Puerto Rico launches initiative to protect honey bees

Puerto Rico is implementing a plan to preserve the island's honey bee population amid a worldwide decline in the insects' numbers, Agriculture Secretary Myrna Comas Pagan said.

Last year Puerto Rico's honey production increased by more than 30 percent and sales grew to more than $300,000, she told a press conference.

"Our statistics show an increase in honey production since 2011, so we have remained vigilant to detect the arrival of diseases or viruses that could affect the hives," Comas said.

A survey among beekeepers shows that 5,744 gallons (21,742 liters) of honey were collected in Puerto Rico in 2011, but production decreased to 4,103 gallons (15,530 liters) in 2012.

In 2013, beekeepers collected 6,529 gallons (24,713 liters) of honey and production increased again in 2014, to 9,169 gallons (34,706 liters).

Comas pointed out that in many areas of the world, honey bees are threatened by mites, fungi and viruses, along with the widespread use of insecticides by people who fear being stung by bees.

"We cannot ignore that hives' production is being affected at the global level," the official said, adding that her department regards bees as essential.

To maintain the honey bee population and the production of honey, some 250 employees of Puerto Rico's State Agency for Emergency and Disaster Management, or AEMEAD, have been trained in the protection of hives.

The agency's director, Miguel Rios, said the pact with the Agriculture Department has been "very important" to manage the problems that affect hives.

"We have been working on this issue at schools and neighborhoods, but now we will work in a coordinated way with the Department of Agriculture to save the bees," he said.

Hives found in residential areas "represent a high risk for families," Rios said.

"What we are trying to achieve is that if someone gets in touch with AEMEAD, the agency calls on beekeepers, who have better skills for removing the hives," Comas said. "We want to protect the bees and obtain more products from our farms." EFE

Puerto Rico launches initiative to protect honey bees

Officials seize indigenous artifacts at Puerto Rico airport

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Officials at Puerto Rico's main international airport seized five clay artifacts created by the Taino people who lived in the Caribbean before the arrival of Christopher Columbus.

The small items were found in the luggage of a man who did not have the required permit to import them, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday. The five items appear to be fragments of larger pieces and at least one depicts a face, the statement said.

Spokesman Jeffrey Quinones said authorities were trying to determine whether the items came from Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica or Puerto Rico.

Quinones said the unidentified traveler told authorities he was given the items while in the Dominican Republic. The unidentified man was not arrested because no crime was committed, the spokesman said.

Diseases brought by European settlers largely wiped out the Taino.

Officials seize indigenous artifacts at Puerto Rico airport

Astronomers find oldest known star with Earth-like planets

Miami (AFP) - International astronomers said Tuesday they have discovered the oldest known star encircled by five Earth-sized planets, signaling that planets formed throughout the history of the universe.

The system is 11.2 billion years old and was born near the dawn of the galaxy, said the report in the Astrophysical Journal.

The star has been named Kepler-444, since it was found with the help of NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft which launched in 2009.

Its five planets are a bit smaller than the Earth, ranging in size from Venus to Mercury.

They circle their Sun-like star in less than 10 days, at a distance smaller than one-tenth the distance between the Earth and Sun -- making them too hot to be habitable.

But the sheer age of the star has stunned astronomers.

At a distance of 117 light-years from Earth, Kepler-444 is two and a half times older than our solar system, which is 4.5 billion years old.

"We've never seen anything like this -- it is such an old star and the large number of small planets make it very special," said co-author Daniel Huber from the University of Sydney's School of Physics.

"It is extraordinary that such an ancient system of terrestrial-sized planets formed when the universe was just starting out, at a fifth its current age," he added.

Astronomers can measure a distant planet's age using a technique called asteroseismology, which measures the oscillations of the host star caused by sound waves trapped within it.

These waves lead to small pulses in the star's brightness, which can be analyzed to measure its diameter, mass and age.

Co-author Steve Kawaler, an Iowa State University professor of physics and astronomy, said Kepler-444 is very bright and can be easily seen with binoculars.

"We now know that Earth-size planets have formed throughout most of the universe's 13.8-billion-year history," said lead author Tiago Campante from the University of Birmingham.

"Which could provide scope for the existence of ancient life in the galaxy."

Astronomers find oldest known star with Earth-like planets