"The European Commission has proposed that member states restrict the use of certain classes of pesticide that are believed to be harmful to bees.

Sprays that use neonicotinoid chemicals should only be used on crops that are not attractive to the insects they said.

The sale of seeds treated with these chemicals should also be prohibited.

Bayer, one of the companies who make the pesticides, says they are convinced they can be used without harm to bees."


EU says pesticides linked to bee decline should be restricted
By Matt McGrath



I don't trust either one of them.

"Researchers say they have unlocked the genetic secrets of honey bees' high sensitivity to environmental change.

Scientists from the UK and Australia think their findings could help show links between nutrition, environment and the insects' development.

It could, they suggest, offer an insight into problems like Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious cause of mass bee deaths globally.

The findings appear in Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

'Honey bees live in complex societies comprising tens of thousands of individuals,' explained study co-author Paul Hurd from Queen Mary, University of London.

'Most of these are female 'worker' honeybees that are unable to reproduce and instead devote their short lives to finding food in flowers... and other tasks such as nursing larvae inside the hive.'

But the hive has a queen as well - the much longer-lived, reproductive head of the hive,

'When the queen bee lays her eggs, worker bees can determine whether the resulting larvae are to become an adult worker bee or an adult queen bee,' Dr Hurd said.

The type of food the larvae is fed dictates the developmental outcome - larvae destined to become workers are fed a pollen and nectar diet, and those destined to become queens are fed royal jelly.

'This difference in feeding is maintained over the entire lifetime of the worker or queen bee.'

The change is suggested to be the result of a 'histone code' - a process that sees genetic changes made to proteins called histones within cells' nuclei. Rather than 'genetic' changes that are locked into DNA, these are known as 'epigenetic' changes.

The report marks the first time such effects had been recorded in honey bees."


Honey bees' genetic code unlocked
By Mark Kinver

"Honey bees are more effective at pollinating almonds when other species of bees are present, says an international research team in ground-breaking research just published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The research, which took place in California's almond orchards in Yolo, Colusa and Stanislaus counties, could prove invaluable in increasing the pollination effectiveness of honey bees, as demand for their pollination service grows."


Honey bees are more effective at pollinating almonds when other species of bees are present
from: phys.org

"Europe’s top food safety agency may be closer to nailing three old suspects for a mystery that goes back almost a decade: what’s been killing off honeybees? But there is still work to do.

For now, the European Food Safety Authority (EFDA) has concluded that three neonicotinoid class insecticides pose unacceptable hazards to bees. The three include clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam.

The three insecticides — approved for use in the United States — are said to damage bees by contaminating dust and collecting as residue on nectar and pollen, the new EFSA report says."


Top European Food Safety Agency Names Suspects for Bee Colony Collapse
By Dan Flynn

"Hundreds of bees assaulted a drone operated by a CBS12 News crew in West Palm Beach, Fla., Thursday morning and then attacked the station's team of journalists when they maneuvered the aircraft back toward them to figure out what was wrong.

The crew sent the drone into flight in an attempt to get an aerial shot of a backhoe tearing into the Palm Beach Mall, which is in the process of being demolished."


Hundreds of bees sting Florida TV news crew after swarming over them during video shoot
By Daily Mail Reporter

"Three reports by Europe’s food-safety body have stoked controversy over the possible links between the use of neonicotinoid insecticides and declining bee populations. One leading insecticide manufacturer has attacked the reports, calling them 'hurried and inadequate'.

A number of scientific studies have linked neonicotinoids to adverse effects on bee colonies (see Nature video) but some researchers believe that the drop in bee numbers seen in the United States, Europe and elsewhere is attributable to a combination of factors."


Reports spark row over bee-bothering insecticides
Pesticide manufacturer brands risk assessment ‘hurried and inadequate’

by Daniel Cressey

"There may be too many bees in the capital, the London Beekeepers Association (LBKA) has said. The association has criticised an initiative by a business group offering hives to central London firms.

InMidtown, which represents firms in Holborn, Bloomsbury and St Giles, said its scheme had seen a 40% increase in honey produced in the last year.

But the LBKA dismissed the project as 'bee bling' saying firms should focus their spending on planting forage.

LBKA secretary Angela Woods said: 'There are a finite number of green spaces in London. It could get to the point where the bees are not sustainable.  London's bee population is going up but honey yields in London are going down and we need to ask is it because there is not enough forage.'"


London bee numbers 'could be too high'
www.bbc.co.uk


Plant more bee forage.

"Getting stung by a bee can hurt, but losing bees forever can hurt even more. It may be hard to see why bees are so important to us, but did you know that 1 of every 3 bites of food we take comes from a pollinated plant or an animal that depends on bee pollination? And yet, since the mid-2000s, bees have been mysteriously vanishing.

A world without bees would be a different place. A lot of crops currently depend on them, including fruits like almonds and cherries, vegetables like onions and pumpkins, and field crops like soybeans and sunflowers. A loss of bees could mean economic hardships for farms and the food industry and would lead to a rise in food costs.

In 2006, beekeepers started reporting that seemingly healthy bees were simply abandoning their hives in mass numbers, never to return. Researchers call the mass disappearance colony collapse disorder (CCD). Since then, around one third of honey bee colonies in the U.S. have vanished."


How Are Dying Bees Affecting Our Lives?
by Drew Hendricks