We will bring you information on worldwide developments within the beekeeping industry and related agricultural news. We will present a brief introduction to events, developments and interesting news releases as they occur. Want information sent directly to your inbox? Sign up for our free newsletter!
‘Hive Uganda’ Founder plans to bring honey production and beekeeping training to the blind community of Ugandaas an inaugural winner of the Holman Prize. GULU, UGANDA – June 29, 2017 – Imagine tending a beehive – or a whole farm of bees – with hundreds of thousands of buzzing, pollen-loving insects crawling all over you, stingers at the ready. Now imagine doing …
Bumble bees, like this one, are among the bee species most vulnerable to increases in temperature. Photo: Elsa Youngsteadt. Click to enlarge. A new study from North Carolina State University finds that common wild bee species decline as urban temperatures increase. “We looked at 15 of the most common bee species in southeastern cities and – through fieldwork and labwork – found that …
Daniel Hellerstein, Claudia Hitaj, David Smith, and Amélie Davis A report summary from the Economic Research Service United States Department of Agriculture What is the issue? Crops that depend on pollinators account for up to one-third of total U.S. food consumption. However, honey bees and other pollinators face a variety of stressors, including diseases, insect pests, pesticide exposure, and changing landscapes. …
Bees lacking insect equivalent of the cerebral cortex may still be able to learn odors Honey bees may not need key brain structures known as mushroom bodies in order to learn complex associations between odors and rewards, according to new research published in PLOS Computational Biology. The new findings surprised the research team because mushroom bodies are thought to be essential for …
Field experiments show how removing a pollinator species disrupts foraging patterns Emory Health Sciences The absence of a single dominant bumblebee species from an ecosystem disrupts foraging patterns among a broad range of remaining pollinators in the system -- from other bees to butterflies, beetles and more, field experiments show. Biology Letters published the research, which may have implications for the survival of …
If It Smells Like a Petunia or Shampoo, It Might Be a Pesticide ARS News Service Agricultural Research Service, USDA A scent that petunias and snapdragons release to attract pollinators may be an environmentally friendly control for pests like the spotted wing drosophila fly (SWD) and the brown marmorated stink bug. Zhang is also investigating whether low doses of methyl benzoate could control Varroa …
Princeton University As bees' social behavior evolved, their complex chemical communication systems evolved in concert, according to a study published online by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. An international team of researchers, including those from Princeton University, reported that a certain species of bees, called halictid bees, have more sensorial machinery compared with related solitary species. The difference …
Biologist Lynn Adler at UMass Amherst has a $1 million USDA grant to study the possible role of sunflower pollen in boosting bee health University of Massachusetts at Amherst AMHERST, Mass. - Biology professor Lynn Adler at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, an expert in pollination and plant-insect interactions, recently received a three-year, $1 million grant from a special "pollinator health" program of …