APIS Volume 7, Number 5, May 1989
In this issue
- On the Business of Ethics
- Bar Codes on Bees and Honey
- Intelligence--Man, Bee, Boojum
- Bee-l Network Begins
ON THE BUSINESS OF ETHICS
The subject of ethics appears to be on many persons' minds these days. That's not surprising considering the Iran Contra trials and other ethical troubles in government and business. Academics is not immune either. I have recently received a discussion on the subject from the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi which is well respected in university circles. It details what academic communities are doing to confront certain dilemmas involving consulting for fees, patenting and collaborating with private enterprise. As the article concludes: "High ethical standards are expected in academic research. Those who may choose to violate the standards run the risk of ruining their careers."
Then, there is the business sector. It is more free wheeling than those activities allied to the public sector and there is more latitude. How many of us have heard "caveat emptor," let the buyer beware. In our complex era, however, is this concept out of date? There comes a time when the line is crossed. Some believe the beekeeping industry is at this point. This is especially true now that tracheal mites and Varroa have been introduced. The changes are enormous and factual information scarce.
A glance through the journals over the last few months reveals a cacophony of advertisements for bees that are "mite free," "certified mite and disease free," and "African bee free." The meaning of these terms is not clear and there are few efforts to define such phrases. This lack of clarity has led the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service to twice withdraw proposals for a uniform bee movement regulation.
The marketing of other products to the beekeeper and bee products to the public also carry ethical dilemmas. The list might include adulteration of honey with corn syrup or simply water to raise moisture content, trading package bees and queens between breeders, exchanging permits in migratory beekeeping, selling clover honey as alfalfa, treating bees with drugs, inspecting bees by inspectors who own substantial numbers of colonies, and relying on pesticide companies for funding to determine effectiveness of treatment.
A critical area is the current focus on pesticides to control mite populations in beehives. According to the August/September 1988 issue of Agrichemical Age (AA), the potential results of unethical behavior surrounding pesticide use and advertising finally results in a consumer crisis. This realization is behind the current call for limiting pesticide advertisements on television. The article concludes that potential abuses in TV advertising for pesticides include: misuse of agricultural data, ads that encourage overapplication, reformulations where active ingredient concentrations have been altered, and ads for "insurance" applications (common for soil insecticides), rather than economic threshold applications.
As AA Editor, Lee Richardson, says in his commentary on the last page of the issue: "There is no doubt that television advertising has contributed to a loss of trust in agricultural leaders, institutions, companies and the media to whom customers have looked in the past for objectivity. What customers receive is a sales pitch instead of concern or the objectivity they need for reaching informed decisions."
There are no easy answers in the field of ethical behavior. This is clearly shown in the video series last January on the Public Broadcasting entitled, "Ethics in America." The ten one-hour programs cover highly-charged issues such as loyalty, confidentiality, privacy, and truthfulness. They also feature some of the most prominent figures of the day from Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to CBS's Mike Wallace. The format of this series is the case study, where a hypothetical situation is developed and ethical dilemmas are posed and faced by panelists at every turn. The full video series is available from the Annenberg/CPG Project; call 800- LEARNER for detailed information.
Concern with ethics has led the leadership of the American Beekeeping Federation to propose extended treatment of the subject at the next annual meeting. Should you have suggestions about the appropriateness of the topic or creative ways in which it might be addressed, forward them to the Secretary-Treasurer, Mr. Troy Fore, Jr., P.O. Box 1038, Jesup, GA 31545-1038.
FLORIDA PUBLIX GRAND PRIZE WINNER
Stop in the Publix supermarket in St. Augustine to congratulate the winner of the $10,000 National Honey Board and Lipton Herbal Tea's "Sweet Things Happen" advertising and display contest. According to a recent press release, Mr. Dave Blankenship, manager of the supermarket, said, "Anytime we see an opportunity for increased sales, we do it--and this dramatically increased honey and tea sales. I never fathomed we'd win, but because of the hard work and creativity of the entire store staff, we built an exceptional display."
Retailers across the country entered the contest by setting up special displays and by advertising honey and tea in their local newspapers. The contest ran from September 19, 1988 through February 28, 1989.
BAR CODES ON BEES AND HONEY
Bar codes are nothing new for supermarkets, but what about bees? Well, it makes sense. For years scientists have scratched their heads trying to keep tabs on flying bees. A novel idea a few years back, developed by Dr. Norman Gary at the University of California, Davis, was to glue metal tags on the top of bees. When the insects flew back to the colony, magnets at the entrance caught the bees. Now researchers at the Tucson Bee Laboratory have put a bar code on bees.
This world's smallest bar code weighs less than 20-millionths of an ounce and is glued on the thorax. When a bee enters or exits, it's read by a laser scanner similar to the one in use in the grocery store. The information is then fed directly to a desktop computer. Now bees' comings and goings can be monitored directly and the scientist doesn't have to be present.
The purpose of this amendment is to provide for the implementation of the Universal Product Code (UPC) on all consumer-size packages in order to assist distribution centers in their accounting and donation practices. Commodity suppliers will be provided with a lead- time of 180 days or shipments through August 30, 1989, to adjust their existing inventories of packaging materials.
1. Paragraph 11 is amended to provide for the addition of the following paragraph J: J. Universal Product Code
A Universal Product Code (UPC), code and symbol, shall appear on each primary package and a UPC shipping container code, called Interleaved 2 of 5 (I 2/5), shall appear on each shipping container. In accordance with the UPC guidelines published by the Uniform Code Council, Inc., a 12-digit UPC, codes and symbol, shall appear on each primary package and a 14-digit I 2/5 bar code shall appear on each shipping container. For contrast in scanning, a white patch or block shall be used as background for bar codes applied directly to containers. A high degree of contrast is required for bar codes applied directly to plastic containers. The UPC guidelines describe the requirements for the proper placement, printing, readability, and scanability for the bar coding.
The format and code to be used is shown in the attached Exhibit D. The complete code including the check digit must be printed in machine-readable and human- readable form. The start and stop indicators must be included in the bar code symbols. The UPC system is a commonly used method of bar coding merchandise in commercial channels. Package manufacturers, printers, film master suppliers are familiar with this symbology. Further information may be obtained from the Uniform Code Council, Inc. (UCC), 8163 Old Yankee Rd., Suite J, Dayton, OH 45458, telephone 513-435-3870. The Department of Agriculture has acquired a unique manufacturer's identification number for this application. Contractors need not join the UCC.
2. Existing supplies without the UPC may be used through August 30, 1989, provided the contractor advises the Kansas City Commodity Office of the number of containers by commodity and size.
3. The amendment is effective for all purchases on or after January 19, 1989.
HONEY KC-HP-3 3 LB 0 4866602404 6 1 00 48666 02404 3
HONEY KC-HP-3 24 Oz. 0 4866602403 9 1 00 48666 02403 6
HONEY KC-HP-3 5 LB 0 4866602405 3 1 00 48666 02405 0For more information, contact Processed Commodities Division: (816)f926- 6062.
INTELLIGENCE: MAN, BEE, BOOJUM
I was intrigued by this commentary in the Winter, 1988 Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America. Dr. David Robacker at the USDA Weslaco Bee Laboratory writes, "Let me begin by promptly dispelling the notion that as human we are the higher and other animals are the lower creatures." He goes on to discuss that humans are not without instincts, and insects learn. He then takes issue with Greogry Razran's synthesis of a learning hierarchy which represented ascending evolution of the brain. "After an extensive, but incomplete search of the scientific literature, Razran with a few scratches of his relegated insects and other invertebrates, without fair and just trial, to a lowly level of intelligence."
According to Razran, a high level of intelligence is the ability to learn concepts. Bees, says Dr. Robacker, have been shown to learn to relate colors and patterns to concepts. Bees also show the very highest level of intelligence as described by Razran, symbolic learning. Bees of course are capable of doing things humans cannot, according to Dr. Robacker. They can tell time without the aid of a watch, sense which are hive sisters through odor and do trigonometric calculations altering course around landscape features.
Physical size of the brain also is not a good measure of intelligence, says Dr. Robacker. Whereas human neural machinery is geared for complex statistical interactions of billions of nerve cells, the honey bee's is set up for comparatively economical transactions involving mere thousands of neurons. Thus, Dr. Robacker says, we are left to puzzle over how to compare learning behavior. And it leads us to the clever essay by Frank Beach entitled, "The Snark was a Boojum." That comparing learning behavior would inevitably lead one down the path of the baker in Lewis Carroll's 1916 poem, "The Hunting of the Snark." In this tale, a group of hunters go after a fictional animal, the Snark. The most feared Snark was called a Boojum. In the poem, it was the only one discovered and resulted in the disappearance of the baker. It was the extreme preoccupation with the possibility of his own disappearance that did the baker in.
The rat is the boojum in comparative psychology, says Dr. Robacker. Students of comparative psychology softly and suddenly vanish away into rat psychology. He asks whether those who try to understand insect learning using the honey bee will find their own boojum.
THE BEE-L NETWORK BEGINS
The information age is maturing. Worldwide several networks have developed which now allow persons to be almost in instant contact with colleagues around the world. In the academic setting, the two most familiar are the Because It's Time Network (BITNET) and INTERNET, sometimes called the "edu" network. Both allow file transfer and use of electronic mail. I hope to be in constant contact with my office in Florida through both of these while on sabbatical in Italy. Note my addresses after the signature on this newsletter.
Within the above networks, groups are now forming which deal in similar information. A pioneering effort is the BEE-L network on BITNET, an outgrowth of efforts by Dr. Edward Southwick. This works like a remote bulletin board system (RBBS). It is dedicated to information about all kinds of bees and their biology. The server is the Albany, NY computer and one can subscribe or unsubscribe to the system at will by simply sending a BITNET message.
Malcolm T. Sanford
Bldg 970, Box 110620
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
Phone (904) 392-1801, Ext. 143 FAX: 904-392-0190
http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~entweb/apis/apis.htm
INTERNET Address: MTS@GNV.IFAS.UFL.EDU
©1989 M.T. Sanford "All Rights Reserved
