honeybees

To add to the list of woes facing honeybees, researchers have discovered a parasite that burrows into drones, making them act rather like members of the living dead before they die.

A test of mechanical pollination of almond trees by a University of California farm adviser indicates that it's better to stick with bees, says Western Farm Press.

The national pesticide regulator in Canada says neonicotinoid pesticides are largely safe for honeybees but the province of Ontario "is holding fast to stringent rules that restrict their use," says the London Free Press.

Neonicotinoid pesticides are used as a seed treatment on 80 percent of corn land and 40 percent of soybean acreage in the United States, says Purdue U in releasing a publication that assesses the pesticides value in soybeans.

Wild bees "are disappearing in many of the country's most important farmlands," including the Central Valley of California, the No. 1 state for fresh fruits and vegetables, says the University of Vermont.

An evaluation of bee hives found a dangerously high level of Varroa mites, a honeybee pest that is blamed in part for calamitous declines in the bee population, says Agri-Pulse, citing a blog by a Bayer scientist.

In the wake of an appellate court decision, the EPA barred the sale or distribution in the U.S. of sulfoxaflor, a pesticide used on produce but toxic to honeybees.

A senior scientist at USDA's Agricultural Research Service filed a whistleblower complaint that accuses the department of "suppressing research findings that could call into question the use of a popular pesticide class that is a revenue powerhouse for the agrichemical industry," said Harvest Public Media.

A test of 42 commonly used pesticides found seven that killed practically no bees, including the neonicotinoid acetamiprid and the weedkiller glyphosate, said the Entomological Society of America. In the study by scientists from USDA's Agricultural Research Service and Mississippi State University, 26 pesticides, including neonicotinoids, organophosphates and pyrethroids killed nearly all the bees that came into contact with the pesticide sprays.

During the Plains Ginners Association’s annual meeting in Lubbock, Texas, on Monday, House Agriculture Committee chairman Mike Conaway said President Obama had developed an “unreasonable devotion to honeybees.”

Neonicotinoid insecticides were found in a little more than half of the streams sampled from 2011-14 in a study of the prevalence of pesticides and other contaminants in waterways, said the U.S. Geological Survey.

Australian researchers have attached tiny microsensors to about 10,000 healthy honeybees to try to learn the cause of the global decline in bee populations, says the Christian Science Monitor.

Along with massive loss of honeybee colonies, the number of professional beekeepers is falling, says the Washington Post, although the number of managed bee colonies is on the rise.

Initial figures on Britain's rapeseed harvest show yields are slightly above the 10-year average, says the Independent. This is the first harvest since the EU banned use of neonicotinoid pesticides out of concern that they harm honeybees and other pollinating insects.

Changing environmental conditions around the world "could negatively impact the health of millions of people by altering the amount and quality of key crops," according to two studies from the Harvard School of Public Health.

The provincial government of Ontario "is moving to take the sting out of pesticides that are killing bees," says the Toronto Star. On July 1, Ontario will be first jurisdiction in North America to limit plantings of corn and soybean seeds coated with neonicotinoid pesticides, says The Star...