Nations approve first work plan, budget for Intergovernmental
Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Antalya, Turkey, December 14, 2013 – The groundbreaking Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) today agreed to develop a set of assessments on pollination and food production, land degradation and invasive species aimed at providing policymakers with the tools to tackle pressing environmental challenges.
Around 400 delegates …
Demand for California Almonds remains strong. Shipments for the month of November exceeded prior year by nearly 8%. Year-to-date, shipments continue to run ahead of last year at 7.4%.
Commitments for November rose by 149 million lbs., putting the 2013 California almond supply at 57% shipped and committed. The most recent estimates peg the 2013 California almond crop between 1.95 and …
(Courtesy of Matt Shipman, North Carolina State News and Information)
From tomatoes to pumpkins, most fruit and vegetable crops rely on pollination by bees and other insect species – and the future of many of those species is uncertain. Now researchers from North Carolina State University are proposing a set of guidelines for assessing the performance of pollinator species in order …
Courtesy Joli Winer, editor The Northeastern Kansas Bee Buzzer
Tips for December
Renew your Bee Association membership
Finish those things you procrastinated about earlier this fall: entrance reducers, combining weak colonies, feeding light colonies.
Monitor hives for flight on warm days (sunny and above 50 degrees) and check for dead-outs throughout the winter.
Keep bricks or rocks on your lids to prevent the wind from …
by Kate Wilhite
College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences
Washington State University
PULLMAN, Wash. – At just 16 years old, Sheridan Miller is already a veteran fundraiser. The Mill Valley, Calif., teenager recently donated $1,400 she raised to help support Washington State University’s honey bee stock improvement program. Over the past six years, she has raised more than $5,000 to help …
by RON PHIPPS
President, CPNA International Ltd.1
Co-Chairman,
Committee for the Promotion of Honey and Health
The march to monopoly has lost its momentum and a healthier era is on the horizon.
This past September, as the international honey industry gathered in Kiev, Ukraine at Apimondia, hoping to find enough crystal balls to foresee the direction of the honey market in 2014, …
They are among the animal kingdom's most industrious workers … now a study reveals why colonies of ants and bees depend on females for their success.
Altruistic workers in social insect colonies – such as ants, bees and wasps – are more likely to be female, because their maternal instincts make them better at caring for the queen's offspring.
The findings come …
by Mark Glover
MODESTO — California-grown almonds continue to be a red-hot commodity for Blue Diamond Growers, which reported record income of $1.2 billion at its annual meeting in Modesto Nov. 21, 2013.
President and CEO Mark Jansen talked about the performance in the fiscal year that ended Aug. 30. The revenue is up $189 million from 2012, the first time Blue …