Extended Post: Kicking the Beyhive

 In my desperation to maintain my Beekeeping theme, and with the helpful suggestion of fellow ALC215 student India, I have been closely examining for this extended blog “Queen B” Beyonce and applying ideas of celebrity culture to her. (close enough right?) After initially only tentatively looking into the Beyhive to stick on theme it has actually stirred up the hive to the point where the boggling fame of Beyonce sprawled so far online it is surprisingly hard to take in and to summarise.

The buzz of the “Beyhive” online is deafening with millions of fans all thirsting for the already abundant content. Like a bee collecting honey there is no end to the work of collecting and consuming beyond abundance. For me it is hard to understand why but perhaps like the bee there is a small effort by each which an effort in unison to support one “queen” results in an amazing beautiful cooperation that can be seen as all involved benefitting from. Or alternatively it could be seen as an exploitative system where the efforts of the bee/fan and queen/Beyonce are robbed from to support the maintenance of highly managed oppressive system. Clashing interpretations in the same way ideas of globalisation are debated.

Beyonce, who topped the Forbes list of top earning celebrity couples last year with husband Jay-Z, projects a public and private image that is globally recognisable. I will be using Beyonce's various social media accounts to look at her complex online presentation as a case study with regards to the work of David Marshall (2010) and his concept of the "Specular Economy", a way of interpreting celebrity culture and social media. Beyonce's 'Beyhive Blog' which is produced apparently according by Queen Bey herself as:

"MY WAY OF SHOWING ALL THE INSPIRING THINGS

I COME ACROSS EVERY SINGLE DAY.

THIS IS THROUGH MY EYES."

This involves a transformation of identity of both Beyonce Knowles the singer and her fans into a Queen and her Beys, a modification of identity in line with what Marshal (2013) discusses: “the public/private/intimate of celebrity discourse – have moved through our culture quite dramatically beyond a system of representative individuals to an expansive new presentation of the self.” (2013, pg. 6) The celebrity discourse within the public yet intimate online hub of Beyonce’s Beyhive has shifted to an inclusive active hive where personas and presentations of the self are heightened according to a theme of a beehive not just for the celebrity but for the fans too.

Beyonces plays upon words such as buzz, pollen and sting, usually in reference to a bee, as slang terms for stalking, information and defence. The “golden rule” of the Beyhive as explained by Beyonce herself in an older post:

“We protect our own. We are all beautiful. One Bey should never turn on another. We defend each other. Let love & respect guide you and always be good to each other. Follow the golden rule Beys!”

This hybrid of identity and values outlaid as the golden rule of the Beyhive is a transformational sentiment that is inclusive and moves from simple celebrity culture worship to a way to live your life in and away from the Beyhive cooperatively.  

The framework of the Beyhive allows for organisation of information and forms of production of media in a globally co-operative fashion what Marshall describes as “intercommunication” (2013, pg. 9) a flow of presentational media produced and serviced by individuals enabled by what can be summarised as social media tools such as tumblr, instagram, youtube, twitter and facebook to service what Marshall describes as a “micropublic” (2013, pg. 12).

Beys feel privy to the interpersonal messages of Beyonce the individual forming a bond that is felt as a greater connection than possible between a traditional fan and Beyonces public persona through her “online doppelganger” (2013, pg. 12). This building of a more controlled micropublic around Beyonce’s public presentation seems to me is a much more structured discursive environment with the illusion of private access. There is no controversial ramblings of the inner thoughts of Beyonce Knowles, the Beyhive is a very polished and managed micropublic that must be edited and screened produced by promotional elements rather than private access to the individual.

The website takes from instagram, twitter and youtube to create a feeling, an officially endorsed emotional connection more than the personal access. The site features very little text, mainly the page design is comprised of tiles of images linking to companies and photographers pages while videos are very seldom about Beyonce herself at all and if she does feature in a video it’s only for a brief immaculate sound bite. An online shop page where calendars, fragrances and clothing are available for purchase along with vip tour tickets is also a key feature of the Beyhive.

Within the multiple networked media within the Beyhive an organic method of performative practice of content collection and distribution through performed intimacy, authenticity and access through the construction of easily consumed personas of the Queen and her Beys can be viewed, in line with what Marwick and boyd have found through analysis of twitter, as a balance of power to maintain popularity. “Through analysis of tweets from 237 highly followed Twitter users, we find that celebrity practice involves presenting a seemingly authentic, intimate image of self while meeting fan expectations and maintaining important relationships.” (2011, pg.140)

Beyonce’s  relationships with friends and employees fellow singers, stylists, choreographers and photographers are very much a part of the Beyhive too which plays an important draw for Beys to feel part of Queen Bey’s Hive. Her stylist even has her own tab on the main page of street fashion photos of fans and just well dressed people walking around. Photos of Beyonce at moments of relaxation on her tour of South America with her daughter mixed with promotional video sound bites from her side of stage about performing her new song merge the public and private popularity raising “news” items more respectfully than a gossip rag or the traditional P.R. methods could ever manage.

The Beyhive is run with many Entomological references with “wasps” being haters of Beyonce who need to be “stung” or defended by the “Beys” who are her fans. In reference to the insect, the bee, Beyonce officially dubbed the types of Beys, and the characteristics and names a fan can be. Beyonce has officially dubbed herself The Queen Bey, as the leader of the Hive who works night and day to provide "honey" (or content) for her Beys.

Fans have the option of naming themselves a type of Bey depending on which category they fall into, given the options of Honey Beys, Bumble Beys and Digger Beys. This is a process of symbolic language Marwick and boyd describe that can “provide value to their fan base and to emphasize commonalities between the practitioner and his or her followers” (2011, pg.147). It is a uniquely linked cultural symbolism that creates a lasting association to strengthen popularity.

Although twitter arguably allows for much more intimate look at celebrity than the rather closed Beyhive it seems the same practices are taking place managing fans expectations. Both are new practices very different from the traditional fan/ celebrity relationship where “celebrities” have become “celebrity practitioners” using a set of practices as Marshall (2013), Marwick and boyd describe (2011, pg. 141).

Image: Beyonce's Instagram

The reaction to Beyonce getting a shorter haircut earlier in the year prompted a staggering response. Shocked fans on social media expressed themselves venomously across all platforms after the innocuous Instagram snap was posted from her official account and intrigued media outlets ran the 'story' multiple times across the breadth of the expected gossip rags and fashion media all the way to mainstream news coverage.

Interviews with stylists, celebrities, hairdressers, fans and her personal friends contributed to the thousands of words of opinions spread across users of social media on the new look. Close analysis of her presentation over the following days built a singer's new hairdo into a media wildfire that seemingly couldn't be sated. A 23 page analysis of every different hairstyle she had over the last 10 years and 32 of InternationalBusiness Times favourite do's perhaps going the furthest to explore the follicle folly.

This seemingly democratic interactivity of new and old media scrambling to exchange opinions on the presentation of a celebrity through the seemingly personal window of the original image is a demonstration of Marshall's Specular Economy as "An entire new industry—an economy of circulating images, information, text, conversation and interpersonal exchanges—has been built to service the now more pervasive and oddly democratic construction of public identities." (2010, pg. 502) She has built up her public value and grown a "networked culture" based on her public persona through her Beyhive Blog, a more than likely closely managed front page for her Tumblr and Instagram accounts as well as various other links of her 'inspirations', trending fashions and images and videos of collective fan appreciation.

The Beyhive is buzzing with the work of her fans or 'Beys' busily "becoming part of the media ebb and flow" as Marshall describes (2010, pg. 500). Her very own realm of personal presentation produces a seemingly private and intimate discourse with all content stamped with her genuine approval. Fashion brands, restaurants, car customisation companies, upcoming tours of hers as well as other artists she chooses to promote as well as various other more subtle promotions such as maintaining the edge of her iphone 5 in focus within the above viral shot, all link the promotional with a personal touch.

Beyonce within the Beyhive has become a public personality system that is seemingly private and intimate opening the discourse for her worker Beys to consume and contribute to her success like a real queen bee in its hive cared for by it's drones and workers.

Marshall, P.D 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Society, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 498-502

Marwick, A, & Boyd, D 2011, 'To See and Be Seen: Celebrity Practice on Twitter', Convergence: The Journal Of Research Into New Media Technologies, 17, 2, pp. 139-158, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 7 October 2013.

Marshall, P.D 2013, ‘Persona studies: Mapping the proliferation of the public self’,  Journalism, published online 2 June 2013, Sage Publications http://jou.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/05/28/1464884913488720  

Sukiyaki Western Django

ii.What is ‘Hollywoodisation’; Consider an example from a non-Western text (film, music, television, games, or other entertainment industry) and examine to what extent it has been ‘Hollywoodized’.

Image: www.mightyape.com

Sukiyaki Western Django  (2007) is an example of the effect of globalisation on cinema with its swirling mixture of inspirations being shot entirely in the English language it is a Spaghetti western inspired by Sergio Leone who was inspired by John ford and Akira Kurosawa also starring a cameo by Quentin Tarantino. This evolution of style full circle across continents from Japan and back again has Hollywoodized the Samurai tale of Sukiyaki Western Django.

Image: www.soundhead.com

Director Takeshi Miike is taking back the Samurai tale as interpreted by Hollywood as a “Western” by reclaiming originally Japanese inspired “Western” story elements as a Japanese director telling his story within a period of Japanese history but in English in a Spaghetti Western style with cowboy hats, guns etc. The title itself is a combination of different elements that signify the connections to its source material.

Japanese Samurai film - Sukiyaki,

Classical Western – Western,

Spaghetti Western - Django.

It is a story of conflicting Genji and Heike clans clashing within a poor mountain town and the skilled lone gunman (ronin) who is on no one’s side. Knowing his services are valuable to either side he offers himself to who will offer up the larger slice of the pie. It is a melting pot of a film that shows its global appeal and hollywoodization through many clear elements of the visual style of a spaghetti western’s brutal action, editing and costume, the music and cinematography of a classical western and the story, taking place in Japan several hundred years after the Battle of Dannoura in 1185 remaining Japanese.

Image: www.twitchfilm.com

The time of the Western had been long dead in Hollywood by the time of Sukiyaki Western Django’s release but the reclaiming of it by Miike is clear evidence of the statement of Klein’s (2004) that: 

“Asian film industries are not so much resisting globalization as learning how to turn some of the transformations it has unleashed to their own advantage.” 

Miike isn't reacting to the Hollywoodization of the Samurai film in anger, if he is almost 50 years too late, but I would suggest he is taking advantage of the Hollywoodized elements and reinterpreting them as Japanese even despite the film being spoken in English.

REFERENCES:

Klein, Christina 2004, ‘Martial arts and globalisation of US and Asian film industries’, Comparative America Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 360-384

Sukiyaki Western Django  Dir: Takashi Miike (Japan, 2007)

"Official Sukiyaki Western Django Theatrical Trailer" 2008, Online video, Posted 5 August

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-TGaGa3QAc

http://twitchfilm.com/assets/2007/10/Sukiyaki_western_django_(2).jpg 

http://www.soundhead.hu/dandyblog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Sukiyaki_western_django_4.jpg

http://www.mightyape.com.au/product/DVD/Sukiyaki-Western-Django/2694082/

Queen B

iii. Global Celebrity: is celebrity a global phenomenon? Give an account of a global non-Western celebrity (that isn't Psy!), with regards to materials from the reading this week. Alternatively focus on a single celebrity from a culture or nationality other than your own (music, film, television sport, politics, etc) and provide a brief case study with regards to the concepts examined in the Specular Economy.

Beyonce, who topped the Forbes list of top earning celebrity couples last year with husband Jay-Z, projects a public and private image that is globally recognisable. I will be using Beyonce's various social media accounts to look at her complex online presentation as well as a case study with regards to David Marshall's (2010) concept of the "Specular Economy" of Beyonce's 'Beyhive Blog' which is produced apparently according by Queen Bey herself as: 

                "MY WAY OF SHOWING ALL THE INSPIRING THINGS 
                          I COME ACROSS EVERY SINGLE DAY. 
                                 THIS IS THROUGH MY EYES."

The reaction to Beyonce getting a shorter haircut earlier in the year prompted a staggering response. Shocked fans on social media expressed themselves venomously across all platforms after the innocuous Instagram snap was posted from her official account and intrigued media outlets ran the 'story' multiple times across the breadth of the expected gossip rags and fashion media all the way to mainstream news coverage.

Photo: Beyonce's Instagram

Interviews with stylists, celebrities, hairdressers, fans and her personal friends contributed to the thousands of words of opinions spread across users of social media on the new look. Close analysis of her presentation over the following days built a singer's new hairdo into a media wildfire that seemingly couldn't be sated. A 23 page analysis of every different hairstyle she had over the last 10 years and 32 of International Business Times favourite do's perhaps going the furthest to explore the follicle folly.

This democratic interactivity of new and old media scrambling to exchange opinions on the presentation of a celebrity through the seemingly personal window of the original image is a demonstration of Marshall's Specular Economy as "An entire new industry—an economy of circulating images, information, text, conversation and interpersonal exchanges—has been built to service the now more pervasive and oddly democratic construction of public identities." (2010, pg. 502) She has built up her public value and grown a "networked culture" based on her public persona through her Beyhive Blog, a more than likely closely managed front page for her Tumblr and Instagram accounts as well as various other links of her 'inspirations', trending fashions and images and videos of collective fan appreciation.

The Beyhive is buzzing with the work of her fans or 'Beys' busily "becoming part of the media ebb and flow" as Marshall describes (2010, pg. 500). Her very own realm of personal presentation produces a seemingly private and intimate discourse with all content stamped with her genuine approval. Fashion brands, restaurants, car customisation companies, upcoming tours of hers as well as other artists she chooses to promote as well as various other more subtle promotions such as maintaining the edge of her iphone 5 in focus within the above viral shot, all link the promotional with a personal touch.

Beyonce within the Beyhive has become a public personality system that is seemingly private and intimate opening the discourse for her worker Beys to consume and contribute to her success like a real queen bee in its hive cared for by it's drones and workers.

Marshal, P.D 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Society, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 498-502

Week 7 blog topic: Vidya Gaems

v.Stuart Hall (1973) wrote about the active role of the audience, distinguishing between three types of reading strategies used to interpret texts – the dominant-hegemonic reading or preferred reading, the negotiated reading and the oppositional reading. Examine the representation of gender, age, class, or race in a game you are familiar with and give a brief account of that representation in the game from all three readings.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is a hugely successful sandbox game with near limitless map size and opportunities for different forms of play such as competition, narrative, co-operation. Featuring tennis, golf, submarine exploration, shooting, racing or even going to the movies with an A.I "friend". The depth and breadth of activities available allows for multiple readings to interpret the game as a text. 

Stuart Hall (1973) discusses 3 patterns of interpretation by an audience which he suggests that  "exhibit, across individual variants, significant clusterings" (1973, pg. 58): 

- A dominant preferred reading which reflects hegemonic order of meaning reflected closely to the encoder-producers intended message. 

- A negotiated reading that, while remaining within the structure of the encoding of the producer, the decoder-audience is adaptive and oppositional to a limited degree in regards to an audience's local conditions. 

-And a third oppositional reading which is wholly contrary in decoding the hemegmonic-dominant encoding. 

Hall (1973) puts these categories together to help structure the ways a text can be interpreted and misinterpreted between encoder/producer and decoder/audience as he notes that his theory "also helps to deconstruct the commonsense meaning of 'misunderstanding' in terms of a theory of 'systematically distorted communication'" (1973, pg. 59).

Image: www.gamerevolution.com, promotional screenshot of 3 playable characters 

GTA V can be read or decoded according to any of these three patterns as I will attempt to explain. The game follows 3 male playable characters through their careers in both legal and criminal ventures (mainly criminal) within the city of Los Santos which is based on RL L.A. It features a complete world swirling with attempts of satirical L.A. elements from billboards of fake over the top movies and products, Vinewood (Hollywood) Boulevard complete with sidewalk of the stars, satirical clubs and businesses as well as the representations of L.A. typical characters, aspiring actresses, celebrities, yoga instructors, muscle beach, surfer burnouts etc. 

First the dominant preferred reading most importantly would be to accept the satirical nature of the game decoding the intended humor as funny, the social commentary as accurate and taking on the packed messages of redemption and ideas of success and achievement. The characters would be understood as extensions of the player in that the audience would identify with at least one of the three male characters and make decisions, within what is allowed in the game, that would reflect their own ideas of their identity. The world would be seen as a clever satirical mirror of reality.

A negotiated reading would be decoding the game as fun, enjoying some satirical elements but progressing through the game frustrated by the lack of representations of women and uncomfortable with presented stereotypes. While also perhaps playing the audience might skip sections that do not find mesh with their personal conditions. Avoiding characters that offend them and making decisions within the game that would go against the presented typical intended action of the character like making the bloodthirsty lunatic character buzz around on a moped delivering pizzas or drive a taxi. Make the old man thief go mountain bike riding and basejumping avoiding the prostitutes and "rampage" killing sprees.

Image: Promotional wallpaper, sexist message much?

An oppositional reading would reject any satire at all. The patriarchal hegemonic messages of submissive, weak, women's representations or lack of any powerful women at all within the game could be read as explicitly sexist. The social commentary and  jokes would be not understood as critical or amusing but oppressive and direly offensive. The game could be played oppositionally by rejecting the narrative, skipping every cutscene and interpreting every action as strictly a sad attempt for male empowerment, constructing mayhem and adrenaline virtualisation to experience power they crave due to the pathetic powerlessness over their own lives due to class division.  

References:
Hall, S. 1973, Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse. Birmingham [England: Centre for Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham, 1973. 

Image 1:
http://media.gamerevolution.com/images/misc/grand-theft-auto-v-review-2.jpg

Image 2:
http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news2/GTA-V-Celebrates-Fourth-of-July-with-Lamar-Tracy-and-Jimmy-Wallpapers-2.jpg?1373006759

Drone cross pollination

v. Employment and the Blogopshere

The phenomenon of work blogging or the employment related blogosphere gives employees an unofficial outlet to vent and gives control to employees to network and discuss with people and about topics that can be related to or far away from their management and corporate culture initiatives "employee cynicism can potentially offer employees a sense of control and attachment to their own occupational or professional community, while at the same time providing distance from corporate culture initiatives." (Richards & Kosmala 2013)

Source: Redpath's Beekeeping Supplies

Like bees travelling large distances and pollinating flowers by leaving the hive to collect pollen and nectar to then return to enrich the hive as a whole, the colonisation of the blogosphere by employees sharing and receiving information builds a broader culture among employees. Perhaps more beneficially than maintaining closed top down management enforced corporate culture initiatives. 

The direction of management decisions can be understood objectively with insight from outside sources and diversity of ideas on how to deal with problems as well as possible further employment opportunities. People on the outside looking into the a work blog as a record of an employees thoughts about work also makes for a better understanding out in the public of what its actually like to work in that specific industry. Again like pollination the process is beneficial both ways, the flower benefits from pollinating seeds as the bee contributes to the hive. The public gains understanding of the internal initiatives and nitty gritty day to day goings ons within a company or industry.

The example of pollination is life and death for both the plant and the bee whereas a work blog perhaps is more of a first world problem situation where whinging about work seems to be an example of a selfish desire to unload stresses and concerns. However, the dynamics of workplace blogging provides insights and understanding as a phenomena that puts control into the hands of the employees perhaps where they don't have power over anything else to do with work.

Sources:
Richards, J., and Kosmala, K., 2013 ‘In the end, you can only slag people off for so long’: employee cynicism through work blogging’, New Technology, Work and Employment, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 68 – 77.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7N50rSSZxo

Redpath's Beekeeping Supplies http://redpaths.com.au/images/top-pic1.jpg

   

To bee or not to bee

There is suggested by Ritzer & Jurgenson (2010) a new form of prosumer capitalism developing out of traditional capitalism with differing characteristics. Distinguishing itself from Mcdonaldisation or the “traditional prosumers” that have developed as result of consumption out weighing production in developed society and where production is contributed to in part by the consumer to maximise surplus. Making your order in detail ahead of time the way you like it paying at a counter cleaning up afterwards for example.

Whereas the traditional prosumer is more of an extension of capitalism finding ways of minimising costs the new prosumer almost eliminates costs to the point of contributing “nothing but surplus” (Ritzer & Jurgenson 2010). To apply this alternative prosumer model to a beehive the beekeeper is the hand of capitalism where the bees work for free.

The newer form prosumer has everything to do with web 2.0 and online contributions of labour through content creation changing the prosumer in 4 new ways.

1. Apparently open, minimally controlled by capitalists

2. Exploitation becomes more of an ambiguous issue

3. Possibility of a new economic form out of building brands/ competitive advantage

4. Abundance instead of scarcity means quality over efficiency

The role of a beekeeper is to maintain a hive through keeping bees busy. The process involves taking a full honeycomb frame out and adding a fresh blank frame with a starter sheet of beeswax honeycomb foundation to the hive for the bees to use as a platform to build upon and keeps a single hive happily building neat honeycomb rows.

Frames with foundation available from Redpaths Beekeeping Supplies

As a result the queen lays more workers and less queen cells making problem swarms less likely and the beekeeper can keep the surplus skimming off the top some delicious honey. The web 2.0 example of a prosumer contributing the bulk of production of content freely online has made me perhaps obviously jump to this straight forward comparison.

The network of the web visualised as a hive with frames with honey comb sheets being platforms such as Wikipedia, YouTube and Facebook has an interesting perspective to it in many ways more than this. The similarly apparently open, ambiguously exploitative, possibilities for new economic forms and abundance are all linked to the way beekeeping works too.

Sources: 

Photo: http://www.redpaths.com.au/images/PROD_4737_.jpg

Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010 ‘Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital ‘prosumer’, Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 10 no. 1, pp 13-36.

CCD: Colony collapse disorder

The tactics corporations use to manipulate or spin the perception of situations can make a difference to the moral outrage towards a phenomena where right and wrong might have been ambiguous and complex. Specifically here we are talking about one of many strategies employed classified as devaluation versus validation according to Martin, Moore & Salter (2010).

“Good guys” and “bad guys” can be clearly depicted by the powerful corporations to simplify the various arguments streamlining an issue to their advantage. File sharing for example so called pirates are repeatedly compared to car thieves and shoplifters. The devaluation of file sharers as criminals was the main initial method employed by the music industry (Martin, Moore & Salter 2010). The advocates of file sharing were demonised to defend the industry position and decisions made punishing individuals involved as just.

Me with a bee!

Within the beekeeping industry the strategy of devaluation versus validation is also utilised to defend the position of pesticide companies and world-wide farming practices. The factors affecting the beekeeping industry are shaped more subtly however than the example of file sharing.

Colony collapse disorder is a global problem affecting beekeepers causing devastating losses to commercial beekeeping operations up to 50 percent decreases in bee populations in the US (vanEngelsdorp et al. 2008). The exact cause for the problem which involves the abandonment of the hive and subsequent death of large numbers of bees is unknown precisely, however the role of pesticides and fungicides, a likely cause, is defended voraciously within the beekeeping industry and from other interests.

My little buddy

The effects of pesticides and fungicides is often the last contributing factor if at all behind the varroa mite, electromagnetic radiation, fungus, genetics, habitat loss, poor nutrition and beekeeping practises such as transportation. Agricultural spraying practices are defended as embedded in the landscape of primary industry and simply inconclusive as a factor despite the growing evidence that pesticides and fungicides are having significant link (Woody, 2013).

Spending thousands per year treating varroa mite and improving beekeeper practices, feeding bees and breeding better genetics is repeatedly reported as being the only solutions in conferences and beekeeping journals and then those solutions are often the only advice given from beekeeping supplies businesses such as where I work rather than tackling the widespread problem of pesticides and fungicides impact in the equation.

Martin, B, Moore, C and Salter, C. (2010), “Sharing music files: tactics of a challenge to the industry”, First Monday, vol. 15, no. 12, http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2986/2680

Woody, T. (2013) “Scientists discover what’s killing the bees and it’s worse than you thought”, Quartz, 24 July, 2013

http://qz.com/107970/scientists-discover-whats-killing-the-bees-and-its-worse-than-you-thought/

vanEngelsdorp D, Hayes J Jr, Underwood RM, Pettis J (2008) “A Survey of Honey Bee Colony Losses in the U.S., Fall 2007 to Spring 2008”, PLoS ONE 3(12): e4071. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004071

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0004071