The Los Angeles City Council approved a draft proposal to allow hobbyist beekeepers to maintain hives in their backyards. Cities across the country have legalized beekeeping to help rebuild honeybee colonies. By Henry Gass Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP/File Los Angeles moved closer this week to allowing residents to keep beehives, making the city … More Los Angeles buzzing over backyard beehives
Poor management practices have enabled spread of bee pathogens, bee researcher argues In the search for answers to the complex health problems and colony losses experienced by honey bees in recent years, it may be time for professionals and hobbyists in the beekeeping industry to look in the mirror. In a research essay to be … More To save honey bees, human behavior must change
Once the snow melts, bees will be back in business — pollinating, making honey and keeping busy doing bee things. For at least two urban bee species, that means making nests out of plastic waste. A new study reveals that some bees, including alfalfa leafcutting bees, use bits of plastic bags and plastic building materials … More Urban bees using plastic to build hives
Many beekeepers feed their honey bees sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup when times are lean inside the hive. This practice has come under scrutiny, however, in response to colony collapse disorder, the massive — and as yet not fully explained — annual die-off of honey bees in the U.S. and Europe. Some suspect that inadequate … More Scientists track gene activity when honey bees do and don’t eat honey: Significant differences depending on diet
Honeybees create honey in their hive through the topped-out combs, and they keep beebread — their food — in the other combs. Credit: © gudrin / Fotolia Honeybees — employed to pollinate crops during the blooming season — encounter danger due to lingering and wandering pesticides, according to a new Cornell University study that analyzed … More New data unearths pesticide peril in beehives
Exposure to neonicotinoid seed treated oilseed rape crops has been linked to long-term population decline of wild bee species across the English countryside, according to research by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, published in Nature Communications. The research, led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology using data provided by Fera Science Ltd and … More Neonicotinoid insecticides linked to wild bee decline across England
Researchers from the University of Calgary studying data from 600 fields in 20 countries have found that managed honey bees are not as successful at pollinating crops as wild insects, primarily wild bees, suggesting the continuing loss of wild insects in many agricultural landscapes has negative consequences for crop harvests. Lawrence Harder, University of Calgary … More Loss of wild insects hurts crops around the world
In a recent study researchers discovered how bees naturally vaccinate their young. This may prove to be useful in creating the first bee vaccine. Scientists can begin to build bee resistance to the factors that have caused colony collapse disorder across the globe for years. This research was aided by previous studies into bee culture and with the collaboration of Arizona … More Natural bee vaccine
If you were ever wondering how honey is really made, we found this simple, yet elegant video that beautifully explains how the wondrous substance is created! With the use of simple animation, the author outlines the journey of the bee, all the way from drawing the nectar of flowers to placing a ‘wax-cap’ on the freshly prepared honey.
Save The Bees Concert 