Tom Kruesel writes in: “As an urban beekeeper, I can see some validity in the concern over competition between honeybees and native bees and wasps. (Many of which are also pollinators.) However, my personal experience has been the exact opposite. When I started keeping bees, I also started planting massive amounts of flowers in my yard and on the city boulevard. … More Tom Kruesel writes in: “As an urban beekeeper,
Urban beekeeping has been touted as a way to boost pollination and improve sustainability, food security and biodiversity in cities. Many people and businesses who’ve added beehives to their backyards and rooftops (including CBC) say they’re doing it to help fight declines in bee populations. But researchers say urban beekeepers are likely doing just the opposite when it comes … More Urban beekeeping can be bad for wild bees.
Study also finds that crop yields are often limited by a lack of pollinators. A new study finds that the yields of major crops in the United States are frequentlylimited by a lack of pollinators. The study also highlighted the value of America’s wild bees, estimating they boost yields for six of the country’s seven major cropsexamined in … More Wild Bees Are Worth $1.5 Billion for Six U.S. Crops.
Apple and cherry production hampered by lack of wild bees. Bees affected by loss of habitat, pesticides and climate crisis. A lack of bees in agricultural areas is limiting the supply of some food crops, a new US-based study has found, suggesting that declines in the pollinators may have serious ramifications for global food security.‘Murder … More Loss of bees causes shortage of key food crops, study finds.
Honeybees don’t mean to sacrifice themselves. Like the pain inflicted by a bee sting, most of us are familiar with the “fact” that they sacrifice themselves when protecting their hive, dying after they sting. The truth is, honeybees aren’t that selfless. Their stingers developed millions of years ago — long before mammals evolved — as an effective weapon … More THEY DANCE AND MAY EVEN DREAM :SIX FASCINATING THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT HONEYBEES.
The toxic chemical is all over the fruits and veggies our kids are eating. Even in small doses chlorpyrifos can irreversibly impact children’s as well as bees’ brain development and hormonal systems. Scientists have linked it to developmental delays in children and working memory loss. Now, Health Canada is deciding whether to allow Dow’s dangerous chemical in our farmers’ fields and they … More Agri-giant Dow’s dangerous pesticide, chlorpyrifos, has serious negative effects on the health of our bees, not to mention the health of our children.
As bees gain foraging experience they continually refine both the order in which they visit flowers and the flight paths they take between flowers to generate better and better routes, according to researchers at Queen Mary University of London. Despite this, bees can be tricked into taking tempting shortcuts between flowers even at the cost … More Radar tracking reveals how bees develop a route between flowers.
Hollis Woodard, assistant professor of entomology at UCR, has conducted multiple studies showing how loss of plant availability negatively affects the prolific pollinators. Previous research indicates a queen’s diet can impact how quickly her brood develops, or whether she’s able to live through hibernation. In a study published today, Woodard and her team demonstrate that … More Sugar-poor diets wreak havoc on bumblebee queens’ health. Without enough sugar in their diets, bumblebee queens can experience difficulty reproducing and shorter lifespans.
The numbers are in from this season’s butterfly count: once in the millions, now there are only 29,000 western monarch butterflies left in California. That’s a 99% population decline of these essential pollinators. And we’re not only losing monarchs — 40% of invertebrate pollinators, including the honeybees, are on the brink of extinction. If we … More Holding Corporations Accountable as Pollinator Die-off Accelerates And its Just the Bees which are at Dire Risk.
What’s the best way to ward off giant hornets if you’re a honeybee? Animal dung, according to a first-ever University of Guelph study. U of G researchers have discovered honeybees in Vietnam collect and apply spots of animal dung around hive entrances to deter deadly nest raids by an Asian hornet (Vespa soror) whose North American … More Honey bees fend off giant hornets with animal feces. Honeybees spread animal dung on the entrance of their hives to effectively ward off giant hornets.
