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Showing posts with the label Bees

Some revolutionary advice for producers of seedless watermelon - and perhaps other fruits and vegetables, too!

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by Larry Powell A wild bee on a sunflower. A PinP photo.   For two years, US researchers studied the impact that both bee pollinators and beetle pests had on seedless watermelon.         What they found was striking.          Flea beetles feast on turnip-tops in Manitoba, A PinP photo.       In both years, p ollination by the bees was “the only significant factor” in both fruit set and marketable yield - even when compared to the harm done by the pests. Not only that, the wild bees increased those yields anywhere from one-&-a-half to three times more than honeybees.      So the researchers conclude; If you want better yields, it’s more important to protect the bees that pollinate them than to kill the pests which eat them!       “These data," they state, "advocate for a reprioritization of management, to conserve and protect wild bee pollinations, which could be more critical than avoiding pest damage for ensuring high yields.”      But the lead author of the study, As

Spring forward: Changing climate’s early winter wakeup call is a buzz kill for bumblebees

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Biology Dep't. - University of Ottawa Bee on scarlet-runner bean. A PinP photo. Climate change is waking bumblebees earlier from winter hibernation, putting the species at risk with impact on human agricultural crops New research from the University of Ottawa has found the earlier arrival of spring in parts of North America negatively impacts bumblebee survival, which could potentially threaten bee-pollinated agricultural crops and other plant sources. Published in Biological Conservation, this paper is among the first to study climate change’s influence on seasonal weather changes in relation to bumblebees. Researchers from the Faculty of Science found the bees are not correspondingly shifting their activity timing earlier in the year, threatening their ability to find food sources or causing bees to miss out on them altogether. “This study represents crucial groundwork for understanding that climate can impact the seasonal timing of biological events,” says lead author Olga Kopp

Loophole keeps bee-killing pesticides in widespread use, two years after EU ban

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Unearthed Investigation finds EU countries have issued at least 67 different 'emergency authorisations' for outdoor use of three neonicotinoids since ban came into force in 2018. Story here.

Bees are dying from toxic chemicals and the feds won't save them.

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The National Observer A PinP photo. After years of review, Ottawa recently approved a common class of pesticides known to harm pollinators like bees and other insects. Story here. RELATED:  Plight of the Humble Bee. Canadian regulators refuse to protect precious pollinators from known toxins.

Wild ground-nesting bees might be exposed to lethal levels of neonics in soil.

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ScienceDaily In a first-ever study investigating the risk of neonicotinoid insecticides to ground-nesting bees, University of Guelph researchers have discovered hoary squash bees are being exposed to lethal levels of the chemicals in the soil . Story here. Hoary bees forage on a squash flower. Ilona Loser RELATED: New Studies Show Farm Chemicals Are Affecting More Than Bees. Bird Populations are Declining, too. Is modern agriculture's hold on nature becoming a death grip?

Rachel was right

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PAN Yet another  scientific study , released today, shows just how deadly our chemical-intensive farming system has become to pollinators and other insects.  Story here, Bumblebees forage on chives in an organic garden in Manitoba. A PinP photo. RELATED: Recent research contradicts a claim by the chemical giant, Bayer, that its newest bug-killer is safe for bees.

Recent research contradicts a claim by the chemical giant, Bayer, that its newest bug-killer is safe for bees.

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by Larry Powell A honeybee colony in Manitoba. A PinP photo. It's brand name is "Sivanto," (generic name -  flupyradifurone ). It's an insecticide designed to kill a wide range of bugs which eat food crops such as soybeans. Bayer is registering it in many jurisdictions around the world.  After conducting various field studies,  Bayer  concludes , "Sivanto displayed a very promising safety profile." The company concedes, it works in ways similar to the  neonicotinoids  (a group of insecticides which has become notorious for its likely role in pollinator decline). Still, it finds, the product "can be considered safe to most beneficial insects, specifically pollinators."  Image by Brian Robert Marshall. But a team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego, reaches a different conclusion.   In findings published earlier this year, the team gave a range of Sivanto doses to the bees, including ones

Bee Alert: Is a Controversial Herbicide Harming Honeybees?

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Yale Environment 360 Recent court cases have focused on the possible effects of glyphosate, found in Monsanto’s Roundup, on humans. But researchers are now investigating whether this commonly used herbicide could also be having adverse effects on the health and behaviour of honeybees. Story here. RELATED:  Scientists cast doubt on claims by the chemical giant, Bayer, that its newest pesticide is safe for bees.  -  by Larry Powell

Pesticide exposure causes bumblebee flight to fall short

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PHYS ORG Bumblebees forage on chives. A PinP photo. Flight behaviour is crucial for determining how bees  forage, so reduced flight performance  from pesticide exposure could lead to colonies going hungry and pollination services being impacted.  More here. RELATED: Scientists cast doubt on claims by the chemical giant, Bayer, that its newest pesticide is safe for bees. By Larry Powell.

For years, the main culprit in bee decline has been the "neonics," a family of insecticides. Now, another suspect has been added to the list - an herbicide - Roundup!

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More here. Science X A honeybee colony in Manitoba.  A PinP photo.

The more pesticides bees eat, the more they like them

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PHYS  ORG Bumblebees forage on organic chives. Another PinP photo. Bumblebees acquire a taste for pesticide-laced food as they become more exposed to it, a behaviour showing possible symptoms of addiction. More here.

Manitoba beekeepers fight to come back after extreme honeybee die-offs

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CBCnews Long, cold winter could be to blame for some  beekeepers losing more than half of their bees.   More here. A Manitoba beekeeper tends to his hives. A PinP photo.

Costco takes stand on insecticides

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THE WESTERN  PRODUCER Costco is saying no to neonics.  More here. A corn-harvester in Manitoba.  Planting of neonicotinoid-coated corn raises honey bee mortality and sets back colony development -  Nat'l. Institutes of Health.

Canada should ban bee-killing neonics in 2018!

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DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION A PinP photo. Europe will ban neonics by the end of the year.  We need parallel action to protect bees in Canada! More here.

In Huge Win for Pollinators, People & the Planet , EU Bans Bee-killing Pesticides. WHAT ABOUT CANADA? ASK YOUR LOCAL POLITICIAN!!!

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Common Dreams Bumble bees forage on chives in an organic garden in Manitoba, CA. PinP photo. "Authorizing neonicotinoids during a quarter of a century was a mistake and led to an environmental disaster. Today's vote is historic." More here.

Pesticides put bees at risk, European watchdog confirms

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BBC News Most uses of insecticides known as neonicotinoids represent a risk to wild bees and honeybees, the European Food Safety Authority has confirmed. More here. PinP photo.

The value of pollinator species diversity

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Science   An unidentified pollinator in Manitoba. PinP photo. Large numbers of species are needed to support ecosystem functioning. Story here.

Friends of the Earth Fights for Bees. PLEASE DONATE!.

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Friends of the Earth  Donald Trump’s EPA could soon allow bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides to be sprayed on 165 million acres of farmland. A honeybee hive in Manitoba, Canada.  PinP photo.    Chemical giant Syngenta requested permission to douse our crops with these toxic chemicals. If the EPA grants Syngenta’s wish, the impact on bees and other pollinators could be devastating. From your backyard to garden retailers to supermarkets, we’re cutting off the demand for bee-killing pesticides. And we’re pushing states and the federal government to ban them. But we need your help to keep this important work going in 2018. Bees are dying at alarming rates. Monarch butterflies are declining. And a new study found that 75 percent of insects in German nature preserves have disappeared over the past three decades. Scientists say this indicates that we are in the midst of an “Insect Apocalypse.” One of the key culprits is the massive increase in the use of pesticides.

It’s Time to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides

EcoWatch - by David Suzuki The Canadian government is  banning plastic microbeads  in toiletries. Although designed to clean us, they're polluting the environment, putting the health of fish, wildlife and people at risk. Manufacturers and consumers ushered  plastic microbeads  into the marketplace, but when we learned of their dangers, we moved to phase them out. Story here. RELATED:  Tainted honey spells more trouble for bees. Are we losing the battle to save them?

Tainted honey spells more trouble for bees. Are we losing the battle to save them?

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 by Larry Powell Three out of every four samples of honey tested in a global survey released this week, were tainted with  neonicotinoids,  the world's most widely-used insecticide. A five-member Swiss research team  tested almost two hundred honey samples from every continent except Antarctica (including several remote islands), for the five main compounds in the "neonic family" of pesticides (acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam). At least one  of those compounds was found  in 75%  of all samples tested. (Fourty-five percent contained two or more, while ten percent showed traces of four or five.) The levels detected were considered too low to pose a risk to people who actually eat honey. But, for adult bees, honey is their  only  food in winter and when flowers aren't blooming. While "neonics" may not always kill the pollinators outright, they've been shown to have "sub-lethal