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Uno could probably make you deader...
Want to Stop Colony Collapse? Print Your Own Beehive (Really!)By Liz Dwyer | Takepart.com | April 1, 2014 4:39 PM If you've ever observed a beehive, you know that an incredible amount of teamwork goes into keeping the colony running. Beekeepers have a similar tradition of sharing ideas and collaborating, and with one-third of U.S. colonies having died off since 2006, there's plenty of conversation about what saves bees. Also, if more people—and by “more people,” we mean you—become beekeepers, there will be more data about what's helping or hurting bees.That's the idea behind Open Source Beehive, a crowdsourced science project created by a global team of eco-technologists. The effort is a “collaborative response to the threat faced by bee populations in industrialised nations around the world.”Anyone around the world can download a hive design for free. Next, all you have to do is head to a maker space or a fab lab to access a machine that can reproduce the pattern on wood and cut it out for you. It sounds complicated, but don't worry, the project provides a list of places across the country, so it's as plug-and-play as possible. The key to these hives, however, is the Smart Citizen Kit, which is an open-source sensor that transmits data to an open platform. The sensors send data on the general health and behavior of the bees as well as the temperature of each hive and whether pesticide residue is present. The hope is that the “data collected from each hive" will be "published together with geolocations allowing for a further comparison and analysis of the hives.” The project's Indiegogo campaign is currently raising funds to help refine the sensors. Andre Houssney, one of Open Source Beehive's advisers, says that a major challenge to solving colony collapse disorder is that much of the research out there is funded by corporations like Monsanto. Producers of genetically modified crops are known to spray them with neonicotinoid pesticides, which are believed to be so dangerous to bees that Eugene, Ore., recently banned their use on city property.That's why Houssney, who runs Zambeezi, a Zambian-based social enterprise that produces organic, fair-trade honey and beeswax products, believes the citizen-led information data gathering that'll happen through this project could provide an alternative perspective.“If we could get enough people to get their sensors out there, get their beehives out there, we could start to collect data on what’s really causing colony collapse,” says Houssney.
Bumblebee die-off http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=8094
Kerbal NASA spinoff http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=8097