We only nibbled it here, but Andy over at Ecosystems and Poverty has a somewhat longer post about the new book on the “lost fruits” of Africa. Maybe we should have given it more respect. The previous books in the series, which covered Africa and the Andes, are very good indeed.
Building a better chocolate market
It is possible there may be too many ethical cocoa schemes out there. There’s Fairtrade and the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership. And the Good Inside Cocoa Programme, with Mars and Nestle on board. Is it all getting a bit too complicated? Do we have too much of this good thing?
Something else for honeybees to worry about
Gene Expression posted a couple of great videos yesterday. The first shows some Asian Giant Hornets attacking a colony of European honeybees, and wreaking total havoc in minutes. The second, which I’ll reproduce below, shows what the native Japanese honeybee species can do to marauding hornets.
Amazing stuff. Incidentally, hornet larvae and pupae are eaten in Japan as a kind of sashimi. And synthetic versions of vespan secretions are being marketed as dietary supplements.
Of rats, bamboo and semelparous mass flowering
Over at Ecosystem and Poverty, our friend and occasional guest contributor Andy is asking whether anyone has a use for bamboo flowering culms… BTW, thanks for linking to our latest posts, Andy.
Yet more potato salad
And part 38. “La papa es peruana.” Chileans unavailable for comment.