What’s Causing Colony Collapse Disorder? A few different theories are currently circulating that may explain the bee die-offs: Pesticides and insecticides ... Malnutrition/Nutritional deficiencies ... Viruses and fungi ... The Cell Phone Connection: Are EMFs Causing Bee Colonies to Collapse? ... Beware of Contaminated Honey ... “Honey laundering” may sound odd, but it’s actually quite serious as much of this honey is tainted with illegal antibiotics, including chloramphenicol, and heavy metals like lead. (Tuesday December 25th, 2012 – Care2.com - USA)

Don’t Panic, Maybe Organic CAN Feed the World Over and over again, I have had this (civilized) argument with certain individuals about whether or not organic food was more delicious (too subjective of a judgment), more nutritious (yes, in a few instances) and able to feed the entirety of the planet (not so says detractors). ... it seems that it is not only possible, but may be our one and only hope in sustaining the planet and the growing population. A 2010 United Nations study concluded that organic and other sustainable farming methods that come under the umbrella of what the study’s authors called “agroecology” would be necessary to feed the future world. ...It called for governments to pay more attention to small-scale farmers and sustainable practices — shooting down the bigger-is-inevitably-better notion that huge factory farms and their efficiencies of scale are necessary to feed the world. (Thursday February 23rd, 2012 – Care2.com - USA)

Hormel Gestation Crates: Spam Maker To (Mostly) Eliminate Cruel Practice By 2017 Riding the coattails of Smithfield Food's announcement to stop using gestation crates by 2017, Hormel, the makers of SPAM, have followed suit. Hormel plans to eliminate most gestation crates also by 2017. Gestation crates are used to house pregnant hogs, and in several documented instances, are so small that the pig cannot move around. (Friday February 3rd, 2012 – Huffington Post - USA)

Incredible X-Ray Images Of Seashells And Fossils Captured By Photographer Bert Myers Using an X-ray machine, Bert Myers captures the breathtaking stillness of nature. The series includes shots of everything from a sea urchin to seashells and fossils of aquatic life. (Friday February 3rd, 2012 – Huffington Post - USA)

Offshore Wind Development Will Not Cause 'Major Environmental Damage,' Federal Review Finds Offshore wind farms from New Jersey to Virginia took a big step closer to reality with the completion of a review that showed the renewable energy source would leave no major environmental damage, officials said Thursday. (Friday February 3rd, 2012 – Huffington Post - USA)

Sciences in middle school The Waldorf approach to science is different from that used in mainstream schools. There the teacher typically presents a hypothesis of cause and effect, and the students carry out an experiment to test the hypothesis. This method is linear and has predictable results. The thinking involved is primarily a process of data acquisition and accessing. (Friday February 3rd, 2012 – Conway Daily Sun - North Conway, New Hampshire USA)

'Supergiant' crustacean found in deepest ocean A huge crustacean has been found lurking 7km down in the waters off the coast of New Zealand. The creature - called a supergiant - is a type of amphipod, which are normally around 2-3cm long. But these beasts, discovered in the Kermadec Trench, were more than 10 times bigger: the largest found measured in at 34cm. (Thursday February 2nd, 2012 – BBC online - UK)

Advertorial: Biodynamic Agricultural College Biodynamic Agricultural College – Specialist courses in Biodynamics: Principles and Practices. Now available on line with our new Distance Learning course in January 2012 ... Biodynamic agriculture is the oldest consciously organic approach to farming and gardening and is one of the most sustainable in existence. It is founded on a holistic and spiritual understanding of nature and the human being and builds on the pioneering research work of Rudolf Steiner. (Thursday February 2nd, 2012 – The Ecologist - London, UK)

Group Delivers Thousands of Pounds of Produce to Foodbank Green B.E.A.N. delivered 3,000 pounds of onions and potatoes Wednesday morning to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank warehouse in Grove City. ... B.E.A.N. stands for Biodynamic, Education, Agriculture and Nutrition. (Thursday February 2nd, 2012 – 10TV - Grove City, Ohio USA)

Many in Rosemont Consider Waldorf-Style School or many parents, one of the main attractions of a small high school just east of Rosemont is what it doesn't have. "We do not have fights. We do not have theft," said Allegra Alessandri, principal of George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science. (Thursday February 2nd, 2012 – Patch.com - Santa Cruz County, California USA)

Mega volcanoes 'may be predicted' The eruption of some of the largest volcanoes on the planet could be predicted several decades before the event, according to researchers. Analysis of rock crystals from the Greek island of Santorini suggests eruptions are preceded by a fast build-up of magma underground, which might be detected using modern instrumentation. (Thursday February 2nd, 2012 – BBC online - UK)

Mysteries of Killer Whales Uncovered in the Antarctic Two of the world’s leading experts on the world’s top marine predator are now in Antarctica, tagging and photographing a creature whose remarkably cooperative hunting behavior and transmission of knowledge across generations may be rivaled only by humans. (Thursday February 2nd, 2012 – Yale Environment 360 - New Haven, Connecticut USA)

Enjoying the friuts of their labours Graeme is on the council of Biodynamics Tasmania and manages the vineyard strictly in accordance with biodynamic principles, including making all his own sprays and a range of biodynamic teas. (Wednesday February 1st, 2012 – Tasmania Mercury - Hobart, Tasmania, Australia)

Monsanto’s new seeds could be a tech dead end .., the “exciting” new seeds are simply resistant to more than one kind of pesticide. Rather than resisting Monsanto’s glyphosate-based Roundup alone, they will now also be resistant to Dow AgroScience’s pesticide 2,4-D . “A new pesticide,“ you say. “How exciting!” Except 2,4-D, despite its catchy name, has been around since World War II. Not only is it one of the most commonly used pesticides in the world, but it came to further prominence in certain circles when it was incorporated as a main ingredient in Agent Orange. (Monday January 30th, 2012 – Grist Magazine - USA)

New Agtivist: Colin Archipley is teaching soldiers to farm Archipley and his wife Karen pooled their resources to open the farm in 2007. Their mission is twofold; they hope to operate a successful small-scale organic farm and help soldiers make the transition from fighters to champions of sustainable agriculture and financial independence. Together the couple runs a program called Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training (VSAT), a six-week course run in partnership with two local community colleges that focuses on organics and hydroponics (and the combination of the two, which is rare), as well as greenhouse production and the basics of putting together a business plan. (Monday January 30th, 2012 – Grist Magazine - USA)

Senior home thinks ‘outside the box’ In my last column, I wrote about Hesperus Village and its roots in the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner who, among other things, founded the Waldorf education system which focuses on the “body, soul and spirit of children.” (Hesperus Village is located on the campus of the 42-year-old Toronto Waldorf School.) Although unaligned with any specific religion, Hesperus Village reflects Steiner’s spiritual and philosophical views — a humanistic approach to caring for one another within a community. ... “It might seem unusual that we have so many two-bedrooms here,” she says. “Most social housing for seniors is built with bachelors and one bedrooms. But we thought old age could be a time of sharing an apartment again. We have mothers and daughters on our waiting list and a couple with a grown son who would sometimes stay with them. Or there could be sisters or a couple of seniors who are friends and would be willing to share. (Saturday January 28th, 2012 – Toronto Star - Toronto, Ontario CaSenior home thinks ‘outside the box’nada)

Singing of France's Unsung Chenin Blanc The central Loire is a cradle of so-called natural wine making, and of organic and biodynamic viticulture, thanks in part to the towering presence of Nicolas Joly, the messianic proprietor of Coulée de Serrant in Savennières. (Saturday January 28th, 2012 – Wall Street Journal - New York, New York USA)

On the side: Festival spotlights wine According to Beckmen, “Since we’ve gone biodynamic, we have produced some of our best wines ever.” As the wine industry continues to grow and diversify here in the Santa Ynez Valley, it has become more important to create wines that represent the essence or terroir of our local vineyards. (Friday January 27th, 2012 – Santa Ynez Valley Journal - Santa Ynez, California USA)

Questions and answer with culinary director, co-owner Can you give us a nutshell explanation of the benefits of biodynamic farming? Maria Helm Sinskey: It’s holistic – it looks at the health of the whole environment instead of focusing on one thing. If focuses on the ecosystem of the vine, particularly the health of the soil, integration of plants and animals and biodiversity in the vineyard. (Friday January 27th, 2012 – Napa Valley Register - California USA)

The Waldorf way The Waldorf Method, which started in 1919 in Germany, approaches academics through the arts and nature. Those involved with the Grand Junction Art Based Charter School Initiative think that adapting some of the Waldorf methods for use in a public charter school setting would be an effective alternative for parents who want their children educated more through the arts and personal discovery than from textbooks. (Friday January 27th, 2012 – Grand Junction Sentinel - Grand Junction, Colorado USA)