Hunt on for Africanized bees JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Defensive, mean and unpredictable, the killers entered through the Port of Jacksonville, hiding among crates and containers arriving daily from other countries. Tomas Mozer's job was to track them down and wipe them out. His quarry: Killer bees. Mozer found two swarms of the Africanized bees last month in bait hives at Blount Island in Jacksonville, marking the first time they had been captured in Florida. The bees have been found 18 times on ships in Florida since 1983, but never in hives on land. Mozer's mission is to make sure the bees don't take up residence in Florida, potentially destroying the state's beekeeping industry and possibly fatally stinging residents, tourists and animals. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559652885-39a> Return To Top <#TOP> | The Environment <#category18> Vt. forests growing back COLCHESTER, Vt. (AP) - The forest has returned in Vermont. A century ago the forest covered only 20% to 30% of the Green Mountain State. The agricultural practices of the 19th century denuded the countryside of trees and of wild animals. But as farming and forestry practices changed, the forests began to grow back. By 1948, about 63% of Vermont was covered by forests. A half century later a Forest Service study found trees covered 78% of the state. The state Agency of Natural Resources reported in January that nearly 900,000 acres has grown into forest over the past 50 years. But even in an era of healthy forests, Vermont's trees face threats reaching beyond those posed by additional subdivisions and parking lots. Pests and fungi can kill hemlock trees, butternut or other species. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559652888-50f> Return To Top <#TOP> | The Environment <#category18> Whale hunt clouds whale conference ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada (AP) - When a Makah Indian's harpoon burst through the hide of a gray whale off Washington state, it drove home a question bedeviling international officials: Now that some types of whales are back in large numbers, do they still need to be saved? The widely publicized hunt last week provided a dramatic prelude to the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, starting Monday on the Caribbean island of Grenada. "The U.S. has no integrity now. I think we're on the threshold of a major escalation in whaling," said Paul Watson of the Washington-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The Makah hunt off Neah Bay, Wash., had the consent of the U.S., which has long opposed commercial whaling but says "subsistence whaling" solely for survival is different. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559654360-89c> *** Also: Makah celebrate whale hunt success, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559645979-0bb> Soybean oil tested as motor oil WASHINGTON (AP) - Researchers say they've developed an alternative use for soybeans - as a motor oil. Researchers from Agro Management Group Inc., of Colorado Springs, Colo., who developed and patented the product, drove two trucks on an 18-day tour through 18 states. One was lubricated with conventional motor oil, the other with the new soybean oil. The two materials performed equally, researchers said. The new product, made from soybean, canola and other vegetable oils, operates in the same way as conventional motor oil but is biodegradable, nontoxic and produces fewer harmful emissions, researchers said. The product will initially be offered only for commercial fleets in Michigan and already is being used in U.S. Postal Service vehicles in Grand Rapids, Mich. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559633911-637> India city to sterilize 30,000 stray dogs LUCKNOW, India (AP) - Alarmed at the increasing number of stray dogs - 30,000 at last count - authorities in Lucknow in northern India have decided to sterilize the animals instead of killing them, officials said Sunday. Some 1,500 people are bitten every year by stray dogs that live in the narrow, crowded streets of Lucknow, 275 miles southeast of New Delhi. In the past the dogs were killed by lethal injection. The animals died a slow, painful death, said veterinarian M.A. Ansari. Many of the animals carry rabies. Mayor S.C. Rai said he is determined to sterilize all stray dogs in the next three years. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559654484-f3c>
