Weekend Reading: Scotch-scapes, Bowling in Paris, Cooking with Peeps, and More

• The honeybees are dying! Take note if you care about a) bees, b) the environment c) flowers and/or d) your morning yogurt with honey. Yes, we've heard about it before, but environmental reporting from NYT writer Michael Wines gives us a reason for the blight, till now unclear at best. "There is growing evidence that a powerful new class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, incorporated into the plants themselves, could be an important factor," he writes. (Of course, the pesticide companies dispute this.) In addition to these "neonics," as they're called, there is concern that the combined effects of approved pesticides is also playing a role in our bees' lives. Scary, scary stuff. —Sophie Brickman

• In Paris, one of the more expensive cities I've spent time in, 5 euros generally can't get you much more than a glass of house wine or a pair of croissants. But leave it to David Lebovitz—American expat extraordinaire—to find quite possibly the City of Light's best value for a five-spot: a round of bowling at La Quille, a bar decked out with a half-dozen American-style lanes. Don't worry that the thrill of crashing pins leads you to forget you're in France: skip the watery beer that defines bowling night stateside; instead, do as the Parisians do and toast your spares and strikes with a bottle of what looks to be a pretty great Cote de Provence rose for €15. —Helen Rosner

• I've spent this week patiently waiting for the box of Easter candy that my mom insists on sending me every year. Munching on a disappointingly non-bunny shaped chocolate bar, I came across Buzzfeed's 11 Ways Chocolate is Saving Your Life. While I'll probably consume at least a pound of chocolate eggs in pursuit of the math skills guaranteed by number 8, I doubt that any of those eggs will get me any closer to the Nobel Prize ambitiously promised by number 11. Either way, I'll be forwarding this article on to my mom, and maybe she'll insist on sending chocolate for Halloween too... —Michelle Betters

• A couple of weeks ago we got a special delivery to our SAVEUR office: a whopping 73 pounds of Peeps. I started wondering how to use up a few dozen boxes besides just eating them straight, and found some answers in this article on Smithsonian.com, describing five creative ways to cook with the little guys. Author Marie Koren looks at Peeps as a seasonal ingredient, just like any other fruit or vegetable, and gives these soft and sweet chicks and bunnies new life by incorporating them into pie filling, freezing them into "peepsicles," or—if you feel really adventurous—making some Peep-ceviche. —Elsa Saatela

• Seriously: pity the female chef. Not only does your average woman in a professional kitchen have to deal with the entrenched sexism of the restaurant world, she also has to deal with media outlets constantly asking what it feels like to be a lady and a cook simultaneously. In a brilliant (and trenchant) take on the matter, Eater asked five high-profile female chefs to explain "what it's like to be asked what it's like to be a female chef." —Helen Rosner

• In New York I take it for granted that I can buy a box of matzah at any deli down the street (and that this kosher specialty product is cheaper than a pack of cigarettes). But it's not that easy everywhere: An article in The Daily Beast this week discusses the formidable challenges of both negotiating generational shifts and tracking down Passover foods in a tiny Jewish community in Tunisia, giving me cause to appreciate my little corner deli all the more. —Anna Perling