The threats facing honey bees have not changed in recent years, with almost one-third of the managed beehives in the U.S. dying each year, according to entomologists. Fortunately, the local group Friends of Honeybees is stepping up with some solutions. In addition to its ongoing restaurant campaign, the group is assisting with some new outreach projects including Center for Honeybee Research’s “Black Jar” honey-tasting competition. It’s novel, organizers say, in that the judges will not actually see the honeys as they judge the entries: they will compare on taste alone. Entries are being accepted now through August 15.
The Forest Service is advising hikers, campers, birdwatchers, and other forest visitors to be mindful of an “extremely dangerous” group of forest users: marijuana growers. National Forests of North Carolina press officer Stevin Westcott tells Xpress that marijuana seizures in North Carolina during fiscal year 2010 totaled 38,202 plants — a big increase over the 3,010 plants seized the year before.
On Thursday, April 14, Environmental Protection Agency officials hosted another in a long series of community meetings about the contaminated CTS site in south Asheville. Just a few weeks ago, the EPA had announced that the vacant Mills Gap Road property was being proposed for the National Priorities List (aka the Superfund program). But with a final decision not coming till September, the EPA convened the April 14 meeting to report what resources are available to local residents. Photo by Katie Damien.
