The frame holds the honeycomb, within which individual cells are used to raise baby bees, store nectar and make their food, "bee bread," from pollen. Pesticide drift, commercial use of Bt, mites, fungi, cell phones, and even starvation from habitat loss are being investigated for this year's losses. Cindy McNatt Garden columnist The Orange County RegisterGo to our Online Garden Center cmcnatt@ocregister.com Who knew that the guy next door who wears a suit and designer loafers during the...

The researcher sits at a table 5 or 10 feet behind three targets, with a computer and wires that connect to a metal plate the elephant stands on, with a 10-pound shaker attached. They are specialists in seismic communication, relying upon sound waves that travel within the surface of the ground instead of through the air. She said most study of seismic communication among animals has been limited to small rodents and insects -- a world that O'Connell, with a master's degree in entomology,...

Munro said about 40 seals are lining up most nights along the shadow cast by the lights to feed on out-migrating smolts -- juvenile salmon -- and returning adults. Brian Munro, operations manager at the Puntledge Hatchery, said Fisheries officials previously noticed the seals moved elsewhere when the lights were switched off for maintenance. And it's upsetting sport fishermen, who have called for killing seals near Courtenay to protect a summer run of spawning chinook that is down to a few...

National Guard troops were called out to help sort through what the Maverick County Sheriff's Department chief dispatcher called the "havoc" left behind as intense winds, quarter-size hail, flash flooding and at least one tornado swept through this community near the Mexico border. National Guard troops were called out to help sort through what the Maverick County Sheriff's Department chief dispatcher called the "havoc" left behind as intense winds, quarter-size hail, flash flooding and at...

He won't mow it, because the nectar in the flowers feeds the bees in the 30 hives he keeps for fun to produce quarts of honey by the jar. Hood said officials haven't pinned down the cause of the hive decline, but they suspect eight to 10 possibilities and hope studies will lead to some conclusions later this year. Aware of the mass bee die-offs reported across the United States, Lewis lets the clover flourish as a tool to help ensure the longevity of his hives. About one-third of the human...