Coriolus versicolor is a common polypore mushroom which can be found throughout the world. Versicolor means ‘of several colours’ and it is true that this mushroom is found in a wide variety of different colours. Coriolus versicolor is commonly called Turkey Tail because of its resemblance to the tail of the wild turkey. It is recognized as a medicinal mushroom in Chinese medicine under the name yun zhi. In China and Japan Coriolus versicolor is used as an immunoadjuvant therapy for cancer.
Coriolus versicolor helps also for an upcoming cold or influenza. Make a (bitter) tea with 30g dried mushrooms and boiling water. Drink 2 liter of the tea spread over 2 days.
The High Fens (Hoge Venen), were declared a nature reserve in 1957. It’s a plateau region in the province of Liège, in the east of Belgium.
The reserve is ecologically rich part of Belgium, covered with alpine sphagnum bogs both on the plateau and in valley basin. The bogs, which are over 10.000 years old, with their unique subalpine flora, fauna and microclimate, are key to the conservation work of the park.
The heathers and turf moors in the reserve have a significant role to maintain biodiversity for the rare and threatened flora and fauna as it ensures regulation of the water balance and maintains value of the landscape. http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoge_venen
Molinia caerulea (pijpenstrootje)
Nardus stricta (borstelgras)
Carex rostrata (snavelzegge)
Carex canescens (zompzegge)
Erica tetralix (gewone dophei)
Calluna vulgaris (struikhei)
Reishi mushrooms? needs determination
Blechnum fern? (needs determination)
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Microgarden installation in the exhibition ‘On a different Soil’
Time Inventors’ Kabinet presentation, Praha – november 2011.
the hieroglyph sign for ‘bee’
In ancient Egypt, the bee was an insignia of kingship associated particularly with Lower Egypt, where there may even have been a Bee King in pre-dynastic times. After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, this symbol was incorporated in the title usually preceding the throne name of pharaoh and expressing the unity of the two realms, He of the Sedge and of the Bee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_%28mythology%29
Patterns are everywhere in nature. Where does this order and regularity come from? It creates itself. The patterns we see come from self-organization. Whether living or non-living, scientists have found that there is a pattern-forming tendency inherent in the basic structure and processes of nature, so that from a few simple themes, and the repetition of simple rules, endless beautiful variations can arise. From soap bubbles to honeycombs or delicate shell patterns, Phillip Ball (science-writer) explains how these patterns are self-made and why similar shapes and structures may be found in very different settings, orchestrated by nothing more than simple physical forces.
Philip Ball – Shapes
Rembert Dodoens (1517–1585) was a Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinized name Rembertus Dodonaeus. He is best known for his herbal Cruydeboeck (more precisely: Cruijdeboeck, as the title is printed on the title page), written in old Flemish and published in 1554.
A few years later, in 1557, a French translation of this work appeared, made by Carolus Clusius: Histoire des plantes. A revised edition of the Cruydeboeck was published in 1563.
Between 1561 and 1580 four smaller botanical works written in Latin became available, which later were incorporated in the well known Latin edition of the herbal: Stirpium historiae pemptades sex sive libri XXX (1583). The final edition of this opus magnum, Dodonaeus’ last work, was published posthumously in 1616. Based on the Latin editions of the Herbal three poshumous editions in Flemish were published, entitled: Cruydt-Boeck, in 1608 (first edition), 1618 (second edition) and 1644 (final edition, again revised and expanded).
Several botanical works of Dodonaeus are available on the internet. The (Dutch) website “Plantaardigheden” has made two of these accessible for the general public by means of a special navigation, with complete contents (enumeration of the titles of the parts, books and chapters): the Cruydeboeck or Cruijdeboeck from 1554 and the Cruydt-Boeck from 1644.
The image above is a drawing of the Vitex agnus-castus, the Chaste tree or Monk’s pepper – a meditterenean middlesized tree blooming late summer and autumn and thus providing a good end-os-season foraging for the honeybees. Below a link to the pages Dodoens’ dedicated to this tree in his Herbarius or Cruydt-boeck of 1644: http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/dodoens/high/01213.html
Part 3 of the Cruydt-boeck is dedicated to the medicinal herbs. The introduction, in old-flemish, goes as follows: “Van der wortelen, medecynale cruyden, ende quaden hinderlijcke ghewassen, fatsoen, naem, natuere, cracht, werckinghe ende hindernisse. Duer D. Rembert Dodoens”.
Dat honing de eigenschap heeft om bacteriën te doden, is al eeuwen lang bekend. De zoete stof wordt gesmeerd op wonden met als doel infecties tegen te gaan. Deze volkswijsheid klopt. ‘De antibacteriële werking van honing is al wel aangetoond’, stelt Kwakman, die op 1 juli hoopt te promoveren. ‘Waarom honing die eigenschap heeft, was niet helemaal duidelijk.’
Honing lijkt eigenlijk helemaal niet zo’n geweldig middel tegen bacteriën. Al die suikers, dat zou een eldorado moeten zijn voor de micro-organismen; voedsel volop. ‘Dat is niet zo’, zegt Kwakman. ‘De suikerconcentratie in honing is ongeveer tachtig procent, veel te veel voor bacteriën. Alle soorten leggen in onverdunde honing het loodje door stress.’
Maar honing doet meer. In matig verdunde honing wordt het enzym glucose oxidase actief, dat de suiker afbreekt. Daarbij ontstaat een beetje waterstofperoxide, net genoeg om sommige bacteriën te doden, maar zo weinig dat het geen negatieve effecten heeft. Tot zover was de medicinale werking van honing wel bekend.
Sommige onderzoekers speurden verder door een enzym (katalase) aan honing toe te voegen dat het waterstofperoxide meteen afbreekt. ‘Maar ook na de neutralisatie hebben sommige honingsoorten nog steeds een sterke werking’, zet Kwakman zijn belangrijkste onderzoeksvraag uiteen. Hoe komt dat?
meer: honing ontleed
We participate in the international BEE DOC project with 2 colonies of our apiary (colony#1 and colony#2). The BEE DOC comprises a network of eleven partners from honeybee pathology, chemistry, genetics and apicultural extension aiming to improve colony health of honeybees.
The BEE DOC will empirically and experimentally fill knowledge gaps in honeybee pests and diseases, including the ‘colony collapse disorder’ and quantify the impact of interactions between parasites, pathogens and pesticides on honeybee mortality.
read more on the BEE DOC project: http://www.bee-doc.eu/
The enhanced beehive is a gateway to a honeybee colony and its environment. Numerous possibilities for observing the bees’ behavior and important measured values from within the hive are provided as well as measuring data for the climate and vegetation in the honeybee colony’s direct environment. Storing all of the data over a period of several months allows not alone a very well detailed observation but also the ability to discover and follow long-term trends of complex relations between the superorganism and its environment.
moviefragment 01: bee swarm starting to build their nest – infrared camera, filmed inside the hive
moviefragment 02: honey bees storing honey, filmed through hive observation window – close
The ecysystem of the hive and garden is monitored by many measurement systems on its biotic and abiotic elements.
Two webcams, equipped with infrared leds, make it possible to film in the hive in the dark. They monitor the behaviour of bees (and their movements over the frames) in the hive.
Since the hive was populated with the swarm on may 4th 2011 (http://opengreens.okno.be/bee_colony_timeline.php?id=437), the 2 webcams record at 15 fps the life in the hive: the comb building, the bees’ movements and action.
In the top of the frames (in the hive body box) there are 3 temperature sensors capturing the temperature in the beehive, as well as a CO2 sensor and a sensor recording the humidity in the hive.
Outside of the hive, the temperature and the humidity of the immediate environment are also measured.
The webcams are connected to a PC board that is configured as a streaming server. It makes the images of the hive in real time available on the internet: http://213.211.134.181:8091/?action=stream.
The data from the different sensors are (via the arduino) also stored on the internet.
The ascellus, the aphids and the nasturtium together form a biotic community as they all are interacting organisms living together in one habitat or biotope (the nasturtium that is still alive and kicking).
Together with the rest of the above pictures (the bees, the other plants in the garden), the wind, the soil, the air, the sun and/or temperature, the rain … they form the ecosystem of the rooftop garden. it is a combination of the biotic and a-biotic elements of that place.
The more diversity we have in the ecosystem, the less fragile or vulnerable it is.
Fotosynthesis in 2 steps: from the anorganic elements H2O and CO2 (water and carbondioxide) the chloroplasts in a plant build organic matter via the energy of the sun. In the first step ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and NADPH2 are created; in a second step this ATP is used to free energy (->ADP+P+energy) to create glucose (C6H12O6) en oxygen (6O2). It’s a balance of anabolic and catabolic reactions – the (anorganic) fluids go up (water, minerals) and the organic matter (glucose, starch) goes down to the roots of the plant where it is used for its growth or stored as future nutrients.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant
Cellular respiration is the set of the metabolic reactions and processes that take place in the cells of organisms to convert biochemical energy from nutrients into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and then release waste products. The reactions involved in respiration are catabolic reactions that involve the redox reaction (oxidation of one molecule and the reduction of another). Respiration is one of the key ways a cell gains useful energy to fuel cellular changes. The cellular respiration process takes place in the mitochondria.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_respiration
Some pdf’s as an introduction to the world of biology:
- overview of cytology
- overview of metabolism
- overview of ecology
Diffusion is a non-energy consuming proces between 2 substances. In the picture above, 300 gr sugar is diluted in 750 ml vodka. The proces takes place in a bottle containing an orange with 40 incisions (in which 40 coffeebeans are stuck). Leave the set-up for 40 days (christian) or for 21 days (pagan). The result should be a delicious drink for the upcoming holidays. Cheers!