by the Wildlife Conservation Society Humans have transformed the landscape to an amazing degree. We are losing our wild places, where much biodiversity of insects still awaits undiscovered. Many species of bees live in these untouched areas, pollinating a great diversity of plants. A new study shows how much of our wilderness areas we have lost since 1993. These maps of our …
Traps baited with synthetic pheromone could become solution to invasive Asian hornet Over the past decade, Asian hornets, predatory insects with a widespread and expanding population, have invaded parts of Europe and Korea. Vespa velutina has a growing reputation as a species that proliferates rapidly, preys on honey bees and poses risks to humans. Now a biologist at the University of …
A global sampling of honey finds 75% to be contaminated with neonicotinoid pesticides. Of note, the concentrations detected are below the amount authorized by the European Union for human consumption. The situation is more bleak for pollinators, however. Widespread application of neonicotinoids has been identified as a key factor responsible for the global decline in pollinators, particularly bees. Edward A.D. Mitchell …
Mosquito control products can be detrimental to honey bee health. The EPA is seeking comments on a new program that would release bioinfected male mosquitos to help reduce populations of mosquitos carrying the Zika virus. If effective, such bioremedies could reduce the reliance on pesticides. report courtesy of the EPA EPA is proposing to register ZAP Males®, a new microbial biopesticide that …
Certain plant microRNAs slow development to keep workers small and sterile PLOS Working model for the cross-kingdom transfer of plant microRNAs in the regulation of honeybee development. For larvae that are destined to become queens, royal jelly is fed in copious amounts to drive the development of the royal phenotype. For worker-destined larvae, substantial quantities of plant microRNAs are absorbed when consuming beebread and pollen, which …
Courtesy of Bee Informed Partnership The National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) recently reported the results of its second honey bee colony loss survey. The Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) also recently published preliminary loss results covering the same period. Despite the differences in methodology and sample sizes, these two surveys yielded comparable results. Specifically, we estimate 33.23% losses based on the BIP survey, …
Michigan State University EAST LANSING, Mich. - Seemingly indestructible Varroa mites have decimated honeybee populations and are a primary cause of colony collapse disorder, or CCD. Michigan State University scientists have found genetic holes in the pests' armor that could potentially reduce or eliminate the marauding invaders. The team's results, published in the current issue of Insect Science, have identified four …
University of Guelph professor discovered that exposure to thiamethoxam reduces the chances of a bumblebee queen starting a new colony by more than a quarter. University of Guelph Bumblebees are less able to start colonies when exposed to a common neonicotinoid pesticide, according to a new University of Guelph study. Prof. Nigel Raine has discovered that exposure to thiamethoxam reduces the chances of a …