Pesticides

Woolworths and Coles cave in to pressure to abandon product accused of killing bees

February 20, 2018

Coles and Woolworths are abandoning an insecticide product which contains a controversial ingredient that has been linked to harming bee populations essential for pollination, The New Daily can reveal. More than 30,000 Australians have signed a petition, launched by global consumer group SumOfUs, calling on Australian retailers to stop selling insecticides containing neonicotinoids, including Yates Confidor which has been … More Woolworths and Coles cave in to pressure to abandon product accused of killing bees

Bee decline threatens US crop production

January 23, 2018

First US wild bee map reveals 139 ‘trouble zone’ counties The first-ever study to map U.S. wild bees suggests they are disappearing in the country’s most important farmlands — from California’s Central Valley to the Midwest’s corn belt and the Mississippi River valley. A new study of wild bees identifies 139 counties in key agricultural … More Bee decline threatens US crop production

A stinging report: Climate change a major threat to bumble bees

January 9, 2018

New research from a team of Florida State University scientists and their collaborators is helping to explain the link between a changing global climate and a dramatic decline in bumble bee populations worldwide. This is Bombus bifarius, one of the three species of bumble bee studied by the Ogilvie and her team. Credit: Jane Ogilvie … More A stinging report: Climate change a major threat to bumble bees

How honey bee gut bacteria help to digest their pollen-rich diet

December 23, 2017

he honey bee gut is colonized by specialized bacteria that help digest components of the floral pollen diet and produce molecules that likely promote bee health. In a study publishing 12 December in the open access journal PLOS Biology, a group of researchers led by Philipp Engel at the University of Lausanne and ETH Zürich, Switzerland, … More How honey bee gut bacteria help to digest their pollen-rich diet

Can Honeybees Monitor Pollution?

December 11, 2017

The tiny pollinators are useful sentinels of what’s going on in an ecosystem, and might just be environmentalists’ best asset. An apiarist tends to beehives at Hastings Urban Farm in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. (Courtesy M. Amini) By Rachel Kaufman It’s a sunny day, and Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighborhood is buzzing. Commuters are commuting, delivery trucks are delivering, … More Can Honeybees Monitor Pollution?

Laws of attraction: Pollinators use multiple cues to identify flowers across continents

December 3, 2017

Source: National Centre for Biological SciencesSummary:Although at least 75 percent of our crop species depend on animal pollinators, little is known about their flower preferences. As global insect populations decline, it is of utmost importance for us to understand what factors attract wild pollinators to flowers, and how these preferences differ in the face of … More Laws of attraction: Pollinators use multiple cues to identify flowers across continents

A Grassroots Organization Launch of ‘Back from the Brink’

November 19, 2017

Wednesday November 15, 2017 saw the official launch of one of the most ambitious conservation programmes in England – Back from the Brink. Project partners, volunteers and other distinguished guests met at Windsor Great Park to celebrate the launch of the programme, which aims to bring 20 species back from the brink of extinction. This is … More A Grassroots Organization Launch of ‘Back from the Brink’