Honey bees around the world have been dying off at an alarming rate in recent years. Because the insect is so important to America’s food supply, the USDA is giving five midwestern states $4 million to help farmers and ranchers improve honey bee health. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, “the future of America’s food supply … Read more
The city council of Spokane, Washington has voted to discontinue the purchase and use of neonicotinoids on city property. Those pesticides are linked to honey bee colony collapse disorder. Pollinators are integral to agriculture. Since honey bees pollinate 30% of our food crops, Council President Ben Stuckart said in a statement, “this ordinance simply says … Read more
President Obama has created a federal strategy to promote the health of honey bees and other pollinators that are crucial to our food supply. In the last few decades, the environment has lost a significant number of pollinators, including honey bees, native bees, birds, bats, and butterflies. Honey bees alone pollinate 1/3 of our food … Read more
The Bee Informed Partnership, in collaboration with the USDA and Apiary Inspectors of American have released a preliminary report on their eighth annual national survey of honey bee colony losses. Honey bees pollinate one-third of the crops grown for food in the United States. The survey found that for the winter of 2013/2014, 23.2% of … Read more
A new study conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health and published in the Bulletin of Insectology has found that two widely used neonicotinoids (pesticides) appear to “significantly harm honey bee colonies over the winter.” And the colder the winter, the more severe the harm. The study replicated a 2012 finding that found a … Read more
Without bees, many of the foods we regularly eat and enjoy would disappear off the face of the earth because they must be pollinated before they can produce fruit. Honey bees are dying at an alarming rate. Scientists are blaming a group of insecticides called neonicotinoids. Unfortunately, the EPA has decided to register sulfoxaflor, a … Read more
A new study published in PLOS One shows that scientists are learning more about the mass bee die-off around the world. Scientists have been puzzled about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that has destroyed 10 million beehives in the past six years. According to this new study, it seems that fungicides in combination, which were thought … Read more
The Colony Collapse Disorder among bees, an alarming development in the food world, has raised concerns about the future of our food supply. Since 1990, more than 25% of the managed honey bee population has disappeared. Without bee pollination, we would lose at least 30% of the world’s food crops. Beekeepers first noticed this issue … Read more