I am very concerned to have learnt that Bayer is suing the European Commission to overturn its two-year ban on the use of Neonicotinoid pesticides. These pesticides are a major factor in the dying off of millions of bees around the world. A huge public push won this landmark ban only months ago. Please, let…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/beekeeping/10206225/Radar-antennae-reveal-how-disease-and-pesticides-are-harming-bees-navigation.html Can you see this, one on top of the other as though mating? Can anyone identify this wasp, please? A Yellow Jacket? http://investmentwatchblog.com/31-percent-of-u-s-honey-bees-were-wiped-out-this-year-who-will-pollinate-our-crops/ Here is an interview I have just done with California. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/themagicoflife/2013/08/09/carol-drinkwater-the-bees-with-max-ryan A BBC Horizon Special entitled What’s Killing Our Bees? was shown last week. Bill Turnbull, journalist and beekeeper, takes a…
La Rentrée in France has several meanings. The Return. It is the time when everyone is heading home, heading north, after their holidays. It is back to school, back to the office. The beginning of autumn, the end of summer. All the big supermarkets are packed with satchels for sale, special deals on exercise books…
Paris in August is a very different and delightful experience. Basically because the city is full of foreigners and many Parisians have fled south to enjoy the sun and their summer holidays so there is an atmosphere of calm. The frantic hooting of traffic and fraught pace of life seems to have been snuffed out….
As July draws to a close and the holiday season is really underway here in the South of France, I thought I would just send a little note to remind you that if you are looking for holiday reads, the entire six-book Olive series is out now as a compilation pack for those of you…
We are at home and the Olive Farm is gearing up for my mother’s 89th birthday this week. I am going out later this morning to order the cake. We have a young couple from the States staying with us. They are on holiday from Morocco. Deep down in the south and close to the…
http://qz.com/107970/scientists-discover-whats-killing-the-bees-and-its-worse-than-you-thought/ Here is a little about the Bumble bee rather than honeybees. Equally fascinating and equally necessary http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/lifecycle/ http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0070182 Isabella Rossellini has a crazy series of films called Green Porno. The films relate the mating habits and rituals of various bugs and beasties Here is Isabella’s take on BEES http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUsm2N0f6GE
Bantry is floating at the water’s edge and all this week the town has been bathed in heat; a glorious midsummer heatwave. This is a different Ireland to the land of my memories, of my childhood, although in those recollections, the sun is always shining and the corn is high even when it was not…
I have arrived into London where the weather is beautiful. England is always transformed by the sun and so are the British. Everyone is talking tennis and upcoming heatwave while I am preparing for the West Cork Literary Festival which begins on Sunday. I have three events there. Writing non-fiction and Memoir, a five-day workshop…
I have been here on this dusty rather over-constructed patch of Mediterranean coast between Sousse and Monastir for the past five days. Along with husband, Michel, I have been attending and participating in a Maghrebian Olive Oil Festival where three of our OLIVE ROUTE films have been screened (to great success). It is my first…
Here is an interview with a beekeeper who has suffered a very high mortality rate within his hives http://www.theorganicview.com/environment/is-corn-planting-to-blame-for-unusual-bee-losses/ The Bumblebee Trust are looking for Volunteers to help at the Bath and West Show this Saturday 1 June so please contact volunteering@bumblebeeconservation.org if you would like to lend a hand. If you live in England,…
Around the world in eighty days… well, perhaps not quite around the world but it certainly feel as though I have not stopped travelling since I last wrote a Newsletter in December. Where to begin? Let me start with the US Tour because it has certainly been a highlight of this year so far. I…
For those of you who have been following my work for at least the past decade, you will know that in one of the earlier OLIVE FARM books, I wrote about the class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids. I knew very little about what was going on back then, except that word was going around,…
Friends, I just created a new petition and I hope you can sign — it’s called: Stop the proposed EU bill to Overhaul Seed Regulations This issue is very importa nt to me, and together we can do something about it! Read more about it and sign it here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Stop_the_proposed_EU_bill_to_Overhaul_Seed_Regulations/?eDtCaab Campaigns like this always start small, but…
After a month of travelling, I arrived back at the Olive Farm a couple of days ago and was greeted by very warm weather and full blown spring. It was a robust and colourful welcome with creatures buzzing about on the open blossoms everywhere and overwhelming happiness from our three dogs. More good news this…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/pesticide-lobby-bees_n_2980870.html From all across the United States, these reports of devastating honeybee losses are being reported.. http://www.prweb.com/releases/bees-honey-raw/mohawk-valley-trading-co/prweb10586699.htm http://goo.gl/exKfW http://sustainablepulse.com/2013/04/10/exclusive-interview-soil-association-policy-head-blames-pesticides-for-uk-bee-genocide/#.UWgsTb90VNR This is worth a look http://billmoyers.com/segment/“dance-of-the-honey-bee”/ This is heartening news..http://www.youris.com/Environment/Bees/
It is lunchtime and I have just completed my first event in New York at the New York Olive Oil Competition down in the trendy district of Tribeca. Farmers, olive producers from all over the world have converged on the city to learn more about the mysteries of this magical fruit and its juice. I…
I am writing this from Hollywood where the day is just breaking and the sun is rising above the verdant hills dotted with shots of startling red and purple bougainvillea. From the window here in my hotel room, I am looking across to the HOLLYWOOD sign. Tonight is my LA event at the Barnsdall Theatre….
The honeybee is not the only insect, natural pollinator in danger. This is a good article and very clear. http://www.guardian.co.uk I am very pleased to see that Damian Carrington is not letting this matter rest. I believe it is the responsibility of all of us to keep up the pressure. If you tweet or use…