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recent bookmarks from jmTIL: bananas contain the primary compound in the honeybee's "alarm" pheromone2019-09-09T09:29:22+00:00
https://blythewoodbeecompany.com/put-down-that-banana-beekeeper/
jmScience helps us explain the phenomena. Turns out bananas contain a compound called isoamyl acetate (also known as isopentyl acetate) – the very same as that which is in honeybees’ alarm pheromone. Pure banana oil (used in emollients, perfumes, and to broaden the flavored milk range) is nothing but this colorless liquid ester, occasionally mixed with other chemicals. While bees’ alarm pheromone isn’t just isoamyl acetate – in fact there are over 40 compounds in the cocktail – it is the main active component.
Guard bees, who patrol the entrance, and stinger bees, who comprise the militia, are the two castes within the hive most likely to release the pheromone. Both of these are worker bees (i.e. female) around 2-3 weeks old – the time it takes for their endocrine system to reach its prime. The scent – excreted from the Koschevnikov gland and other glands around the sting shaft – is released either when the bee pops out its stinger (like a cat retracting its claws), or goes full kamikaze and harpoons the mouse, robber bee or luckless human, rear-end first (inevitably dying in the assault). Having volatile properties, the ester evaporates and disperses rapidly from the origin point of the bee’s butt, making it suitable as a swift communication carrier. Once registered, it alerts the colony to the presence of an intruder or threat, lifting their aggro, and effectively coordinating an en masse defensive response. Any stray, lingering waft of a banana about you, then, will trigger a similar reaction (if slightly less intense). Don’t put too much faith in your smoker to avail you either.
]]>bees honeybees science pheromones fruit bananas factoidshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:672bffd297fa/Summer Fruit Shrub Recipe - NYT Cooking2018-07-12T16:17:17+00:00
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017410-summer-fruit-shrub
jmshrubs drinks vinegar recipes to-make fruithttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:f0f4c0cf7d47/I Just Love This Juicero Story So Much2017-04-20T20:04:04+00:00
http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/i-just-love-this-juicero-story-so-much-1794459898
jmWhen we signed up to pump money into this juice company, it was because we thought drinking the juice would be a lot harder and more expensive. That was the selling point, because Silicon Valley is a stupid libertarian dystopia where investor-class vampires are the consumers and a regular person’s money is what they go shopping for. Easily opened bags of juice do not give these awful nightmare trash parasites a good bargain on the disposable income of credulous wellness-fad suckers; therefore easily opened bags of juice are a worse investment than bags of juice that are harder to open.
]]>juicero juicebros techbros silicon-valley funny dystopia fruit bags juicehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:6a83433ab161/This tree produces 40 different types of fruit2014-07-23T16:42:48+00:00
http://sciencealert.com.au/news/20142107-25892.html
jmAn art professor from Syracuse University in the US, Van Aken grew up on a family farm before pursuing a career as an artist, and has combined his knowledge of the two to develop his incredible Tree of 40 Fruit.
In 2008, Van Aken learned that an orchard at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station was about to be shut down due to a lack of funding. This single orchard grew a great number of heirloom, antique, and native varieties of stone fruit, and some of these were 150 to 200 years old. To lose this orchard would render many of these rare and old varieties of fruit extinct, so to preserve them, Van Aken bought the orchard, and spent the following years figuring out how to graft parts of the trees onto a single fruit tree. [...]
Aken’s Tree of 40 Fruit looks like a normal tree for most of the year, but in spring it reveals a stunning patchwork of pink, white, red and purple blossoms, which turn into an array of plums, peaches, apricots, nectarines, cherries and almonds during the summer months, all of which are rare and unique varieties.
]]>fruit art amazing food agriculture grafting orchards sam-van-aken farminghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:11d4846f0468/Graft punk: Breaking the law to help urban trees bear fruit2012-04-12T12:21:33+00:00
http://grist.org/food/graft-punk-breaking-the-law-to-help-urban-trees-bear-fruit/
jmpublic roads trees nature city urban fruit guerrilla graftinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:ce83fc8ced7b/