Last Sunday we drove across East Sussex, along narrow lanes, which opened up, from time to time, to give panoramic views across the High Weald. The countryside, with all the trees alive with new leaves, was a vivid green, colour so intense that you felt that it would hurt your eyes if it was any brighter. This display was set off by the primroses, bluebells, and other wild flowers in the hedgerows. A perfect English spring day.

We ate our lunch in a pub garden, looking south over the ship-rich English Channel, not far from Brightling, where Squire John “Mad Jack” Fuller (1757-1834), lies at rest, under his pyramid in the churchyard, and a few miles from the home of Rudyard Kipling, the author of “If”; which remains the most popular poem in England. Swallows rested by the barns after their long flight from South Africa and insects hummed in the sunny air; a dog looked round for cats and other intruders on his happy realm.

But the English countryside is quieter today than it should be; there is a growing crisis in the orchards and meadows, and it concerns a group of essential workers, on whom we all ultimately depend for our food and well-being: the humble Bees.

In the last two years, the number of bees in Britain fell by up to 15 per cent. Earlier this year the British Government set aside £2 million to research the fall in bee numbers, following concerns that the continuing decline in hives may begin to affect agriculture. In April, an additional £8 million ($12 m) was committed.

What’s all the buzz about? Well, bees. Bees have been in the headlines all month in Britain and for town-dwellers it’s too easy to forget that bees are essential to pollinate fruit and vegetables, as well as maintaining wildlife. “With around a third of the food we eat coming from crops pollinated by insects and 90 per cent of the UK's wildflowers relying on insects for pollination, this is far from good news”.

So, I watched, with fascination, BBC programmes on the issue, including Who Killed the Honey Bee? And Jimmy and the Wild Honey Hunters, about an English farmer who travelled to Nepal to meet an ancient group of people, who risk their lives to “hunt” honey from wild honey bee colonies on mountain cliffs, dangling, bee-covered, from home-made rope ladders high above the ground.

Without bees, it would take millions of people several years to do the pollinating job that bees do on our behalf year after year. If “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD), a bee disease, continues; there could be no flowers, no honey, no vegetables, no fruits, no salad, vegetable stir fry, or apple pie on your table!

So what’s on the agenda this spring? Here’s a novel idea: if you’re lucky enough to have a garden, why not join a host of celebrities, support the environment, and become a Beekeeper? You may enjoy reading this inspirational account of Beekeeper Christine Volinsky who explains how her bees provide her family and neighbours with sweet relief; and don’t be surprised if you come across my own PS Organic Honey next year (or so)!

Other news:

April marks the 6^th anniversary of PS-Magazine.com. I would like to thank you all, readers and contributors, for the continuing success of UK’s first Holistic online magazine.

Currently, there is a lot of technical work going on behind the scenes to update the magazine and my own website. You will see new articles posted as soon as the upgrade is completed. You will also notice that twitter has been added to the main website, so you can follow me there!

Coffee Cup readings and my Coffee book, Your Future in A Coffee Cup: The Art of Divining with Coffee Grounds, were featured last night on BBC Persia TV during 60Minutes news program on superstition.

If you have missed it (and are fluent in Farsi) you can watch it on this link. Hopefully, and english version will follow soon (well, pending the go-ahead from the BBC). You will also watch what Taymour Qabazard, London based development & progress consultant, has to say on the subject.

I was also recently interviewed on Nick Ashron’s Lightworker’s Guide to The Galaxy, which will appear on Monday 4^th May 2009. You can also see it on Sky channel 200.

Finally, it is with sorrow that I announce the departure of two of my dear friends, Hans Holzer (born 26 January 1920 – 26 April 2009) American pioneering paranormal researcher and author; and Natascha Charlotte Wiesenthal (born 25 May 1967- 13 March 2009) who fought her illness courageously. R.I.P, know that you are sorely missed. My condolences also go to their families.

Love and light,

Sahar