UK Ministers Reject Plan For 'Emergency' Use of Banned Bee-Harming Pesticides

theguardian

National Farming Union’s application for banned pesticide use on oil seed rape crops is rejected as government rules against neonicotinoids for the first time. Story here.

Extreme Weather is "Face of Climate Change," Says Premier Wynne

NATIONAL

OBSERVER

The premiers of Ontario and British Columbia have both linked the Fort McMurray wildfire with global warming, while defending the importance of Canada's oil and gas industry. Story here.

Green Party Leader Weaver says BC Premier Clark Made 'Utterly Bizarre' Comments About Global Warming

NATIONAL

OBSERVER

Climate scientist and British Columbia Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver says the province's premier is being "utterly bizarre" about global warming in the wake of the Fort McMurray wildfire. Story here.

Stop the Hypocrisy! Stop Bayer’s Bee-Killing Pesticide. PLEASE DONATE!

SumOfUs

Bumblebees on Chives. PinP photo.
Bees are dying by the million -- so what is Bayer, one of the world's biggest producers of bee-killing pesticides, doing about it? Details here.
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?"

How Rising CO2 Levels May Contribute to Die-Off of Bees

environment360

PinP photo.

As they investigate the factors behind the decline of bee populations, scientists are now eyeing a new culprit — soaring levels of carbon dioxide, which alter plant physiology and significantly reduce protein in important sources of pollen. Story here.

American Beekeepers Suffer Another Unsustainable Loss of Honey Bee Colonies.

Nation of Change 

Canadian beekeeper Tim Wendell. PinP photo

The Bee Informed Partnership, in collaboration with the Apiary Inspectors of America and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, report losing 44 percent of their total number of colonies managed over the last year—close to the highest annual loss in the past six years. Story here.

NOTE: Latest available figures show Canada in much better shape. According to the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists, colony loss here, nationwide over the winter of 2014-15  was just 16.4%.