Nature’s Energy is definitely speaking loudly to me in the past couple of weeks. First, I’m in the right place at the right time to help rescue an adorable little puppy. I’d been helping a friend reestablish his community newspaper (I’m the production department) when he found the little guy crossing a very busy 4 way intersection in North Miami. Pup was covered with very large fleas, filthy dirty, and his ribs were clearly defined so we knew he had not been getting any tlc. He spent the first night at the office and then I brought him home, got him cleaned up, de-flead and well-fed for a few days. A friend of the friend said he’d take him for a pet, but never showed up. So, he’s back here, living the life of a pampered prince among the 7 stray cats that have now designated us as their servants. Good news though, I posted his picture and info to the Rescue communities and instantly got a response from Robbie at www.sabbathrescue.org Robbie sent the info around and withing the next 24 hours I heard from several people in the chain that Melody of Ethical Bull Breed Rescue and Referral of Florida  had a place for him already. Problem is, he’s a pit bull puppy and it’s illegal to own him in Miami-Dade County. So, the little outcast must move north to Broward or Palm Beach and that’s right where Melody is located. So, sometime next week, we’ll arrange the trip and little Jeffrey (couldn’t hold my daughter back from naming him) will find a new home with a woman who already has a pit bull and she works at a doggy day care. I love when this works out for the best! …
Now, about those HONEYBEES…I pulled in the driveway on Wed and there was this cloud of buzzing, swarming bees just making their way to the southwest corner of my bedroom. I live in a old wooden house and it has more than a few places that need some work. Needless to say, the bees knew this was an ideal place to relocate for 3 reasons: first, access was easy; second, they already knew (through the cosmic bee grapevine) that I wouldn’t exterminate them but instead would call Beeman  http://www.bees-n-the-keys.com/  to come to their rescue. Third reason is because they had done this before only last year and on the opposite wall of the same bedroom! (different swarm, but probably same ancestor bees).
Honey bees are a vital part of our food chain. They are the only natural pollinators of our fruits and vegetables and since so many natural habitats are being developed for human use, and people seem to think they should kill all creatures whose homes they have usurped, extermination is unfortunately, the most common method of bee removal.
I’ve checked with the Florida extension service, and Bud Grant is the state bee inspector that I’ve talked with about this. Haven’t met him in person yet, but I’m happy to say that he agrees it is in everyone’s best interest to relocate and save the honeybees.Â
Now, this little operation takes Beeman a few hours or so depending on the size and location of the hive and how long it takes to capture the Queen. Plus he drives up from Key Largo.  Got here before 8 am and I think he was finished around noon. Even though the bee invasion is a nuisance and it does cost  to have them removed and relocated, I have to say that Mike is the most knowledgable and interesting character to watch and learn from. He coaxes the bees out of the hive as if he were soothing a little baby. Calls the Queen by the name of Momma, the workers are ‘girls’ and even the drones are treated with gentle vacuuming and handling. Last year, Mike used his bee smoker to relax the girls before vacuuming them into the bee box. I have a lot of pictures of the process and notes too. This man truly enjoys his work, (or ‘dance with life’ as Mike Dooley called it in a recent “Thought from the Universe”.) It had been a stressful week, but by tonight, I’m seeing the light again and it is not a train ;-)Here are a couple of pics of the puppy and the bees. No honey this time, but last year they’d been in the wall for long enough to have some great tasting honey. Comb and all. You can visit Bees-in-the-keys online and order honey from Mike (maybe produced from my bees of last years relocation). Tell him I sent you. He has a unique, Forest Gump way about him. Very refreshing, especially for Miami! Â
JEFFERY ROCKS! <3 him 2 bits
Just received info from my Hudson Valley (NY) friends about “Spring Without Bees, How Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has Endangered Our Food Supply” by Michael Schacker. You can help on several levels when you share this information, purchase the book and then share it with everyone you know who cares about our planet, our food sources and helping each other. Visit Michael’s website, read Barbara Schaker’s (Michael’s wife) letter below and please, add your comments to this blog.
We are all part of this planet and we CAN make a difference!
Barbara’s letter:
We really need your help. We need help getting the word out about Michael Schacker’s book, “A Spring Without Bees, How Colony Collapse Disorder Has Endangered Our Food Suppy”.
Michael’s book is the only authoritative book out on the the major suspected cause of massive honeybee die-offs–a widely used neurotoxic pesticide. The insecticide should be technically illegal because each of the combined ingredients, nicotine and chlorine have been banned in pesticide formulas previously–the combination is extremely poisonous. They were shoved through the approval process without testing for toxicity for pregnant women or young children on an “emergency provisionary basis”. It is in most lawn maintanence or “Chem Lawn” type mixes–(the books tells you the many names of the chemical so you can know what is on the label). So the problem is not just out there in the fruits and vegetable and alfalfa fields, our children are rolling around in it and we are tracking it into our homes on our feet! France, Germany, Spain and Italy have banned this class of pesticides. In France, it took several years for the soil to recover, but the bees did come back. In addition, Michael Schacker is the only person to have designed a comprehensive plan on how to save the bees and our food supply. But Michael had a CVA and then a massive left hemipshere stroke just the day after completing the book! He is unable to tour the country or speak about all the information in the book, so my daughter Melissa and I along with a few friends are trying to do it. With running 2 companies and overseeing Michael’s speech recovery or stroke recovery, I feel I am not doing a good enough job with promoting his book and getting the word out about the real story on this.
The beekeepers are going bankrupt–and there is “domino effect” (explained in the book) to this particular environmental crisis. We have to work on this now! Rachel Carson’s, “Silent Spring” only became a best seller because it got on the Book of the Month Club and because a Supreme Court justice recommended it. Even so, it took another 10 years to ban DDT! Without a best seller, I believe we have little chance of getting the word out and overcoming the misinformation that continually replicates itself about the honeybee and the potential food and fresh produce crisis–a worldwide crisis.
From my research, email lists are the new “book of the month”. I need to get on as many email lists of people who are interested in the organic lifestyle, the environment and planetary survival as possible. If you can refer us to any lists that would be a great help. Also in your message to your email list, you can tell people to copy and paste and then email to their lists so we get a “word of mouth” campaign going. The request to send to other email lists of friends of bees and friends of the Earth should be replicated in each message.
You can help right away by buying a copy of “A Spring Without Bees” and reading it. It is not a “depressing environmental disaster” book, but rather is written in a surprisingly smart, easy style, almost like a mystery novel–you’ll see! Then you can pass the book along to a friend and ask them to put the message out on their email or urge them to buy a copy and pass it along if they wish. You can also go to Plan Bee Central online to sign up for the Plan Bee Action Plan and to find out more about what you can do to ban these pesticides. Buy a copy for Thanksgiving and give thanks to the bees for creating the food you are eating. Buy them as Christmas or holiday gifts so that people can read them over the winter and be prepared to ban locally, plant their bee garden or get their hive to replenish honeybee populations in the spring. I guarantee you will be rewarded for your efforts by meeting a lot of nice people on this journey–I have!
Feel free to–and please–copy and paste this message into your email list or send it to someone with an email list who would be interested. I am so very grateful for your interest and your help. –Barbara Dean Schacker, (his wife) email: mdschacker@earthlink.net or bschacker@strokefamily.org
Related websites to support: ASpringWithoutBees.com, PlanBEECentral.com, strokefamily.org, NewEarthInstitute.com
Michael’s done breakthrough work, and now he and his family (and the planet) need our help. Thanks for any help you can provide, even if it’s simply copying Barbara’s message in an e-mail to your friends.
Carl (originator of the famous, ‘Carlslist’)