I wonder if the maggots would cause any problems. I had a ton of the little fruit flies appear late this summer (along with yellow jackets). It was the first time I had seen them, and I ate the berries as normal, even those which had been munched a bit. The most damaged ones weren't as tasty, though I'm not sure if it was just simple over-ripeness, or a higher maggot content. Usually, I did a cursory check to make sure there wasn't anything huge crawling out :) A quick Google didn't reveal any obvious issues, so as long as the taste isn't impacted I'll probably just keep eating them. I may avoid some of the more damaged ones... I'd be interested if anyone knows of a downside (other than the "eww" factor).

Becky when you look down into the open calyx the ripe seeds will be very black. the calyx will usually be much more open and will at least be starting to turn brown and somewhat dry also. Keep in mind that Black & Blue is notorious for cross pollinating and the plants may or may not come true to the parent depending on what other salvias have been grown nearby. I usually have a 20-30% chance of my seedlings coming true. Two years ago I had 1 out of 4 plants to come true. This year I had two plants out of 6 come true. Your best bet is to take cuttings of your existing plants if you want to insure that you have additional B%B salvias for next year. I collect the seed and sow it b/c I get a thrill out of seeing what will develop but I also take cuttings of my existing plants and even purchase new ones from time to time just to insure that I always have at least 2 or 3 true B&Bs. I am sure Rich will offer more precise information for you on seed collecting. Penny

Karen, What a bad boy!!! But if there's food around, the female should be able to raise the babies despite his behavior, right? I think my first nest of babies was raised largely on suet! I keep the suet and worms in the same feeder, so when the worms are gone they go right to suet. Do you have an alternate food source? And of course the bugs should be pretty plentiful by now too... Good luck Karen! Ann

This letter to the journal Nature outlines the safety risk of antibiotic resistance due to horizontal gene transfer from GMOs and points out that this is not the only risk that needs to be urgently addressed by the authorities. ------ Ampicillin threat leads to wider transgene concern Sir: We are concerned by the suggestion, in your Editorial "Don't rely on Uncle Sam" (Nature 434, 807; 2005), that the US Food and Drug Administration does not consider the presence of the ampicillin-resistance gene in Syngenta's unapproved variety of genetically modified Bt10 maize to represent a safety problem. This is not the view of the UK government's scientific advisers (the DEFRA Antimicrobial Resistance Coordination Group), who state that some important veterinary pathogens remain susceptible to ampicillin (K. L. Goodyear et al. J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 54, 959; 2004). They state that there is "extremely low or no detected resistance in certain bacterial species", so that "any occasional transfer of resistance genes to these organisms would be a very significant event". If, as a result of such horizontal gene transfer, it became necessary to use more modern antimicrobials to treat animal disease, they write, "then there could be significant consequences for the consumer through the food chain". The risk of horizontal gene transfer from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is not a theoretical one. One study found that, after Bt genes in plasmid form were incubated in the saliva in a sheep's mouth for a few minutes, they could still transform Escherichia coli bacteria so that they developed antibiotic resistance (P. S. Duggan et al. Br. J. Nutr. 89, 159$B!](B166; 2003). In addition, it is worth noting that the ampicillin-resistance gene in Bt10 maize and other genetically modified crops is a remnant of the bacterial plasmid inserted into these varieties, and would therefore function very efficiently if taken up by bacteria as a result of horizontal gene transfer. Once the Bt10 maize incident has been dealt with, we feel there should be a review of the general question of horizontal gene transfer from GMOs. There is no reason to believe that any health implications are confined to antibiotic-resistance marker genes; they could, for example, equally apply to the inserted Bt toxin genes present in all genetically modified Bt crops. However, the transfer of antibiotic resistance is the only such risk currently being addressed by the authorities that regulate GMOs. We consider that the case-by-case approval approach used by the authorities does not adequately address such problems, which are common to all GMOs. Gundula Azeez Soil Association, 40-56 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6BY, UK