bee farming News
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Wild bees boost apple harvest
Orchards pollinated by a wide range of wild bee species grow more apples than those pollinated by fewer species, finds a new US study. Its authors suggest that farmers could consider investing in wild bee conservation to improve crop yield. Many farmers around the world hire or manage hives of honeybees to help pollinate crops including fruit and nuts. However, demand for pollinator-dependent ...
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Taking account of the environment of bees to better evaluate insecticide-related risks
A study coordinated by INRA and involving ACTA, CNRS and ITSAP-Institut de l'Abeille, has shown that the level of sensitivity of bees to the adverse effects of pesticides varies as a function of environmental conditions. The scientists observed that a neonicotinoid insecticide disturbed their ability to find their bearings, particularly in a complex landscape and under unfavourable weather ...
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USDA spending $3M to feed honeybees in Midwest
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday it will spend millions of dollars to help farmers and ranchers improve pastures in five Midwestern states to provide food for the nation's struggling honeybees. Commercial honeybees pollinate an estimated $15 billion worth of produce each year. Many beekeepers bring hives to the Upper Midwest in the summer for bees to gather nectar and ...
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Conference Set Oct. 30 on Farm Bill; Coalition Seeks Bee Protection Provision
A coalition of 58 environmental organizations, grower groups and businesses sent a letter to members of the farm bill conference committee urging the House and Senate conferees to include House-passed pollinator protection language in any compromise version of the farm bill reached by the committee. The letter, sent Oct. 23 by the Center for Food Safety, Greenpeace, the National Farmers Union ...
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EPA plans temporary pesticide restrictions while bees feed
If honeybees are busy pollinating large, blooming croplands, farmers wanting to spray toxic pesticides will soon have to buzz off, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing. A federal rule to be proposed Thursday would create temporary pesticide-free zones when certain plants are in bloom around bees that are trucked from farm to farm by professional beekeepers, which are the majority of ...
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Growing Better Bee Habitats
General Mills investing in pollinator habitats, research SOURCE: General Mills DESCRIPTION: General Mills’ work to help honey bees is growing, thanks to $50,000 in grants from The General Mills Foundation to Conservation Marketplace of Minnesota. Conservation Marketplace of Minnesota has identified and awarded grants to 10 farms to establish bee-friendly habitats in rural areas of Minnesota. ...
By 3BL Media
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European bees are at their best health level in years as overwintering losses of colonies sink to record low
European bees are much healthier than many recent media publications appear to suggest. New field data from nearly 400,000 bee colonies from 21 countries in Europe and the Mediterranean show that overwintering losses of honey bee colonies – an important indicator of general bee health – were at their lowest level in years in 2013/2014. “It is great to see that our bees have ...
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