A Frightening Review of Recent Chemical Company Megamergers, Not to Mention the Thousands of Lawsuits Against the Tragic Effects

July 16, 2019

MARC STEINER: In 2016 I covered the battle by farmers and environmentalists to stop Bayer and Monsanto from merging into one company. The Department of Justice just ruled that the merger of these two corporate giants could take place. You know the name Bayer as aspirin. You might take an Aleve now and then for your … More A Frightening Review of Recent Chemical Company Megamergers, Not to Mention the Thousands of Lawsuits Against the Tragic Effects

Pesticide exposure causes bumblebee flight to fall short

July 11, 2019

Bees exposed to a neonicotinoid pesticide fly only a third of the distance that unexposed bees are able to achieve. Flight behaviour is crucial for determining how bees forage, so reduced flight performance from pesticide exposure could lead to colonies going hungry and pollination services being impacted. Foraging bees are essential pollinators for the crops … More Pesticide exposure causes bumblebee flight to fall short

Minnesota Will Pay Residents to Grow Bee Friendly Lawns

July 8, 2019

Leaving lawns untreated and allowing flowering plants to grow can help support the endangered rusty patched bumblebee The plump rusty patched bumblebee, Bombus affinis, once buzzed all across the eastern United States, the upper Midwest and parts of Canada. But today, the chunky critter is endangered, its population reduced by nearly 90 percent. In Minnesota, where the rusty patched … More Minnesota Will Pay Residents to Grow Bee Friendly Lawns

Honey bee parasites, varroa mites, feed on fatty organs, not blood

July 7, 2019

Honey bee colonies around the world are at risk from a variety of threats, including pesticides, diseases, poor nutrition and habitat loss. Recent research suggests that one threat stands well above the others: a parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, which specializes in attacking honey bees. For decades, researchers have assumed that varroa mites feed on blood, like … More Honey bee parasites, varroa mites, feed on fatty organs, not blood

With flower preferences, bees have a big gap between the sexes

June 30, 2019

Scores of wild bee species, females and males, visit very different flowers for food — a discovery that could be important for conservation efforts, according to Rutgers-led research. Indeed, the diets of female and male bees of the same species could be as different as the diets of different bee species, according to a study … More With flower preferences, bees have a big gap between the sexes

Microscopy research helps unravel the workings of a major honey bee pest

June 21, 2019

Varroa mites do not feed on bee blood (hemolymph fluid) Research by scientists at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the University of Maryland released today sheds new light — and reverses decades of scientific dogma — regarding a honey bee pest (Varroa destructor) that is considered the greatest single driver of the global honey … More Microscopy research helps unravel the workings of a major honey bee pest