For many years, Robert Michael Pyle’s “The Butterflies of Cascadia” has been my go-to reference guide for any non-moth lepidopteran seen in my beloved Pacific Northwest. However as this book is now out of print with even used copies selling for double its original cover price – and unread ones classifiable as “new” well over $100.00 – I can’t very well recommend it to those seeking a guidebook to the area’s species.
Over the past few years, I’ve seen a number of books about bees cross my desk. From reading and reviewing them I’ve learned quite a lot about these amazing creatures; their biology, their ecological significance, and – as particularly emphasized in so many of these books – the challenges they face surviving in the modern […]
For years we’ve been hearing story after story about the importance of conserving honeybees – specifically the European Honeybee, Apis mellifera. Then on 26 January 2018, Science magazine published “Conserving honey bees does not help wildlife” by Jonas Geldmann and Juan P. González-Varo, in which the authors reported that “managed honey bees can harm wild pollinator species.”
I have walked through some of the world’s great man-made cathedrals, and I have walked through some of the Pacific Northwest’s great old growth forests; between the two, I prefer the forests. Not due to any anti-religious sentiments, mind you, rather because just as many people I know find a connection to the universe whilst praying in magnificent temples of glass and stone, I find that connection whilst sitting quietly – my own manner of prayer, if you will – in magnificent temples of moss and trees.