Alaska

Millions of Alaska-bound honeybees die at Atlanta airport

Published

2 years ago

April 27, 2022

Millions of Alaska-bound honeybees die at Atlanta airport

A whole bunch of kilos of honeybees have been set to ship from the Decrease 48 to beekeepers throughout Alaska final weekend.

However a lot of the bees died in transit when the crates carrying them have been left for hours on a sizzling tarmac in Atlanta, Ga.

Soldotna beekeeper Sarah McElrea stated the loss is devastating. She runs Sarah’s Alaska Honey and in addition teaches lessons and coordinates shipments of bees to beekeepers round Alaska.

On Sunday, she was ready on the Anchorage airport for a cargo of 800 kilos of bees from a distributor in Sacramento, Calif. It was the primary of two shipments that she had ordered on behalf of over 300 Alaskan beekeepers.

“We had a load that was going to Fairbanks, after which we had any individual else that was going to distribute from Wasilla to Talkeetna,” she stated. “After which we have been going to do Anchorage and the Valley. After which our second one would’ve come within the following day and we might’ve taken that one again all the way down to the peninsula to meet the remainder of our orders.”

However the plan hit a snag when the bees have been pushed from the unique Delta flight. As a substitute, the airline rerouted them to Atlanta, the place they have been presupposed to catch a direct flight to Anchorage.

After they did not make that flight, McElrea actually began to fret. Honeybees don’t do nicely in excessive warmth. McElrea requested that the bees be put in a cooler.

However the subsequent day, the airline informed her some bees had escaped from their crates and so Delta put them outdoors.

“I actually panicked after they discovered they’d moved them outdoors as a result of the pheromones that these honeybees emit are engaging to different honeybees which might be native to the world,” she stated.

Positive sufficient, outdoors bees gathered across the crate, so it seemed like extra bees have been escaping.

McElrea stated Delta refused to place the cargo on the aircraft. So, she turned to the web for assist.

“I bought on Fb and made a rapid publish to a web page that’s primarily based in Georgia,” she stated.

That’s how she linked with Atlanta beekeeper Edward Morgan. He went to the airport to have a look and located a lot of the bees within the cargo have been already useless from the warmth. McElrea stated it was 80-degrees in Atlanta that day.

The one factor left to do was to rescue the survivors. Morgan referred to as in reinforcements to open the crates and save no matter particular person bees have been left.

Gina Galucci with the Georgia Beekeepers Affiliation was one of many dozen-plus volunteers that beelined for the airport. She informed WABE’s Emily Wu Pearson Sunday that they understood the urgency of the scenario.

“It is a catastrophe,” Galucci stated. “So whereas we did mobilize very, in a short time, we did that as a result of we all know they’re going to die. And so the one that purchased these bees is out an entire lot of cash. So we’re going to attempt to assist help with some donations towards that.”

Beekeepers flocked to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport Sunday to verify on the bees and take the survivors residence.

McElrea stated these previous couple of days have been a nightmare. She’s scrambling to patch up the mess and hasn’t slept a lot.

She stated the beekeeping enterprise has by no means been about cash for her. Nonetheless, she stated it’s an incalculable loss.

She stated her provider in California goes to exchange the cargo, which included $48,000 value of bees. She’s additionally hoping for some kind of aid from the airline, although she understands that for a lot of airways, individuals ship dwell animals at their very own danger.

However she’s grateful for the help from the Georgia beekeepers. Some took the few survivors again to their very own apiaries.

“I’ll eternally be thankful for something that they have been capable of salvage,” she stated. “They simply assembled rapidly and effectivity and actually are the heroes on this state of affairs.”

And whereas that is the primary time she’s skilled such a tragedy, she stated it’s not the primary time she’s heard of bees dying in transit.

Distributors understand how a lot meals to place in crates so the bees can journey safely inside an inexpensive timeframe. However that turns into difficult when there are delays or cancellations, notably in excessive climates.

McElrea is coordinating with beekeepers in Seattle in order that if there’s an issue with the subsequent cargo, volunteers might be able to intervene.

Catherine Salm with Delta Airline’s company communications stated in an electronic mail Tuesday the airline is conscious of the incident and is working to ensure one thing comparable doesn’t occur once more.

“We have now been in touch with the shopper on to apologize for the unlucky scenario,” she stated.

McElrea needs individuals to know they’ll shield these essential pollinators in their very own backyards. She stated gardeners ought to plant pollinator-friendly vegetation and keep away from spraying poisonous chemical substances, like RoundUp. Importantly, they shouldn’t be afraid of honeybees, which solely sting after they’re at risk.

“Being educated about honeybees is the primary large step I feel everybody ought to tackle that may assist them to simply have a greater understanding of how essential they’re so far as pollinators,” McElrea stated. “And simply such a fragile a part of our ecosystem that we as people are utterly depending on for our survival.”

Now, McElrea and different beekeepers from the Kenai Peninsula are ready on the second cargo and the alternative, set to return in later this week.

Due to Matt Pearson and Emily Wu Pearson from member station WABE for the pictures and tape from Atlanta.

Source link

Alaska

Alaska Airlines employees help uplift communities during inspiring Week of CARE – Alaska Airlines News

Published

7 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Press Room

Alaska Airlines employees help uplift communities during inspiring Week of CARE – Alaska Airlines News

Alessandra F., Manager of Community Relations and Engagement, searched for meaningful ways to support local military families in the state of Alaska, where over 50,000 active-duty service members and their dependents reside, and where 1 in 10 Alaskans is a veteran. Her search led her to Fisher House Alaska, a long-standing Care Miles partner with Alaska Airlines.

Fisher House provides military families with a “home away from home” at no cost, allowing them to focus on medical care and recovery while finding comfort and community. Alaska Mileage Plan members can support this cause by donating miles here.

More than 30 Alaska Airlines employees spent the day at Fisher House, baking fresh brownies and cookies, organizing closets and pantries, and preparing thoughtful care packages for the families staying there. The day wrapped up with a hearty fall dinner cooked by our team, serving more than 50 guests and creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere for these deserving families.

Source link

Alaska

Wright and Eischeid face off again in a close state House race to represent East Anchorage district • Alaska Beacon

Published

15 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Press Room

Wright and Eischeid face off again in a close state House race to represent East Anchorage district • Alaska Beacon

In Anchorage’s North Muldoon and Russian Jack neighborhoods, two candidates are facing each other for the second time in two years for a seat in the Alaska House.

While Republican incumbent Rep. Stanley Wright is seeking reelection, Democrat Ted Eischeid is on a mission to unseat Wright in the rematch.

In 2022, Eischeid lost to Wright by 72 votes.

This year, Eischeid said he retired early from his job as planner for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough so he could redouble his campaign efforts —“I knocked a lot of doors two years ago, I’m doubling that effort this time,” he said.

Eischeid led the race in the primaries with a 3% edge over Wright, although only 8% of registered voters turned out.

Any flipped seat could be consequential in a closely divided House, so an Eischeid victory could tip the balance of power away from the current Republican majority.

Wright is a Navy veteran from South Carolina. He followed his wife to Alaska where they raised their children. Before representing House District 22, Wright worked as a community systems manager in Anchorage’s Community Safety and Development office. His previous public service roles include work in the state governor’s office and for the state’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Rep. Stanley Wright, R-Anchorage, speaks to fellow members of the Alaska House of Representatives on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Eischeid had a career as a middle school science teacher in the Midwest before he, too, followed his wife to Alaska where he found work as a planner for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. His previous public service was two terms as a nonpartisan county board supervisor in Wisconsin. He said the value of listening to all viewpoints was driven home to him in that role.

“Sometimes I voted conservative, sometimes I voted progressive. I let people’s public testimony and I let the data guide me. And I listened very closely, tried to suspend my bias as much as I could,” he said.

As part of his campaign, Eischeid said he heard that the district’s main concerns are education, public safety and infrastructure. He said the value of a good education is a priority for him in part because he grew up poor in Iowa after his father died when he was very young.

“I’m a food stamp kid. I’m a free and reduced lunch kid. And because I had good public school teachers, I got a good education. I was able to earn that college degree, and I entered a good middle-class lifestyle,” he said, adding that, if elected, he will bring that history — and the sense of compassion it instilled in him — to Juneau.

Ted Eischeid is seen in an undated photo. (Photo courtesy of Ted Eischeid)

That sentiment points to a similarity between the candidates. In 2022, Wright told the Alaska Beacon that a “pretty rough” childhood on a South Carolina farm and, later, in a housing project, taught him about the value of public assistance. He sought federal grants for low- and moderate-income housing as a city employee in Anchorage, according to his campaign.

Eischeid described himself as a moderate Democrat who will listen, but doesn’t want to “waste time” fighting culture wars.

“People don’t want professional politicians, and they’re not asking for much, but they want somebody that represents them and knows them and puts people over party,” he said.

Wright did not respond to the Alaska Beacon’s requests for an interview for this story. But his voting record has at least one striking example of putting concerns raised in his district over the leadership of his party: In the last session, he was one of the seven members of the Alaska House’s majority caucus who voted with members of the House minority in a failed attempt to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of an education bill that included a permanent increase for state education funding.

At the time, Wright said one of the schools in his district had been threatened with closure and that “really weighed heavy on my heart.”

In his first term in office he co-sponsored a number of bills that became law, including the measure that led to state recognition of Juneteenth, and passed a law that is intended to streamline the certification process for counselors in order to increase access to mental health care.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

Source link