Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Quick Hits

12:15 Are bee populations declining?
12:25 Sowing Salad Seedlings
12:40 Japanese population woes
13:10 Airline seating changes
13:25 New bug repellent
13:40 Froth: a history of beer

The Small Print

First up, last year we looked at some of the reasons behind massive falls in bee numbers in the US and Europe. It's been labelled Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD and it's the umbrella term for a whole bunch of factors affecting bee populations. Well this week we're speaking to a professor of pollination ecology who isn't convinced that bee populations really are declining on a global scale. He thinks CCD is a convenient myth that's been hijacked by the bee industry in the US and Europe to fight against the forces of globalisation.

Then at 12:30pm we're back in the iPlot, and this week we're sowing salad seedlings plus we're planning our planting cycle. The aim's to have an ongoing supply of nutritious food throughout the summer, rather than one great big harvest that we can't possible eat.

And before the news at one, David McNeill beams in from Japan where a falling population is turning local councils into matchmakers. They need people to move into their regions so they're running open days with the hope of getting local singles hitched. Plus problems in the education sector also caused by these same demographic issues.

After the 1pm news we get airborne...well sort of. The airline industry's been through some massive changes after the early days of commercial aviation when travel really was the realm of the rich. Nowadays it's pack them in to the gunnels and no frills! But one thing that's stayed pretty constant is the seating arrangements in the plane. Now airlines and their designers are looking at ways of changing these traditional seating patterns, experimenting with things like getting rid of overhead storage lockers and using bunk-beds in the cabin.

At about half past one a new insect repellent - basically a slippery surface designed to keep insects at bay. Normally insects can stick to just about anything- glass, upside down on the ceiling and all because of a sticky substance they release from their feet, think custard or ketchup. Well now scientists are working on a coating that makes them slip off and it's non-toxic too so it could be used on anything from food containers to furniture.

Then before we go at 1:40pm we've got the frothy history of that amber, pale, wheatey, cloudy, dark brown, or pitch black nectar... you guessed it - beer! Mark Denny's a physicist and keen home-brewer who's looking at the way the brew developed from left over soggy bread mix to micro brewed craft ales.

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TRACKS
Track: Nasty Dan
Artist: Johnny Cash and Oscar the Grouch
Album: Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music. The Ultimate Sesame Street Music Collection
Label: Sony
Catalogue #: LK 86030
Broadcast at: 12:25

Track: You got the love
Artist: Florence & The Machine (XX remix)
Album: Digital download: original cover on 'Lungs'
Label: Island
Catalogue #: 2709106
Broadcast at: 13:10

Track: KingstonLogic
Artist: Terry Lynn
Album: Kingston Logic 2.0
Label: POD
Catalogue #: 0733
Broadcast at: 13:35