pollinators

The state Senate has passed and sent to the House a bill, SB 198, that would make Maryland "the first state in the United States to place a partial ban on the sale of certain pesticides, which have been blamed for deaths of bees around the world," says public broadcaster WAMU-FM.

Crop yields on small farms across Africa, Asia and Latin America are higher on plots that attract more bees during the main flowering season.

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.

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.

Landowners in five states in the upper Midwest are eligible for $8 million in payments if they establish new habitat for honey bees on land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve, says USDA.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service says it "will provide close to $3 million in technical and financial assistance for interested farmers and ranchers to help improve the health of bees, which play an...