeepers in Scotland carried out in early summer 2006 on behalf of the Executive of the Scottish Beekeepers' Association (SBA). We now provide updated figures on Scottish colony losses and on the reasons for these losses, from a repeat survey in late spring 2008 and covering the period April 2006 to April 2008

The SBA survey 2008 : some preliminary findings

Following the survey of SBA members in 2006, a second survey was carried out in late spring of 2008 to monitor the ongoing effects of Varroa and experiences of colony loss. It also attempted to collect information on various environmental factors rumoured to be possible causes of colony collapse disorder (CCD), to enable further investigation and modelling of the risk of sudden colony collapse. The design of this survey was described in the November 2008 issue of the Scottish Beekeeper

Colony losses in Scotland in 2004-2006 from a sample survey

In the early summer of 2006, a postal survey of beekeeping in Scotland was carried out on behalf of the Executive of the Scottish Beekeepers' Association (SBA), to obtain an overview of some general aspects of current beekeeping practice and experience in Scotland. Of particular interest were colony losses and also extent and impact of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor (Anderson and Trueman, 2000). The Scottish experience is of interest, as V. destructor is not yet universally present throughout the country

Varroa and losses of bee colonies in Scotland

In relation to Scotland, some interesting findings on unexplained colony losses and a possible link to Varroa infestation of bee colonies arise from a survey of members of the Scottish Beekeepers' Association (SBA) carried out in May 2006. This survey covered the period April 2004 to March 2006 and was undertaken largely as a response to reports of apparently newly emerging problems with queen rearing in parts of southern England and concern over the effects of the arrival of Varroa destructor in Scotland in 1996 and its subsequent wide spread across the country

Addressing gender-based violence in the Sierra Leone conflict: Notes from the field

Sierra Leone’s transition has witnessed a number of landmark procedural and legal innovations which have had widespread implications for international gender justice. The 11-year conflict had shattered the country, leaving more than a million people displaced and thousands of women coping with the aftermath of sexual violence. Then, in 1999, the Lomé Peace Accord in 1999 traded amnesty for peace and made provision for the establishment of the Sierra Leone Truth Commission. The United Nations Security Council subsequently established a Special Court to prosecute those who bore ‘the greatest responsibility’ for atrocities committed during the conflict

A characterization of baseline groundwater quality in the New York Southern Tier for Project SWIFT

The acquisition of quality baseline groundwater quality in the Southern Tier of New York State has been of concern due to the contention surrounding groundwater quality in areas where hydraulic fracturing for natural gas production has been developed. Little information on groundwater quality is publicly available for the Southern Tier, where natural gas production through hydraulic fracturing is feasible. This Capstone study, as a part of Project SWIFT at Syracuse University, seeks to determine the concentrations of several ionic compounds and elements in the groundwater of the New York counties which are most apt for hydraulic fracturing. Sample sites were determined by adherence to several criteria based on well construction as well as regularly spaced sample distribution throughout the study area. Streams were also sampled, selected according to drainage area. Results showed that groundwater contained higher concentrations of the majority of the compounds analyzed. Only a small number of samples yielded concentrations greater than the Maximum Contaminant Level set by the Environmental Protection Agency. This data will be used to help develop geochemical fingerprinting tool to detect the presence of hydraulic fracturing fluids and associated formation waters in shallow groundwater wells, as goaled by Project SWIFT

Book Review: Planning Paradise: Politics and Visioning of Land Use in Oregon by Peter Walker and Patrick Hurley

Book Review: Planning Paradise: Politics and Visioning of Land Use in Oregon by Peter Walker and Patrick Hurle

Alternative separation of exchange and correlation energies in multi-configuration range-separated density-functional theory

The alternative separation of exchange and correlation energies proposed by Toulouse et al. [Theor. Chem. Acc. 114, 305 (2005)] is explored in the context of multi-configuration range-separated density-functional theory. The new decomposition of the short-range exchange-correlation energy relies on the auxiliary long-range interacting wavefunction rather than the Kohn-Sham (KS) determinant. The advantage, relative to the traditional KS decomposition, is that the wavefunction part of the energy is now computed with the regular (fully-interacting) Hamiltonian. One potential drawback is that, because of double counting, the wavefunction used to compute the energy cannot be obtained by minimizing the energy expression with respect to the wavefunction parameters. The problem is overcome by using short-range optimized effective potentials (OEPs). The resulting combination of OEP techniques with wavefunction theory has been investigated in this work, at the Hartree-Fock (HF) and multi-configuration self-consistent-field (MCSCF) levels. In the HF case, an analytical expression for the energy gradient has been derived and implemented. Calculations have been performed within the short-range local density approximation on H2, N2, Li2 and H2O. Significant improvements in binding energies are obtained with the new decomposition of the short-range energy. The importance of optimizing the short-range OEP at the MCSCF level when static correlation becomes significant has also been demonstrated for H2, using a finite-difference gradient. The implementation of the analytical gradient for MCSCF wavefunctions is currently in progress.Comment: 5 figure

The Role of Cuticular Hydrocarbons in the Pre-mating Isolation of Two Pissodes Species

Pissodes strobi and P. nemorensis are weevils (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) that infest pines (Pinus spp.) and spruces (Picea spp.). Previous studies indicate that they are able to hybridize. In the spring, breeding site specificity maintains reproductive isolation, but in the late summer, both species occupy lateral branches of host trees. Aggregation pheromones for P. nemorensis have been identified but the mechanism for late summer isolation is unknown. Cuticular hydrocarbons have been shown to play a role in the chemical recognition of species, sex, kin, and caste in many groups of insects. The large number of possible compounds and the even larger numbers of possible combinations creates potential for much information to be encoded. Cuticular hydrocarbon samples from P. strobi were collected from an infestation in a white pine stand in Pompey, NY. The cuticular hydrocarbon samples were analyzed by coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Statistical analysis of the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles revealed a shift of the cuticular hydrocarbon profile between spring and summer males while the profile of the females remained constant between the two seasons. This shift in cuticular hydrocarbon profile may be indicative of a seasonal change that prevents P. strobi and P. nemorensis from interbreeding in the summer when the two species share the same habitat