Month: April 2020

Technology tracks ‘bee talk’ to help improve honey bee health.

April 17, 2020

Simon Fraser University graduate student Oldooz Pooyanfar is monitoring what more than 20,000 honeybees housed in hives in a Cloverdale field are “saying” to each other — looking for clues about their health. Pooyanfar’s technology is gleaning communication details from sound within the hives with her beehive monitoring system — technology she developed at SFU. … More Technology tracks ‘bee talk’ to help improve honey bee health.

Exposure to neonic pesticides results in early death for honeybee workers and queens.

April 14, 2020

Worker and queen honeybees exposed to field realistic levels of neonicotinoids die sooner, reducing the health of the entire colony, a new study led by York University biologists has found. The researchers were also surprised to find that the neonicotinoid contaminated pollen collected by the honeybees came not from crops grown from neonicotinoid treated seeds, … More Exposure to neonic pesticides results in early death for honeybee workers and queens.

Insecticides are becoming more toxic to honey bees.

April 11, 2020

During the past 20 years, insecticides applied to U.S. agricultural landscapes have become significantly more toxic — over 120-fold in some mid-western states — to honey bees when ingested, according to a team of researchers, who identified rising neonicotinoid seed treatments in corn and soy as the primary driver of this change. The study is … More Insecticides are becoming more toxic to honey bees.

U.S. beekeepers lost over 40 percent of colonies last year, highest winter losses ever recorded.

April 8, 2020

Results point to a need for increased research, extension, and best management practices. Beekeepers across the United States lost 40.7% of their honey bee colonies from April 2018 to April 2019, according to preliminary results of the latest annual nationwide survey conducted by the University of Maryland-led nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership. Honey bees pollinate $15 billion … More U.S. beekeepers lost over 40 percent of colonies last year, highest winter losses ever recorded.

Insects in decline: On farmland, latecomers lose out.

April 5, 2020

Wild bees in Europe are in trouble — more than 50 percent of local species are now classified as endangered. Recent findings indicate that, in farming areas, species that emerge in late summer are most acutely threatened. The pollination services provided by wild bees are indispensable, not only for ecological but also for eminently economic … More Insects in decline: On farmland, latecomers lose out.

Breakthrough could aid development of bee-friendly pesticides.

April 2, 2020

Breakthrough could aid development of bee-friendly pesticides. Efforts to create pesticides that are not toxic to bees have been boosted by a scientific breakthrough. A joint study by the University of Exeter, Rothamsted Research and Bayer AG has discovered the enzymes in honeybees and bumblebees that determine how sensitive they are to different neonicotinoid pesticides. The … More Breakthrough could aid development of bee-friendly pesticides.