Last June, President Obama called for an interagency Task Force to create a Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators. Today, the Task Force released its strategy, under the joint leadership of EPA and USDA. The strategy has outlined three primary goals: reduce honey bee colony losses to economically sustainable levels; increase monarch butterfly numbers to … Read More
Lawmakers Urge Coordination in Pollinator Health
The Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing last week to review the federal coordination and response regarding pollinator health, and what role, if any, neonicotinoid insecticides may be playing. “Federal coordination and communication is vital in establishing rules and regulations impacting pollinator health and farmers’ abilities to produce food,” said Subcommittee Chairman Rodney … Read More
USDA Honey Bee Loss Survey
USDA’s annual honey bee survey offered some good news and some bad news about the important pollinators – winter losses were lower, but summer losses were higher than the previous year. According to the survey, losses of managed honey bee colonies were 23.1 percent for the 2014-2015 winter but summer losses exceeded winter numbers for the first time, making annual … Read More
Bacteria Helps Honey Bee Larvae Thrive
A new bacterium is giving honey bee larvae a better chance of surviving. This U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) news release says agency scientists identified the new bacterium. Molecular biologist Vanessa Corby-Harris and microbial ecologist Kirk E. Anderson at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Arizona, have named the new species Parasaccharibacter apium. The bee research center is … Read More
Bayer to Help Pollinators and Wildlife
Bayer CropScience is putting more than $100,000 into improving pollinator and wildlife habitats on public sites in eight states. Partnering with Integrated Vegetation Management Partners, Inc., (IVM Partners), the deal will improve and expand these habitats on public rights-of-way through integrated vegetation management. The project aims to improve habitats for pollinators, birds and other wildlife in upland and wetland ecosystems … Read More
Bayer CropScience Research to Improve Bee Colonies
A new research initiative from Bayer CropScience looks to improve the health of honey bee colonies. Healthy Hives 2020 will be conducted over the next five years and will bring together a cross-section of bee health stakeholders from multiple sectors, including academia, government, agriculture, business and the beekeeping community. Bayer CropScience is organizing a two-day workshop on June 2-3, 2015 … Read More
Bayer Helps Growers CARE for Crops and Bees
Bayer CropScience is continuing a program that helps growers and beekeepers collaborate to help feed a growing planet. With more than $15 billion dollars worth of crops in the U.S. pollinated by bees each year, the CARE program, now in its third year, reflects Bayer’s ongoing commitment to product stewardship, protecting natural resources, enhancing agricultural sustainability and promoting partnerships between … Read More
To Bee or Not to Beepocalypse
A senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) policy center released a paper this week that beats back the buzz over honeybee health and says bans and restrictions on neonicotinoid pesticides “will do more harm than good for honeybees as more toxic chemicals” will likely replace them. Angela Logomasini, who specializes in environmental risk issues at CEI, offers some … Read More
Bayer CropScience, NC Partner for Roadside Pollinators
Bayer CropScience has pledged $100,000 to the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to be used for the development of roadside pollinator plantings this spring. This news release from the company says the project covers about 46 new acres of bee-attractant vegetation alongside North Carolina’s roads and highways, such as wildflower beds that promote honey bee population development and support … Read More
Bayer CropScience Launches Flower-Growing ‘Feed a Bee’
Bees are a lot like farmers in the way they play a crucial role in feeding a growing a world population. That’s why the folks at Bayer CropScience have launched an effort called “Feed a Bee,” an initiative to grow 50 million flowers to increase forage for honey bees and other pollinators. As the world’s most heavily traveled livestock, bees … Read More