Bee Afraid: The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Honeybee

Published in The Source Weekly
September 2012

All seemed well that late winter morning when Bend resident Allen Engle headed out to check on his hives. The chill in the air held a hint of spring, the ducks flew overhead returning north and Engle was ready for his bees to rouse themselves out of their winter torpor.
A shocking sight awaited him when he lifted the first lid and saw the neat stack of wooden frames, thick with honeycomb but not a single bee.
In his 20 years of keeping bees, Engle had never experienced such a dramatic loss, yet in the months since he has lost four more hives with no explanation.
He’s not alone.
At the monthly meetings of the Central Oregon Beekeepers Association, he regularly hears similar stories from fellow beekeepers, some of whom have lost half their hives or more.
Their meeting topics have evolved from basic beekeeping strategies to serious science as they struggle to answer the question plaguing beekeepers, not just in Central Oregon, but across the country: What is happening to our bees?

Biking the MacKenzie Trail

Published March 2012 in Northwest Cyclist

Fuel the Fun: Winter Picnics

Published in OutdoorsNW
February, 2012

Read the online version here - page 21!

FlipKey.com Travel Blog

Here is a sampling of guest blog posts for Trip Advisor's vacation rental guide:

Prepare for Ski Season with the Four S's:
There’s more to a great ski vacation than just a lift ticket and a cozy apres-ski fireplace. To really prepare for a week on the slopes, skiers should plan on covering the four S’s: swaps, squats, socks, and snow-dancing. November is the time to start planning for ski season, to be fully prepared to make that first run! (click title for full article.)

A Thanksgiving Education
As Thanksgiving approaches, kids all across the United States are crafting construction paper into tall, black pilgrim hats and Native American-style headbands with yellow and orange paper feathers, and  rehearsing their parts for the school play to reenact the first Thanksgiving harvest dinner. If that sums up the extent of your kids’ knowledge of Native American culture and history, it’s time to plan a visit to the newest of the Smithsonian museums along the Mall in Washington DC: the National Museum of the American Indian. (click title for full article.)

The Oregon Coast on Two Wheels
Great road trips don’t always involve four-wheeled vehicles—sometimes two wheels are all you need. Traveling by bike has its own set of challenges: more planning is required, shorter distances are covered each day, and a strong headwind can really influence your plans. But in return, road bike travelers get a unique view of the countryside, the satisfaction of miles well-earned, and a great set of strong, defined legs! (click title for full article.)

Out of Service: Stress and the Working Dog

Published in Good Dog Journal, a Nomad Editions publication

October 2011

 

In 1998, after Hurricane Mitch blew through Honduras and killed more than 14,000 people, Harry Oakes and his canine search-and-rescue team spent eight days combing the floodplains and climbing rocky hillsides, searching for bodies. The work was physically demanding and emotionally exhausting for both the dogs and the handlers. “Dogs get very upset by human death,” said Oakes.

Tuning in to the emotional states of his dogs has become second nature to Oakes, CEO and Coordinator for International K9 Search and Rescue Services in Longview, Washington. For more than two decades, Oakes has been training dogs for search and rescue missions (SAR), ranging from tracking down missing persons to finding people trapped in the rubble of natural disasters. He is acutely aware of the stress that these missions can provoke. “We work very hard to keep the dog’s experiences positive, even in trauma situations,” he said.

Whether they are searching for survivors, comforting the ill in hospital settings, guiding the blind through city streets, detecting explosives in a battle zone or performing other essential services, working dogs solve an ever-increasing variety of problems for humans. The dogs’ unique skills help make human lives easier, safer, and less stressful. But what is the cost to the dogs? A growing number of dog trainers, handlers, and researchers suspect that working dogs may harbor stress of their own and the work we ask them to perform can lead to burn out, mental exhaustion, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).