One in every three bites of food we eat depends on bees. Without bees, our local and global food systems would collapse. Recently, Colony Collapse Disorder has become a buzzword. It refers to the sudden death of honeybee colonies from a myriad of causes, from toxic pesticides to viruses, to disease, and is becoming more and more common in industrial beekeeping operations. But, could the Colony Collapse plague Cortes Island’s own bees?
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Notes From The Health & Wellness Breakout Group
The following notes are from the Health & Wellness Breakout Group at the April 7th Cortes Island Virtual Town Hall meeting.
In our breakout group we addressed how to best take care of ourselves during the pandemic crisis. This is a summary of our conversation. Importantly, NONE OF THIS REPLACES APPROPRIATE MEDICAL CARE SHOULD RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS OCCUR. And of course, no herbs or supplements are known to be effective against COVID-19. Herbal medicines should not be used by anyone taking medications regularly before consulting a licensed health care professional.
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Ways To Reduce COVID-19’s Impact
ScienceDirect recently published a research paper by Paul Stamets and six scientists, from the University of Arizona and the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, called “Integrative Considerations During The COVID-19 Pandemic.” Though written in scientific terms, there is enough plain english words to make it understandable for lay people. For example: the key word in the phrase “liquiritigenin from Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice)”is, of course, ‘licorice.’ Stamets and his colleagues listed a number of ways to reduce COVID-19’s impact.
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Paul Stamets’ Anti-dote for Colony Collapse Disorder
There was an upside to this summer’s long ferry waits at the Whaletown terminal on Cortes island. One of North America’s leading fungi experts, Paul Stamets, was in the car in front of me. While we were waiting for a second ferry, he told me about his discovery of an anti-dote for colony collapse disorder.
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The Energetic Forest
Originally published on Cortes Radio, as part of the Deep Roots Initiative, Season One.
“Do trees communicate? Do they look after each other and other species?
Story Producer Rick Bockner unearths a sophisticated network of co-dependent life forces, below and above our feet.
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