-
+30 +1
Study: How male bees battle STDs
Scientists have identified an important immune response in the semen of male honey bees, a discovery that may help researchers better protect colonies against disease. Honey bees face a barrage of threats from all angles: disease, pesticides, pollution, shrinking habitats. Recently, researchers at the University of Western Australia set out to explore the battle between bees and the fungal parasite Nosema apis. The fungal disease causes dysentery and can trigger colony collapse disorder.
-
+2 +1
Gathering honey from a weed...
Several times in the last couple of months, I’ve come across references claiming that honey has no expiration date, a shelf life of thousands of years. Such references pepper the websites of beekeepers and honey vendors. It is part of the legend and lore of honey... By K Cummings Pipes.
-
+1 +1
Controversial insecticides linked to ‘large-scale population extinctions’ of wild bees
A major 18-year study has found evidence linking controversial "neonicotinoid" pesticides with “large-scale population extinctions” of wild bees for the first time. The insecticides have been shown to have “sub-lethal” effects on bees, which are vital pollinators for many crops, in laboratory-style conditions and small-scale studies. But their actual effect in the real world was not well understood – until now.
-
+30 +1
Neonic Pesticide Link to Long-Term Wild Bee Decline
The large-scale, long-term decline in wild bees across England has been linked to the use of neonicotinoid insecticides by a new study.
-
+20 +1
'Zombie' Honeybees make First Appearance in Canada
Honeybees infected with deadly parasitic maggots that make them behave like zombies have been found in Canada for the first time.
-
+7 +1
Invisible Fences: Farmers Plant Beehive Guard Posts to Repel Elephants - 99% Invisible
Larger elephants require hundreds of pounds of food per day, making farms tempting targets for easy meals. The task of fending these animals off can be both monumental and dangerous for African farmers. At a scale that would solve the problem, traditional fencing is simply cost-prohibitive. A strange array of alternate design solutions have been developed over time, culminating in what may be the sweetest solution yet: the use of tiny honey bees to ward off the world’s largest land mammals.
-
+2 +1
‘Like it’s been nuked’: Millions of bees dead after South Carolina sprays for Zika mosquitoes
On Sunday morning, the South Carolina honey bees began to die in massive numbers. Death came suddenly to Dorchester County, S.C. Stressed insects tried to flee their nests, only to surrender in little clumps at hive entrances. The dead worker bees littering the farms suggested that colony collapse disorder was not the culprit — in that odd phenomenon, workers vanish as though raptured, leaving a living queen and young bees behind.
-
+29 +1
Millions of bees killed after Zika mosquito spray goes wrong
When officials in Dorchester County, South Carolina, planned a weekend aerial spraying of pesticide, they were hoping to kill mosquitoes that might be carrying viruses like Zika. The pesticide probably exterminated plenty of the summertime nuisances, infected or not. But the spraying also left millions of honeybees dead because a government employee failed to notify a commercial beekeeper of the spraying schedule, according to the county administrator.
-
+29 +1
Threat to honeybees as Asian hornet's arrival in UK confirmed
The Asian hornet’s long-feared arrival on the UK mainland has been confirmed, government scientists have said, with ecologists warning of dire consequences for honeybees if the species is not swiftly eliminated. The hornets eat honeybees and have become widespread in central and southern France, prompting warnings in recent years that they could arrive in the UK via potted plants from France.
-
+33 +1
Bumble bee is proposed for U.S. endangered species status
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday proposed listing the rusty patched bumble bee, a prized but vanishing pollinator once widely found in the upper Midwest and Northeastern United States, for federal protection as an endangered species. One of several wild bee species seen declining over the past two decades, the rusty patched bumble bee is the first in the continental United States formally proposed for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
-
+25 +1
Bumblebee Set to Become Officially Endangered
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has proposed listing a species of bumblebee as an endangered species, the first bee species to be granted such federal protection in the continental United States. The rusty patched bumblebee - the workers of which can be identified by a small rust-colored mark on the middle of their second abdominal segment - was historically widespread along the east coast of North America, from Quebec down to Georgia, and across much of the midwest as far west as the Dakotas.
-
+31 +1
Don’t worry, bee happy: Bees found to have emotions and moods
Whoa! I feel nice, like sugar and spice… Bumblebees may experience something like happiness after getting a treat that makes them appear more optimistic. We normally think of an emotion as the internal awareness of a feeling, but there’s more to it than that, says Clint Perry at Queen Mary University of London. Physical changes to your body and shifts in your behaviour accompany sensations of happiness or sadness.
-
+3 +1
Hawaiian bees are first on US endangered species list
Seven species of yellow-faced bee native to Hawaii have become the first bees to be added to the US federal list of endangered and threatened species. Conservationists say the bees face extinction through habitat loss, wildfires and the introduction of non-native insects and plants. The bees are crucial to pollinating some of Hawaii's endangered plants. The listing follows years of study by researchers including the Xerces Society conservation group.
-
+32 +1
Bees trained by scientists can teach each other new skills
If you ask most people around the world their true desires, their answers will be the same: health, happiness, and to ride around in a chariot pulled by thousands of bees. Thankfully, scientists have brought us closer to that last desire this week — they've successfully taught a group of the tiny insects to pull on string in exchange for a reward. Even better, they don't need to train the bees individually, discovering that when allowed to observe their compatriots, bees from another group could pick up the skill without human input.
-
+10 +1
Hints of tool use, culture seen in bumble bees
String-pulling skills readily spread among bumble bees, despite their small brains. By Elizabeth Pennisi.
-
+20 +1
Bayer and Syngenta knew their products were devastating the bees.
The SumOfUs community has known for a long time that bee-killing pesticides are decimating pollinator populations. And it turns out that agro-chemical giants Syngenta and Bayer knew it too -- but kept it secret from the public. That’s right. Thanks to Freedom of Information Act requests, previously unpublished field trials commissioned by the two neonic manufacturers have been released showing that two neonic pesticides seriously harm bee colonies in high concentrations.
-
+21 +1
30,000 bees rescued from earthquake-ravaged Kaikoura
Military personnel assisting in the wake of last week's monster earthquake have completed their buzziest mission yet, rescuing a Kaikoura man's 30,000 bees. The New Zealand Defence Force have been helping to evacuate people and protect their possessions in the aftermath of last week's magnitude 7.8 quake. About 900 Kaikoura residents have been rescued, and now 30,000 insects can be added to that list.
-
+30 +1
Why bees could be the secret to superhuman intelligence
A tool inspired by swarming insects is helping people predict the future - making groups of people smarter than their members are by themselves. By Simon Oxenham.
-
+34 +1
U.S. Puts Bumblebee On The Endangered Species List For 1st Time
The protected designation for the rusty patched bumblebee is also the first of its kind for a bee species in the continental U.S. It has seen a dramatic decline in numbers and territory. By Merrit Kennedy.
-
+41 +1
Robotic bee could help pollinate crops as real bees decline
With bee populations tumbling, an autonomous drone just 4 centimetres wide could help pollinate crops by flying from flower to flower
Submit a link
Start a discussion