News Archives

Small bee males are second best

18 Mar 10 By Sara Coelho
Small honey bee males are officially in trouble: when it comes to competitive high-speed mating swarms, normal-sized males do have better chances to get to the queen and mate successfully.

Collapsing honeybee population worries California almond growers

17 Mar 10 By Chris Hinyub
California almond growers have reason to be worried, very worried. Honeybee populations across the country have declined sharply since last Fall. The California almond industry, supplying 80 percent of the world market of almonds, requires roughly half of the nation's commercial hives to pollinate its groves. This ratio might see a dramatic change when new tallies on hives are available this Spring.

Sweet News: New York City Dumps Beekeeping Ban

16 Mar 10 By Crystal Gammon
New York City's underground beekeepers can come out of hiding. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene voted unanimously today to lift a decade-old ban on raising honeybees within the city limits. The decision means that beekeepers no longer face thousands of dollars in fines if their hives are discovered. It also means that aspiring beekeepers can look forward to starting their own rooftop and backyard hives -- legally -- for the spring growing season.

Bee colonies suffer devastating winter

16 Mar 10 By Michael d'Estries
If you haven't heard the phrase 'colony-collapse disorder'" in the news the last several months, expect a fresh barrage of media reports later this spring. Beekeepers are reporting that this winter was one of the worst ever for colonies. More than three years after reports of bee losses around the nation, scientists still do not know why populations are suffering from the affliction, also known as CCD. Theories range from disease to stress to increasing damage from pesticides — with little information on how to prevent future deaths.

American honeybees are once again dying off in droves

15 Mar 10 By mnn.com
the Washington Post reports, as 'colony-collapse disorder' flares back up after a year of slowing down. 'Everybody is seeing [bee] losses this winter,' one Pennsylvania beekeeper tells the Post.

£10,000 meadow to bring bees back to Heaton Park

15 Mar 10 By Deborah Linton
A wildflower meadow will be planted in Manchester's biggest park as part of a city-wide drive to save the honey bee from extinction. The meadow, funded by a £10,000 cash grant from the Co-operative, will be created outside the home of the Manchester Beekeepers' Association in Heaton Park.

Bee swarms follow 'pied pipers'

15 Mar 10 By Jody Bourton
A tiny group of bees act like "pied pipers" to trigger the onset of bee swarms report scientists. By buzzing a "piping" signal the bees are able to initiate an explosive departure from the hive. Bees are known to use signals to tell the colony when to swarm but which bees had the power to make this decision was unclear. Now scientists have identified a small oligarchy of individual bees that hold the key to swarm behaviour.

NOW, BEE POLLEN TO KEEP YOUR CHILDREN HEALTHY

15 Mar 10 By Supriya Shelar
Now your child would have more nutritious, still delicious supplementary food, highly rich in protein. City-based Central Bee Research and Training Institute (CBRTI), is seeking commercial production of Bee Pollen - a valuable product collected by honey bees. The product, in the form of capsules, is awaiting green signal from Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Bees are busier than ever as disease besieges colonies

15 Mar 10 By Adrian Higgins
In normal times, David Hackenberg would begin trucking his 20 million honeybees from the almond orchards of California to the orange groves of Florida this week. Instead, after a month working the almond blossoms on the West Coast, his exhausted pollinators will get some rest and relaxation in the Georgia woods before the East Coast apple blossoms summon them to work once more next month.

Bees in the City? New York May Let the Hives Come Out of Hiding

14 Mar 10 By
Kathleen Boyer suspects the mailman.
She said she could not think of anyone else in her neighborhood who would have complained about the two beehives she kept under a pine tree in her front yard in Flatbush, Brooklyn, leading the city’s health department to fine her $2,000 last fall.

Exceptionally Cold Temperatures Down South Harm Honey Bee Queens

14 Mar 10 By Kim Flottum
Early spring weather this year has been less than ideal in the Southeast part of the country. It's been cool for much longer than usual, and wet and rainy often enough that local ducks are beginning to complain. Record lows in Florida and parts of southern Georgia actually brought snowfall to some areas, taking residents, and honey bees, by surprise.

No way to treat a bee

13 Mar 10 By JOE HANSEN
Everywhere people show renewed interest in supporting local, sustainable forms of agriculture. Grocery stores stock organic produce, farmers markets are making a resurgence and consumers question why food must be shipped around the world using fossil fuels. There is a glaring omission from these movements, however. It's time to start asking how crops are being pollinated.

Climate change linked to death of 90% of Vancouver Island honeybee population

09 Mar 10 By Kevin Afanasiff
Climate change has contributed to a devastated Vancouver Island honeybee population. Home to a quarter of British Columbia (BC) honeybees, Vancouver Island lost a staggering 90% of its bees this winter. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reports that the bees have been stricken by the varroa mite, which makes them more susceptible to other viruses. A longer summer season also contributed to a longer work season for the bees collecting pollen, which, according to researchers, weakened them for the winter.

Queen Bees free to cross border

09 Mar 10 By Emily Mathieu
Apiculturists, breathe easy. A hold on the importation of queen bees from Hawaii, linked to the discovery of a virulent parasitic mite, is to be lifted. "We are quite relieved," said Heather Clay, chief executive officer with the Canadian Honey Council. "It is business as usual."

Urban Beekeeping: Nectar Over Politics

07 Mar 10 By Vanessa Schipani
White House beekeeper Charlie Brandts has transported more than one thousand bees using Metro -- on more than one occasion. Brandts was the guest speaker at the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation urban beekeeping course last Monday, the second class in a series of four.

Medina County Beekeepers Association is buzzing with activity

05 Mar 10 By Tara Quinn, Sun News
It might seek like a long way off, but the snow in Northeast Ohio will melt one day. And shortly after it does, the honeybees will be back and beekeepers in Medina County will go back to their sweet work. The Medina County Beekeepers Association is made of members from that and surrounding counties. With a rich bee-keeping heritage of the A.I. Root Candle Company dating back to the 1800s, the organization itself traces its modern origins back to 1950. According to president Kim Flottum, it’s going strong.

Researchers seek 'super' bee cure for a deadly disorder

05 Mar 10 By Wayne Anderson
A team of researchers from universities across the nation are urgently trying to develop a strain of "super" honeybees to ward off a mysterious malady that has been decimating U.S. colonies for the past three years. Scientists continue to search for the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a malady that has greatly reduced the U.S. bee population.

A sticky situation

04 Mar 10 By Diane Ivey
The state’s beekeepers are buzzing to gain some independence. A new bill would ensure that small honey producers are able to sell their products at farmers markets, fairs or roadside stands without government regulation. The measure, supporters say, would allow beekeepers to build local networks with consumers, and help grow and maintain the state’s honeybee population. SB 2959, sponsored by Sen. David Luechtefeld (R-Okawville), recognizes raw, unadulterated honey as an agricultural commodity, thus exempting it from the rules and regulations for processed food defined by the Illinois Department of Public Health.