Archives – June, 2014
From: The Wall Street Journal
Misguided rules on pesticide use could be a threat to the very honeybees the EU is trying to save.
By Jon Entine
Science can’t be rushed. Usually legislators make policy decisions on controversial issues only after carefully weighing current research. But just the opposite has unfolded in the EU. European Commissioners last year passed a two-year ban on a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids in a preemptive move to protect honeybees, after sketchy reports of higher-than-normal winter deaths among the arthropods. Now the unintended consequences of what seems like a hasty decision are emerging.
June 6, 2014
From: Mount Pleasent Daily Voice
by Sam Barron
VALHALLA, N.Y. — A Westlake High School student won an Acorda Scientific Excellence Award for her study of bees.
Sarah Marino, a 17-year-old Valhalla resident, won an award for her project, “Colony Collapse Disorder: Controlling Varroa Destructor Mites in Honeybee Hives.”
Marino began her project after hearing about colony collapse disorder, which involves bees suddenly disappearing.
Read Complete Article
June 3, 2014
Editor’s Note: The Australian regulatory agency’s full color warning flyer about Varroa destructor is available here. Below is a brief excerpt that explains why the Australian government recognizes the varroa mites to be the greatest threat to bee health.
From: Australian Government
Varroa mites feed and reproduce on larvae and pupae, causing malformation and weakening of honey bees as well as transmitting numerous viruses. Heavy Varroa mite infestations can build up in 3-4 years and cause scattered brood, crippled and crawling honey bees, a reduction in honey bee population, supersedure of queen bees and ultimate colony breakdown and death of the hive.
June 2, 2014
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