May 15, 2008 2:54 pm US/Eastern
Reporter Notebook: What Happened To The Honeybees?
WORCESTER
Investigating the mysterious disappearance of honeybee colonies, affecting multi-million dollar crops, is not how typical television reporters and videographers expect to spend their day; but that's what the legendary lensman we call T-Mac and I are doing at this writing.
We just came out of some hives in Hadley without getting stung... despite one bumbler who got stuck in my hair. That's where UMass Amherst Professor John Burand is studying "colony collapse disorder," CCD, with a federal grant he just received.
Prof. Burand (a Cleveland fan who agreed to keep our interview appointment even after I told him I was at the Celtics game last night...GREAT COMEBACK, by the way...GO RONDO!) has a working hypothesis that suggests viruses, parasites, pesticides and the environment are stressing bees and making them disappear.
T-Mac made some excellent video of bees and the lab work underway at UMass which should help tell the story. I'm just about to screen the clips on my laptop as we buzz down the Pike toward our bureau to write, edit and feed our story to Boston. We think it's a cool story that may affect all of us and hope you'll enjoy it.
That's all for now from the Quaboag River overpass near the Palmer exit. See you on TV at 6 or online at wbztv.com.
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