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Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary

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41–50 of 121 posts

Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary

#41
post #19

That's nice, but the honeybee population is not declining. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/88117/err-246.... http://time.com/4885569/honeybee-population-increase/ https://www.agprofessional.com/article/bee-population-rising...

That's nice, but none of those articles address wild populations.

Nice people on all sides.

Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary

#42

This article is a bit superficial. CCD is more than just pesticides killing bees. The invasive varroa mite is likely a big factor. It’s a good thing that he is taking care of bees. The solution might be more complex than sanctuaries though— IE how can we reduce the mite population? Potential CCD Causes According to EPA: ... researchers who are leading the effort to find out why are now focused on these factors: Incre…

I like bees, but aren't they effectively an invasive species too?

When temperatures increased, fauna and habitat changed drastically, causing the extinction of Apis in the New World until they were reintroduced by European settlers in 1622 (Engel et al. 2009).

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/9700...

Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary

#43
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you live in a HOA

HOAs are exceedingly rare in Canada, outside condo associations.

The GP's neighbor sounds like they have their panties in a bunch but going out of your way not to offend/annoy those kind of people is just the reality in those kind of places. If you want to live somewhere "nice" but not the middle of nowhere you need to conform. Unfortunately things like having a large garden, having parties, having a project boat, or collecting late 80s vintage cars do not fit within the scope of "conforming" for the purposes of the upper middle class suburban neighborhoods that most HNers will settle down in. The GP didn't conform so his neighbor complained and someone sent him a letter on official letterhead. It doesn't really matter who's letterhead it's on.

Only well off suburban/urban communities the resources to justify mediating disputes to the tune of "my neighbor's hobbies look/sound/smell offensive". If you want freedom to do what you want on your own property you need your neighbors to either have bigger problems or be far enough away to not care. Those places don't generally have good schools or aren't within commuting distance of lots of good jobs. There's tradeoffs to every approach.

Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary

#44
post #19

That's nice, but the honeybee population is not declining. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/88117/err-246.... http://time.com/4885569/honeybee-population-increase/ https://www.agprofessional.com/article/bee-population-rising...

That's nice, but none of those articles address wild populations.

The original article is about Morgan Freeman keeping honeybees, in case you didn't read it.

Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary

#46

That's nice, but the honeybee population is not declining. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/88117/err-246.... http://time.com/4885569/honeybee-population-increase/ https://www.agprofessional.com/article/bee-population-rising...

Is the wild bee population also increasing, or is the increase due to the beekeeping "industry" (as it is termed in your [1])?

Nobody knows. But most crop pollination is performed by wild bee species that are common, not threatened or endangered.

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8414

For an acerbic look at the "... but wild bees" argument, see:

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_8913974

Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary

#47
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it can easily be corrupted since you can’t define “good outcome”, and it’s impossible to prosecute quid pro quo for a wink and nod deal since there isn’t sufficient evidence. In a democracy, the government exists to provide a set of services agreed upon by the people for the benefit of all the people, many times via their elected representatives. Roads, educational facilities, welfare, military, all of those…

> If you want tax dollars to support a cause, then vote for it. This is literally what people have voted for by having tax deductions for certain "good" things, like giving to charity, using some of your land for bees or whatever. Just because it's agreed that something should be done in the aggregate, doesn't mean that it needs to be centrally managed by some state agency. You decide X is wanted, and then leave the…

I think it's easier to hold fewer larger entities accountable, assuming we mandate transparency, than many small ones. Increasing complexity always benefits the seller (politicians and their influencers). Ideally, all tax receipts would go into one pot, and then all expenditures would come out of it, so it's simple to account for.

We have a system that enables "donations" to religious tribes in exchange for political support or politicians looting current taxpayers in exchange for future votes by kicking retiree benefit costs 30 years into the future (this is literally happening now).

All of these undesirable outcomes for society are only happening because the complexity creates plausible deniability and difficulty in accounting.

If people want to donate, let them donate, but it needs not having anything to do with taxes. We can save resources on enforcing tax laws, preparing tax filings, and obviously remove all this under the table stuff. Just like how electronic payments reduce tax fraud, only difference is we need total transparency.

Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it can easily be corrupted since you can’t define “good outcome”, and it’s impossible to prosecute quid pro quo for a wink and nod deal since there isn’t sufficient evidence. In a democracy, the government exists to provide a set of services agreed upon by the people for the benefit of all the people, many times via their elected representatives. Roads, educational facilities, welfare, military, all of those…

> Roads, educational facilities, welfare, military, all of those expenses don’t disappear because someone decided to donate something. They also wouldn't disappear if Morgan Freeman had decided to volunteer his labor for a foundation for free - thereby not earning any taxable income - yet the State would have to work it out. In this case, the labor donation was just done indirectly.

The point is that you can't tell if it was a donation, or if it was something else. Just like a donation to a certain non profit organization isn't just a donation, but buying votes, or in exchange for some other favor.

The incentive to donate should be wanting to donate, there doesn't need to be anything on top of that from the government.

Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it can easily be corrupted since you can’t define “good outcome”, and it’s impossible to prosecute quid pro quo for a wink and nod deal since there isn’t sufficient evidence. In a democracy, the government exists to provide a set of services agreed upon by the people for the benefit of all the people, many times via their elected representatives. Roads, educational facilities, welfare, military, all of those…

Wasn't this voted on? There must be some existing program he is enrolling into. That didn't come from nothing, it would have been developed and voted on by elected representatives.

Yes, it was voted on in the same way, but I'm trying to say that it's adding unnecessary complexity. In my ideal future, it would be nice to see a much more simplified, transparent government.

Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary

#50
post #42

This article is a bit superficial. CCD is more than just pesticides killing bees. The invasive varroa mite is likely a big factor. It’s a good thing that he is taking care of bees. The solution might be more complex than sanctuaries though— IE how can we reduce the mite population? Potential CCD Causes According to EPA: ... researchers who are leading the effort to find out why are now focused on these factors: Incre…

I like bees, but aren't they effectively an invasive species too? When temperatures increased, fauna and habitat changed drastically, causing the extinction of Apis in the New World until they were reintroduced by European settlers in 1622 (Engel et al. 2009). https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/9700...

Depends upon what bee specific species and where. "Honey bees" (genus Apis) alone comprise several species which may or may not be considered invasive. In the particular case of the linked UMich paper, Apis mellifera (note: species mellifera, the Western/European Honey Bee) is definitely an invasive species to North America.

This says nothing of the, arguably more important, wild bee population, e.g. bumble bees (genus Bombus) ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee#Claims_of_hu...

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