Archives – October, 2016
From: The Jerusalem Post
By ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN
The international scourge of colony collapse disorder affects Israel’s bees less than in other countries, due to a variety of innovative strategies.
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Israel takes measures to ensure that its bee population declines no more than 10% each year, compared to 30% to 50% in the United States, where the problem is so severe that Häagen-Dazs ice cream has donated $1 million to honeybee research since 2008, and President Barack Obama initiated a national strategy to promote bee health.
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October 17, 2016
From: The Examiner
“The varroa mite has been a major cause of disruptive management of hives from everywhere in the world … When the mite arrived in the U.K. there was a huge loss in beekeeping industry,” De Souza said.
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In recent years, the parasite has made its way to New Zealand, making Australian beekeepers nervous it could soon hit our hives. Since the mite arrived in New Zealand, wild honey bee populations have plummeted to 10 per cent of their original size.
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October 16, 2016
From: The National Law Review
Article By Lisa M. Campbell Lisa R. Burchi
The following documents have been filed in the Anderson v. McCarthy proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California: (1) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Notice of Motion and Motion for Summary Judgment; (2) Defendant-Intervenors CropLife America, et al.’s Notice of Motion and Motion for Summary Judgment; and (3) Plaintiffs’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment.
October 14, 2016
From: Reuters via Genetic Literacy Project
Nigel Hunt | Reuters
Britain’s rapeseed harvest fell this year by almost one-third due to poor yields and a prolonged decline in the planted area which is expected to continue next season, the National Farmers Union said.
The NFU put UK rapeseed production this year at 1.7 million tonnes, down 32.5 percent year-on-year and well below the five-year average of 2.5 million.
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October 13, 2016
From: ITPro
Tech for good isn’t just about helping the planet or people, it’s a new way of doing business
Nicholas Fearn
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A tech solution to save bees
There’s major potential in using tech to save endangered species, particularly bees. In the 1950s, there were 50 species of bee, but now there are only 25. Their decline has been provoked by a plethora of causes, from climate change to diseases. But two tech companies have developed a solution that could save them.
October 11, 2016
From: The Washington Post | WonkBlog
By Christopher Ingraham
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The bees you’re more familiar with — the ones that buzz around your yard dipping into flowers, making honey, pollinating crops and generally keeping the world’s food supply from collapsing? Those bees are doing just fine, according to data released by the USDA this year.
In 2015, there were 2.66 million commercial honey-producing bee colonies in the United States. That’s down slightly from the 2.74 million colonies in 2014, which represented a two-decade high. The number of commercial bee colonies is still significantly higher than it was in 2006, when colony collapse disorder — the mass die-offs that began afflicting U.S. honeybee colonies — was first documented.
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October 10, 2016
From: Forbes via Genetic Literacy Project
Henry Miller & Robert Wager
[A] worrisome… trend is the increasing frequency of articles containing flawed “advocacy research” that is actually designed to give a false result. This phenomenon is increasingly common in studies of the supposed adverse effects of chemical pesticides and genetically engineered plants or the ostensible benefits of organic foods. … [E]ven long after the findings have been discredited, [these studies] provide propaganda value to support a certain cause …as they continue to be cited by activists.
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October 7, 2016
From: New Zealand Herald
By Adam Shelton
With the Varroa disease commonplace beehives were unlikely to survive in the wild, and people needed encouragement and knowledge to do beekeeping properly.
“We are helping to spread the word of sustainable beekeeping.”
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October 7, 2016
From: Washington Post
British scientists train bees to pull a string to get food, observe them passing on the skill.
This bumblebee looks for food on a flower. Scientists in Britain trained bumblebees to pull strings to get food from an artificial flower. Those bees were able to pass on the skill to others in their colony. (Shaun Curry/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)
October 6, 2016
From: Crop Protection News
Scientists reporting on the increased rate of honey bee deaths are approaching studies with preconceived ideas that particular pesticides are to blame for colony collapses, according to an entomologist who carried out a number of surveys in the Mid-South.
Gus Lorenz, associate head of entomology at the University of Arkansas, said his research shows there is little risk to pollinators from neonicotinoid insecticides, including one of its class, the commonly used imidacloprids.
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October 5, 2016
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