honey bee News
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USDA, EPA and Stakeholders to Discuss New Report on Honey Bee Health
Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Bob Perciasepe, Acting Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), alongside top scientists and stakeholders, will host a conference call tomorrow to discuss a new report on the factors contributing to decline in honey bee health in the United States. The report summarizes the latest science ...
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Bee-friendly agri-environmental schemes need diverse habitats
Diverse agri-environmental schemes which combine flowering crops with semi-natural habitats, such as grasslands and hedgerows, will be best for bees, new research suggests. The researchers examined the foraging behaviour of honey bees, bumblebees and other wild bees and found that all bees used semi-natural habitats, which were particularly important for wild bees, in addition to crops, such as ...
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USDA and EPA Release New Report on Honey Bee Health
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released a comprehensive scientific report on honey bee health. The report states that there are multiple factors playing a role in honey bee colony declines, including parasites and disease, genetics, poor nutrition and pesticide exposure. "There is an important link between the health of American ...
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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 Funds LSU Study to Protect Bees from Pesticides
Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will present a grant for more than $167,000 to Dr. Kristen Healy of the Louisiana State University AgCenter at a ceremony on Wednesday, January 8. The grant will fund a study to assess the impact of mosquito-control methods on honey bees. The study will look at development and application of insecticides used to control adult mosquito ...
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Soil Association calls on MEPs to ban pesticides which kill bees
EU proposals which will potentially ban the use of carcinogenic, mutagenic, neurotoxic and reprotoxic substances will be voted on by members of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee on Wednesday 5 November. As neurotoxins, the group of substances known as neonicotinoids [1] could be banned in the EU. These substances have been shown to have a devastating impact on honey bees across the ...
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Loss of wild pollinators could substantially reduce soybean yields
Pollination by wild insects and honey bees improves soybean yield by 18%, new research has indicated. This equates to an extra 331.6 kg of seeds per hectare, boosting the value of the global crop by €12.74 billion. Encouraging insect pollination could therefore reduce the destruction of natural ecosystems to make way for soybean cultivation, the researchers say. The soybean is one of the ...
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EPA and USDA to Hold Public Listening Sessions on Pollinator Strategy
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will host two public listening sessions to solicit stakeholder input to assist the Pollinator Health Task Force in development of a federal strategy to protect honey bees and other pollinators. The Task Force is asking for input on the types of activities that could be part of the strategy, including ...
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Beekeepers Are Critical to Economy
Today, beekeepers from across the country gathered at a national conference, with environmental organizations at their side, to draw attention to the growing plight facing their industry –the decline of honey bees – a problem that has far reaching implications for the U.S. economy. "Bees and other pollinators are the underpinnings of a successful agricultural economy," said Brett ...
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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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Media Advisory: EPA’s Pollinator Summit on March 5
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will hold a public meeting with key stakeholders to collaborate on activities to protect honey bees and other pollinators from pesticide risks. Bees are an important component of agricultural production and are critical to food and ecosystems. The summit will be an opportunity to advance our collective ...
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Bayer welcomes the U.S. National Pollinator Strategy as a concerted approach to improve pollinator health
Bayer welcomes the National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators published by the U.S. President’s Pollinator Task Force on Tuesday, May 19, 2015. “Bees are important pollinators in modern and sustainable agriculture. The U.S. strategy to improve pollinator health is a reasoned and multi-faceted approach,” said Annette Schuermann, Head of the Bayer ...
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Bayer CropScience Breaks Ground on North American Bee Care Center
As part of its continued commitment to honey bee health, today Bayer CropScience broke ground on its North American Bee Care Center, a recognition of the importance of these pollinators to agriculture. Senior company managers, bee health experts and representatives from the community were on hand to begin work on the new facility, approximately a 6,000-square-foot state-of-the-art building which ...
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New Pesticide Labels Will Better Protect Bees and Other Pollinators
In an ongoing effort to protect bees and other pollinators, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed new pesticide labels that prohibit use of some neonicotinoid pesticide products where bees are present. “Multiple factors play a role in bee colony declines, including pesticides. The Environmental Protection Agency is taking action to protect bees from pesticide ...
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EPA Plan to Save Bees Skirts the Issue, Ignores Most Problematic Form of Pesticide Use
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed a new rule today restricting the use of pesticides on crops when honey bees are present for contracted pollination services. While the rule would apply to nearly all insecticides, including neonicotinoids that have been linked to bee population declines, it would not address the most widespread and most problematic use of ...
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EU Commission Takes Steps To Suspend Bee-Toxic Pesticides
The European Commission announced yesterday its position against the use of neonicotinoid insecticides, pushing nations within the European Union (EU) to impose a two year suspension on their use. The proposal, put forward at a meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, would restrict the application of neonicotinoids as granules, seed-treatment or spray, on crops that ...
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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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Broad Coalition is Building Buzz to Raise Awareness of Pollinator Declines
Today, Beyond Pesticides, Center for Food Safety and Pesticide Action Network, supported by Ceres Trust and joined by more than 60 other organizations, launched a national media campaign to bring attention to the severity of pollinator declines due in part to the use of bee-harming pesticides. The campaign launch was timed to coincide with the beginning of the European Union’s two-year ...
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Ontario Releases Draft Pollinator Protection Health Action Plan
On January 22, 2016, Ontario released for consultation a draft Health Action Plan (Plan) to reduce losses of honeybees and other pollinators caused by several “stressors” stated in the Plan to include: (1) reduced habitat and poor nutrition; (2) diseases, pests, and genetics; (3) exposure to pesticides; and (4) extreme weather and climate change. This action plan is part of a broader ...
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Research Strengthens Link Between Pesticides and Colony Collapse Disorder, Supports Petitioners` Case for EPA Action
Three studies released in the past two weeks, including one today by Harvard University, add to the growing body of evidence that implicate pesticides, specifically neonicotinoids, as one of the most critical factors contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), bolstering the need for regulatory action. The research is timely as beekeepers and environmentalists recently filed a legal petition ...
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