Connect The Dots – Listen to Sainath Suryanarayanan, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin and co-author with Daniel Kleinman of Vanishing Bees – 02.01.17

Listen to Sainath Suryanarayanan, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin and co-author with Daniel Kleinman of Vanishing Bees: Science, Politics and Honeybee Health talking about the multifactoral causes of colony collapse disorder and the need for biological, sociological and ecological diversity.

Life Without Bees: The Effects on Food

Due to climate change, the increased use of pesticides and a range of other causal factors, bee populations have decreased steadily over the past years. This could result in a huge impact on our food supply and indeed, our health. As a matter of fact, one in every three bites of food consumed around the world depends on pollinators, bees …

Andrea Germanos – EPA Acknowledges Neonics’ Harm to Bees, Then ‘Bows to Pesticide Industry’

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday published two bee-related announcements, but with both, say environmental groups, the agency has failed the pollinators. One was its “Policy to Mitigate the Acute Risk to Bees from Pesticide Products.” It states that the “policy is not a regulation or an order and, therefore, does not legally compel changes to pesticide product registrations.” The …

Agustina Larrea – ‘Experts call Latin America ‘the world’s scrapyard for pesticides’

Although agrochemical products, pesticides and genetically modified crops are today part of everyday life for those who live in the countryside, they are relatively new in Argentina. Very few people, apart from enviromental activists, question their use. Yet the consequences — in both the short and the long term — of their impact on the health of those living near …

Death and Extinction of the Bees

Since 2006 beekeepers have been noticing their honeybee populations have been dying off at increasingly rapid rates. Subsequently researchers have been scrambling to come up with an accurate explanation and an effective strategy to save the bees and in turn save us homo sapiens from extinction. Recent harsh winters that stay freezing cold well into spring have been instrumental in …

Bees: The Easy Off-Grid Money Maker

The subject of homesteading often focuses on various methods of gardening, different types of livestock, or even the multiple ways to generate electricity. But one area that is often overlooked is bees. As a growing number of homesteaders and off-gridders are discovering, honeybees are a great way not only to grow your own all-natural sweetener, but also to deliver another …

MARGARET ROACH – 5 Ways To Make Your Garden More Bee-Friendly

Bees are struggling for survival, so I try to do my part to help. First order of business: Provide water and never use chemicals. This year, I’ll also bolster plantings to add early- and late-season bloom periods. Bees rely on nectar and pollen for fuel, so from spring’s first pussy willows to the last-gasp asters in late fall, I’ll offer …

Joelle Renstrom – And their eyes glazed over

I have a rule about cellphones in class: if one disrupts us by ringing, vibrating or sounding an alarm, the owner has to sing a song or bust some dance moves in front of the class. At first, this provision in the syllabus elicits snickers, but it’s no laughing matter. You need to be able to turn off your phones …

Joseph Alton – The Coming Bee-pocalypse? Collateral Damage of Mosquito Spraying

Everyone should support the humble bee. It’s thought that every third bite of food we take is there because of pollination by bees. Honey, when raw and unprocessed, may even be used as a wound covering for burns and other injuries due to its antibiotic effect. Yet bees are in big trouble, and we still don’t know all the reasons …

Alan Yuhas – US beekeepers fear for livelihoods as anti-Zika toxin kills 2.5m bees

Huddled around their hives, beekeepers around the south-eastern US fear a new threat to their livelihood: a fine mist beaded with neurotoxin, sprayed from the sky by officials at war with mosquitos that carry the Zika virus. Earlier this week, South Carolina beekeepers found millions of dead honey bees carpeting their apiaries, killed by an insecticide. Video posted by a beekeeper to …