Facebook
X (Twitter)
Reddit
Pinterest
Tumblr
Delicious
LinkedIn
StumbleUpon
UC Gardening Blogs
Growing Interest in Bee Sting Therapy Research as a Possible COVID-19 Treatment?
"Honey bee venom treatment may become a new tool in the search for new ways to prevent infection...
Former professional bee wrangler Norm Gary getting ready for a documentary in 2010. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is the sign in front of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. It once doubled as a bee hive; Laidlaw treated his arthritis with some of the bee venom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Who's Who of COVID-19 Experts at UC Davis-Based Symposium
The panelists and participants in the UC Davis-based Third COVID-19 Symposium are literally...
The UC Davis-based Third COVID-19 Symposium will take place Wednesday, June 3. A pre-program starts at 4:30, and the panelists will convene from 5 to 7 p.m.
A Study in Contrasts
The third country we visited during our last trip, which also included Cambodia and Myanmar, was Vietnam. At the time of being there, we were primarily trapped in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and I was thinking that having something to say about the natural environment would be next to impossible. We were only in the cities a few days and they were reminiscent of other third-world places like Delhi and Mumbi: they have a lot of cultural interest but largely seem studies in questionable urban survival strategy. Traffic is terrible and the air is so polluted that you could use the particulates to spice your food. But, as usual, people find a way to make life interesting and our boat ride on the Mekong Delta proved almost whimsical.
There are lots of people living on the Delta on houseboats, some moving and some not. There seem to be several kinds of houseboats. From the perspective of the casual tourist, they are merely rather different models. They are interesting to look at. For one thing, they are exposed to the elements 24/7. Many seemed in marginal condition, covered with the omnipresent blue tarp, looking like they could use a good dry dock for repairs. Family members were scurrying around and fishing seemed like the main business being pursued. There was clearly a rich life on the boat and I suspect that even though I didn't witness interactions between boat, it hard to believe that there wasn't some amount of contact.
By far the most surprising sight was the flower pots. The majority of the dwellings were decorated with flowers galore. There were pots hanging from every hook and a flat surface on the outside (and possibly inside also). The plants were not water plants, but what you might expect in an outdoor garden – marigolds and other common flowers. With the river water available, I imagine the care was minimal, but it was quite a sight for me to see the houses that looked like they could easily collapse, were actually being lived in by families who cared enough to make their surroundings softer and greener. It puts the Sausalito McMansion houseboats in a bigger framework of homes-on-water.
The big lesson for me, as a tourist, is to get outside the city to see the contrasts and the richness of the possibilities.
photo by Lowell Cooper
Quarantine Baking and Kitchen Pests
As many people you know have turned to baking during quarantine, it is likely that ingredients such...
Could Bee Sting Therapy Possibly Have a Role in COVID-19 Treatment?
Could bee sting therapy possibly have a role in COVID-19 treatment? Maybe. Maybe not. Should...
Can bee venom therapy have a role in treating COVID-19 patients? That remains to be seen or studied. This image shows a bee sting in action. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A frame of honey bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
