From rddd at dcn.davis.ca.us Thu Apr 24 10:13:48 2008 From: rddd at dcn.davis.ca.us (Robin&Dennis) Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:13:48 -0700 Subject: [OldNorth] Update #2c from Dennis & the colony/hive in demise Message-ID: Bee fans, Third try -- getting the photo smaller than the .3 mb limit. Dennis Bee watchers, Here is the photograph, a bit reduced in size (from .5 mb to .2 mb) to facilitate email movement. The photo is from Wednesday around 2pm. I haven't photoed today's post-removal site of the crime. Dennis Bee watchers of OND, Minor documentation: see attached photo of the 636 B. Street bee-colony entrance plug. Showing is both the recent foam plug and the waxy/glue-gun plug of about four weeks ago. Also visible are some of the dead bees at the 6 foot height of the colony entrance (most dead bees are piled up at the foot of the tree). Also, a field observation report. As of 9:45 this morning the foam plug and the wax plug are both removed from the surface and from most of the visible interior of the entrance hole (the lack of living bees, other than a random exploratory bee appearing from time-to-time, allows one to get up close and look into the hive hole for the first time). The city at work? Dennis Bee fans of OND, Updates show little results. I called Rob Cain, city arborist, who claimed no knowledge of the bee eradication measures and said his arm of the city didn't have any policy about bees in city trees. He wondered if the school district had done it (?). He said he would go take a look. I visited 636 C. Street where only the contractor was on-site and he denied any knowledge about the bees. He said the owner (the Schillings) never visited the site and that the selling realtor was his contact with the owners. I visited Stan Dundon's house (just south of 636 B) and they didn't know about the recent plugging-up of the bee hive. They, in fact, had just worried about the need for bees to pollinate one of their trees and appreciated the nearby hive. Dan Q. has suggested a logic for removing the plug of foam from the hive entrance. I'll look into that this afternoon when I've made further effort to contact the owner. Dan pointed out that for the tree's health, holes/hollows like that shouldn't be shutt up but should be allowed to breathe. Bruce and others (see below) suggest that bees might return if the plug is taken out. Dennis "bee aware!" Dennis - I saw your message as a result of being on the Old North e-mail list, so please pardon the intrusion - I usually do not respond to anything, as it really isn't any of my business. However, in this case, I am quite interested, and I hope you, and Old North in general, pursues the topic with gusto. That is terrible, in my opinion, and I consider it an act of vandalism., and should be treated as such. Let me know if I can help. Jim Dennis: My understanding is that the parking strip is public property. Thus, assuming this isn't a city policy or act, after a suitable notification to the owners of the nearest house -- it is possible they have a resident who is seriously allergic to bee venom -- the foam should be removed. Even if the present hive is dead, it is likely a suitable location will be re-colonized from swarms. This is important to all gardeners in the neighborhood, anyone with backyard fruit trees, etc. Having kept bees, I'm appalled. Bruce Dennis, This makes me sad and mad. I hope that the city considers it an act of vandalism and investigates. Is there any way that the foam can be removed? Love, Robin Shoot. Do stay on this. I'm sad too, and can't believe people could be so horrible. Sheryl I noticed that too and was equally saddened, but figured the property owners had a right to do it. Never thought about the city tree angle. -=rgb On Apr 23, 2008, at 10:42 AM, Robin&Dennis wrote: >Sheryl, > A few minutes ago I checked on the honey bee hive in the Elm >tree in front of 636 B. Street. Someone in the last 24 hours has >plugged up the bee entrance with expanding insulation foam. Dead >bees are all around the former entrance and the hive is surely killed. > That hive was a source of daily pleasure and pride to me >since I first noticed it about 6 months ago. Every daytime >walk-around-the-block with Kirby let me marvel in their >industriousness in coming-and-going at the entrance hole. It is >right about ear height and at night I would put my ear to the tree >and listen to the buzz of thousands of beating wings inside. Honey >bees are dying nationwide from mysterious causes, and bee decline is >a serious economic and biological trend. I have a hard time >imagining the mind-set that would lead to this act of assassination >of our honeybee friends. > I'll check with the city to see if killing bees in street >trees is official policy. However, I suspect it to be an >unauthorized act by the workmen who are daily engaged in some serious >remodelling for the new owners (the Schillings). > >Dennis _________________________ At 1:38 PM -0700 4/23/08, Dan Quickert wrote: >I've taken my stand ;-) > >figured if Dennis wants to persue it, he'd call the City or >something... don't think this needs the full force of the >Association. > >Dan Q > >On 04/23/08 1:00 PM, sheryl lynn gerety wrote: > >>So where do we stand? Has the city been called, do we need to form a group? >> >>Sheryl _______________________________________________ oldnorth mailing list oldnorth at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/oldnorth -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: BEEstreetColonyStressed.JPG Type: image/jpeg Size: 174696 bytes Desc: not available URL: From valerie at vanngroup.com Thu Apr 24 11:39:00 2008 From: valerie at vanngroup.com (Valerie Vann) Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:39:00 -0800 Subject: [OldNorth] Update #2c from Dennis & the colony/hive in demise References: Message-ID: <4810D3C3.BE359D73@vanngroup.com> Dennis, Have you contacted the Enterprise? The Davis Vanguard? The Cal Aggie? A little publicity might raise some awareness that bees need to be encouraged just like bats & owls and our other urban wildlife. Valerie ============ Robin&Dennis wrote: > > Bee fans, > Third try -- getting the photo smaller than the .3 mb > limit. > > Dennis > > Bee watchers, > Here is the photograph, a bit reduced in size (from .5 mb > to .2 mb) to facilitate email movement. The photo is from > Wednesday around 2pm. I haven't photoed today's post-removal site > of the crime. > > Dennis > > Bee watchers of OND, > Minor documentation: see attached photo of the 636 B. > Street bee-colony entrance plug. Showing is both the recent foam > plug and the waxy/glue-gun plug of about four weeks ago. Also > visible are some of the dead bees at the 6 foot height of the > colony entrance (most dead bees are piled up at the foot of the > tree). > Also, a field observation report. As of 9:45 this morning > the foam plug and the wax plug are both removed from the surface > and from most of the visible interior of the entrance hole (the > lack of living bees, other than a random exploratory bee appearing > from time-to-time, allows one to get up close and look into the > hive hole for the first time). The city at work? > > Dennis > > Bee fans of OND, > Updates show little results. > I called Rob Cain, city arborist, who claimed no knowledge > of the bee eradication measures and said his arm of the city > didn't have any policy about bees in city trees. He wondered if > the school district had done it (?). He said he would go take a > look. > I visited 636 C. Street where only the contractor was > on-site and he denied any knowledge about the bees. He said the > owner (the Schillings) never visited the site and that the selling > realtor was his contact with the owners. > I visited Stan Dundon's house (just south of 636 B) and > they didn't know about the recent plugging-up of the bee hive. > They, in fact, had just worried about the need for bees to > pollinate one of their trees and appreciated the nearby hive. > Dan Q. has suggested a logic for removing the plug of foam > from the hive entrance. I'll look into that this afternoon when > I've made further effort to contact the owner. Dan pointed out > that for the tree's health, holes/hollows like that shouldn't be > shutt up but should be allowed to breathe. Bruce and others (see > below) suggest that bees might return if the plug is taken out. > > Dennis > "bee aware!" > > Dennis - I saw your message as a result of being on the Old North > e-mail list, so please pardon the intrusion - I usually do not > respond to anything, as it really isn't any of my business. > However, in this case, I am quite interested, and I hope you, and > Old North in general, pursues the topic with gusto. That is > terrible, in my opinion, and I consider it an act of vandalism., > and should be treated as such. Let me know if I can help. Jim > > Dennis: > My understanding is that the parking strip is public > property. Thus, > assuming this isn't a city policy or act, after a suitable > notification to > the owners of the nearest house -- it is possible they have a > resident who > is seriously allergic to bee venom -- the foam should be removed. > Even if > the present hive is dead, it is likely a suitable location will be > re-colonized from swarms. This is important to all gardeners in > the > neighborhood, anyone with backyard fruit trees, etc. Having kept > bees, I'm > appalled. > Bruce > > Dennis, > This makes me sad and mad. I hope that the city > considers it an act of vandalism and investigates. Is > there any way that the foam can be removed? Love, > Robin > > Shoot. Do stay on this. I'm sad too, and can't believe people > could be so horrible. > Sheryl > > I noticed that too and was equally saddened, but figured the > property owners had a right to do it. Never thought about the city > tree angle. > > -=rgb > > On Apr 23, 2008, at 10:42 AM, Robin&Dennis wrote: > > > Sheryl, > > A few minutes ago I checked on the honey bee hive in the Elm > > > tree in front of 636 B. Street. Someone in the last 24 hours > > has > > plugged up the bee entrance with expanding insulation foam. > > Dead > > bees are all around the former entrance and the hive is surely > > killed. > > That hive was a source of daily pleasure and pride to me > > > since I first noticed it about 6 months ago. Every daytime > > walk-around-the-block with Kirby let me marvel in their > > industriousness in coming-and-going at the entrance hole. It is > > right about ear height and at night I would put my ear to the > > tree > > and listen to the buzz of thousands of beating wings inside. > > Honey > > bees are dying nationwide from mysterious causes, and bee > > decline is > > a serious economic and biological trend. I have a hard time > > imagining the mind-set that would lead to this act of > > assassination > > of our honeybee friends. > > I'll check with the city to see if killing bees in street > > trees is official policy. However, I suspect it to be an > > unauthorized act by the workmen who are daily engaged in some > > serious > > > remodelling for the new owners (the Schillings). > > > > Dennis > > _________________________ > > At 1:38 PM -0700 4/23/08, Dan Quickert wrote: > > > I've taken my stand ;-) > > > > figured if Dennis wants to persue it, he'd call the City or > > something... don't think this needs the full force of the > > Association. > > > > Dan Q > > > > On 04/23/08 1:00 PM, sheryl lynn gerety wrote: > > > >> So where do we stand? Has the city been called, do we need to > >> form a group? > >> > >> Sheryl > > > > _______________________________________________ > oldnorth mailing list > oldnorth at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us > http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/oldnorth > > Name: BEEstreetColonyStressed.JPG > BEEstreetColonyStressed.JPG Type: JPEG Image (image/jpeg) > Encoding: base64 > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > _______________________________________________ > oldnorth mailing list > oldnorth at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us > http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/oldnorth From winterety at sbcglobal.net Thu Apr 24 17:16:08 2008 From: winterety at sbcglobal.net (sheryl lynn gerety) Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:16:08 -0700 Subject: [OldNorth] City Council Candidates' Forum Message-ID: Sierra Club and Davis Neighborhood Coalition City Council Candidate Forum Please join us at a City Council Candidates Forum on Wednesday, April 30 from 7:00 to 9:30 PM in the Community Chambers at 23 Russell Boulevard. The Sierra Club Yolano Group and the Davis Neighborhood Coalition are sponsoring the forum. Council candidates will be answering questions submitted by Sierra Club and the Coalition regarding important environmental, neighborhood and community issues, and will also take questions from the floor. The forum will also be recorded live and broadcast on our local government channel. The format of this forum is designed to provide an educational experience for the public regarding the views of the city council candidates. The public will have the opportunity to review the questions and background materials at the beginning of the forum, and to participate by submitting their own questions. This forum has been timed so that voters can make informed decisions when voting for the Davis City Council. The absentee ballots for this election begin to be issued on May 5, last day to register to vote is May 19, and election day is June 3. For more information regarding the forum, please contact DNC Chair, Holly Bishop at 753-2773 or Yolano Group co-chairs Pam Nieberg at 756-6856 and Stacie Frerichs at 758-0807. Please send out to your lists. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: