Time to Get Long Almond Futures?

I used to get so infuriated when one of my friends would forward me an email that said something along the lines of, “If you forward this email Microsoft has a beta tracking system that will then send you $250”. It would take all my self restraint not to ‘reply all’ with various insults and misgivings. Usually, I would bite my lip and send the author a page from Snopes.com like this one for the Bill Gates giveaway.

A friend told me the other day (as I tossed a frozen grape to our dog) that grapes can be toxic to dogs. That sounded ridiculous to me, but upon further investigation, I found out that it was, in fact, true.

I am comfortable with the limits of my knowledge and understanding. It was without reservation that a book I ordered in combo with SuperCrunchers the other day was The Book of General Ignorance. Good read? I dunno – but at the very least there could be some good cocktail conversation in there. (ie Did you know the first written use of “hello” was by Edison in 1877? I didn’t.)

Another interesting topic that has been in the news recently has been the continual disappearance of bees. Fortune had a feature piece on the subject in the most recent issue here titled, “Flight of the Honeybees“. Take a look at US almond and apple production below.

Unfortunately most of these markets do not have tradeable products. OJ, soybeans, and cotton are the exceptions – but all three have less than 30% of their products pollinated by bees. Now if only almond futures were being traded. . .Anyone have any good investment themes or ideas that can be related to the plight of the honeybee?