Posts by sprigglys

Taken from the book, A Guide the Wonderful World Around Us: Notes on Nature by Brannen Basham. Annoying but important  You know carpenter bees- the large yellow and black insects that bore holes in wood and can sometimes be seen patrolling their territories. These traits have given the carpenter bee a bad rap which it…

Honey bees aren’t the only pollinators suffering You’ve heard about the dangers facing honey bees- pests, diseases, and pesticides have stressed the species to a critical point. This threatens to make using honey bees for pollination services much more costly and difficult. The pollination of of dollars worth of crops hangs in the balance. However, we…

Beyond the beauty  While many of us take pleasure in being around blooming plants because of their beauty, a closer look reveals the true nature of flowers. What might at first glance appear to be a peaceful wildflower meadow is actually the site of frenzied activity. For many creatures on Earth, a collection of flowers…

We are experiencing the highest concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our environment ever seen by humankind. There’s a lot of talk going on right now about the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and exactly what that means. Although spikes such as this have happened somewhat frequently in Earth’s history, many scientists are concerned about…