Calling all light warriors - the Bees need you!

[william r sanford72]

Study Shows Leaf Fertilizers to Be Toxic to Stingless Bees
https://entomologytoday.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/friesella_schrottkyi.jpg?w=588&h=224
There’s been a lot of focus and scientific study on the population reductions of honey bees and other pollinators. Some possible causes that have been cited are:

– Solar storms
– Viruses
– Diesel Fumes
– Bacterial pathogens
– Selenium
– A fungus
– Fungicides
– Insecticides, especially those in the class known as neonicotinoids.

Now researchers may have found another possible cause: fertilizer. A new study from the Federal University of Vicosa in Brazil is likely the first to find that copper sulfate, when used as a leaf fertilizer, is lethal to the native Brazilian bee known as Friesella schrottkyi. In addition, the study, which was published in the Journal of Economic Entomology, found that sublethal exposure also affected the bee’s behavior.

In South America, copper sulfate is a common heavy-metal fertilizer, as opposed to North America and Europe, where it is primarily used as a fungicide, even by organic farmers. Such fertilizers are used heavily in tropical and subtropical regions of South and Central America, and are a source of micronutrients for growing plants. They are used at different stages of plant development, including vegetative-reproduction and fully reproductive stages, which increases the chances of the fertilizer’s interaction with pollinators.

“Copper sulfate has been used as a fungicide for quite some time,” wrote study co-author Raul Narciso Guedes. “In Brazil the registration required for fungicides is far more restrictive than for fertilizers. As fungicide impact on bees has been recently receiving attention, we realized that leaf fertilizers have been neglected and the heavy metal content is relatively high, justifying a concern with bees.”

Stingless bees are the prevailing wild pollinators in this region and are more efficient than honey bees, which is partially why the researchers chose to study the effects of copper sulfate on Friesella schrottkyi.

“This is a rather tame and fragile species common in our region, and it is very important as a tree pollinator in the Neotropics,” Dr. Guedes said. “Its frequent occurrence and importance as a pollinator in the region, together with the fact that they frequently build their nests close to human dwellings, sparked our attention.”

To better understand how copper sulfate applications might affect Friesella schrottkyi, the researchers collected four beehives and observed the activity of adult worker bees. Two commercial leaf fertilizers common to Brazil were tested, including copper sulfate (with 24 percent sulfur), and a micronutrient mix that contained much smaller concentrations of heavy metals. The bioinsecticide spinosad was used as a positive control because it’s well known to be lethal to bees.

The researchers were surprised to find that, under oral exposure, the copper sulfate fertilizer killed all the test bees within 72 hours, and was more lethal than the spinosad control. Copper sulfate and spinosad also led to the bees eating twice as much food as non-exposed bees, further underscoring the risk of exposure to copper sulfate. Take-off and flight activity was also much higher for workers exposed to copper sulfate. Simple contact with copper sulfate (such as brushing on legs) did not result in such severe effects, but did continue to increase food ingestion.

“This could have implications for growers who use copper sulfate as a leaf fertilizer, and as a fungicide,” Dr. Guedes said.

“When considering agricultural production as a potential threat to Neotropical stingless bees, the problems likely go beyond pesticide use,” the authors wrote. “Leaf fertilizers seem to deserve attention and concern regarding their potential impact on native pollinators, notably Neotropical stingless bees such as F. schrottkyi.”

Read more at:

– Leaf Fertilizers Affect Survival and Behavior of the Neotropical Stingless Bee Friesella schrottkyi (Meliponini: Apidae: Hymenoptera)
https://entomologytoday.org/2016/04/11/study-shows-leaf-fertilizers-to-be-toxic-to-stingless-bees/

[Cidersomerset]

RT NEWS....

Major pesticide brand dropping bee-killing chemical


Published time: 12 Apr, 2016 16:54

https://www.davidicke.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/570d20f9c461889d718b4570.jpg
Ortho, a top US manufacturer of lawn and garden pesticides, will phase out
products containing the neonicotinoid class of chemicals, the use of which has
been linked to a massive decline in honeybee population.


Ortho, a division of Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, announced Tuesday that it
will cease the use of neonicotinoid ("neonic") ingredients imidacloprid,
clothianidin and dinotefuran by 2017, while phasing out neonics in eight
products that are used to kill garden pests by the year 2021.

https://www.rt.com/usa/339359-neonicotinoids-ortho-bees-pesticide/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

[Cidersomerset]

ALT NET.....


Why Is the USDA Silencing Its Own Scientists' Warnings About the Dangerous Effects of Pesticides?

Government whistleblowers are our first line of defense against unscrupulous companies and
purchased politicians responsible for the poisoning of honeybees.

By Evaggelos Vallianatos / AlterNet

April 12, 2016

http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/story_image/public/story_images/shutterstock_369494954.jpg

Evidence has been mounting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been silencing its own
bee scientists who have raised the alarm about the deadly impact that pesticides, particularly
neonicotinoids, have on bees. Last month, for example, the Washington Post reported the story
of Jonathan Lindgren, a USDA bee scientist, who filed



http://www.alternet.org/environment/why-usda-silencing-its-own-scientists-warnings-about-dangerous-effects-pesticides

[william r sanford72]

Last year around this time I briefly expressed my loss of a Queen and a hive.one of the ...Mother hives...and was a bit sad to see her pass.tho in September I went out to tear down the old hive and store it all..and to my surprise when I popped the inner cover a bunch of bees burst out angry at my clumsy treatment of there home..was under the impression that they were robbing whatever was left at first because I broke the brood chambers down and went through the hive box in early spring when/after the queen/she passed...no brood no bees.empty.so..in September of last year I left it standing to give the bees more time to get any left over resources from the deadout hive and would tear it down this spring and in the back of my mind I hoped a swarm would find it...and...they did..the empty hive has a new family in it as of march of this year I seen mucho traffic in front of it during a warm day...and when I popped the top...whamola!!!I huge healthy hive and plump easy going queen laying wonderfull brood patterns....strong and due to the amount of bees/brood I would say they moved in during the last years swarm season...pretty cool man!!!!
truly gratefull.

and now for a musical intermission..:bigsmile:

mFyWbWKGjek


William.:sun:

[william r sanford72]

Nova Scotia beekeepers importing thousands of international bees

Bees from New Zealand, Australia, Chile and parts of the U.S. are helping bolster local populations
http://i.cbc.ca/1.1476395.1379075092!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_780/hi-bees-europe-04357254.jpg
Joe Goetz is unpacking some precious cargo, introducing tens of thousands of Australian honey bees to new living quarters at his farm in Windsor Forks.

Goetz, who owns Scotian Bee Honey, imported about 300 1.5 kilogram packages of bees from Tasmania, at an estimated cost of $68,000.

He's one of the many beekeepers in Nova Scotia hoping to populate new hives with the help of international bees, shipped in packages with at least one queen bee and thousands of female worker bees.

"Winters here are sometimes a little hard and we can experience fairly high losses and what we want to do is be built up in the spring, when the fruit trees flower ... right when we need it the most," he said.

Don't be confused by a sign at the border. Imported bees from approved regions are allowed in Nova Scotia with a permit. This year thousands packages of bees will be shipped into the province, part of efforts to strengthen the local population.

Bees from the land down under

In additional to splitting apart hives mid-season — a process that can create a new colony — beekeepers start new colonies with bees from New Zealand, Australia and Chile. Some import queen bees from California or Hawaii.

The Department of Agriculture says there were about 25,360 hives in the province last year and in part due to international imports, the number of hives in Nova Scotia has grown by about 7,800 since 2012 — about a 44 per cent increase.

At a time when research shows bee populations are threatened, Jason Sproule, the provincial apiculturist, says the international bees help local beekeepers compensate for winter losses when they can't purchase domestic bees.

He says they can also introduce queens with appealing genetic characteristics, such as being resistant to the tiny Varroa mites, which suck honey bees' blood.

"Any time you import bees, the objectives are to minimize [the risks] and to mitigate them as much as possible. Purchasing packages is relatively safe. We're importing from regions where [some] diseases have not been found before," he said.
Sproule says it's too early to tell how bees fared this winter, but early signs point to it having been a good winter. That following last year, when he estimates beekeepers lost on average 16.4 per cent of their bees, up from the usual range of 10 to 15 per cent.
http://i.cbc.ca/1.3537382.1460733163!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_620/joe-goetz-who-owns-scotian-bee-honey.jpg

Shortfall of local bees

But there's still a shortfall of local bees. The province approved imported 5,000 hives from the Niagara Region to ensure there's enough hives to pollinate blueberry crops — a move opposed by beekeepers concerned those hives will bring a beetle that ferments honey, east.

Sproule says those imports are a "sensitive issue."

"I'd like to see Nova Scotia's bee industry grow, and grow to a point where it significantly lessens our reliance on imported bees," he said.

Part of the province's efforts as a pollination expansion program. During the last fiscal year, the province spent $259,000, money it says helped create about 2,100 new hives.

People can apply for rebates on equipment, new hives and new queens, even material to keep keep bears away from colonies.

Honey producers aren't eligible unless they rent their hives to the blueberry industry during the month-long period in the spring when lowbush blueberries flower.

Goetz says he's used the program in the past and it helped him expand his colonies. This spring he hopes his new arrivals will help populate 50 new hives, bringing his total to about 450.
http://i.cbc.ca/1.3531557.1460462723!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_620/honey-bee-importation-sign.JPG
Bees can survive up to 2-week-long journey

Inspected by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency upon arrival, the bees arrived to Toronto by plane and were trucked to Nova Scotia. The packages arrived in boxes with screens on the side to allow for air circulation.

Inside there is a queen bee in a little cage, and she's fed with a bottle containing sugar water.

"That sustains them for the journey, they can last a week, two weeks in there," he said. "We cut the screen, take the queen out, take the water bottle out, the feed, put that in the hive and then we dump them in and feed them and very rapidly they say 'well this is the new home' and they start building a new hive."

His newest crop of bees will be stationed in an apple orchard first and then they'll move on to help pollinate low-bush blueberries in late May or early June.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-beekeepers-importing-bees-1.3537376

[Innocent Warrior]

I hoped a swarm would find it...and...they did..the empty hive has a new family in it as of march of this year I seen mucho traffic in front of it during a warm day...and when I popped the top...whamola!!!I huge healthy hive and plump easy going queen laying wonderfull brood patterns....strong and due to the amount of bees/brood I would say they moved in during the last years swarm season...pretty cool man!!!!
truly gratefull.

and now for a musical intermission...

Nice nice, very cool, William! :clapping: Cool song btw. :thumbsup::sun:

[william r sanford72]

usda....NATIONAL HONEY REPORT

www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/fvmhoney.pdf

[william r sanford72]

Slugs and Honeybees

1zwXc0l9AGQ

[william r sanford72]

Bayer published a children's book 'Toby and the Bees' telling kids 'not to worry' about sick bees because Bayer makes a medicine that kills the mites

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Children/Children-Community-Garden-Produce.jpg

(NaturalNews) Poisoning the bees and then bragging to children that you give bees the "medicine" they need for their sickness, is like hitting someone in the knees with a baseball bat, handing them a jug of aspirin, and then telling your kids how you're such a good person because you helped someone with their pain. Yet, that's just what Bayer "Crop Science" has gone and done, except they went "all the way" on this one and wrote a children's book full of propaganda about the blight they've besieged on the bees and mankind with these poisonous herbicides they spread across America's crops and land.

Care to go on Bayer's "Bee Care Tour" and find out how to injure, maim, and infect animals, and then pat yourself on the back for giving them "medicine" for the health detriment inflicted? Bayer "Crop Science" even sells and gives away prizes – like cute stuffed animal bees – to the kids. Big Pharma and Biotech are trying to win over our kids with this insidious con. It's like Disney World and their "femme fatale" theme where they teach kids that all women need to be rescued. Think about it. It's warped education propagated to undermine self-esteem, responsibility, ethics and respect for life in general. Bayer is spreading propaganda to cover an evil scheme that makes them money. Period. This dangerous class of herbicides called neonicotinoids aka "neonics," is killing more than just plant pests, fungus and weeds – it's killing the bees that make the MAJORITY of our food available. Therefore, directly or indirectly, Bayer is killing us.

Animals get parasites very easily when they have no immune system
The honey bee is a herbivorous animal that lives off the nutrients from plants, preferring sweeter plants that produce nectar, fruits, pollen and honey. Bees have many predators with which to contend, from humans who spray toxins on the plants, to the parasites that feed off weak animals that have incapacitated immune systems. Humans are the same as the bees, and most other animals, in the sense that we need our immune systems to fight off the enemies – which may include other animals (violent humans and corporations), viruses, bacteria, GMOs, and yes, parasites. Peer-reviewed research shows that toxic neonic herbicides suppress bees' immune systems and make them susceptible to parasites.


THREE SHOCKING FACTS you don't know about honey bees
#1. A certain class of herbicides called "neonics" are 10,000 times more toxic to bees than DDT is to humans.

#2. 42 percent of all U.S. honey bee colonies collapsed last year.

#3. The total number of managed bee colonies in the U.S. in 1970 was four million. There are only two-and-a-half million functioning today.

Bayer goes after kids to lie to them about Bayer's bee-killing pesticides, trying to blame anything else
Bayer's war AGAINST the bees just attacked our children. In the way Hitler used his re-education (concentration) camps and showed films to con people into helping him create a master race, Bayer wants our children to think Bayer's pesticides are good for the world, and all the bees need is more Bayer. "Toby and the Bees" is a total misinformation campaign so that Bayer can skirt the blame and prevent any regulation of pesticides that kill bees, while earning millions and millions of dollars.

In Bayer's propaganda book, a friendly neighborhood beekeeper tells little "Toby" that the bees are getting sick and "not to worry," because it's just a problem with some mites. He conveniently forgets to talk to the kids about the toxic herbicides Bayer has engineered for the plants, the very kind Europe has banned. Remember, the former Chairman of Bayer, Fritz ter Meer, was found guilty of Nazi war crimes, convicted of mass murder, and sentenced to prison.

So what can YOU do about this poisoning of the bees? Help end agricultural chemical violence
Step one: Boycott all products made and sold by the biotech giants – Bayer, Dupont, Dow, Syngenta and of course, Monsanto, the grand-daddy of them all.

Step two: Support the new book coming out that tells the truth about what's killing the bees. This will be a children's book based on ACTUAL science. It may be translated into many major world languages and available online. Find out more by visiting the main NRDC webpage. Together, we can end agricultural chemical violence.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/053792_Bayer_childrens_propaganda_neonics.html#ixzz46wHRKCVk

[william r sanford72]

this isn't news and there gonna distract from the chem companys as much as poss,,.realized that most don't realy understand or know that when the varroa was introduced in the late 80s and early 90s that it destroyed 80% of all domestic/kept colonies in the us....wiped out an industry overnite almost.many lost there lifes work..POOF!!! gone..they been searching for a cure/way to stop or kill em ever since.all in the wrong directions and this has led to even more problems.we cant blame just the varroa...and the old ways dont work...time for change or the 80% will bee 100% sooner than later.
I see and feel the progress and change occurring....a slow snails crawl to a evolving new/old way of approaching the problems.now how to change the thinking patterns locked/looped into the ag industry.......not the corp. that run it but the farmers who keep it going...unaware slaves...harsh sounding it is tho wont do no good pussy footn around the truth..that is the key in my op..

William.
:flower:


Varroa Mites and Associated Honey Bee Diseases More Severe than Previously Thought

https://entomologytoday.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/honeybee-mite2.jpg?w=588&h=345

Researchers from the University of Maryland and the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently completed the first comprehensive, multi-year study of honey bee parasites and disease as part of the National Honey Bee Disease Survey. Key findings, which are published in the journal Apidologie, show that the Varroa mite, a major honey bee pest, is far more abundant than previous estimates indicated and is closely linked to several damaging viruses. Also, the results show that the previously rare chronic bee paralysis virus has skyrocketed in prevalence since it was first detected by the survey in 2010.

“Poor honey bee health has gained a lot of attention from scientists and the media alike in recent years,” said Kirsten Traynor, a postdoctoral researcher in entomology at UMD and lead author on the study. “However, our study is the first systematic survey to establish disease baselines, so that we can track changes in disease prevalence over time. It highlights some troubling trends and indicates that parasites strongly influence viral prevalence.”

The study looked at two major parasites that affect honey bees: the Varroa mite and Nosema, a fungal parasite that disrupts a bee’s digestive system. The study found clear annual trends in the prevalence of both parasites, with Varroa infestations peaking in late summer or early fall and Nosema peaking in late winter.

The study also found notable differences in the prevalence of Varroa and Nosema between migratory and stationary beehives. Migratory beekeepers — those who truck their hives across the country every summer to pollinate a variety of crops — reported lower levels of Varroa compared with stationary beekeepers, whose hives stay put year-round. However, the reverse was true for Nosema, with a lower relative incidence of Nosema infection reported by stationary beekeepers.

Additionally, more than 50 percent of all beekeeping operations sampled had high levels of Varroa infestation at the beginning of winter — a crucial time when colonies are producing long-lived winter bees that must survive on stored pollen and honey.

“Our biggest surprise was the high level of Varroa, especially in fall, and in well-managed colonies cared for by beekeepers who have taken steps to control the mites,” said study co-author Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an assistant professor of entomology at UMD. “We knew that Varroa was a problem, but it seems to be an even bigger problem than we first thought. Moreover, Varroa’s ability to spread viruses presents a more dire situation than we suspected.”

https://entomologytoday.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/dfv-honeybee1.jpg?w=588&h=395

For years, evidence has pointed to Varroa mites as a culprit in the spread of viruses. Until now, however, much of this evidence came from lab-based studies. The current study provides crucial field-based validation of the link between Varroa and viruses.

“We know that Varroa acts as a vector for viruses,” Traynor said. “The mites are basically dirty hypodermic needles. The main diet for the mites is blood from the developing bee larva. When the bee emerges, the mites move on to the nearest larval cell, bringing viruses with them. Varroa can also spread viruses between colonies. When a bee feeds on a flower, mites can jump from one bee to another and infect a whole new colony.”

Nosema, the fungal gut parasite, appears to have a more nuanced relationship with honey bee viruses. Nosema infection strongly correlates to the prevalence of Lake Sinai virus 2, first identified in 2013, and also raises the risk for Israeli acute paralysis virus. However, the researchers found an inverse relationship between Nosema and Deformed Wing Virus.

Some viruses do not appear to be associated with Varroa or Nosema at all. One example is chronic bee paralysis virus, which causes loss of motor control and can kill individual bees within days. This virus was first detected by the survey in the U.S. in 2010. At that time, less than 1 percent of all samples submitted for study tested positive for the virus. Since then, the virus’ prevalence roughly doubled every year, reaching 16 percent in 2014.

The good news, however, is that three potentially damaging exotic species have not yet been introduced into the United States: the parasitic Tropilaelaps mite, the Asian honey bee Apis cerana, and slow bee paralysis virus.

“Prior to this national survey, we lacked the epidemiological baselines of disease prevalence in honey bees. Similar information has been available for years for the cattle, pork and chicken industries,” Traynor said. “I think people who get into beekeeping need to know that it requires maintenance. You wouldn’t get a dog and not take it to the vet, for example. People need to know what is going on with the livestock they’re managing.”

While parasites and disease are huge factors in declining honey bee health, there are other contributors as well. Pesticides, for example, have been implicated in the decline of bee colonies across the country.

“Our next step is to provide a similar baseline assessment for the effects of pesticides,” vanEngelsdorp said. “We have multiple years of data and as soon as we’ve finished the analyses, we’ll be ready to tell that part of the story as well.”

https://entomologytoday.org/2016/04/27/varroa-mites-and-associated-honey-bee-diseases-more-severe-than-previously-thought/

[Cidersomerset]

USDA silencing researchers who try to warn about pesticides harming pollinators...
Every agency silences its own scientists

By David on 28 April 2016 GMT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USDA silencing researchers who try to warn about pesticides harming pollinators...
Every agency silences its own scientists!

Thursday, April 28, 2016 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: government agencies, whistleblowers, suppression of science

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Business/Business-Man-Political-Secret-Silence-Government.jpg

Evidence continues to emerge that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
has mounted a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation against its
own scientists, in an effort to suppress data the agency considers politically
problematic – particularly that which implicates pesticides in the collapse of
pollinator populations.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has filed a lawsuit against the
agency, alleging that the USDA ordered its researchers to water-down their
findings or retract their published studies, as well as indefinitely delaying the
publication of research, and retaliating against those that do not toe the party
line. The suit cites 10 separate scientists targeted for such harassment; four
of them were researching pollinators.


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/053826_government_agencies_whistleblowers_suppression_of_science.html#ixzz477Givkt2

[william r sanford72]

UK Soil Study on Neonicotinoids & Treated Soybean Controversy

Published on Apr 29, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Colorado beekeeper, Tom Theobald talk about a new study from the UK Soil Association regarding data on the impact of neonicotinoids on pollinators, news from Greenpeace about industry tactics to downplay the impact of neonicotinoids and more controversy about treated soybeans impacting yields in the south. “The Neonicotinoid View”, which is produced by The Organic View Radio Show is unique, weekly program that explores the impact of neonicotinoids on the environment. Tune in each week as June and Tom explore the latest research and news from the beekeeping community.

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[Cidersomerset]

Industry Lobbyists Accused of Scaremongering Over Ban on Bee-Harming Pesticides

By David on 4 May 2016 GMT Corporate Crime, Medical/Health

https://www.davidicke.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Untitled-46.jpg

Industry predictions of doomed crops resulting from a ban on a controversial pesticide
in the United Kingdom have been dismissed as scaremongering, after official data
revealed that yields have actually flourished since the ban.

Pesticide producers and the National Farmers Union (NFU) had warned that a ban on
neonicotinoids, a substance linked with declining bee populations, would have a
devastating impact on crop yields.

But government figures show that yields of oilseed rape have actually increased
significantly since the ban came into force, leading campaigners to label the
industry’s predictions as a “particularly bad example of scaremongering”.’

Read more: Industry Lobbyists Accused of Scaremongering Over Ban on Bee-Harming Pesticides


http://www.alternet.org/food/industry-lobbyists-accused-scaremongering-over-ban-bee-harming-pesticides

[william r sanford72]

Are We Losing The American Beekeeping Industry

Published on May 6, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Tom Theobald talk about industry news about an increase in gmo corn, more controversy over TTIP Trade Negotiations, Newburgh NY’s state of emergency water crisis, California Beekeepers Association vote against a domestic ban on Imidacloprid, and new Japanese research into human health effects of neonicotinoid exposure.

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[william r sanford72]

USDA Releases Results of New Survey on Honey Bee Colony Health

Survey Developed as Part of National Pollinator Action Research Plan Gives New Insight into Losses of Managed Bee Colonies

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) released the results of its first ever Honey Bee Colony Loss survey today. The survey queried more than 20,000 honey beekeepers about the number of colonies, colonies lost, colonies added, and colonies affected by certain stressors and gleans state-level estimates on key honey bee health topics. The survey was developed as part of the " National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators" released last summer, and gleans state-level estimates on key pollinator health topics.

Results from the survey will provide statistically strong baseline information about honey bee losses and can help guide honey bee management decisions in the United States. NASS created the survey questions with input from beekeepers and researchers, and other stakeholders. The results will allow USDA and other federal departments and agencies to create a more unified and complementary approach to implementing the National Strategy, which was unveiled in May 2015.

"Pollinators are essential to the production of food, and in the United States, honey bees pollinate an estimated $15 billion of crops each year, ranging from almonds to zucchinis," said Dr. Ann Bartuska, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. "This new data will add to USDA's robust scientific body of knowledge on the inventory, movement and death loss of honeybees in the United States."

For this report, NASS surveyed 3,300 beekeeping operations with five or more colonies on a quarterly basis, following their operations throughout the year. In addition, NASS surveyed a sample of 20,000 beekeepers who have less than five colonies annually. Data collected covers the state in which colonies are located, movement of colonies between states, newly added or replaced colonies, number of colonies lost, colonies renovated, and presence of colony stressors and specific signs of illness. The responses allow USDA for the first time to differentiate patterns between small-scale and commercial beekeepers, analyze data on a state-by-state basis, and compare more specific quarterly losses, additions and renovations for larger scale beekeepers.

According to the survey released today, there were 2.59 million or 8% fewer honey bee colonies on January 1, 2016 than the 2.82 million present a year earlier on January 1, 2015 for operations with five or more colonies. New quarterly colony data allow new levels of analysis. For example, there was an 18% loss of colonies in the January-March quarter in 2015 and a 17% loss in the same quarter in 2016. Honey beekeepers with five or more colonies reported Varroa mites as the leading stressor affecting colonies. They also reported more colonies with symptoms of Colony Collapse Disorder lost in the first quarter of 2016 with 113,930 than the 92,250 lost in the same quarter in 2015.

This research complements other information USDA and partners have been collecting for years. For example, in March NASS released its annual report on honey productionThis is an external link or third-party site outside of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) website. and prices for 2015. This report, which is used by USDA, producers, economists, agribusiness and others, found that U.S. honey production in 2015 from producers with five or more colonies totaled 157 million pounds, down 12 percent from 2014. There were 2.66 million colonies from which honey was harvested in 2015, down 3 percent from 2014. Honey prices were 209.0 cents per pound, down 4 percent from a record high of 217.3 cents per pound in 2014.

In addition, for the past 10 years USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture has helped fund collaboration between the Bee Informed Partnership and the Apiary Inspectors of America to produce an annual survey that asks both commercial and small-scale beekeepers to track the health and survival rates of their honey bee colonies. This year's survey results, which were released May 10, were gleaned from the responses of 5,700 beekeepers from 48 states who are responsible for about 15 percent of the nation's managed honey bee colonies.

The data being released by NASS today adds to these two efforts by providing a baseline federal statistical resource to track change of reported numbers and death loss in colonies managed by small hobbyists up to the largest commercial producers.

The National Strategy, developed under the leadership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and USDA) set three overarching goals: 1) reduce honey bee colony losses to economically sustainable levels; 2) increase monarch butterfly numbers to protect the annual migration; and 3) restore or enhance millions of acres of land for pollinators through combined public and private action. The plan was accompanied by a science-based Pollinator Research Action Plan. In addition to the surveys mentioned above, a number of research activities within USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area have been initiated since the action plan was released; for example:

- NIFA is currently seeking applications for a total of $16.8 million in grant funding for research projects with an emphasis on pollinator health;

- The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is organizing a national bee genebank as part of the agency's response to ongoing problems facing the country's beekeepers. The genebank, which will be located in Fort Collins, Colorado, will help preserve the genetic diversity of honey bees, especially for traits such as resistance to pests or diseases and pollination efficiency;

- ARS has launched a research project aimed at determining the effects of seasonal pollens on brood rearing, on bees' immune response to pathogen stress, and on whether geographic location influences such effects;

- ARS has launched a study to determine whether hyperspectral imaging can be used as a non-invasive method of monitoring bee colony health; and

- ARS has launched a project to determine colony survival, population size, cost and the return on investment of two overwintering strategies for controlling Varroa mites.

#

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2016/05/0114.xml

[thunder24]

just got two nucs loaded in their new homes...for the first time doingit, man that was intense!!!!!!!

[william r sanford72]

Great news thunder24..congrats!!!2 bee better than 1.was on the phone yesterday with someone I mentored years ago who went on to become a great keeper/protector..surpassing me...we were talking/comparing notes on what it was like trying to get into beekeeping.They were dropping thee amount of hives this year to 25..i was encouraging them to stick with it as I felt that at this time selling nucs and queens and bees would bee profitable and good for the bees because the demand was increasing for all the wrong reason tho and the overhead is a killer.and getting into beekeeping for money many learn fast..is not gonna happen.still...when asked what he was getting for a nuc...125.000.us$$!!...I was surprised at how much the price had increased in the last 10 years.the last nuc I bought 10 years ago was around 70.00$..and I was cringing then at such a high price.from there we compared equipment prices from ten years ago up to now and was shocked when he said he was getting 25$ for a used drawn combed super...as I reminded him when we were paying 6 to 10 $$ back in the day...there hives are doing well and his winter hive loss was low..as there location provides a fair amount of protection from ag and other such threats.It feels reassuring tho knowing my friend is still keeping/protecting the bees for all the right reason....and I didn't have point or as such just some ramblings...
Enjoy your bees thunder24.and I offer a blessing to you and yours..
thee bees are a gift to all of us....

William.

[thunder24]

i paid 140 for a nuc, i suppsoe the reason is that they have to travel to about two or three stops before the nuc reaches where i purchase it from... being up in the mountains of east tennessee in a small (19000) community there aren't that many people producing nucs and queens... most the people are trying to build up their number of hives so we have to bring the bees in from sometimes over a hundred miles away.

Hittin on the topic of major ag, we are a farming community but the area of the county im in is very close mountains and small valleys so there isn't alot of room for major agricultural development, mainly small gardens. I am in a very narrow and small valley, with a huge diversity of wild plants and floweirng trees and plants I have put out. So im thinking, with my novice mind, that while im sure the bees will have to travel out of my valley for some nectar there should be an abundance in my small vicinity. Three neighbors and none of them have gardens or anything like that , which means no sprays and fertilizers... I have high hopes right now for the cleanness of the nectar they will be gathering...

another note I wanted to share, Tennessee partnered with local bee keeping clubs to provide first time keepers with equipment. I paid two years of dues to the local club and two years to the state which amounted to 44 dollars. I recieved a brood box, hat and net, gloves, smoker, ten wirewax frames and periscoping top. Very pleased with that. I was told it was about a 200 dollar value. Wanted to share that with others who might be looking at getting into keeping, because there are ways to lower your start up costs.

keep buzzin...

[william r sanford72]

yes I remember them days...picking up nucs or pakcages of bees.Phil Ebert was or who I would order through and he would start taking orders in jan all the way up to the end of feb...and the orders were taken from several peoples ahead of time and from what learned is that they would pick there bees up from all over the usa..tho at that time they were getting bees from cali ..texas and some southern states...I stoped buying packages early on because more often than not the queens that were supposed to bee bred queens were being surpercede/killed by the colony or bees once put into a hive...something wrong with queens and the brood didn't approve....so buying 2 frame or 3 framed nucs with a bred queen who was laying seemed like the most tho more costly way to go.i remember ebert trucking hundreds of packages or nucs per order to his yard or even dadants parking lot in ill for pick up....fun wild days...
learned a lot on the fly and in the moment tho the key to my success was connecting with other beekeepers/protectors.friends and mentors and conections.
you gotta good deal thunder24 and sounds like your in an ideal spot..and if there is nector or pollen they will fly..close to home or not.
learning a new craft esp one so ancient and sacred as beekeeping can truly bee a gift and fun at the same time.caring for the bees will give you a broader and deeper understanding into the subtle patterns of nature and life...and an added perspective relevant to your local....that's just my op..
anyways.....enjoy learning and hanging with your bees..and fellow beekeepers.

william

[william r sanford72]

Using natural honey for Tuberculosis treatment

http://www.monitor.co.ug/image/view/-/3204374/highRes/1328361/-/maxw/600/-/yu1qt0/-/hl002+pix.jpg

Seeking a natural treatment for tuberculosis or a tuberculosis alternative medicine treatment? Well, this might just be it.

A new study on the benefits of bees and honey has revealed that bee products and especially honey has more benefits in tuberculosis treatment. The study conducted by doctors at Mulago hospital indicates that honey not only quickens the healing process but also suffocates the TB bacteria preventing it from spreading to other parts of the body.
This was revealed during a recent meeting between the Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation (Tunado) and TB experts at Mulago hospital, where Tunado also donated honey and other bee products to TB patients.

According to Dr StaviaTuryahabwe, a researcher from the Centre for TB Control, TB patients who take honey as part of their daily diet stand higher chances of healing faster than those who only take anti-TB drugs.
Dr Turyahabwe said, “our hypothesis is that honey could be acted as a diet-mediated anti-tuberculosis prophylaxis and cure of patients. TB bacteria tend to first spread and infect the lungs of the individual and then move to the circulatory system to various other parts of the body. If one does not undergo timely tuberculosis treatment then the infection may spread to the kidney, spine and abdominal organs and can even be fatal. Left untreated, each person with active TB disease will infect on average between 10 to 15 people every year.”

Why honey?
“For a long time, human beings have used honey not only as food, but also for wound care and cough treatment. It is an organic, natural sugar alternative with no additives that is easy on the stomach, with good source of different essential compounds for the human body. We believe it has different medical advantages including relieving annoying coughs which are more common in TB patients,” said Dickson Biryomumaisho, Tunado executive director.

In 2007, the World Health Organisation urged Uganda to declare tuberculosis a national emergency and according to experts, this contagious bacteria infection of the respiratory system continues to be driven by the HIV epidemic with about 53 per cent of TB patients being HIV infected.
While several are treated, it is also true that large numbers of TB cases go undetected and untreated, fuelling new cases and deaths. The frightening growth of drug-resistant strains of TB that is difficult to treat, add to the urgency of combating this disease in Uganda.

Advancement
The good news, however, is that globally over the last two decades there has been tremendous progress in TB control but for the case of Uganda there is significant increase in drug resistant TB. Drug-resistant TB is caused by inconsistent or partial treatment, when patients do not take all their medicines regularly for the required period because they start to feel better, because doctors and health workers prescribe the wrong treatment regimens, or because the drug supply is unreliable.
“Nowadays, it has to be said that drug-resistant TB is more common in Uganda. A particularly dangerous form of drug-resistant TB is multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), which is defined as the disease caused by TB bacilli resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, is threatening TB control efforts in Uganda,” Dr Turyahabwe explains.

Statistics
According to Dr Susan Adukan, figures show about 13 per cent of all TB patients become resistant to first line drugs provided and about 60 per cent of these are in elderly stage.
However, preliminary results of an ongoing research indicate that taking of honey while on TB drugs is very beneficial and in a way quickens the healing process.

Dr Adukan said, “research on the effects of honey on tuberculosis was performed using a variety of search tools and they were all positive. While honey could be used for preventing the disease and cure the patient we are not telling patients to abandon their medicine for honey but it will be better if they carried it along. It must be pure honey.”
She continued, “various studies indicate that the pH of honey is about 3.5 which is not suitable for the growth of most bacteria, perhaps for tuberculosis.”
Apart from TB treatment, Biryomumaisho adds, “two properties make honey different from antibiotics. It does not seem to induce resistance and it is active against a wide variety of micro-organisms. It also has a higher concentration of sugars and specific chemicals hence a number of laboratory tests and clinical studies have found it to be effective on wound healing, in fact four times more potent than any sugar solution.”

Components
Evidential literature suggests that honey has different sugars including glucose, fructose maltose, turanose sucrose, erlose, and different enzymes such as lipase, amylase diastase, invertase, catalase, phosphatase,, inhibin, polyphenol oxidase, inulaseglycogenase, and different types of amino acids while pollens carry phosphotides plus another 6,500 types of flavonoids and minerals including molybdenum, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, iron, zinc, magnesium, selenium, copper, manganese chloride, sulfur, and a number of vitamins including Thiamine (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin Pyridoxine Β6, Tsiankobalamin Β12 Folic acid, Vitamin C, Vitamin AΈ Vitamin DΈ Vitamin EΈ Vitamin K, Vitamin H (biotin), and organic acids including gluconic acid, malic acid, lactic acid, oxalic acid, maleic acid, citric acid, carboxylic acid, and other different compounds. Honey has decontamination property too.

Expert take
Based on reports from World Health Organisation, the number of MDR-TB and XDR-TB is increasing daily. Possibly a few studies also are supporting this. Honey has also been applied for inhibition of H. pylori and many Gram-negative and Gram-positive in viroid many diseases perhaps Cancer, respiratory diseases, and obstructive jaundice in Animal Model too. Honey could be used for preventing the disease and cure the patient, especially those with (Multidrug Resistant TB) MDR or (Extensive Drug Resistant TB)XDR-TB successfully too.

http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health---Living/Using-natural-honey-Tuberculosis-treatment/-/689846/3204362/-/103d00l/-/index.html

[william r sanford72]

How Accurate Is USDA Honeybee Health Survey?

Published on May 18, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Colorado beekeeper, Tom Theobald talk to commercial migratory beekeeper, Jeff Anderson, owner of California-Minnesota Honey Farms about the new USDA bee health survey, a new study on GMO’s and the impact spraying for the Zika virus will have on bees. Stay tuned!
“The Neonicotinoid View”, which is produced by The Organic View Radio Show is unique, weekly program that explores the impact of neonicotinoids on the environment. Tune in each week as June and Tom explore the latest research and news from the beekeeping community.

uBl9Y95VNZ4

[Innocent Warrior]

Just a quick post to make a note about the medical application of honey on wounds. You can buy medical honey at the pharmacist, I think they use Manuka, but any honey will work really well. I just wanted to make note of that because it's cheaper.

My friend had a deep, open wound on his finger, after accidentally slamming a door on it. The wound didn't appear to heal at all for a week. I just grabbed the honey from our pantry and used that. We could see the tissue growing back after just one day and it healed beautifully. I was amazed.

[ThePythonicCow]

Just a quick post to make a note about the medical application of honey on wounds. You can buy medical honey at the pharmacist, I think they use Manuka, but any honey will work really well. I just wanted to make note of that because it's cheaper.

My friend had a deep, open wound on his finger, after accidentally slamming a door on it. The wound didn't appear to heal at all for a week. I just grabbed the honey from our pantry and used that. We could see the tissue growing back after just one day and it healed beautifully. I was amazed.

I once burned myself on my wrist across a car battery. It was bad enough that I could see the bare, exposed, bone plain as day. The metal watch band I was wearing was destroyed - welded and melted. Fortunately, no major tendons or nerves or blood vessels were destroyed. I dressed it with raw honey right from the start, and it immediately started healing. I never went to the doctor or did anything else. In a few weeks it was all better. Now I no longer remember for sure which wrist it was ... probably my left, since that was where I usually wore my watch. There is no way to tell by looking.

Two lessons:

Don't wear metal jewelry when working near electricity.
Do keep some good raw honey on hand.

[william r sanford72]

:heart:thanks gals and guys....the list of medical benefits for raw honey is almost endless really.
with 3 kids and living on a farm I can testify to this since we havnt used antibiotics...zero...in over 15 years and ive treated/cured everything from bladder infections to streph throat.. coughs...burns.. abrasion.. bites and cuts..we consume honey in one form or another everyday since I first extracted my first pound/supper so many years ago.its a medical staple on the shelves.
one thing research and my exp have taught me is the lower the moisture content in the honey the more antibacterial propertys tend to shine through and it being raw is key.no heat!!!atleast for what you will be using on wounds etc...its really good for burns compared to hydro peroxcide...as the peroxcide tends to dry out the skin and honey doesn't so long term treatment and healing move along much faster..less scarring etc.
Honey in simple terms once it touches bacteria sucks all the moisture from it... all of it...turns the bact to dust basicly...husk.kills it.and there are not many bugs tha have a defense against this.
pretty simple tho 100% effective....and pretty cool!!!!


William.

[william r sanford72]

EPA Pulls Glyphosate Paper & Neonic Impact On Kids
Published on May 18, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Colorado beekeeper, Tom Theobald talk about the widespread use of pesticides and how it impacts children’s health and news about why EPA removed a report about glyphosate.

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[william r sanford72]

Corrupt federal government now using your taxpayer dollars to fund GMO propaganda campaigns that enrich Monsanto

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Misc/Eat-More-GMO-WP-Parrot.jpg

(NaturalNews) As more and more people find out about the countless dangers to human health and the environment caused by GMO food, and make an effort to actively avoid it, many food companies are starting to meet the demand by going GMO-free.

In an ideal world, this would be the beginning of the end for the GMO industry. Unfortunately, that's not the way it works in a world where the biotech industry, and Monsanto in particular, have friends in very high places.

In fact, a new federal spending bill could mean that even if you steadfastly refuse to buy GMO foods, you will still be paying for the GMO industry's propaganda campaign! As reported by Activist Post, the' target='_blank'>http://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfile... bill states:

$3,000,000 shall be used by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, for consumer outreach to promote understanding and acceptance of agricultural biotechnology and biotechnology-derived food products and animal feed, including through publication and distribution of science-based educational information on the environmental, nutritional, food safety, economic, and humanitarian benefits of such biotechnology, food products, and feed.


Good for the environment? Ask the important pollinators such as bees' target='_blank'>http://www.bees.news/">bees and butterflies that are dying off by as much as 40 percent in some places, leading to lower crop yields and higher prices. Ask the dead soil that lacks the microbes needed to support plant life.

Nutritional benefits? Even the World Health Organization acknowledges it's a "probable carcinogen." It stays in our bodies even after we stop eating it, and has been linked to immune problems, infertility, allergies and insulin regulation issues, to name just a few. It's particularly dangerous for pregnant women and babies.


Monsanto propaganda experts
The notion that GMOs provide environmental and nutritional benefits is completely laughable and not supported by facts, so one might wonder exactly how they plan to educate consumers about its "benefits."

They will probably accomplish this in the same way that they have always operated: buying their way to the top; using junk science and getting misleading studies published; lying to regulators; using flawed procedures; and bullying and threatening scientists and journalists who speak out against them.

Lying and bribing their way to global dominance
Monsanto has a history of coercing and paying off government officials both in the U.S. and abroad. At least 140 officials have been on the receiving end of http://www.naturalnews.com/Monsanto.html>Mon... bribes in Indonesia. Monsanto has installed its own people in important government positions in Brazil, Europe and India. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., the person in charge of the FDA's GMO policy was actually Monsanto's Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Michael Taylor. After that, he was the vice president of Monsanto, before returning to the FDA as the food' target='_blank'>http://www.truthwiki.org/michael-r-taylor-fd... safety czar!

Monsanto's tactics when it comes to rigging research are equally outrageous. For example, their studies might take such dishonest approaches as not using enough subjects to obtain statistically significant results, keeping studies short to avoid uncovering long-term impacts, or employing poor detection techniques and statistical methods. They have also been known to use animals with different starting weights to help obscure certain effects.

The biotech industry fought tooth and nail to try to get the government to ban' target='_blank'>http://www.labeling.news/">ban the labeling of GMO foods, but they ultimately failed. Now they are taking a different approach, and are trying to get all of us to pay for it. While we can insist on eating organic food and educate ourselves on food safety thanks to books such as Mike Adams' ' target='_blank'>http://foodforensics.com/">Food Forensics, we need to do more to expose this corruption and prevent lies that threaten our very existence.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/054101_Monsanto_GMO_propaganda_taxpayer_funds.html#ixzz49Uc0Z7JT

[william r sanford72]

African beekeeping stops mites wiping out hives

http://www.scidev.net/objects_store/thumbnail/7D922FC41EAE7CC9C7285EAFDBF19F58.jpg

Traditional African beekeeping methods offer better protection against hive-destroying varroa mites than pesticides which, according to a study, are losing their potency.

The mites, which attach to bees and suck their body fluids, are increasingly resistant to pyrethroids, according to a study, published yesterday in PLOS One.

The research shows that genetic mutations are enabling the mites to survive persistent spraying efforts.

As a result, the mites are wreaking havoc among bee populations in Europe and the United States, the research says. But bee farmers in most developing countries have little to fear from the mites, says Richard Ridler, the chairman of Bees Abroad, a charity that supports indigenous beekeeping methods.

The main difference is that African bee farmers are relaxed about swarming, which happens when a bee colony splits, or absconding, when bees abandon a hive, Ridler explains. “When bees swarm or abscond, the majority of mites are left behind, because they mostly live in the bee brood,” he says.

Ridler says that Western bee farmers spend a lot of time preventing swarming, despite it being a natural process, as it temporarily halts honey production. But housing large bee populations in close proximity and preventing swarms encourages the spread of varroa mites, he explains.

Varroa mites originally affected only the Asian bee, which has developed resistance to the parasite. But in the early twentieth century, the mites jumped species to the European bee, the paper says.

The mites have since spread around the world, killing untreated hives within about three years from the start of infestation.

According to the Rothamsted Research institute in the United Kingdom, the effectiveness of common pesticides has declined since the 1990s, when the mites developed resistance to pyrethroid-based poisons. The new research on varroa mite DNA allows scientists to run a test on mites and find out if they are part of the mutated strain that is resistant to pesticides.

“The diagnostic test should help beekeepers to decide whether to use pyrethroid-based chemicals to control this highly damaging parasite,” says lead author Joel Gonzáles-Cabrera, a scientist at Rothamsted.

But for developing countries, the priority should be to support traditional and indigenous beekeeping styles to ensure local bee farmers do not become reliant on expensive pesticides or lose their swarms to varroa, says Ridler.

“In Africa, hives are not even treated for varroa,” he says. “And farmers get away with this because their style of beekeeping is different.”


References
Joel González-Cabrera and others Novel mutations in the voltage-gated sodium channel of pyrethroid-resistant Varroa destructor populations from the southeastern USA (PLOS One, 18 May 2016)

http://www.scidev.net/global/farming/news/african-beekeeping-mites-hives.html

[william r sanford72]

Moving a honeybee swarm with bare hands

Published on May 20, 2016

A new born swarm of honeybees can be moved and touched in this gentle way when we have an intimate understanding of this unique being.

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[william r sanford72]

interesting studys....coming to light...:o

Can Light Benefit Health?
http://www.novuslight.com/uploads/n/26501971301_bca39f48e4_k.jpg
Research conducted by Professor Glen Jeffery and his team at the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London has demonstrated that exposing animals to light of a specific wavelength can have significant beneficial impact to their eyesight, mobility and memory. According to Professor Jeffery, the light itself plays an important role in promoting the activity of mitochondria that are present in all cells. Mitochondria have been described as "the powerhouses of cells" due to the fact that they generate the cell's supply of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an energy currency that is used by every cell in the body to keep it alive.

However, as cells in the body start to age, the activity of the mitochondria starts to decline and their potential to produce the ATP necessary for cellular metabolism is reduced. The ageing process also leads to the increase in what is known as reactive oxygen species by the mitochondria, all of which leads to stress, inflammation and degradation of the cells. And since certain cells in the body -- such as those in the retina -- have greater metabolic demands than others, they are the ones that are most likely to age relatively early.
http://www.novuslight.com/uploads//n/Light-and-Health-figure-1.jpg
Light elevated ATP in fruit flies and reduced inflammation

In studies of laboratory mice, which typically would only live for four months in the wild, the production of ATP produced by mitochondria in the retina decreases by about one third over a twelve month period, while in the brain, it declines by one third to one half. But by exposing the mitochondria to light, the decline in their activity can be ameliorated.

Electron transport chain

In the mitochondria, a complex enzyme-driven process called the electron transport chain creates an electrochemical proton gradient that drives the synthesis of the ATP energy currency. In most organisms, the majority of ATP is generated in these electron transport chains by four membrane-bound complexes which work in concert with one another. According to Professor Jeffery, part of the ATP production process involves the absorption of light of 670nm, 810nm and 1070nm wavelengths by a large protein in the electron transport chain called cytochrome c oxidase (COX) which helps to establish an electrochemical gradient that increases the production of ATP. By exposing the cells to increased doses of light of near infra red 670nm wavelength, both the mitochondrial membrane gradient and the production of COX can be increased.

“When aged mice were exposed to such light, the production of ATP in the retina significantly increased. The increase was discovered to be associated not only with increased COX production, but also by the reduction of cell signaling proteins involved in systemic inflammation and stress in the retinal cells that accompany diseases such as age-related macular degeneration ,” said Professor Jeffery. Having established that light can affect the production of ATP in the mitochondria, and that it also reduces both inflammation and stress, Professor Jeffery performed a number of electroretinogram (ERG) tests to measure the electrical activity generated by neural and non-neuronal cells in the retina in response to a light stimulus. Here again, he found a marked increase in the retinal function of those animals subjected to the 670nm light.
http://www.novuslight.com/uploads//n/Light-and-health-figure-2.jpg
A group of fruit flies were exposed to 670 nm radiation and their survival rate examined over a period of twelve weeks. The effect of the light produced an elevated ATP in the insects and reduced inflammation. Critically, there was a significant increase in average lifespan: 100–175% more flies survived into old age following exposure to the 670 nm light. Those flies also had significantly improved mobility.

But could the exposure of an animal to near infra light also extend its lifespan as well? To discover whether that was the case, Professor Jeffery and his team exposed a group of fruit flies to the 670 nm radiation and examined the survival rate of the flies over a period of twelve weeks.

“Again, the effect of the light produced an elevated ATP in the insects and reduced inflammation with age. Critically, there was a significant increase in average lifespan: 100–175 percent more flies survived into old age following exposure to the 670 nm light. Those flies also had significantly improved mobility which was measured in terms of their ability to climb a distance greater than 90mm and the distance that they travelled in 1 minute,” said Professor Jeffery.

Interestingly, Professor Jeffery and his team have also conducted experiments to show that exposing the flies to near infra red radiation can also improve their short term memory. To do so, the flies were placed in one end of a tube with a light at the other. In normal circumstances, insects would fly toward the light, but by placing an aversive stimulus of quinine chlorhydrate in the tube, young flies with a good memory were dissuaded from doing so, while older flies with decreased short term memory still attempted the journey. However, after the older flies had been irradiated with the 670nm light, they not longer took the flight, demonstrating an improved ability to remember that the quinine was present.

Bee decline

Professor Jeffery believes that his research could be of great importance in helping ameliorate the global decline in bee populations due to the widespread deployment of neonicotinoid pesticides such as Imidacloprid. These chemicals are undermining mitochondrial function, resulting in depleted ATP production. As their ability to produce ATP is depleted, the insects become immobile and starve. To show how exposure to light might expend their lifespan, Professor Jeffery examined the survival rate of different set of bees, some which had been exposed to Imidacloprid insecticide, while others to both the insecticide and doses of 670nm light. Their survival rate was also compared to two control groups of bees -- those that were unexposed to insecticide or light and those unexposed to insecticide but treated with UV light. “The results of the experiment showed that the group of bees exposed to just the insecticide had a significantly shorter lifespan than those that were not. However, those bees exposed to the insecticide and the near infra red light showed a marked increase in lifespan. Indeed, the 670nm light had effectively lengthened the lifespan of the bees treated with insecticide to that of their cousins in a natural insecticide free environment similar to that found in flies,” said Professor Jeffery.

In addition, the experiment also proved that by exposing insecticide ridden bees to 670nm light also had an impact on their mobility as well as the electrical activity generated by neural and non-neuronal cells in their retinas. So much so in fact that there was little difference between the mobility or the electrical retinal activity of the bees treated with the insecticide and 670nm light and the control bees that had not been subjected to the light or insecticide.

Human health

Human health To date, many of Professor Jeffery’s experiments examining the effect of light have been carried out on animals. But since ATP is produced by the mitochondria in human beings in exactly the same way, the impact of his research could have far reaching consequences on human health as well. However, despite the clear benefits of irradiating animals with 670nm light, modern lighting commonly found in homes and office buildings does not emit 670nm or any significant near infra red (810nm) light at all, so produces no useful benefits to human beings living or working under such conditions. But Professor Jeffery believes that if lighting manufacturers would consider producing lighting that did emit light at such wavelengths, the benefits would be profound. Perhaps his current work examining the effect of 670nm light on the vision of groups of ageing individual human beings in residential care homes might prove enough to convince manufacturers to reconsider doing so.

Written by Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Novus Light Technologies Today - See more at: http://www.novuslight.com/can-light-benefit-health_N5660.html#sthash.IHas7LG4.dpuf

[ThePythonicCow]

interesting studys....coming to light...:o

...
Human health

Human health To date, many of Professor Jeffery’s experiments examining the effect of light have been carried out on animals. But since ATP is produced by the mitochondria in human beings in exactly the same way, the impact of his research could have far reaching consequences on human health as well. However, despite the clear benefits of irradiating animals with 670nm light, modern lighting commonly found in homes and office buildings does not emit 670nm or any significant near infra red (810nm) light at all, so produces no useful benefits to human beings living or working under such conditions. But Professor Jeffery believes that if lighting manufacturers would consider producing lighting that did emit light at such wavelengths, the benefits would be profound. Perhaps his current work examining the effect of 670nm light on the vision of groups of ageing individual human beings in residential care homes might prove enough to convince manufacturers to reconsider doing so.

Written by Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Novus Light Technologies Today - See more at: http://www.novuslight.com/can-light-benefit-health_N5660.html#sthash.IHas7LG4.dpuf
Hmmm ... interesting.

I just took the LED grow light ( http://amzn.com/B012C4QJ06 ) (Red: 655~660nm, Blue:460nm) that I had been using as part of my procedure to restructure and re-energize the water I drink, and turned it on next to where I spend much time, on the computer.

If it's good for the bees, and good for my water ... perhaps it will be good for me :)

Thanks!

P.S. -- Here's far more than you ever wanted to know about LED light and its biological effects: http://www.heelspurs.com/led.html

[william r sanford72]

thanks for the link/info Paul..:waving:..meanwhile..:facepalm:..EPA lackys are at it again...get off your knees and tell your masters..NO!!!!
Beekeepers/protectors.....Tell em NO!!!!!

MS GETS EPA APPROVAL TO USE UNAUTHORIZED PESTICIDE TO SAVE GRAIN SORGHUM CROP

Farmers in Mississippi will now have another tool to avoid economic losses by using a unauthorized pesticide to defend certain crops from bugs that destroy them. Experts disagree over the impact the pesticide poses to honey bees. As MPB's Mark Rigsby reports, the Environmental Protection Agency is taking public comment on a new plan to put the pesticide, Sulfoxaflor, back on the market.

On a warm spring day, in a rural part of Madison County, in central Mississippi, Greg Logan opens the top of one of his bee hives to check on how much honey his bees have made.

"You can tell these frames are full of honey. You can see the wax cap, white in color," says Logan.

Logan has been a beekeeper since he was a teenager. He's not worried about his bees coming into contact with pesticides when outside the hive.

"Certainly, will come into contact with them. I'm not concerned pesticides are going to cause them significant problems. We hopefully have the E.P.A. watching out for us in that fashion. Responsible farmers doing what they should be doing, then they should be able to coexist without any problems," says Logan.

The Environmental Protection Agency is granting the state Department of Agriculture and Commerce a federal emergency exemption to use Sulfoxaflor on grain sorghum. Grain sorghum is mostly used as feed for livestock. The crop contributed $39 million to Mississippi's agriculture economy last year. The pesticide is used to protect against the destructive sugarcane aphid.

"The sugarcane aphid is an extremely damaging insect," says Deputy Agriculture Commissioner John Campbell. He says the bug has become a big problem for farmers over the past few years. He says the aphid is able to develop a resistance to pesticides. He says research shows Sulfoxaflor to be very effective against the bug.

"We need two products, a minimum of two products to control it. As well as, this product allows for a shorter pre-harvest interval, that the other does not. Without this tool, we could see substantial yield loss and economic loss to our farmers in Mississippi," says Campbell.

Sulfoxaflor is produced by Dow Agrosciences. It goes by the brand name Transform. The label says it's highly toxic to bees, and there are instructions for farmers to minimize the risk. The pesticide was being used in the U.S. and other countries for a few years prior to a lawsuit brought by a group of bee keepers.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California ruled the EPA improperly approved the pesticide.
The EPA pulled it from the market. They're currently taking public comment on a new proposal intended to protect bees by limiting how it's used.

"We do not want to ban pesticides. We realize farmers need to protect their crops. Many beekeepers are farmers," says Michelle Colopy, program director for the Pollinators Stewardship Council. It's a watchdog group for the agriculture industry, with a focus on beekeeping. The group took administrative legal action against the EPA, asking for more research on the pesticide's long-term impact on bees.

"We do need to protect our bees, which are intergral to crop yield. To protect them so they can continue to pollinate a third of our food supply," says Colopy.

In a 2015 press release, Dow says Sulfoxaflor showed excellent performance and had "no noted adverse effects on pollinators." You would think the Mississippi Beekeepers Association would be against the use of Sulfoxaflor on crops, but they're not.

"If the farmers can't use chemicals, most of them are going to go out of business, and so there's going to be no crops to go to," says Johnny Thompson, vice president of the Mississippi Beekeepers Association.

The group sent a letter to the EPA asking to give farmers permission to use it.

"We have to assume some of that risk, and not say put it all on the farmers as their responsibility," says Thompson.

Beekeepers produced $3.2 million worth of honey in Mississippi last year. Jeff Harris is the honeybee expert at Mississippi State University Extension Service.

"I think our beekeepers have decided the risk to their bees from this particular compound is relatively low, compared to what they're already exposed to in their environments already. They're actually in support of the farmers having the tools to protect their crops," says Harris.

The state has another request to use Sulfoxaflor on cotton. It's still under consideration. Justin Ferguson from Mississippi Farm Bureau believes if farmers aren't permitted to use it, the economic consequences could be devastating.

"This product is vital to the use for protection from insects in grain sorghum and cotton for Mississippi farmers," says Ferguson.

"If we didn't have it what would happen?"

"It would be an economic disaster for those crops," says Ferguson.

Ferguson says there's been a lack of communication between farmers and beekeepers in the past.
So the Mississippi Bee Stewardship Program was created to build strong relationships to maintain the economic prosperity of row crops, and the health of honey bees.

http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/2016/05/25/ms-gets-epa-approval-to-use-unauthorized-pesticide-to-save-grain-sorghum-crop/

[william r sanford72]

NATIONAL HONEY REPORT

www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/fvmhoney.pdf

[william r sanford72]

Why Are More Bees Dying In Ontario
Published on May 27, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Tom Theobald talk to Tibor Szabo, President of the Ontario Beekeeper’s Association about a new press release concerning more massive bee deaths in Ontario, Canada. Stay tuned! “The Neonicotinoid View”, which is produced by The Organic View Radio Show is unique, weekly program that explores the impact of neonicotinoids on the environment. Tune in each week as June and Tom explore the latest research and news from the beekeeping community.

lp8q2ZI4QZ8

[william r sanford72]

have posted most of this 4 part art.if memory serves the 3rd part had to do with tracking wild colonys to there homes..Thomas D. Seeley..and his wonderful book “Honeybee Democracy...is the basis of the 4 part series.

When honeybees journey to their new home
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/a2547db719e6ae8d308bbc815185ffcf2aedccba/c=0-174-2056-2915&r=537&c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/2016/05/26/Poughkeepsie/B9322158011Z.1_20160526115304_000_G3FEFGEAR.1-0.jpg
In this fourth and final segment in my series: “Swarming Honeybees, with Cornell Professor of Biology Thomas D. Seeley” we will explore another of honeybees’ incredible abilities. In the past three months (using his book: “Honeybee Democracy”), we’ve seen how a honeybee swarm comes to be, how the parent colony survives the loss of its queen and two-thirds of its workers when they swarm, and how a swarm finds, assesses and decides to move into the best site in a square mile or more.

Today, from the same book, we will look into how they are able to fly to and quickly build combs in their new home, which may be a few miles away.

When it comes to knowledge about honeybees, not only is Seeley well-read, but he is a master experimenter. He confirms and learns for himself. When I asked Penn State’s entomologists and our bumblebee expert, Robbin W. Thorpe, questions about honeybees, they both sent me to Seeley. I’ve read two of his books and am halfway through a third. “Following the Wild Bees,” his fourth (new — 48 color photos), just arrived (http://www.facebook.com/followingthewildbees/). It’s getting rave reviews. This is not the last we’ll be hearing from Seeley.

In order to survive, honeybees must have an exacting efficiency, including timing, in everything they do. To avoid starvation, the swarm has about a week to decide where to live, and fly there. We join a swarm cluster whose scouts have already decided, democratically, where they will live.

Seeley said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the bees possess some secret gadgetry for ensuring that a swarm about to take flight is well-stocked with the informed bees who can pilot it safely to its new home.” (p. 197).

The scouts and workers on the cluster’s surface heat their bodies up to 95 degrees to coincide with the workers and queen beneath the surface. Increasingly, from 90 minutes before, until takeoff, scouts run about excitedly, stopping for a second every few seconds so each can press her thorax against another bee. There’s a corresponding shrill high-frequency piping that peaks for the final half hour before takeoff, when the entire swarm reaches 99 degrees. Layer by layer, the honeybees take to the air. About a minute after this explosive takeoff begins, all have left.

Only the about 400 scouts have been to the new home and must lead 11,000 workers and the queen to it. The swarm is soon cruising at 5 mph, with scouts continuously dropping back and leading by streaking forward at 20 mph, mostly above the swarm, toward the new home. Strong winds can temporarily blow the swarm off course.

Seeley speaks of the queen’s “pheromone that wafts steadily from her body.If the bees in an airborne swarm keep smelling this particular chemical substance, they will keep flying toward their new home address, but if they don’t catch its aroma, because their queen has dropped out to rest, they will cease flying forward, mill about until they find their missing queen, and then cluster around her wherever she has alighted. Sooner or later, the swarm will again take off and proceed to its destination. Clearly, the workers in a flying swarm take great care to avoid losing their all-important queen. (pp. 176,177).

“As the group closes on its destination, it gradually lowers its flight speed so that it stops precisely, and gracefully, at the front door of its new home.” (p. 176).

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/0ac1c4c25d3b650286336d72cc68a64288e388ec/c=286-0-4862-3432&r=x408&c=540x405/local/-/media/2016/05/26/Poughkeepsie/B9322158011Z.1_20160526115304_000_GCLEEL2US.1-0.jpg

The colony’s race against time is boosted by the fact that the workers arrive with white wax scales attached under their abdomens, enabling them to get right to building honeycombs and brood combs. This amazing workable wax that dries hard when made into thin cell walls is another example of honeybees’ mind-boggling technology and efficiency.

Despite the wax and the bees’ legendary work ethic, around Ithaca, Seeley found that less than 25 percent of the new colonies survived their first winter. He attributes this to swarming too late to have time to make enough honey to feed the colonies during the entire winter, while they’re active within their hives. Honeybees don’t hibernate. Old established hives, in the wild, often have hundreds of pounds of accumulated honey and 80 percent survive the winter. In domestic hives, beekeepers take each year’s “extra” honey for us to eat.

There’s reason to believe we can greatly increase the odds for new colonies. Take the land I work on. Last year (long cold winter), a swarm from a box hive clustered on May 26. This year (short mild winter), the beekeeper split both box hives, making four, telling me he had to do it before the bees swarmed away in two days (May 2). In both years, the bees had the advantage of an acre of the very early, difference-making purple creeping thyme (honeybees on them on March 27, 2016 and millions of flowers by mid-April), combined with an overlapping abundance of essential dandelions. Last year’s swarm moved into the barn and is doing well. So they’re surviving the winter at a 100 percent rate so far. More early flowers equal more nectar made into early honey, which makes for earlier swarms. In addition, colonies close to starvation after winter can sometimes collect enough early nectar to survive. Each time a new colony makes it, as opposed to starving, it will usually swarm and we’ll have two colonies instead of none. Since they’re among the only April/May flowers here in great numbers, honeybees often depend on creeping thyme and dandelions to get them to summer.

The Hudson Valley has hundreds of honeybee colonies in house or barn walls; ideal places for them to thrive. When I was growing up we had one in our house wall for at least 10 years and nobody ever got stung. If the entrance is low, you will not want to spend too much time near it (a couple of guards might be forced to do their job), but otherwise they’re harmless. These produce at least two new colonies (swarms) per year, in addition to pollinating your flowers and produce.

The Hudson Valley has hundreds of honeybee colonies in house or barn walls; ideal places for them to thrive. When I was growing up we had one in our house wall for at least 10 years and nobody ever got stung. If the entrance is low, you will not want to spend too much time near it (a couple of guards might be forced to do their job), but otherwise they’re harmless. These produce at least two new colonies (swarms) per year, in addition to pollinating your flowers and produce.

A friend from Florida told me, “The thing I like most about the northeast is the beautiful yellow flowers growing in the green lawns.” It’s estimated that 50 to 80 percent of our food depends on honeybee pollination (a third of our fruits and vegetables and much of the grain fed to cattle), and honey is arguably the healthiest and sweetest food on Earth. So, do the honeybees, the world and yourself a favor — plant beds of creeping thyme and let the dandelions flourish.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2016/05/26/valley-environment-honeybees-swarms/84973644/

[william r sanford72]

I sing The body electric...:bigsmile:

Dancing hairs alert bees to floral electric fields

May 30, 2016

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2016/dancinghairs.jpg


Tiny, vibrating hairs may explain how bumblebees sense and interpret the signals transmitted by flowers, according to a study by researchers at the University of Bristol.

Although it's known that flowers communicate with pollinators by sending out electric signals, just how bees detects these fields has been a mystery - until now.

Using a laser to measure vibrations, researchers found that both the bees' antenna and hairs deflect in response to an electric field, but the hairs move more rapidly and with overall greater displacements.

Researchers then looked at the bees' nervous system, finding that only the hairs alerted the bee's nervous system to this signal.

The findings, published in the international journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) today, suggest that electroreception in insects may be widespread.

Electroreception may arise from the bees' hairs being lightweight and stiff, properties that confer a rigid, lever-like motion similar to acoustically sensitive spider hairs and mosquito antennae.

Dr Gregory Sutton, a Research Fellow in the University of Bristol's School of Biological Sciences, led the research. He said: "We were excited to discover that bees' tiny hairs dance in response to electric fields, like when humans hold a balloon to their hair. A lot of insects have similar body hairs, which leads to the possibility that many members the insect world may be equally sensitive to small electric fields."

Scientists are particularly interested in understanding how floral signals are perceived, received and acted upon by bees as they are critical pollinators of our crops.

Research into these relationships has revealed the co-evolution of flowers and their pollinators, and has led to the unravelling of this important network which keeps our planet green.

Electroreception is common in aquatic mammals. For example, sharks are equipped with sensitive, jelly-filled receptors that detect fluctuations in electric fields in seawater which helps them to home in on their prey.

Explore further: Bees and flowers communicate using electrical fields, researchers discover

More information: Mechanosensory hairs in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) detect weak electric fields, PNAS, www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1601624113


Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences search and more info website

Provided by: University of Bristol


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-05-hairs-bees-floral-electric-fields.html#jCp

[giovonni]

William R. Sanford ~ http://projectavalon.net/forum4/customprofilepics/profilepic15578_2.gif

I'd like to personally acknowledge and give thanks to your steadfast dedication in updating this thread ...
While keeping us all abreast to all things associated with those of the anthophilous kind ...

Blessings Always Gio

[RunningDeer]

Yes, I agree with Gio. http://avalonlibrary.net/paula/Recovered/thankyou_zpsojgnx9vl.GIF William R. Sanford

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii610/WhiteCrowBlackDeer/William-R_zpsknlxrepn.jpg

Paula :heart:

[william r sanford72]

GIO..RUNNING DEER....thank you seems so inadequate..to express/the energy and emotions of graditude I feel...how small things can lighten the heavy...
blessing and love back at yah..
and thank you.
:heart:
William.

[william r sanford72]

Some footage I took today of a swarm ive been watching over for the last week...Enjoy.:sun:
.
The Waggle Dance!!

Published on Jun 1, 2016

Honeybees preparing to leave for a new home and some great footage of them performing the waggle dance.

EMyd8h8oWRM

[william r sanford72]

Live from the Hive: world's first live tweeting honeybees in Bristol project

Press release issued: 31 May 2016

A new project comparing the lives of bees living in the countryside with those in the city is being launched today, featuring the world's first live tweeting honeybees.

http://bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/news/2016/may/live-from-the-hive-article.jpg

The University of Bristol has joined forces with At-Bristol, one of the UK's leading interactive science centres, and BeeBristol to create 'Live from the Hive' – a research project which aims to engage people with the lives of the bees through innovative use of technology and social media.

The science centre's green roof became home to an urban beehive in July 2015, which is tended to by At-Bristol staff specially trained by BeeBristol.

Now that the hive is established, it has been fitted with scientific equipment to capture data on bee behaviour, air quality and weather, which will be compared with a rural hive in Langford 14 miles south of Bristol.

Both Twitter feeds - @citybeehive and @countrybeehive - will tweet in character about their daily activity, which will be triggered by live data collected and analysed as part of the scientific research looking at the impact of city living on honeybee colonies.

It is predicted that human activity will have an effect on urban bees as a result of seven day cycles in air quality, due to pollution caused by Monday to Friday commuter traffic.
EAIUej8BKTM
Visitors to At-Bristol will be able to take part in Live from the Hive through a new exhibit in an indoor greenhouse in the Food! exhibition.

The exhibit will enable visitors to compare the behaviour of the two bee colonies in real time using live webcam images of the bees, interactive graphs using live data including 'bees per minute', air quality, weather, and the latest tweets from the both of the beehives. Live from the Hive will also be accessible online from the At-Bristol website.

Dr Dominic Clarke, Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Sensory Biophysics in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: "This is an exciting opportunity for us to share science with the public as it happens. Maybe someone out there will spot something interesting in our data before we do."

Live images from inside At-Bristol's beehive will be featured on the popular BBC Two programme Springwatch, running from 30 May for three weeks.

Big Screen Bristol will also be showing live images of the hives at regular intervals throughout the project, and on 1 June DreamWorks Animation's Bee Movie will be screened for free in Millennium Square to celebrate the launch of the project. Until 5 June a 'Feed the Bees' activity is also running in the greenhouse, where visitors can take home a sweet treat for our fuzzy friends

Chris Dunford, At-Bristol's Sustainability Engagement Manager, said: "We are delighted to be launching Live from the Hive! We are committed to becoming the most sustainable science centre in the UK, and part of that work involves supporting pollinators, so we are very proud to use our hive in academic research. We hope that everyone will enjoy following the lives of our bees and learning more about how city life effects them."

Tim Barsby, Founder and Director of BeeBristol, added: "Live from the Hive is an important, unique and visionary experiment pioneering an interactive and engaging experience that connects people with nature. Thanks to attentive beekeeping we have nurtured a healthy colony of urban bees on the roof of At-Bristol, so we are very excited to see the results and start tweeting!"

For further information on the project visit the At-Bristol website and follow the bees on Twitter @citybeehive and @countrybeehive.

Further information

About At-Bristol Science Centre

At-Bristol is a leading science centre in the UK and a major player in the worldwide science centre movement with over 300,000 visitors a year, including over 62,000 school visits. It aims to be a world-class science centre that makes a distinctive, valued and recognised contribution to science learning and public engagement with science across Europe. A registered charity, At-Bristol has hosted over four million visits since its opening in June 2000 and continually strives towards making science accessible to all.

About BeeBristol

BeeBristol plants, manages and maintains areas of wildflower in Bristol. We educate and communicate the value of pollinators by engaging with community groups, schools, individuals and organisations. Through education, conservation, art and installations, working with the public and our partners, we hope to help make Bristol a pollinator friendly city.

http://bristol.ac.uk/news/2016/may/hive.html

[ThePythonicCow]

Why Are More Bees Dying In Ontario
Published on May 27, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Tom Theobald talk to Tibor Szabo, President of the Ontario Beekeeper’s Association about a new press release concerning more massive bee deaths in Ontario, Canada. Stay tuned! “The Neonicotinoid View”, which is produced by The Organic View Radio Show is unique, weekly program that explores the impact of neonicotinoids on the environment. Tune in each week as June and Tom explore the latest research and news from the beekeeping community.
At 22:27 (https://youtu.be/i6j0wIhUr1M?t=22m27s) in the following video, Stefanie Seneff points out that the glyphosate disrupts the bees ability to detoxify neonicotinoids.

i6j0wIhUr1M

[william r sanford72]

Thousands of bees swarm mural outside Muhammad Ali's childhood home bearing his famous 'float like a butterfly, sting like a bee quote'

•Muhammad Ali's childhood home in Louisville, Kentucky, has been turned into a memorial for the greatest athlete of all time, who died on June 3
•Outside is a mural with the quote: 'Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee'
•Approximately 15,000 bees have swarmed a tree near the mural

Of the long list of famous quotes to be spoken by Muhammed Ali in his lifetime, arguably the most famous came just before his 1974 fight with George Foreman.

As a 22-year-old ready to take on 'The Rumble in the Jungle' against George Foreman, Ali spouted the timeless quote: 'Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.'

The words are now etched into a wall outside the childhood home of The Greatest in Louisville, Kentucky, who died on June 3.
http://i.dailymail.latestnewsvideos.org/i/pix/2016/06/06/00/34F4F76F00000578-3626545-image-a-1_1465168225671.jpg
A swarm of 15,000 bees gathered near a memorial for Mohammad Ali in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky
http://i.dailymail.latestnewsvideos.org/i/pix/2016/06/06/00/34F4F77400000578-3626545-image-a-2_1465168228936.jpg
The bees swarmed near a mural with Ali's iconic quote: 'Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee' (pictured)

As memorials piled in from devastated fans and admires, there was an unexpected - seemingly divine tribute: thousands of bees.

'The irony is not lost on me at all,' said beekeeper Kevin McKinney, who was called out to control the swarm.

Approximately 15,000 bees clung to a tree near the mural, as if to celebrate Ali's life and his perennial quote.
http://i.dailymail.latestnewsvideos.org/i/pix/2016/06/06/00/34F467EE00000578-3626545-image-a-5_1465168435887.jpg

Fans of the late Muhammad Ali, the former world heavyweight boxing champion, have left personal mementos at the home where the bees have swarmed

McKinney told WLKY the swarm is his eighth of this year, but the first at the Ali mural.

Flowers, balloons and boxing gloves have been left by the fans remembering Ali at the former home, which is now a historical landmark.

But only the bees could give The Greatest a send off that defied convention
http://i.dailymail.latestnewsvideos.org/i/pix/2016/06/06/00/34F3930100000578-3626545-image-a-4_1465168241378.jpg
Ali, pictured in 1962, died on June 3rd after a years-long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 74 years old

http://latestnewsvideos.org/news/article-3626545/Thousands-bees-swarm-mural-outside-Muhammad-Ali-s-childhood-home-bearing-famous-float-like-butterfly-sting-like-bee-quote.html

[Stephanie]

33621

Bee blessings
and happy birthday
dearest William.

[RunningDeer]

http://avalonlibrary.net/paula/Recovered/bee-hive_zpsl3rmnmfz.JPG
♡

[william r sanford72]

Been keeping up on this for a couple months and find the concept and research very interesting..

The End of the Bee Crisis? New Hive Saves Bees

CHRUDIM, Czech Republic, June 7, 2016 /CNW/ - The discovery of a new type of beehive brings new hope for honeybees worldwide. The hive is able to eliminate the honeybee's worst enemy, the Varroa destructor mite, with only the heat from solar radiation. Mites have killed hundreds of thousands of colonies worldwide, resulting in billions of dollars of economic loss and can be a nightmare for beekeepers. The only defense thus far has been chemical drugs, although they are not always effective. The discovery, however, of Czech scientists has provided new hope in the fight against this parasite, without the aid of chemical products.

"Our goal was to create a reliable method for treating Varroa without using any chemicals. It has been known that the Varroa destructor mite is extremely sensitive to increased temperature. We applied this knowledge and created a Thermosolar hive. It employs solar radiation to raise the temperature in the colony, thus killing the Varroa mites", states the inventor, Roman Linhart. The patented Thermosolar hive can absorb sunlight and transform it into heat. This heat warms the bee colony inside the hive. The bees are not impacted by the higher temperature and all the mites inside the brood cells die.

The hive has undergone university research and testing in recent years by almost a hundred beekeepers. One of them, Ludmila Kabelova states that "It excludes the damaging influence of chemicals and perfectly exterminates mites in a sealed brood. When maintaining the methodology, the entire treatment is simple and safe. The bees are in great condition."

"The hive is so easy to use that it is suitable for beginners." Linhart adds. The inventor of the hive seeks support through crowdfunding.

More information: http://thermosolarhive.com

Crowdfunding: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/thermosolar-hive-healthy-bees-healthy-honey--5#/

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZI6lGSq1gU

Photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/e34r44d6wkl0sds/AAAILweqjKXpZHN2io4AGmr4a?dl=0

SOURCE Apis Innovation s.r.o.

For further information: Jan Raja, jan.raja@thermosolarhive.com, +420777883792

Thermosolar Hive: healthy bees & healthy honey

Thermosolar Hive™ is a game changer in beekeeping. No more will Varroa destructor mites kill bee colonies. No more will beekeepers be forced to use chemicals inside their beehives. Thermosolar Hive™ produce healthy honey and support health of bees.

qZI6lGSq1gU

We have just launched our crowdfunding campaign! Please visit our Indiegogo page. You can order hives and contribute there.

Long-term interest of Dr. Roman Linhart is beekeeping, honeybee illness research and the production of honey without chemicals. The anti-varroa Thermosolar Hive™ is the result of more than 10 years of experience and research and it is currently the most innovative beehive in production.

The hot hive promises to turn the honey bee crisis around by elimination of parasitic mite Varroa destructor.

http://i1.wp.com/thermosolarhive.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_75501.jpg?resize=150%2C150

And it significantly improves beekeeping in many areas:

It speeds up the spring expansion of the bee colonies
•Saves winter honey reserves and reserves throughout the season
•Increases flight activity of bees
•Increases honey collection potential
•Saves beekeper´s time

With our scientifically and practically proven technology it is easy to prevent swarming and eliminate the outbreak of American foulbrood from internal causes.

All is achieved by efficient use of the thermosolar energy. The beekeeper benefits from having healthier bees producing more honey and the consumer benefits from the return to natural honey – honey without chemicals.

http://thermosolarhive.com/en/homepage/

[william r sanford72]

How honeybees do without males

Date:

June 7, 2016

Source:

Uppsala Universitet

Summary:

An isolated population of honeybees, the Cape bees, living in South Africa has evolved a strategy to reproduce without males. A research team has sequenced the entire genomes of a sample of Cape bees and compared them with other populations of honeybees to find out the genetic mechanisms behind their asexual reproduction.
https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/06/160607151318_1_540x360.jpg
An isolated population of honeybees, the Cape bees, living in South Africa has evolved a strategy to reproduce without males. A research team from Uppsala University has sequenced the entire genomes of a sample of Cape bees and compared them with other populations of honeybees to find out the genetic mechanisms behind their asexual reproduction.


Most animals reproduce sexually, which means that both males and females are required for the species to survive. Normally, the honeybee is no exception to this rule: the female queen bee produces new offspring by laying eggs that have been fertilised by sperm from male drones. However, one isolated population of honeybees living in the southern Cape of Africa has evolved a strategy to do without males.

In the Cape bee, female worker bees are able to reproduce asexually: they lay eggs that are essentially fertilised by their own DNA, which develop into new worker bees. Such bees are also able to invade the nests of other bees and continue to reproduce in this fashion, eventually taking over the foreign nests, a behaviour called social parasitism.

The explanation for this unique behaviour is unknown, however a research team from UU has come closer to uncovering the genetic mechanisms behind it. The team sequenced the entire genomes of a sample of Cape bees and compared them with other populations of honeybees that reproduce normally. They found striking differences at several genes, which can explain both the abnormal type of egg production that leads to reproduction without males, and the unique social parasitism behaviour.

'The question of why this population of honeybees in South Africa has evolved to reproduce asexually is still a mystery. But understanding the genes involved brings us closer to understanding it. This study will help us to understand how genes control biological processes like cell division and behaviour. Furthermore understanding why populations sometimes reproduce asexually may help us to understand the evolutionary advantage of sex, which is a major conundrum for evolutionary biologists, says Matthew Webster', researcher at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology at Uppsala University.

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Uppsala Universitet. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:
1.Andreas Wallberg, Christian W. Pirk, Mike H. Allsopp, Matthew T. Webster. Identification of multiple loci associated with social parasitism in honeybees. PLOS Genetics, June 2016

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160607151318.htm

[william r sanford72]

No Bees, No Food

Published on Jun 8, 2016

Over the last year, we have discussed various efforts by the pesticide industry to mislead the public about the global decline of our pollinators. They have even gone as far as to launch a bee health advocacy organization to give the illusion that they genuinely care. Meanwhile, neonicotinoids, which are the most widely used pesticide on the market, continue to rake in millions of dollars. However, environmental groups are fighting back!

9bpD-Z_lSZo

[william r sanford72]

Bayer waiting for Monsanto to engage after spurned bid - sources | Reuters

Monsanto Co (MON.N), the world's largest seed company, has still not opened its books more than two weeks after it rejected Bayer AG's (BAYGn.DE) $62 billion acquisition offer but left the door open to a possible deal, according to people familiar with the matter.

The impasse shows that little progress in negotiations has been made since Monsanto on May 24 turned down its German peer's $122-per-share cash offer but said it was open to "continued and constructive conversations."

Monsanto has said that Bayer's offer "significantly undervalues (the) company and also does not adequately address or provide reassurance for some of the potential financing and regulatory execution risks related to the acquisition."


Bayer, however, has no plans to increase its offer without first reviewing Monsanto's confidential information, the sources said on condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the talks.

The Leverkusen-based company needs access to Monsanto's books before it can decide whether it can pay a higher price, as well as offer a more detailed plan on how to address potential antitrust risks, the sources added.

Bayer also has no intention currently to go hostile with its bid, the sources said.

Monsanto, based in St. Louis, has not directly told Bayer that it is looking for better terms in order for it to offer the German company access to confidential information, according to one of the sources.

However, Monsanto's lack of engagement demonstrates that it not only views Bayer's offer as too low, but that it does not even consider it as a basis for negotiations, the sources said.

The situation did not change even after Monsanto held a regular board meeting this week to approve a quarterly dividend of 54 cents per share.

Bayer declined to comment, while a Monsanto spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

The Wall Street Journal had reported earlier on Friday that Bayer had made a new takeover approach to Monsanto that was rebuffed, in part because it didn't include a higher price.

Bayer's unsolicited bid for Monsanto is the largest all-cash takeover on record, according to Thomson Reuters data, just ahead of InBev SA's $60.4 billion offer for Anheuser-Busch in June 2008.

Global agrochemicals companies are racing to consolidate, partly in response to a drop in commodity prices that has hit farm incomes. Seeds and pesticides markets are also increasingly converging.

ChemChina plans to buy Switzerland's Syngenta (SYNN.S) for $43 billion, after Syngenta rejected a bid from Monsanto. Dow Chemical Co (DOW.N) and DuPont (DD.N) are forging a $130 billion business.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Arno Schuetz and PJ Huffstutter in Chicago; Editing by Paul Simao)

http://www.firstpost.com/fwire/bayer-waiting-for-monsanto-to-engage-after-spurned-bid-sources-reuters-2828276.html

[william r sanford72]

:thumbsdown:Judge Won’t Order EPA to List Possible Hazardous “Inert” Ingredients on Pesticide Labels

http://dvtfaqskbwkln.cloudfront.net/user_content/newsimages/71361f61-8ac2-47b9-b878-f801d7e0e221.jpeg?app=278

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge Wednesday sided with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a lawsuit from environmentalists and physicians who claim the agency fails to protect consumers from toxins in pesticides.

The EPA has no mandatory duty to require disclosure of “inert” ingredients in pesticides, even if those ingredients qualify as hazardous chemicals under separate statutes, U.S. District Judge William Orrick said during a hearing Wednesday.

The Center for Environmental Health and Physicians for Social Responsibility sued the EPA a year ago, claiming it shirked its duty under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The Beyond Pesticides network also was a plaintiff.

Federal law tasks the EPA with minimizing the risk of exposure to toxic chemicals in pesticides by, among other things, requiring manufacturers list the names and percentages of each active ingredient on labels.

But the EPA does not make manufacturers list inert ingredients, unless it finds disclosure necessary to protect against “unreasonable risk to humans or the environment.”

Environmentalists submitted a rulemaking petition in 2006, asking the EPA to make companies disclose 371 chemicals in pesticides deemed hazardous under other federal laws, such as the Clean Air Act.

In 2009, the EPA declined to move forward with the rulemaking process.

“These are chemicals EPA has determined are extremely dangerous because of their long-term effects,” plaintiffs’ attorney Yana Garcia said during the Wednesday hearing.

Failing to disclose the ingredients prevents consumers from making informed decisions and makes it harder for medical providers to diagnose and treat the effects of exposure to harmful chemicals, Garcia said.

But Orrick said that though the plaintiffs make persuasive policy arguments, EPA regulations under FIFRA say the agency “may require” disclosure, giving it broad discretion on whether to make manufacturers divulge the ingredients.

“EPA has never found these ingredients hazardous in the FIFRA context,” Department of Justice attorney Debra Carfora told the judge.

Orrick asked Carfora how the agency’s decision to use other means and methods to regulate the ingredients was “better for the environment.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s better,” Carfora said. “I would say this is a very complex issue the EPA has struggled with for 25 years.”

The EPA approached the problem in the best way to use its resources to manage the risks of pesticides, along with other “policy considerations outside the statute,” Carfora said.

But Garcia said the EPA’s effort to encourage voluntary disclosures by manufacturers has “simply not worked,” and that the toxic ingredients clearly meet the standard for “unreasonable risk,” which the EPA is tasked with combating under FIFRA.

“It defies logic that chemicals EPA finds to cause cancer and permanent neurological conditions would not meet this standard,” Garcia said. “EPA has been dragging its feet for decades. We don’t want to be back here in 10 years. We hope EPA can solve this problem now.”

Orrick reiterated that though the plaintiffs make strong policy arguments, he lacks the authority to act on them.

“The EPA is given discretion unless I can find that mandatory duty,” Orrick said. “If I’m stuck on ‘arbitrary and capricious,’ I don’t think I get there.”

Garcia, with Earth Justice in San Francisco, told Courthouse News a year ago that the EPA was “falling down on the job” and that the plaintiffs wanted to give it “a swift kick in the butt.”

In May, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, also in San Francisco, refused to dismiss a lawsuit from beekeepers who claim the EPA illegally broadened exemptions for bee-killing pesticides.

To Learn More:

After 8 Years of Delay, EPA Finally Agrees to Test Dangers of Monsanto’s Favorite Pesticide (by Steve Straehley, AllGov)

U.S. Ninth Circuit Reverses EPA’s OK of Pesticide that Is Destroying Honeybees (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)

Federal Court Revokes EPA’s Approval of Insecticide Linked to Collapse of Bee Populations (by Ken Broder and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/judge-wont-order-epa-to-list-possible-hazardous-inert-ingredients-on-pesticide-labels-160610?news=858960

[Star Tsar]

125 thousand views William your thread is Buzzing!
So am gonna BUMP & run...
(So I don't get stung)
:heart:

[giovonni]

will share this here ...


Here's the hellish backstory ...

The Empire Files: Monsanto, America's Monster

From Abby Martin

"Few corporations in the world are as loathed—and as sinister—as Monsanto. But the threat it poses to people and planet could be reaching new heights, as the World Health Organization has recently upgraded Monsanto's main product as carcinogenic to humans. With protests against the agrochemical giant held in over 40 countries in May, learn why the global movement against Monsanto is of critical importance to our future. In this episode of The Empire Files, Abby Martin issues a scathing expose on the corporate polluter, chronicling it's rise to power, the collusion of its crimes by the US government, and highlighting the serious danger it puts us in today."

Published on Jun 13, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTi0_ZQtPTY&feature=em-uploademail

[william r sanford72]

New insights on how bees battle deadly varroa mite by grooming

Date:

June 13, 2016

Source:

Taylor & Francis

Summary:

Scientists have compared the ability of two strains of honey bees to defend themselves against the parasitic mite varroa by grooming the mites from their bodies.

In a new study published in the Journal of Apicultural Research, scientists have compared the ability of two strains of honey bees to defend themselves against the parasitic mite varroa by grooming the mites from their bodies.

The mite Varroa destructor is generally considered to be the greatest threat to honey bees worldwide because it transmits virus diseases which lead to colony death. Treatments by various chemicals have become less effective in recent years because the mites have become resistant to them. This has led to attempts to breed strains of bee that are resistant to the mite. One of the possible mechanisms of resistance is "grooming" behaviour, where bees brush bees from themselves (autogrooming) or brush bees from their nestmates (allogrooming). It has long been known that different strains of bee differ in their resistance to varroa. In particular so-called Africanized bees (hybrids of Apis mellifera scutellata) bees appear to have more resistance than European strains.

Ciro Invernizzi and colleagues from the Facultad de Ciencias, Montevideo, Uruguay, compared grooming behaviour in Italian (Apis mellifera ligustica) and Africanized bees. They found that at the individual level, Africanized bees showed a higher total number of reaction behaviours to V. destructor than did Italian bees, and colonies of Africanized bees showed a higher proportion of injured mites than colonies of Italian bees did.

The authors state: "Africanized bees are characterized by presenting higher resistance to V. destructor than European bees. This study shows that such difference can be, partly due to grooming behaviour."

International Bee Research Association (IBRA) Science Director Norman Carreck commented: "This interesting study adds to our knowledge about resistance mechanisms, and may aid the search for bees resistant to varroa."

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Taylor & Francis. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:
1.Ciro Invernizzi, Ignacio Zefferino, Estela Santos, Lucía Sánchez, Yamandú Mendoza. Multilevel assessment of grooming behavior againstVarroa destructorin Italian and Africanized honey bees. Journal of Apicultural Research, 2016; 1 DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2016.1159055

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160613090715.htm

[william r sanford72]

Why Are 2.6 Million Dead Bees Touring The USA?

Published on Jun 17, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Tom Theobald talk to commercial migratory beekeeper, James Cook about the Keep The Hives Alive Tour. The tour is an effort to educate the public about the true impact of neonicotinoid pesticides on honeybees. Also joining the discussion is bee health advocate and environmental author, Graham White who will share his views about why mainstream media paved the way for industry to exploit this effort to mislead the public. Stay tuned! “The Neonicotinoid View”, which is produced by The Organic View Radio Show is unique, weekly program that explores the impact of neonicotinoids on the environment.

Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOrganicVi...
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/TheOrganicView
Listen to previous shows: http://theorganicview.com/wiki

GPXVMb6-9_c

[Yetti]

A great spiritual master once said "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." What he meant by this is that alone we are easily defeated but the focused pure spiritual intention of a small group of us is a mighty force to be reckoned with - capable of capturing our planet back from the dark spiritual beings currently destroying it.


Thanks for repost the subject, more actual than ever, we need to stand all together in soul with the same armonious intention of save the bees, the earthworms, the water, and forest, to name some. Is the whole planet in danger ,
thanks to all !. And remember is the only one with beer !

[bluestflame]

https://scontent-sit4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13428560_279183292433838_1250333749009223927_n.jpg?oh=89eb8f3e65a581ce9d642f49beda5fe4&oe=57D56299

it's a small start will learn more as i go

[william r sanford72]

bluestflame...you jogged my memory.i had a board made by a friend many moons ago that served multi functions and one was to help wire up foundation also helped stabilize the frames making them much easier to nail together...now where is that board???
As is...looks like your well on your way to learning and if that's pure beeswax foundation the bees will dig it..my op is they draw out cells faster than the plasticell type of foundation that is commonly bought and much more simple to install.

Very cool bluestflames and thanks for sharing.
:heart:
William.

[william r sanford72]

Vanishing of the Bees with Maryam Henein and Nathan Crane

Published on Jun 13, 2016

UNIFY FEST: http://unifyfest.com
Upgrade: http://theselfreliancesummit.com/2016...
Maryam Henein: http://www.HoneyColony.com

Maryam Henein is the director of the award-winning documentary Vanishing of the Bees. Maryam has also worked on programs for the BBC, Discovery, Robert Greenwald, and Morgan Spurlock. Her articles have appeared in several publications including the Los Angeles Times, Maxim, Science & Spirit Magazine, and Penthouse. Maryam’s near death experience also raised her awareness of the environment, which inspired her to work on a piece on the Exxon Valdez Oil spill for Robert Greenwald and The Sierra Club. Shortly thereafter, the bees flew into Maryam’s life. Through HoneyColony.com, Maryam has fused her reporting skills with her love of nutrition and social media in a cooperative model that closely resembles the workings of a real hive.

HCvHF2QPjrI

[bluestflame]

have also seem lemongrass oil used as an attractant for beetrap to transfer swarms

[william r sanford72]

have also seem lemongrass oil used as an attractant for beetrap to transfer swarms

That's part of the beauty of beekeeping.So many ways to work a swarm from lures to the type of traps you can use.I quickly discovered that once my name was on the local Exstention office for free honey bee removal and word spread within a couple seasons... that soon i had to many bees and not enough equipment/hives to put em in.this led to less experimenting with luring and catching swarms.nowadays I let them go where they will when they want..as far as swarming goes.
Enjoy learning and experimenting bluestflame.

William.

[william r sanford72]

BuzzCloud wants to take the sting out of urban beekeeping with its iBuzzHive
http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2016/06/hive_in_tree.jpg.662x0_q70_crop-scale.jpg
By integrating sensors and a hi-def video camera into a 3D-printed beehive, this project aims to help beekeepers monitor their colonies in a non-invasive way.

Unless you've been living under a rock the last few years, you're probably well aware of the troubling state of honeybee health, due to the mysterious and fatal colony collapse disorder (CCD) as well as a host of other ailments that have been taking a toll on these important pollinators.

Fortunately, we're also seeing a resurgence of interest in beekeeping, along with a variety of innovations that aspiring apiarists can put to work in the service of the sweet science of 'honey farming,' such as the Flow Hive, open source beehive and sensor kits, hive monitoring systems, and more. And while none of these are a one-size-fits-all solution for healthier honeybee populations, this trend of adapting and integrating high-tech manufacturing and monitoring systems into the ancient art of beekeeping could offer additional insights into the lives and health of our amazing little winged friends.

One more ambitious project will soon enter the honeybee fray, and by combining what the team calls a 3D-printed wooden beehive and a sensor array with an app that allows beekeepers to monitor the health of their hives remotely, the BuzzCloud project aims to "take the sting out of beekeeping." Although the full details of the project have yet to be released, the word is that the team will turn to crowdfunding to launch the product once the prices and specs have been nailed down.

In the meanwhile, this video offers a glimpse at what BuzzCloud hopes to do with its iBuzzHive hardware and the accompanying HappyHiveApp:
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"The iBuzzHive™ is a part of the Internet of Things (IoT), providing an effortless level of monitoring and control. Bee friendly sensors have been built into the iBuzzHive™. All of the IoT electronics have been designed by ourselves and include a bee counter on the entrance to the hive and the ability to measure the weight of honey stored in the supers attached to the hive. There is a low power heating element in the hive, controlled by a thermostat, which can gently warm the hive in cold weather. Also built into the hive are small fans to suck cooler air through the hive on very hot days to assist the bees with their temperature regulation of the hive.

Included in the hive are accelerometers serving the dual purpose of warning you if the hive is moved and also allowing you to hear the noise within the hive, potentially alerting you to the hatching of a new brood. A full HD 1080P colour camera is included which allows you to view the activity inside your hive, with sound, on any mobile device or even on a large flatscreen."
http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2016/06/buzzcloud-app.jpg.650x0_q70_crop-smart.jpg
I commend the efforts of the team working on this project, as anything that can further inform beekeepers and the general public alike on the details of the pressures that honeybees and bee colonies face could have a positive impact on these incredibly important pollinators.

However, there is one aspect of the project that seems a bit overstated, similar to the way that the Flow Hive seemed to capture people's attention and make it seem as if keeping bees was a simple and easy task, and that is these two lines on the BuzzCloud website:

"Perhaps the best thing about this new approach to beekeeping is that you don't have to be a beekeeper! Its no longer necessary to get suited up in a clumsy beekeeping suit & gloves just to monitor your beehive - we make it possible to do almost all the monitoring needed using your mobile phone or tablet."
Perhaps there is some truthiness to this statement, in that the ability to monitor the hive without opening it could be useful, but I don't think you'd have to ask too many beekeepers about hive health to learn that inspecting the hives manually is an important piece of the apiary puzzle. I'm always a little concerned about projects that promise to allow someone to master a skill such as beekeeping without putting in the necessary time and effort. That said, I'd be happy to be proven wrong on this aspect of the project.

Find out more about this project at BuzzCloud.
http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/buzzcloud-urban-beekeeping-ibuzzhive.html

[william r sanford72]

Media neglect puts native insects at risk

June 22, 2016

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2016/medianeglect.jpg

Native bees are falling victim to bad press, with the media glorifying European honey bees at the expense of hard-working Australian pollinators.

The bias toward European honey bees is so great that researchers from the University of Queensland and Charles Sturt University fear it could undermine support for native bee conservation efforts.

UQ School of Biological Sciences researcher Dr Tobias Smith said native insects played important pollination roles in natural ecosystems and agricultural crops, but a study of Australian media stories found that their importance was overshadowed by a focus on European honey bees.

Dr Smith and Charles Sturt University's Dr Manu Saunders looked at 151 media stories and found a disproportionate focus on the European honey bee as the most important or indeed the only pollinating insect relevant to Australia.

"This media focus has the potential to distort public support for conservation initiatives for native species," Dr Smith said.

"Pollination is a critical ecosystem function, important both for the natural environment and for the productivity of agricultural crops, but the contribution of native insect species is being overlooked.

"European honey bees get a lot of attention but research globally shows they are not always the most efficient or most important pollinator for many crops and plants."

He said Australia had about 2000 native bee species that were important pollinators, and thousands of other insects such as flies, wasps, butterflies, moths and beetles played important roles as pollinators.

"Only 15 per cent of stories we examined mentioned native bees as pollinators and only 17 per cent mentioned non-bee insect pollinators.

"This doesn't reflect what we know from scientific studies about pollination and could potentially misrepresent the issue of pollinator conservation to readers.
"It's important to have diverse pollinator communities, but implementing conservation initiatives often depends on public support, which can be shaped by the media."

Honey bees are an introduced species to Australia. They are an important component of the crop pollinator mix, but are also under increasing pressure from factors increase their susceptibility to disease and parasites.

"We need to focus more attention on native insects and aim to conserve diverse pollinator communities, rather than rely on a single insect species," Dr Smith said.

Explore further: Two new studies show why biodiversity is important for pollination services in California almond

More information: Tobias J. Smith et al. Honey bees: the queens of mass media, despite minority rule among insect pollinators, Insect Conservation and Diversity (2016). DOI: 10.1111/icad.12178

Provided by: University of Queensland

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-06-media-neglect-native-insects.html#jCp

[william r sanford72]

Steven Breitbach & Maryam Henein: Honey, We Shrank the Bees - #316

Published on Jun 7, 2016

Maryam Henein and Steve Breitbach come to Bulletproof Radio as experts in the world of bees. Maryam is a journalist and founder of HoneyColony, an online community of healthy, quality food advocates. She also directed Vanishing of the Bees, a documentary exploring the causes and effects of bee colony collapses worldwide. Steven is a natural foods entrepreneur. He founded HiveMind Bee Pollen, a premium brand of pollen sourced from ethical, family run California apiaries. On today's episode of Bulletproof Radio, the duo and Dave talk about pollen, pesticides, product labeling, allergies and treatments, cheap and raw honey, royal jelly and more. Enjoy the show!

Resources:
Colony Collapse - http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm...
David Hackenburg - http://hackenbergapiaries.org/
European Union Pesticide Legislation - http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pestic...
Royal Jelly - http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplem...
The Cosmic Serpent - http://geni.us/iKo1t5
Rudolph Steiner - http://www.rudolfsteinerweb.com/

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[william r sanford72]

Honeybees face extinction as Big Biotech blocks protections, leaving pollinator insects vulnerable to deadly pesticides

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Insects/Bees-Honeycomb-Hive.jpg

(NaturalNews) In accordance with the Obama administration's Presidential Memorandum on Pollinators, states all across the country are developing so-called Pollinator Protection Plans (PPPs) to help safeguard bees, bats, butterflies, and other essential pollinators from being wiped out by noxious pesticides. But a new report by Friends of the Earth (FoE) reveals that these state-level initiatives are actually turning out in favor of pesticide companies and their applicators rather than bee farmers and their honeybees, to the detriment of our food supply.

In lieu of supporting strong federal regulations to help actively reverse the decline of precious pollinator species, many of which are now on the extinction list, the Obama administration has instead tasked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with pushing states to handle the problem themselves by developing PPPs. It sounds nice in theory, but the PPPs that have been developed thus far leave much to be desired when it comes to actually protecting bees against harm.

According to the FoE report, the pesticide industry continues to manipulate the regulatory process, using its immense power and influence to weaken what would otherwise evolve into strict rules governing the use of pesticides that harm bee populations. Instead, what we're seeing are gaping regulatory holes that allow pesticide companies to continue spreading their poisons with blessings from the state.

Meanwhile, the EPA has recoiled from its mission of being "committed ... to protecting bees and reversing bee loss" as it continues to allow dangerous neonicotinoid pesticides -- "neonics," as they are often called, are a leading cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) -- to be sold commercially, as well as used in and near crop fields frequented by the very pollinators necessary for this acreage to produce yields.

"Bees and other pollinators are essential to our food system and environment -- responsible for pollinating 80 percent of all flowering plants and one in three bites of the food we eat," explains FoE. "[T]he pesticide industry's multilayered public relations and lobbying campaigns have effectively clipped the wings of pollinator protection reforms -- placing industry profits above the interests of the public, food security and our environmental future."

Revolving-door politics has caused a regulatory breakdown
Sadly, it's all just a product of the same corrupt, revolving-door politics that we see over and over again in Washington. Chemical industry executives work their way into key regulatory positions, only to dilute the legislative process and corrupt its intent in order to protect industry profits. We also see it in the areas of science and academia, where the well-funded interests of Big Biotech are put before public and environmental interests.

In essence, the FoE report blows the lid on this pesticide industry corruption, showing how large chemical companies like Monsanto, Bayer, and Syngenta are throwing everything they have except the kitchen sink at protecting their products from regulatory scrutiny. The result, of course, is a weakening of the pesticide reform process, all at the expense of our precious pollinators on whose lives we depend for our own sustenance and life.

"Pesticide companies are successfully pulling the wool over the eyes of our policymakers, which has resulted in a patchwork of initiatives by our state and federal government that do little to curb or restrict pesticides," says Tiffany Finck-Haynes, food futures campaigner with FoE.

"Our government is giving more weight to the pesticide industry than to protecting bees, beekeepers, our food supply and environment," she adds. "It is critical for policymakers to stand up for the long-term health of our food system, not the short-term profits of companies that manufacture a leading cause of bee declines."

Sources for this article include:

http://webiva-downton.s3.amazonaws.com

http://www.commondreams.org

http://www.naturalnews.com/054444_honeybees_pesticides_Big_Biotech.html

[william r sanford72]

Weird honeybee swarm scouting out a homesite

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d43eae39ff47dc9074e54f920097ea010e493663/c=0-0-3456-4608&r=537&c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/2016/06/23/Poughkeepsie/B9322574813Z.1_20160623102557_000_GHFENPKV8.1-0.jpg

My last four monthly My Valley segments have been about swarming honeybees with Cornell professor of biology, Thomas D. Seeley. I had no plans to cover the subject of swarming again this year. But fate has changed that and I ended up turning to Seeley again. So this is No. 5.

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/2f1d4d5492701e360b2e84691928f7aae568099a/c=0-0-4608-3456&r=x408&c=540x405/local/-/media/2016/06/23/Poughkeepsie/B9322574813Z.1_20160623102557_000_GHFENPLIB.1-0.jpg

On the early sunny afternoon of May 28, at the eight acres where I work part-time as a yard man in Greenport, a mile south of Hudson, I arrived on my bike to the sound of thousands of honeybees. I knew it must’ve meant the 1-year-old barn hive was swarming (on April 30, the beekeeper split the two box hives, making four, to prevent the honeybees from swarming out, so I knew it wasn’t any of them). I walked 150 feet up the hill and sure enough, honeybees filled the air from the hive entrance, 4 feet from the ground, on up to the barn’s top, 30-feet-high, in a column 20-feet in diameter. I pulled out my trusty pocket camera, snapped a few photos and figured I’d come back later to see the swarm cluster. When the housekeeper showed up 10 or 15 minutes later, I took her and her little girl over to see the swarm. To my amazement it was gone and the hive was back operating as normal. I was even more dumbfounded after I walked the property without seeing a swarm cluster or hearing and seeing one developing. Did the swarm cluster much farther away than normal? Did it re-enter the old hive? An hour later the beekeeper happened to arrive and I told him what happened. As I expected, he had no explanation.

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/2f1d4d5492701e360b2e84691928f7aae568099a/c=0-0-4608-3456&r=x408&c=540x405/local/-/media/2016/06/23/Poughkeepsie/B9322574813Z.1_20160623102557_000_GHFENPMLH.1-0.jpg

Three hours later when I walked across the property to bike home, I heard the swarm again. I said to myself, “Things just got weirder.”

I walked up the hill and saw a thousand honeybees swirling in a 20-foot-in-diameter column, from 20- to 55-feet high next to a tree and 50 feet up on a couple of connected branches, was a partially formed cluster. I was a little nervous, but knew that swarming honeybees are full of honey (to keep them alive until they move into their new home), making it difficult for them to sting and they’re not in a stinging mode. This was the opportunity of a lifetime and I took full advantage of it. It was high for a cluster, but I wasn’t complaining. The height enabled me to stand directly under the swarm and take pictures of it from below, which usually wouldn’t be possible. Then I photographed the partial cluster (cluster-in-the-making) from several vantage points. I came back a few hours later and filmed the fully developed cluster.

I knew it was a strange explanation, but the only thing I could imagine now was that the entire swarm went back into their original hive, and then swarmed out again for keeps, which was something I’d never seen or heard of. But I’m not a beekeeper.

Seeley said, “I’ve seen this happen twice in my life. Probably, the queen failed to get out of the hive, so the workers went back inside.”

I can’t imagine a better explanation.

When I went back the next day (less than 24 hours after it formed), to my surprise, the swarm cluster was gone, presumably having flown to its new home. So how do I explain the fact that this cluster didn’t take the usual week or so to decide on and move into its new home?

Seeley said, “The scouts often do start looking for possible homesites a few days before the swarm departs. I learned this after writing ‘Honeybee Democracy’ (2010).”

Since the most time a cluster’s scouts spend looking for a new home is about a week, “a few days” head start by some swarms is huge and explains how they can decide on and move into their new home less than 24 hours after making a cluster.

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/2f1d4d5492701e360b2e84691928f7aae568099a/c=0-0-4608-3456&r=x408&c=540x405/local/-/media/2016/06/23/Poughkeepsie/B9322574813Z.1_20160623102557_000_GHFENPO5J.1-0.jpg
Tom Seeley, left, and Mike Riter are shown June 14 at the Catskill Mountain Beekeepers Club in Cairo, where Seeley lectured to about 100 bee enthusiasts on his new book, “Following the Wild Bees.” (Photo: Mike Riter/Courtesy photo)

Amateur naturalist Mike Riter studies stinging insects and their nests for fun. He was raised in Germantown, Columbia County. Contact him at myvalley@poughkeepsiejournal.com

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2016/06/23/valley-environment-honeybees-swarm/86282332/

[william r sanford72]

Why Do Varroa Mite Populations Sometimes Increase in the Fall?
https://entomologytoday.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/honeybee-mite.jpg?w=460
The Varroa mite is public enemy number one to honey bees in the United States. Like little vampires, they suck the bees’ “blood” (hemolymph) and transmit viruses that can harm or kill them.

According to Kirsten Traynor, a postdoctoral researcher in entomology at UMD, “We know that Varroa acts as a vector for viruses. The mites are basically dirty hypodermic needles.”

Now scientists from the USDA are tracking the mites by observing the comings and goings of foraging honey bees that they suspect may have mites on them. The researchers are blocking access to honey bee hives with PVC pipes that have sliding wire-mesh doors in order to separate incoming bees from outgoing ones. The apparatus also allows the scientists to inspect the bees for mites as they come and go.

The team’s investigations in Bismarck, ND this June are actually a follow-up study to one they completed last year at two Arizona sites. Findings from that study suggest that bees can bolster their hives’ existing mite population by carrying in Varroas from other colonies — an influx that most often occurs in the fall, especially November.

Varroa populations usually grow slowly because females produce only three to five offspring. If mite populations in colonies are low, then they should remain that way for at least a season.

However, sometimes Varroa numbers soar to potentially hive-wrecking levels during the fall, which suggests that bees are picking them up from other hives that have been infected. At the Arizona hive sites, this influx of migrating mites correlated to population increases of 227 to 336 percent, starting in November.

Beekeepers who spend time and money on managing mites may suffer losses because other beekeepers do not employ mite-management techniques, allowing their hives to become infected and to infect other beekeepers’ hives in the fall.

“Many backyard beekeepers don’t have any Varroa control strategies in place,” said Nathalie Steinhauer, a graduate student at the University of Maryland who was not involved with this study. “We think this results in colonies collapsing and spreading mites to neighboring colonies that are otherwise well-managed for mites. We are seeing more evidence to suggest that good beekeepers who take the right steps to control mites are losing colonies in this way, through no fault of their own.”

Read more at:

Population growth of Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) in honey bee colonies is affected by the number of foragers with mites

https://entomologytoday.org/2016/06/24/why-do-varroa-mite-populations-sometimes-increase-in-the-fall/

[william r sanford72]

NATIONAL HONEY REPORT.....usda.June 23.2016
www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/fvmhoney.pdf

[william r sanford72]

musical intermission..brought to you by MR.Ralph Stanley...R.I.P.

5R53KMc93Bk

William.

[giovonni]

will share this here ...

Bees and Electric Charge | Electricity of Life

ThunderboltsProject

"An easy-to-follow video by Alex Fournier discussing new views from modern biology of the electrical interactions between bees and flowers. For both the pollen-harvesting process and the efficiency of foraging behavior, static electricity makes a bee’s life easier."

Published on Jun 25, 2016

video sources listed below youtube video show notes


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7bAlO-DZlg&feature=em-uploademail

[meat suit]

I am converting to the ROSE hive method... brilliant.. watch the videos
http://www.rosebeehives.com/

[william r sanford72]

meat suit

Re: Calling all light warriors - the Bees need you!
I am converting to the ROSE hive method... brilliant.. watch the videos
http://www.rosebeehives.com/ ............

thanks for the reminder of previous post back in 2014.....posted a vid on a method to build your own to...if so inclined...

hope you enjoy them/trying em out..
keep us posted...

William.



The Rose Hive method...:cool:

dMcBiCcuC8w

XyZ-5AjXfHE

eSPqiPgYq08

truth and balance.

[william r sanford72]

The Last, Best Refuge for North America's Bees

North Dakota, with its vast prairies, is perfect for raising honeybee colonies. But can its bees and their keepers, already facing so much stress, survive the widespread loss of grasslands?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/2016/06/27/beekeeping-north-dakota/01beekeeping-north-dakota.adapt.590.1.jpg
Zac Browning, owner of Browning's Honey Company in Jamestown, North Dakota, examines a hive on June 11, 2016. His bees are moved to California by truck to pollinate in January and are returned to North Dakota for the summer honey flow.

By Lindsey Konkel

PUBLISHED June 27, 2016

Jamestown, North Dakota—Dressed in white and veiled in mesh, Zac Browning surveys his apiary, one of 500 beeyards he manages. Thousands of worker bees alight on stacks of wooden boxes, the tiny hair baskets on their hind legs heavy with pollen they collected from clovers, dandelions, and other wildflowers.

A fourth-generation beekeeper, Browning moved here from Idaho a decade ago in search of better habitat for his bees. He is one of hundreds of beekeepers who have flocked to North Dakota over the past several decades. About 250 billion bees—one in five colonies in the United States—spend the summer in the state, which produces about twice as much honey as any other in the country.

“North Dakota is the last, best place in North America to keep bees,” Browning says.

The state’s vast, open prairies with a sparse human population and scant agricultural development offer honeybees a safe haven. Buffered from farm pesticides, they can reap the nutritional benefits of pollen and nectar from a diverse array of flowering prairie plants.

But North Dakota is losing its prairie at an alarming rate.

For thousands of years, shallow wetlands—formed during the last Ice Age—have pocked this landscape, known as the Prairie Pothole Region. Originally stretching from Iowa north to Saskatchewan, it formed the largest grassland ecosystem on Earth. Today, a small fraction of this prairie remains, and what’s left has been splintered in the past decade.

Since 2006, North Dakota has lost more than half of the land that had been set aside for conservation in a federal program. Instead of leaving lands unplowed in exchange for payments, farmers increasingly are choosing to plant lucrative corn and soybean crops to meet the growing demand for biofuels.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/2016/06/27/beekeeping-north-dakota/02beekeeping-north-dakota.adapt.590.1.jpg
Danielle Downey, director of operations for the nonprofit group Project Apis m., examines bees on a frame. Pathogens and parasites can kill colonies within a year if not identified, so regular checkups are important.

These losses aren’t unique to North Dakota. More than 2,000 square miles of grassland—an area nearly the size of the state of Delaware—were converted to corn and soybean cropping across the northern Great Plains between 2006 and 2011.

The changes in land use have left beekeepers scrambling for scraps of disappearing habitat. Where Browning used to be able to house all of his hives within 70 miles of Jamestown, he's now stretched out over a 150-mile radius in his search for viable land.

"In the past seven years, we've lost 200 good beeyards," he says. "We're having to move our hives onto increasingly more marginal landscapes."

The Honeybee’s Plight

Honeybees are facing a suite of challenges. New parasites and diseases, growing pesticide use, changes in agricultural and beekeeping practices, and the loss of flowered landscapes have taken a toll on bee health. In 2006, beekeepers began reporting unprecedented die offs—adult honeybees were vanishing from their hives. Experts coined the term Colony Collapse Disorder and concluded that the phenomenon was likely due to a confluence of stressors.

While bees declined everywhere, U.S. beekeepers, who often maintain huge operations of more than 10,000 colonies, experienced the greatest losses.

“It’s gotten really hard to keep bees alive,” says beekeeper John Miller. Like Browning, Miller is a fourth-generation beekeeper who got his start in Idaho. He moved the family business to North Dakota in 1968, when grains and potatoes began to dominate the agricultural landscape in southeastern Idaho, leaving little room for the bees.

Miller, who keeps about 20,000 colonies, says he now factors in hive loss as an annual business expense. “On a bad year, we might lose up to 40 percent,” he says.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/2016/06/27/beekeeping-north-dakota/03beekeeping-north-dakota.adapt.590.1.jpg
Clint Otto, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, prepares bee smokers before examining hives at Browning's Honey Company. The smoke masks the bees' alarm pheromones, allowing access to the hives.

Miller and Browning say the problems started decades before Colony Collapse Disorder. When Browning’s grandfather and great-grandfather went into business in 1921, they could easily harvest a hundred pounds of honey per hive each year. The changes began after World War II. Commercial pesticides were introduced, farms got bigger and more mechanized. Larger farming equipment meant the fields could be leveled and drained more efficiently, with less left to fallow. Blooming crops such as alfalfa, which are a good food source for bees, were harvested and removed from the fields faster. By the late 1980s when Browning took over the family business, he struggled to pull in a 40-pound honey crop. He suspects the bees just couldn’t find enough nectar to make their honey.

Browning, like many commercial beekeepers, now makes a living on providing pollination services for almonds and other flowering crops. Each winter, 1.8 million honeybee hives are trucked from around the country to California’s almond orchards. The trip, however, takes a major toll on the hives: They are exposed to pesticides and disease.

“It’s the worst thing we do to our bees every year,” Browning says, “but it’s become an economic necessity.”

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/2016/06/27/beekeeping-north-dakota/04beekeeping-north-dakota.adapt.590.1.jpg
Otto (left) and Browning prepare to examine a bee colony.

Bee Habitat and Health

Clint Otto removes a screen tray covered in tiny, mustard-colored pollen pellets from one of Browning’s honeybee boxes. The bees will spend the next several weeks at the North Dakota apiary, foraging and getting “fat and happy,” before moving later in the summer to pollinate canola blossoms in other parts of the state.

Otto, an ecologist at the United States Geological Survey’s Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in Bismarck, is leading a study across several states to better understand how land use and habitat influence honey production. He collects pollen from bees in a variety of habitats, and then tests the pollen for plant DNA to figure out which flowers the bees are visiting. So far, Otto’s detected genetic material from more than 260 different plant groups in pollen collected from North Dakota honeybees. Each type of flowering plant offers a slightly different set of nutrients. Bees, just like humans, need a variety of food choices for optimal health.

“Our provisional results highlight the importance of plant diversity for bee health and the need for maintaining landscapes with plants that flower at different times throughout the growing season,” Otto says.

Otto isn’t the first to investigate the link between land use and bee nutrition. A study published earlier this year found that North Dakota beehives surrounded by uncultivated land produced more honey than colonies in areas with intensive agriculture. Colonies with more access to pollen also had higher levels of proteins and fats in their blood, which are indicators of good nutrition, says senior study author Marla Spivak, a bee researcher at the University of Minnesota. Bees with better nutrition were more likely to survive through the winter almond pollination.

“We ask a lot of the bees. We need to find ways to be more gentle on them,” says Danielle Downey, director of operations for Project Apis m., a California-based nonprofit that researches and promotes honeybee health.

Preventing loss of prairie habitat won’t solve all of the honeybee’s problems, Downey says, but it can help mitigate losses now by providing them with sources of high-quality nutrition.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/2016/06/27/beekeeping-north-dakota/05beekeeping-north-dakota.adapt.590.1.jpg
Beehive frames are stacked from floor to ceiling inside the honey house at Browning's Honey Company.

Also essential are building more sustainable agricultural systems that require fewer pesticide applications and devising practices to keep hives free of parasites and disease, she says.

Last year, Downing’s organization piloted a program with Browning’s Honey Company and the hunters’ group Pheasants Forever. In an effort to preserve and improve pollinator habitat, the group pays farmers to grow wildflowers on unproductive scraps of land and provides them with a special seed mix designed to attract bees and butterflies. The program so far has enrolled 124 landowners in North and South Dakota, with each contract averaging about 15 acres, says Pete Berthelsen, a biologist with Pheasants Forever and director of the partnership. Next year, they’ll extend the program to six states across the Upper Midwest.

Honeybees face extraordinary challenges, Berthelsen says. “There’s just one thing after another knocking them back. It’s like death by a thousand paper cuts,” he says.

Yet he remains optimistic that the new partnership can help to offset some of the losses while preserving key habitat for a variety of wildlife species.

“You see beekeepers, conservationists, hunters, landowners all working toward a common goal, and that’s very hopeful. The glass is half full.”

This report was supported by a fellowship from the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/the-last-best-place-in-north-america-to-keep-bees/

[william r sanford72]

Honeybee circadian rhythms are affected more by social interactions

June 28, 2016

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2016/honeybeecirc.jpg
Nurse honey bees in observation hive monitored during experiments by Hebrew University researchers. Credit: Muki Nagari

Circadian rhythms are internal clocks that determine many of an organism's daily rhythms, for example sleep-wake, feeding, urinary output and hormone production. Aligned with the environment by external forces such as sunlight and ambient temperature, circadian rhythms are important for animal health and survival. Disturbances of the circadian clock are associated with a variety of diseases in humans and animals, including cancer, mental illnesses and metabolic disorders, such as diabetes and obesity.

The dominant role of light in adjusting the circadian rhythm to the local environment has consistently been emphasized in studies on individually-isolated animals in laboratories. Interactions with others of the same species, while very important for animal survival and fitness in nature, are not considered important external stimuli that affect the animal circadian clock.

Now, a study conducted by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and published in the journal Nature Communications challenges this view.

The researchers performed a set of large scale experiments in which they manipulated social interactions and light exposure for more than 1,000 honeybees in cages, or in freely foraging colonies housed in observation hives, allowing research in an ecologically relevant context. Every experiment was repeated two to four times, each with bees from a different source colony (which were genetically different).

"We show for the first time that social time cues stably adjust the clock, even in animals experiencing conflicting light exposure and social cycles," said Prof. Guy Bloch from the Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior at The Hebrew University's Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, who led the study.

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2016/1-honeybeecirc.jpg
Nurse honey bees working around the social clock at an experiment by Hebrew University research.

The researchers collected a massive data set which demonstrated that in honeybees, social interactions can override potent light exposure as external cues that influence the biological clock.

The data showed that resetting the circadian rhythm by manipulating the social environment had a robust and stable effect for several days even for 2-day-old bees, which are typically active around the clock with no overt circadian rhythms. Remarkably, young bees that experienced conflicting light and social cycles showed a phase that was more similar to the social cycle. When removed from the hive and monitored individually in constant laboratory conditions, they maintained the phase of the social cycle, meaning this potent social factor does not depend on physical contact with other bees in the colony.

"This study provides the strongest available evidence for the power of social entrainment, and emphasizes the importance of studying circadian rhythms in a species-specific, ecologically-relevant context," said Prof. Bloch.

Social insects are ecologically important and offer attractive model systems for studies on the interplay between social behavior and circadian rhythms. The best evidence for the influence of social activity on the internal clock is found in dark cavity-dwelling social animals, such as bees and bats. These species may be especially responsive to social influence, because individuals may not experience ambient conditions directly, but rather rely on information received from group mates that forage outside their domicile.

This study adds to recent research showing the circadian rhythms in complex natural environments may profoundly differ from those in controlled laboratory conditions. "Studies in the real world will provide a better understanding of the function and regulation of biological clocks," said Prof. Bloch.

The study also indicates that social signals may be important time-givers for the clocks of other animals, including mammals, and could contribute to the research on sleep and behavioral disorders, as well as for the understanding of the complex life of bee societies.

Explore further: Making bees less busy: Social environment changes internal clocks

More information: Taro Fuchikawa et al, Potent social synchronization can override photic entrainment of circadian rhythms, Nature Communications (2016). DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11662

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-06-honeybee-circadian-rhythms-affected-social.html#jCp

[ThePythonicCow]

The researchers collected a massive data set which demonstrated that in honeybees, social interactions can override potent light exposure as external cues that influence the biological clock.
Excellent !! I've long known that "social" interactions with other nerds, late at night, override any circadian sleep patterns that the sunlight sneaking through my window blinds might influence :).

[william r sanford72]

The researchers collected a massive data set which demonstrated that in honeybees, social interactions can override potent light exposure as external cues that influence the biological clock.
Excellent !! I've long known that "social" interactions with other nerds, late at night, override any circadian sleep patterns that the sunlight sneaking through my window blinds might influence :).


LOL!...tis true paul and now confirmed.:bigsmile:

[william r sanford72]

GMO cornfield treated with neonicotinoids kills 37 million honeybees

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Farming/Corn-Crops-Field-Farm.jpg

(NaturalNews) Those who are still skeptical about the role neonicotinoid pesticides are playing in the worldwide devastation of honeybee populations, need only look to what happened in the spring of 2013 in Ontario, Canada: Within days of the planting of nearby fields of GM (genetically modified) corn, beekeepers saw their honeybees die off in droves.

"Once the corn started to get planted our bees died by the millions," beekeeper Dave Schuit said. Schuit alone lost about 600 hives, totaling roughly 37 million bees.

Ninety-four percent of GMO seeds are pre-treated with neonicotinoid pesticides. These chemicals, known as "systemic" pesticides, are then absorbed by the growing plant into all of its tissues. This makes the leaves toxic to agricultural pests, but also makes the pollen, nectar, flowers – and yes, seeds – toxic to any other animals that might come into contact with the plant, from honeybees to birds, to human consumers

Smoking gun
Beekeepers immediately blamed neonicotinoids for the bee deaths, which occurred so quickly after planting that it was unlikely the GMO seed itself could have killed the insects. Instead, beekeepers have pointed the finger at a practice known as "air seeding," which can cause neonicotinoid dust to fly up off seeds during planting and into the surrounding air. This dust can then drift widely.

This explanation was supported by two separate investigations into the incident. One, by researchers from Purdue University, found that dead and dying bees from the area showed neurotoxic symptoms consistent with neonicotinoid poisoning, and that all of them carried traces of one of two such chemicals. They identified seeds from local agricultural fields as " the only major source of these compounds."

Another study, by the local Pest Management Regulatory Agency, was even more blunt, stating directly that neonicotinoid-treated corn seed "contributed to the majority of bee mortalities."

Chemicals also destroy bees' immune systems
New research continues to implicate neonicotinoids in the ongoing honeybee population crash, which pesticide companies have instead tried to blame on disease or pests. Yet, according to a recent study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, neonicotinoids are not just neurotoxins, but also damage the immune systems of bees – thereby making them more vulnerable to the very pathogens that the pesticide industry points at to exonerate its products.

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Udine, Italy, found that when bees who had been exposed to neonicotinoids were later infected with the normally harmless pathogen, deformed wing virus, their immune systems were so compromised that the virus was often fatal.

The damage to the immune system seems to occur as a result of the nerve damage caused by neonicotinoids.

"Our data indicate the possible occurrence in insects, as in vertebrates, of a neural modulation of the immune response," research member Francesco Nazzi said. "This sets the stage for future studies in this research area, and poses the question on how neurotoxic substances may affect the immune response."

Loss of the wild habitat that bees and other pollinators use for foraging is also believed to be a major factor in crashing populations. Malnutrition also increases bees' vulnerability to disease and toxic chemicals.

Two major reviews published in 2015 also warned that the effects of neonicotinoids go far beyond honeybees, or even pollinators. One, published in the journal Nature, showed that neonicotinoids are devastating bird populations, both through direct poisoning and through elimination of food sources. The other, a review of 800 prior studies conducted by the Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, found that neonicotinoids are causing destruction to populations of "non-target" animals, including harmless and beneficial insects, earthworms, aquatic invertebrates, lizards and even fish.

The damage being caused by neonicotinoids has been compared to the wide-reaching ecological devastation once caused by DDT.

Sources for this article include:

NativeAmericanHere.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

Science.NaturalNews.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/054472_honeybees_colony_collapse_neonicotinoid_pesticides.html#ixzz4Cyw3DRPN

[william r sanford72]

Study shows honeybees are starving because of Roundup

http://newstarget.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2016/06/Bees-Hive-Honey-Comb.jpg

It should come as no surprise that the use of Roundup comes with many negative effects, not just on humans, but the environment. Things that live in our environment also cannot escape the consequences of Roundup. For example, a recent study published by The Journal of Experimental Biology found that Roundup actually causes honeybees to starve.

It is the first study to analyze both the short-term and long-term effects of the herbicide on honeybees, and the effects are quite damaging. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, found that sub-lethal levels of Roundup still harmed honeybees. Sub-lethal means that the dose is not strong enough to kill, but apparently enough to maim. Using field-relative doses of the herbicide , researchers found that honeybees exposed to Roundup exhibited decreased sensitivity to sucrose — leading to a decreased ability to track and find food. Exposed bees also exhibited poorer learning performance, a decreased ability to smell and poor memory. Bees exposed to glyphosate tend to exhibit higher frequencies of Colony Collapse Disorder most likely because they cannot remember how to get back to their hive.

The researchers also noted that indirect exposure to Roundup was present as well. The honeybees inadvertently brought home tainted nectar to the rest of the colony, poisoning them as well. Exposure to glyphosate through tainted nectar also negatively impacted the entire hive’s ability to function normally.

The honeybee population has been dropping steadily over the past ten years. The National Agricultural Statistic Service has reported that the population has dropped from approximately 5 million bees to a mere 2.5 million. Examiner.com reports that about “One out of every three bites of food we eat is from a crop pollinated by honeybees.” Honeybee-pollinated plants make up about $20 billion worth of crops each year, just in the United States. If the honeybee population continues to decline, the effects on the food supply will be disastrous. The United Nations Environmental Programme reports that of the 100 crops that provide 90% of the world’s food, 71 require honeybee pollination. As beekeepers continue to report 40 to 50% disappearance within a hive, how can we not be increasingly concerned? Especially when the EPA plans on approving the use of glyphosate with an even more powerful chemical that could cause even more environmental devastation .

The EPA not only fails to protect the environment, they actually plan on making things worse!

Sources:

NaturalNews.com

Examiner.com

http://newstarget.com/2016-06-27-study-shows-honeybees-are-starving-because-of-roundup.html

[william r sanford72]

A new study suggests that bees can store information in long-term memory while they sleep, just like humans do when we dream

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/1600_640/images/live/p0/3z/0v/p03z0vsn.jpg


By Alex Riley

25 June 2016


For all our obvious differences, humans and honeybees share some common threads within the fabric of life.

We are both social species. While humans speak and write to communicate, honeybees dance to one another; waggling their bodies for specific durations at angles that indicate where the best pockets of nectar or pollen are to be found outside the hustle and bustle of the nest.

But only forager bees – the eldest of several types of honeybee castes – do this. Just like in human populations, the honeybee colony is divided into different sectors of work. There are cleaners, nurses, security guards, not to mention collection bees whose sole job is to cache nectar in comb.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/624_351/images/live/p0/3z/0v/p03z0vfc.jpg

As they age, honeybees are promoted through a diverse career, from waste disposal to the more familiar forager.

Similar to our circadian rhythm, honeybees sleep between five and eight hours a day. And, in the case of forager bees, this occurs in day-night cycles, with more rest at night when darkness prevents their excursions for pollen and nectar.

But, given that a hive's primary purpose is productivity and yield, why should a large portion of the population seemingly waste up to a third of the day resting? What are the benefits of sleep?

Over the last few years, a handful of scientists have started to uncover why honeybees need to rest; their findings adding to the list of threads that we share.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/624_351/images/live/p0/3z/0t/p03z0tzp.jpg
What goes on inside that head?

Ever since Aristotle studied the monarchy of the honeybee colony in the 3rd Century BC, the species Apis mellifera has been studied by generations of dedicated scientists, each able to discover something entirely new.

"The bee's life is like a magic well: the more you draw from it, the more it fills with water," wrote Karl von Frisch, the German Nobel laureate who decoded their waggle dances, in 1950.

It was in 1983 that a researcher called Walter Kaiser made a new discovery: that honeybees slept. As he watched through his observation hive, Kaiser noted how a bee's legs would first start to flex, bringing its head to the floor. Its antennae would stop moving. In some cases, a bee would fall over sideways, as if intoxicated by tiredness. Many bees held each other's legs as they slept.

Kaiser's study was the first record of sleep in an invertebrate. But it was far from the last. The scuttle of cockroaches, the flutter of fruit flies, and the rhythmic undulations of jellyfishes all have temporary periods of quiescence.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/624_351/images/live/p0/3z/0t/p03z0tmw.jpg
Even jellyfish seem to sleep

"The evidence appears to align with this idea that sleep is shared across all animals," says Barrett Klein, a sleep biologist from the University of Wisconsin Wisconsin–La Crosse. "There's no universally-accepted exception."

Being so prevalent, sleep seems to be a very important part of complex life. To understand why honeybees sleep, a long line of scientists has been keeping forager bees up at night. How do they function sans sleep? Not well, it seems.

For one, they cannot communicate properly. Instead of performing their waggle dances with incredible accuracy, sleepy bees become sloppy. Their interpretive dances fail to translate the direction of a profitable food source.

And since their nest mates use this information as a guide for their foraging trips, they are likely to be sent slightly astray, wasting time and energy on the wing. The whole colony suffers.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/624_351/images/live/p0/3z/0t/p03z0tt8.jpg
It's not all work, work, work

Further, sleep-deprived honeybees find it difficult to return to the hive when visiting fresh flower patches, spending more time reorienting themselves with the sky and surrounding landmarks as their compass. Many even get lost and never return, so their rest becomes much more permanent.

Without a good night's sleep, then, honeybees start to forget the activities that should be second nature to them. And in a study released in 2015, Randolf Menzel and his colleagues from the Free University of Berlin provided a possible explanation as to why this might be.

As is well-documented in humans, deep sleep (known as slow-wave sleep) consolidates memories, transferring them from short-term to long-term memory. Menzel and his team wanted to know whether the same was true for the humble honeybee.

First, they had to teach them something new; only then could they test the quality of their short-term to long-term memory transfer. They chose a tried-and-tested protocol, developed by Menzel himself in 1983.

When feeding, honeybees exhibit a stereotyped behaviour: sticking out their long tubular mouthparts, or proboscis, to slurp up dinner. But, by presenting honeybees with a specific odour and burst of heat as they feed, this proboscis extension response (PER) can be elicited even when there is no food available.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/624_351/images/live/p0/3z/0w/p03z0w2d.jpg

It is the honeybee equivalent of the famous Pavlov's dog response. Rather than a bell, the bees associate the odour-heat combo with food and try to feed.

Only it is much easier to condition bees than dogs. Honeybees are quick learners, associating the odour and heat with food after one to three trials. After that, PER happened without the need for a reward.

"If you work with them, you realise very quickly that they are very smart," says Hanna Zwaka, one of the study's authors. "They are also very sweet to watch while they are learning."

Once conditioned, the bees were allowed a full night's sleep within their own personalised plastic tube. As they slept in solitude, the team exposed some of the honeybees to the conditioned odour-heat combo during different sleep stages, ranging from light sleep to deep sleep, allowing any activity in their brains to be further stimulated.

As a control, a separate group of bees were exposed to a neutral odour – paraffin oil – that would not reactivate any conditioned responses.

When the honeybees woke the next day, the memory tests could begin. Did the bees with the night-time reminders hold on to their conditioned response – sticking out their proboscis – for longer than those without?

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/624_351/images/live/p0/3z/0v/p03z0vlg.jpg
When honeybees wake, do they remember?

Yes, but only when the odour and heat were presented in the deep-sleep stage, just like we would expect for a sleep-reinforced memory in humans. Presenting the odour and heat during other, lighter stages of sleep offered no advantage in memory retention.

Although their bodies might be inactive during deep-sleep, honeybee brains do not seem to be. The previous day's activities are reactivated, stabilising fragile memories and converting them into a more permanent form that can be accessed the next day – or perhaps even further in the future.

In sleeping rats, memory consolidation has been shown to work like replaying a tape: any learned responses, such as completing a complex maze, are repeated over and over again in the same sequence that they occurred; right turn by wrong turn, neuron by neuron in the brain.

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Sleeping rats are still learning

Menzel and colleagues' study adds some tantalising evidence that the same might be occurring in bees.

"It's a beautifully conducted study with regard to memory," says Klein. But he has some caveats: "Whether or not the results relate to deep sleep is up for discussion." No study has yet clearly demonstrated stages or depth of sleep in insects, he says; only promising hints and suggestions.

Both labs hope to replicate these results with more streamlined, and telling, methods.

With the possibility of memory reactivation in the bees' sleepy heads, Menzel's work begs the question of whether honeybees dream.

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Do bees dream of these?

In humans, dreams were thought to be a phenomenon of REM sleep, thus limiting the possibility of dreaming to mammals, birds, and (more recently) reptiles; animal groups that exhibit similar eye-fluttering stages of sleep.

But this is not the case. Over recent decades, studies have revealed that dreaming can also occur during slow-wave sleep, the analogue of honeybees' deep-sleep.

When woken from slow-wave sleep, people often recall basic non-narrative dreams such as a house, faces, or a pet. "[Therefore], if bees dream at all, it would be very basic dreaming," says Zwaka. "A special odour, for example. Or a colour of flowers, like yellow or blue."

The magic well of bee biology is still nowhere near empty.

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160621-do-bees-dream?ocid=AsiaOne

[william r sanford72]

Monsanto Sued Again, GMO Bill, Healthy Hives 2020

Published on Jul 1, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Tom Theobald discuss hot topics such as new law suit against Monsanto regarding RoundUp, the controversy surrounding the new GMO bill and Bayer's efforts to help bees with their Healthy Hives 2020 initiative.

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[william r sanford72]

Similarities found in bee and mammal social organization

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2016/1-similarities.jpg

New research shows similarities in the social organisation of bees and mammals, and provides insight into the genetics of social behavior for other animals. These findings, published in PLOS Computational Biology, use sociogenomics - a field that explores the relationship between social behaviour and the genome - to show strong similarities in socially genetic circuits common in honey bees and mammals.

The last common ancestor of the animals and insects is thought to be a legless creature that lived over 600 million years ago, for which we have no evidence of social behavior. Since then social insects such as honey bees and social mammals such as ourselves have pursued separate paths to our well-developed complex sociality. But a major unanswered question in understanding the genomic bases of social behavior is whether these separate paths towards sociality emerged from common molecular roots or drew upon different molecular substrates each time.

The authors note that, "When we began this study there were three possible outcomes: a) Our tools would not be adequate to determine whether sociality in honey bees and mammals shared a common genomic origin, b) we would discover there was no common genomic origin discernible from the data, or c) we would discover that there is a common origin. The answer turned out to be c), which is nice, because it is the most interesting answer."

To discover this, Hui Liu, Gene Robinson, and Eric Jakobsson of the University of Illinois developed new computational tools to analyze patterns of gene conservation across a wide range of animals, for genes activated and inhibited in the honey bee brain by exposure to a chemical communication signal that triggers alarm.

The study shows that these genes are more widely conserved between honey bees and mammals, compared to either honey bees and asocial insects, or honey bees and asocial vertebrates. Most of the genes with this provocative pattern of conservation are involved in activities related to cellular remodeling, such as protein folding. The authors hypothesize that these activities are components of cellular reconfigurations that are involved in processing communication signals essential for social organization.

This work shows the power of using the tools of computational genomics to analyze gene expression patterns for the purpose of elucidating the evolution of behavior

Explore further: Team finds gene that helps honey bees find flowers (and get back home)

More information: Liu H, Robinson GE, Jakobsson E (2016) Conservation in Mammals of Genes Associated with Aggression-Related Behavioral Phenotypes in Honey Bees. PLoS Comput Biol 12(6): e1004921.DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004921

Journal reference: PLoS Computational Biology search and more info website

Provided by: Public Library of Science

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-06-similarities-bee-mammal-social.html#jCp

[william r sanford72]

Iowa farmer exposes complete failure of GMOs, blasts Roundup Ready crops for creating superweeds and superbugs that kill vital insects and birds

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Farming/Barn-Farm.jpg

(NaturalNews) The media is notorious for showcasing genetic engineering as some kind of miracle for food production, but what do actual farmers think of the technology? In a scathing op-ed piece published in The Des Moines Register, Iowa farmer George Naylor holds nothing back in debunking many of the common myths about GMOs and chemical herbicides which food modification apologists often use as justification for continuing to alter the genetics of our food.

A board member at the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the Non-GMO Project, Naylor is more than qualified to speak on the subject. He comes from a long line of farmers who did much the same thing back in their day as he does now: grow many acres' worth of corn and soybeans. But, unlike many of his neighbors, Naylor grows only non-GMO corn and soybeans, explaining that transgenic varieties are simply too problematic.

Besides plunging many farmers into a hopeless debt spiral, which also contributes to widespread farm consolidation by big agriculture corporations, GMO farming is destroying the habitats and food sources of our most precious pollinators: insects and birds. Crop chemicals like glyphosate herbicide (Roundup) kill everything in the areas where they're sprayed, which the exception of the GMO crops that resist them, destroying the diverse ecological systems that maintain our soils and help naturally protect against pests and disease.

These chemical sprays are also creating resistance among the GMO crops they were designed to protect, leaving them vulnerable to the very same problems as the conventional crops they're quickly replacing. Not only do these chemical interventions not work, but according to Naylor, they actually create more problems than before, including notable upticks in cancer and other chronic illnesses.

"[R]ather than boosting rural economies, genetically engineered crops have drained billions of dollars from them," Naylor writes, adding that "the temporary ease of weed control has led to even more farm consolidation; and the unbelievable power of the herbicide glyphosate to kill both annual and perennial weeds has destroyed food and nesting resources for many of our important insects and birds."

"Farmers have spent billions of dollars on genetically engineered seeds only to see weeds become resistant to the glyphosate on Roundup Ready crops. Corn rootworms, too, have become resistant to the most common insecticidal proteins included in many GMO corn varieties. These resistance problems require even more application of herbicides and pesticides that threaten the health of rural Americans ... and add to chemical residues in food products."

We don't need lousy GMO labeling – we need a ban!
With all that we now know about the risks involved with GMOs – the cancer risk alone validating the concerns of skeptics – it's remarkable that transgenic species are still allowed to be sold without labels. Heck, these organisms should be banned outright simply out of precaution for human and environmental health, and yet neither a ban nor labeling appear to be on the horizon.

The chemical industry is pushing for a compromise called "Smart Labels" that would allow consumers with smartphones to scan an item on the grocery store shelf and identify the origins of its ingredients. But, as Naylor points out, this system is inherently discriminatory (not everyone has a smartphone), not to mention incredibly impractical (who has time to scan every single item during a routine shopping trip?).

"We are in the dark simply because a handful of multinational agribusiness and food companies have spent more than $100 million over the past three years to fight the consumer's right to know, and now are pushing senators from both sides of the aisle to endorse discriminatory smart labeling," he writes. "Voters and consumers have enough to keep us awake at night; we don't need to be worrying about what's really contained in the food we put on our tables."

Sources for this article include:

DesMoinesRegister.com

Science.NaturalNews.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/054559_Iowa_farmers_GMOs_labeling.html

[william r sanford72]

This is the letter/article mentioned in the above post from natural news in case anyone was interested...

Is it GMO? "Smart labels" aren't enough

George Naylor 5:47 p.m. CDT June 22, 2016

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/fdc6babb84d74cf8cd57e94d433afbcc0a2ddc65/c=0-0-720-540&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/DesMoines/2015/03/03/B9316471111Z.1_20150303234753_000_GGGA47EBP.1-0.jpg

I come from a long line of farmers and gardeners. On the farm I raise mainly corn and soybeans like almost every other Iowa farmer. But my gardening lets me indulge in many fruit and vegetable options that are beautifully displayed in the garden seed catalogs I get in the mail every winter. My ancestors couldn’t have imagined the diversity and disease resistance offered by the advances in conventional breeding. Fortunately, I have the choice to purchase the conventionally bred varieties rather than those that have been genetically engineered to resist herbicides or kill pests, because I select from catalogs that say categorically they do not and will not sell seeds that are genetically engineered.

I have also made the choice not to raise genetically engineered corn and soybeans. Why? Well, rather than boosting rural economies, genetically engineered crops have drained billions of dollars from them — the temporary ease of weed control has led to even more farm consolidation; and the unbelievable power of the herbicide glyphosate to kill both annual and perennial weeds has destroyed food and nesting resources for many of our important insects and birds. Farmers have spent billions of dollars on genetically engineered seeds only to see weeds become resistant to the glyphosate on Roundup Ready crops. Corn rootworms, too, have become resistant to the most common insecticidal proteins included in many GMO corn varieties. These resistance problems require even more application of herbicides and pesticides that threaten the health of rural Americans — glyphosate was recently recognized by the World Health Organization as a “probable carcinogen” — and add to chemical residues in food products.

Altering the genetic building blocks of plants and animals, which in turn alters the building blocks of our ecosystem, rightly concerns many Americans. National polls consistently show that 90 to 95 percent of Americans support mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food, because they want to know what is in the food they eat and feed their families.

And we should have the right to know when a food product contains genetically engineered (GE) ingredients, especially as they carry greater and greater residues of this probable cancer causing chemical. Some states such as Vermont, Connecticut and Maine have voted to mandate this labeling. But Congress is trying to preempt these states from giving their citizens what they have asked for.

The latest ploy is so-called “smart labels.” This is the most recent attempt by big agribusiness, the giant food processors and members of Congress who submit to their lobbying pressure to keep customers in the dark about what’s in our food. Instead of a simple declaration in plain language on the product, a smart label will require scanning each item with a smart phone. Besides the unbelievable time and inconvenience involved, many Americans don’t have smart phones and can’t afford them. More than half of rural Americans don’t have smart phones, let alone the network coverage required to access the information.

You see, there is nothing smart about smart labels. In fact, they would make product information more difficult to access, are deeply discriminatory, and potentially set a dangerous precedent that could allow all labeling and nutritional information to be removed from packaging in the future, available only through the same discriminatory technology.

We are in the dark simply because a handful of multinational agribusiness and food companies have spent more than $100 million over the past three years to fight the consumer’s right to know, and now are pushing senators from both sides of the aisle to endorse discriminatory smart labeling. Sadly, many who we’ve depended on in the past to represent rural interests, like Sens. Stabenow, Klobuchar and Heitkamp, so far seem to be siding with the chemical/seed corporations and the food giants instead.

Voters and consumers have enough to keep us awake at night; we don’t need to be worrying about what’s really contained in the food we put on our tables. Tell our elected officials that we have a right to know what is in our food and to make informed choices about the products we purchase.

George Naylor farms near Churdan and is a board member of the Center for Food Safety and the Non-GMO Project.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2016/06/22/gmo-smart-labels-arent-enough/85985372/

[william r sanford72]

Taranaki beekeepers fight unregistered hives as 'cowboys' muscle in


http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/81593302/Taranaki-beekeepers-fight-unregistered-hives-as-cowboys-muscle-in

Hundreds of unregistered beehives are coming to Taranaki as 'cowboys' invade the region to cash in on the manuka honey gold rush.

Beekeeper Stephen Black, of Uruti in northern Taranaki, said the number of beekeepers operating from unregistered sites in the region was growing. One day last summer, a friend of his had counted 400 beekeeping trucks heading to Taranaki from the north.

"They're cowboys who come in on the tail end of their own seasons, because the manuka flowers later here than other areas. And they think they can get away with it."

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A helicopter transports registered beehives to a manuka site for Hawera-based Egmont Honey.

Last year the Bees R Us owner lost thousands of dollars in honey and hives in a theft he attributeds to the increasingly cut-throat nature of the industry.

READ MORE:
*Taranaki's Barton Holdings proud of its liquid gold
*James and Toby Annabell develop export honey venture in Taranaki
*Manuka honey definition will give market confidence, says MPI adviser
*Taranaki beekeeper stung by hive thefts

He hoped the "gold rush" which he said started about six years ago, had reached its peak.

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Egmont Honey co-owner James Annabell says beekeepers want to work with landowners to protect Taranaki's manuka honey industry.

"Any honey they get is a bonus for them. Yet we're just starting our season. They're a threat to our livelihoods."

Taranaki's wet, windy climate made producing honey more challenging than areas like Northland.

But over-stocking occurred when there wasn't enough nectar and pollen for the number of hives brought to the region.

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Bees R Us owner Stephen Black says cowboy beekeepers think they can get away with bringing unregistered hives to Taranaki.

"People are flying hives into remote spots and then are having to pull them out because the bees are starving."

His hives stayed on properties all year, giving farmers the benefit of constant pasture pollination.

Concerns about unregistered beehives in the region led to helicopter surveillance in February in northwest Taranaki. It was undertaken by the agency set up to eliminate american foulbrood (AFB) disease from New Zealand.

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A honey bee gathering honey.

AFB, a bacterial disease of honey bee larvae and pupae, has existed in New Zealand for more than 100 years and is the country's major bee disease.

Using GPS, 148 apiaries were plotted and the use of mapping software found 52 per cent were unregistered, AFB national pest management plan manager Rex Baynes said.

A ground exercise after the survey revealed 210 unregistered apiaries.

Baynes said an operation in the Waitotara Valley in South Taranaki yielded similar results.

The agency had since asked helicopter operators to supply information about when they dropped in and picked up beehives in those areas.

In the wake of massive growth in the industry, he said trucks or helicopters transported hives to Taranaki to take advantage of the region's late manuka flowering season in January and February.

The surveillance showed the legal requirement to register sites in 30 days was being abused.

"Hives are being dropped in for the manuka season and taken out six weeks later, so they're in breach of the law. All we're trying to do is to get beekeepers to play by the rules."

After the surveys, there was a flurry of activity as beekeepers rushed to register their apiaries.

Egmont Honey co-owner James Annabell, of Hawera, said Taranaki's later manuka flowering season attracted beekeepers from other districts.

​"Beekeepers from outside Taranaki turn up, dump the hives for six weeks and head back to Northland or Tauranga or wherever they've come from and take our honey with them. There's no transparency around their operation."

If they placed hives on unregistered sites, they could spread AFB, create over-stocking and stop honey traceability.

Earlier this year Annabell called on Taranaki farmers to support the region's manuka honey industry.

"We'd like to be the first port of call for Taranaki farmers looking for beehives on their farms. We want to leverage off the fact that we're local," he said.

The region's apiarists have become part of the collective that's aiming to grow the apiculture industry and to address the challenges it's facing. The collective also includes honey companies, Venture Taranaki (VT) and Federated Farmers.

The collective includes commercial honey companies Barton Holdings, Bees R Us, Egmont Honey, Eltham Apiaries, Forest & Bees Native Honey, Kai Iwi Honey, Still Valley, Yobees Honey, Patea beekeeper Jessica Rees and manuka research innovator Neil Walker, of Hawera.

Baynes said evidence collected by the agency would be forwarded to the Ministry for Primary Industries, which could ban beekeepers who breached the Biosecurity Act from exporting honey.

Last month there we 684,046 registered beehives - about 110,000 hives, or 16 per cent, more than in June 2015.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/81593302/Taranaki-beekeepers-fight-unregistered-hives-as-cowboys-muscle-in

[william r sanford72]

Creating a buzz: Using bees to pull people out of poverty

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The TuniBee scheme has started with three beekeepers

Bees buzz between the blue and white painted hives.

There are light purple flowers growing in between the olive trees, rocks and brown grass. The sun burns.

"Don't go any nearer, otherwise you'll disturb the bees' movement, and they may sting you," beekeeper Khairi Kharroubi warns.

We are in the middle of the countryside in the Siliana province of Tunisia, a two-hour drive south west of capital Tunis.

Khairi, 24, and two other beekeepers are proudly showing some visitors their hives.

The three men are the first participants in a new social enterprise project called TuniBee, which is run by students at the Mediterranean School of Business (MSB) in Tunis.

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The scheme hopes to help improve the overall quality of Tunisian honey

Under the scheme, people with beekeeping experience are selected from deprived areas of the country.

Money from TuniBee's sponsors is then used to buy those taking part additional beehives. The beekeepers are also given training and guidance to produce better quality and larger amounts of honey.

Each hive costs 200 Tunisian dinars ($91; £69), and in return sponsors get 1.5kg of honey a year for a period of three years.

This is just over one-third of the current average annual production of a Tunisian hive, and 1.5kg of good quality Tunisian honey costs between 30 and 45 dinars.

The beekeepers get to keep the remainder of the honey during the three years, and after that period, the hive, and all its future honey production, is theirs to keep.

Gaining expertise

The idea for TuniBee came from Noomen Lahimer, professor of economics and entrepreneurship at the MSB, whose father keeps bees.

Prof Lahimer proposed it to his students, suggesting that they should set up and run the scheme as part of their studies.

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The project is run by students at the Mediterranean School of Business

"We immediately liked the idea," says MSB student Chaima Ben Romdhan, who is TuniBee's president.

"However, we didn't have any specialist expertise [of beekeeping]."

To bring in the required beekeeping knowledge, Prof Lahimer put his students in touch with a Tunisian entrepreneur called Khaled Bouchoucha.

Mr Bouchoucha, who had previously been mentored by Prof Lahimer in a competition for start-up companies in 2013, runs a business that specialises in helping beekeepers increase honey production.

His company, Iris Technology, has developed a beehive with a camera attached to monitor the movement of the bees. The hive is also fitted with a GPS tracker to try to deter theft - which is a growing problem in Tunisia.

In addition, the hives are fitted with a monitor that measures temperatures and humidity. If anything goes wrong, the beekeepers are sent a text message so that they can react as quickly as possible.

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The TuniBee sponsored beehives are located in the middle of the Tunisian countryside

Mr Bouchoucha agreed to come on board and provide the beehives at cost price, and offer his company's technical support.

He has been joined by Hidhli Naoufel, a veterinarian who specialises in bees. Mr Naoufel has been training the participating beekeepers in best practice.

"Expertise is often lacking, and incorrect practices are adopted from generation to generation," says Mr Naoufel.

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The beekeepers are being given advice on boosting honey production

One example of bad practice Mr Naofel is preventing is bees being fed sugar. This increases a hive's production, but results in a bland honey lacking the flavours you get if the bees are required to harvest various nectars.

Economic necessity

TuniBee currently has 24 sponsors, including parents and relatives of the students helping to run the scheme, and MSB staff.

Recently some of the sponsors joined the students on a coach trip from Tunis to the village of Kesra, in Siliana province, to meet the first three TuniBee participants and see their hives.

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The first three TuniBee participants were chosen from a deprived region

Mohamed Jouini, 32, says he was very pleased to have been chosen to take part.

An electrician, he says he needs to keep bees to make extra money: "The current economic situation in Tunisia makes it hard to survive with just one job."

Abdelfatteh Sayari, 38, has his TuniBee hives nearby. A mapmaker by trade, he started keeping bees as a hobby 10 years ago, keen to restart a family tradition.

He says: "My grandmother kept bees in the traditional way - in trees - but nobody took over from her when she passed away."

Fellow TuniBee participant Khairi Kharroubi has been helping his father look after bees since he was 12. He is currently doing a degree in business administration, so selling honey brings in vital money.

One of the sponsors who travelled to Kesra to see the bees is Salwa Battikh. A retired English teacher, the 50-year-old is the aunt of one of the students helping to run TuniBee.

http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/F4C3/production/_90295626_bees6.jpg
TuniBee's sponsors recently went on a coach trip to see the beehives

She says: "I like the idea, it is something new and I hope it will succeed, because it is so hard to find good honey."

Like many Tunisians she usually buys her honey direct from beekeepers in the hope of getting better quality for a lower price than that available in supermarkets.

Ms Battikh adds that she hopes the scheme will encourage more people to go into beekeeping.

Another sponsor, the MSB's vice dean, Leila Triki, is hopeful that TuniBee can help alleviate poverty in the Tunisian countryside.

The intention is for the scheme to be expanded, including sponsoring a number of female beekeepers. TuniBee is also looking to bring on some corporate sponsors, with oil firms Total and Shell and computer giant Microsoft showing an interest.

Export sales are also being explored, with the students from TuniBee having already found one US company interested in importing Tunisian honey.

'Significant impact'

Currently Tunisia has 12,000 beekeepers who look after 256,000 hives, according to estimates by the Ministry of Agriculture. About 80% of those looking after bees do so to supplement their income from other work.

http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/B44F/production/_90295164_bees7.jpg
Leila Triki hopes the scheme can help to reduce poverty in Tunisia's countryside

The hope is that the beekeeping skills the TuniBee programme teaches will enable beekeepers to increase production.

Presently the average amount of honey produced each year by a Tunisian hive is just 4kg, compared with 13.6kg in the UK and 34kg in Germany.

Economist Mehdi Ben Braham of the University of Carthage in Tunis says TuniBee is an "interesting project".

"This kind of project could have a significant socio-economic impact in deprived areas, by giving hope and creating sustainable jobs, and providing sufficient financial resources to reduce poverty

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36702997

[william r sanford72]

Will These Efforts Really Help Bees

Published on Jul 8, 2016

One of the most commonly suggested ways for people to help pollinators has been to provide more food for them. This has been the goal of several groups as well as the current administration. However, this may not be as effective as it ought to be. In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Colorado beekeeper, Tom Theobald discuss several efforts which aim to help pollinators and explore whether or not they are truly effective. Stay tuned!

www.theorganicview.com.

VVt9lR2Y7dw

[william r sanford72]

Are insecticides giving honeybees dementia? Studies show aluminum alters cognitive behavior in pollinators

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Nature/Bee-And-Flower.jpg

(NaturalNews) Longtime readers of Natural News are already aware that global honeybee populations are on the decline – so much so, that now researchers are quickly trying to develop "robo-bees" to replace them.

The problem is, no one really knows if bot bees can mimic the pollination techniques of the real bees responsible for pollinating one-third of the world's food supply.

One of the primary dangers to bee populations, scientists have noted, is insecticides – the kind that are widely used in agriculture. In fact, as reported a year ago by the UK's Daily Mail, some researchers believe that an insect form of Alzheimer's disease is being caused by aluminum contamination, and could be a large part of why bee populations are dwindling.

Researchers from the universities of Keele and Sussex, who published the findings from their study in the journal PLOS ONE, discovered that honeybees had elevated levels of aluminum in their bodies, an amount that could cause toxicity and brain damage in humans.

"Aluminium is a known neurotoxin affecting behaviour in animal models of aluminium intoxication," said Professor Chris Exley, an expert on human aluminum exposure. "Bees, of course, rely heavily on cognitive function in their everyday behaviour and these data raise the intriguing spectre that aluminium-induced cognitive dysfunction may play a role in their population decline – are we looking at bees with Alzheimer's disease?"

To conduct their research, scientists from the University of Sussex collected pupae from colonies of bumblebees that foraged in the wild, and then sent them to Keele University for analysis and measurement of aluminum content. Pupae are sacks in which bumblebee larvae are developed before hatching into their adult forms. Pupae in the study were found to contain between 13 and 200 parts per million (ppm) of aluminum; only 3 ppm is "considered as potentially pathological in human brain tissue," said researchers.

Earlier studies indicated that bees don't actively avoid nectar that is contaminated with aluminum as they forage. But the Sussex and Keele study was the first to actually demonstrate the consequences of that behavior.

"It is widely accepted that a number of interacting factors are likely to be involved in the decline of bees and other pollinators – lack of flowers, attacks by parasites, and exposure to pesticide cocktails, for example," said Prof. Exley.

Other factors that may also be affecting bee populations neurologically are the neonicotinoids found in a certain family of pesticides. These are systemic pesticides that are designed to infiltrate every portion of a plant, which of course would include the plant pollen and nectar. Because of their harm to pollinators, three neonicotinoids have already been banned in Europe.

A pair of recent studies published in the journal Nature also provide hints that bees could be attracted to plants that are treated with neonicotinoids, and in fact prefer them over plants that are not treated with those pesticides. That may be due to the fact that those pesticides contain a chemical that is close to nicotine; researchers believe that bees may be getting addicted to it, just as humans become addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes.

"There's a conundrum that they are attracted to the stuff that actually is having a negative impact on their motor function and their ability to collect food and forage," said researcher Geraldine Wright of Newcastle University. Wright and colleagues offered honeybees and bumblebees a choice between sugar water solutions either containing or not containing low doses of neonicotinoids. The bees drank more from the pesticide-laced food sources.

The second study, conducted by scientists and researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Royal Holloway, University of London, found that bees infected with parasites were much more likely to feed from neonicotinoid-laced nectar than healthy bees. They also found that the pesticide appeared to slow the progression of the infection, but did not increase life expectancy for afflicted bees.

http://www.naturalnews.com/054603_bees_insecticides_dementia.html

[william r sanford72]

Environmental groups launch lawsuit over pesticides believed to kill bees

http://wpmedia.montrealgazette.com/2015/11/germany-science-zoology-environment-pollution-agriculture-fi.jpeg?quality=55&strip=all&w=840&h=630&crop=1
Neonicotinoids, often shortened to neonics, are widely-used systemic pesticides that are believed to kill bees, which are responsible for pollinating about a third of the food we eat.

The David Suzuki Foundation, Friends of the Earth Canada, Ontario Nature and the Wilderness Committee allege in a July 6 lawsuit that Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) registered neonicotinoid pesticides in the last decade without having acquired the scientific evidence necessary to evaluate their environmental risks, in particular to pollinators. They want the court to overturn the PMRA’s approval of the pesticides.

The Pest Control Products Act requires that the agency have “reasonable certainty” that a pesticide will cause no harm to the environment before registering it, the groups said in a joint statement.

Neonicotinoids, often shortened to neonics, are widely-used systemic pesticides that are believed to kill bees, which are responsible for pollinating about a third of the food we eat.

“Decision-makers in the European Union, France and even Ontario have already opted to heavily restrict the use of neonicotinoids. It’s time for Canada to join this push to protect pollinators,” said Beatrice Olivastri, chief executive officer at Friends of the Earth.

Once applied, environmentalists said neonics spread throughout a plant’s tissues — from roots to leaves to pollen — and cannot be washed off crops.

Léo Buteau, president of Quebec’s beekeeping federation, told the Montreal Gazette neonics are scary because they also seep into the soil and water.

“It’s pretty frightening that neonics are in each river and in each stream in Quebec,” he said, referring to recent government testing of 16 rivers. “Neonics supposedly degrade over time, but we’re finding them in bodies of water everywhere.”

Buteau argued that one way to reduce pesticides is to diagnose the presence of pests in a field before using neonics-coated seeds.

Last month, Quebec’s Sustainable Development Commissioner, Jean Cinq-Mars, tabled a chilling report on the increasing use of pesticides in agricultural areas, the “poor” state of our rivers and the presence of pesticides in drinking water.

Low concentrations of pesticides were detected in drinking water, he said. But Quebecers will only get the full picture once the government starts testing for neonics in drinking water. “(Neonics) are barely starting to be tested, and the results are not published,” he said.

Cinq-Mars found that instead of decreasing, pesticide sales in Quebec rose about 30 per cent since 2006. Most of the neonics used to coat seeds are unaccounted for in the province’s pesticide sales report, he added.

Almost all grain corn and 60 per cent of soybean seeds in Quebec are treated with neonics, affecting some 550,000 hectares of crops every year, according to the commissioner’s report.

Cinq-Mars said neonics have a “negative effect on bees, birds, worms and aquatic invertebrates.”

The government had promised to limit neonics, but it will require that Environment Minister David Heurtel table legislation to change Quebec’s pesticide law, which he has vowed to do in due time.

cplante@postmedia.com

twitter.com/cplantegazette

http://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/environmental-groups-launch-lawsuit-over-pesticides-believed-to-kill-bees

[william r sanford72]

A Database Just for Bumble Bees

Look up the word “bumble,” and the definition may read something like “To move or act in a confused, awkward or clumsy manner.” But the bumble bee, a member of the genus Bombus, is anything but clumsy. In fact, the insects are expert aviators, alighting with precision inside flowers and vigorously shaking pollen loose from their stamens.

Some bumble bee species are pollinating professionals on par with honey bees. At the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research Unit in Logan, Utah, scientists are conducting multi-faceted studies on Bombus species of all shapes, sizes and colors to ensure their wellbeing and usefulness to agriculture—especially in pollinating greenhouse-grown plants, primarily tomatoes.

One project, the USBombus database, actually arose out of concern over the national decline of four Bombus species—including the western bumble bee, Bombus occidentalis, which had been reared commercially up until the early 2000s, notes James Strange, an ARS entomologist in Logan.

USBombus—the largest database of a contemporary North American bumble bee survey—was created in 2010, following a three-year effort by Strange and other ARS and university scientists to assess the abundance and distribution of wild Bombus populations across a wide range of habitats. These included urban, agricultural and natural environments, such as alpine forests and prairies.

Housed at the Logan lab as part of the U.S. National Pollinating Insects Collection, the database originally stored information on 17,930 adult bumble bee specimens collected from 41 states and representing 39 total Bombus species. That number has expanded to over 80,000 specimens and counting, as more historic and current collections are added, notes Strange.

Some of the latest specimens include a few he collected and identified this past May while he was participating in Centennial Bioblitz events hosted by the U.S. National Park Service at the North Cascades and Olympic national parks in Washington State.

The data—which include the bee specimens’ species name, sex, caste, location, collector, preferred plants and other information—have proven useful on several fronts, including taxonomic studies and monitoring of Bombus populations to ascertain their health and “conservation status” by groups such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. (“Conservation status” refers to the likelihood of a species’ future survival in the face of habitat loss, disease and other threats.)

USBombus and the National Pollinating Insect Database, which includes specimens dating back to the 1800s, can be accessed on the Internet via the Global Biodiversity Information Facility website at http://www.gbif.org/.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) principal intramural scientific research agency.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2016/160623.htm

[william r sanford72]

Pesticides are wiping out organic honey across America

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Food/Fresh-Honey.jpg

(NaturalNews) If you're anything like me, the sweet, sticky goodness of a dollop of fresh honey over a slice of buttered bread is something of an American pastime. But if organic honey, free of pesticides – the way it always was back in the old days – is what you prefer, you'll have to start looking for sources outside the United States.

That's because bees in the U.S. now have almost no pure land on which to forage, thanks to widespread chemical overuse in agriculture. With the exception of a handful of remaining areas where the environment is still considered pristine, most of the places where bees would otherwise seek out nectar, are located in or close to crop fields where chemicals like Roundup (glyphosate) are sprayed regularly.

Even in "wild" areas untouched by these synthetic inputs, bees are coming into contact with tainted nectar in nearby fields, where pesticides, herbicides and insecticides are being used. Bees, after all, are willing and able to travel up to five miles, or even more in some cases, if it means finding good nectar, and there's no telling what they encounter along the way

North Dakota is considered to be one of the last good places in North America to raise honeybees, and even here foraging areas are becoming scarce. According to Civil Eats, less than 10 percent of North Dakota's native grassland prairies remain, and in just the last 10 years, the state has lost at least 100,000 acres of grasslands to agricultural crops – primarily genetically-modified (GMO) corn and soybeans.

"It takes two million individual blossoms to produce a pound of honey," Zac Browning, owner of Browning's Honey Company in Jamestown, told Civil Eats.

This is an exceptional amount of flora needed to produce enough honey for Americans, especially considering demand for honey has increased more than twofold since the 1990s. At the same time, our nation produces only about two-thirds of the honey we did during that same time period, explaining why U.S. imports of foreign honey have more than tripled over the past 30 years.

Much of the problem is due to unprecedented declines in bee populations, which scientists believe is caused by the very same culprit that's creating the impossibility of producing truly organic honey: chemicals. Year after year, beekeepers lose upwards of 45 percent of their hives, which entomologists say is caused by the three Ps: parasites, pathogens and pesticides

Organic standards for honey don't even exist
With the exception of a few areas in Hawaii, most of the mainland U.S. is unfit for organic honey production, experts say, which is why most organic honey comes from places like Mexico, India and Brazil. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has also failed in actually establishing organic standards for honey production that legally set it apart from the conventional stuff.

The USDA claims it's been working on developing finalized organic standards for honey production since 2001. But the only guidance the agency has issued since that time was a minimum 2-mile radius recommendation for organic bee foraging in 2010, which many beekeepers say is far too small based on the distances most bees travel. The USDA has yet to modify the recommendation or solidify any actual standards.

Then there's the question of whether or not the average organic honey is even legitimate, considering the fact that many imported varieties are heat-treated or otherwise processed in some way before being sold. Processing denatures the quality of honey, damaging enzymes and other nutrients that comprise its healing potential.

For a clean, non-denatured, truly organic honey product, check out The Health Ranger's Organic Bee Pollen. This product from Spain is laboratory tested to be free of chemicals, and is packed with protein, carbohydrates and an array of vitamins and minerals that support vibrant health

Sources for this article include:

CivilEats.com

GrubStreet.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/054624_organic_honey_pesticides_chemical_contamination.html#ixzz4EBOBys37

[william r sanford72]

Quickest knock-out ever? Invading wasp is out cold after it tried to make a 'bee-line' into 50,000-strong hive

wasp tries to invade a bee hive... with disastrous consequences
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This is the moment an invading wasp was knocked out in a bizarre mid-air collision that was somehow caught on camera.

Jim Gardner keeps numerous hives, each with approximately 50,000 honey bees , at his home in Poole, Dorset, and routinely films them to observe their behaviour.

Yet it was by chance when watching back footage that Jim spotted the wasp making a 'bee line' for the hive but flew right into an oncoming bee.

The moment of impact shows the poor wasp bounce off the honey bee and be sent tumbling to the floor - seemingly knocked out cold.

http://i4.irishmirror.ie/incoming/article8403533.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/PAY-Jim-Gardner-Bee.jpg
Jim Gardner keeps a number of hives - each with 50,000 bees each

Jim, 50, said: "I love filming the bees at work in slow motion as you would think to watch them that they are good at flying but when you watch them closely they looks as if they are only ever a second away from disaster. I record all my swarms.

"I was watching back some of the footage when I suddenly spotted a wasp come into view but it ran straight into an oncoming bee who was leaving the hive.

http://i1.irishmirror.ie/incoming/article8403529.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/PAY-Jim-Gardner-Bee.jpg
Jim often films the activity of his hives

"It was a real mid-air collision, the kind of thing you would more expect to see on the road not between two flying creatures. It was very odd.

"The wasp hit the bee at right speed and looked like it got knocked out as it fell instantly to the floor.

http://i1.irishmirror.ie/incoming/article8403530.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/PAY-Jim-Gardner-Bee.jpg
The wasp attempted to invade the hive of 50,000 bees

"The bee bobbled about a bit but then thankfully carried on its way.

"Wasps can be a real problem for a hive, they can invade it and wipe it out, so it was lucky to see this one get taken out before it could even get a look in.

http://i2.irishmirror.ie/incoming/article8403531.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/PAY-Jim-Gardner-Bee.jpg
Jim with one of his hives

"I think this one was just trying his luck - he was heading right for the entrance which is the long gap towards the foot of the hive. It was nice to see a bee accidentally see him off.

"I don't hate wasps - they play an important role too - but they are not good for hives so I don't like seeing them around them.

http://i3.irishmirror.ie/incoming/article8403532.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/PAY-Jim-Gardner-Bee.jpg
The wasp was knocked out in mid-air

"This crash really amused me so I shared it online and it had people laughing. People haven't seen that kind of thing so they loved it.

"I've never seen a mid-air collision before myself. I don't think the wasp will have been too hurt. Probably just shook itself off and then carried on its way - but in the other direction this time!"

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/weird-news/quickest-knock-out-ever-invading-8403534

[william r sanford72]

just a quick look back......

“I truly believe that we, in this generation, must come to terms with nature. And I think that we’re challenged as mankind has never been challenged before to prove our maturity and mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”
~ Rachel Carson

Ipbc-6IvMQI

[Star Tsar]

The Conspiracy Show

Disappearance of the Bee's & Brexit

Published 12th July 2016

Hour one: George Scott is a registered beekeeper and an expert on chemical insecticides talks about the rapid decline of Honeybee population around the world.

Hour two: John Rappoport gives his views on Brexit.

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[ThePythonicCow]

Hour two: John Rappoport gives his views on Brexit.
Jon Rappoport's description of the "information flicker effect", starting at about 59:30, is brilliant.

The conflicting, confusing stories that we get when a new "tragedy" occurs are a deliberate method of propaganda, leaving most viewers in a state of frustration, confusion and cognitive dissonance. Viewers seeking the "story" have to trust what they are told by the news anchors, the "high priests" of truth, for there's no way they are going to figure it out themselves.

Story lines develop, and then disappear, never to be heard about again. The story lines flicker in and out. No serious investigative reporting is done (at least not by anyone who wants to live to a ripe old age.) "Reporting" consists of telling stories woven from what ever are the latest words of officials.

[william r sanford72]

What Killed Over A Million Bees

Published on Jul 15, 2016

In this week's segment of The Neonicotinoid View, hosts, June Stoyer and Colorado beekeeper, Mr. Tom Theobald discuss new efforts to ban neonicotinoids in North Carolina and Vancouver, the city of Malibu's decision to become pesticide free and a massive bee kill in Ontario.
www.theorganicview.com.

AOfwkBZEvp8

[william r sanford72]

Vancouver becomes largest city to outlaw bee-killing neonicotinoids, instead opting for natural pest control

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Insects/Man-Honey-Comb-Bees.jpg

(NaturalNews) Last week, the Vancouver city council cast a unanimous vote to issue a citywide ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides. Neonicotinoids, or neonics for short, are a group of pesticides first introduced into large scale agriculture in the 1990s, and are believed to be one of the leading causes of recent honeybee die-offs.

Initially presented as a safer alternative to DDT pesticides, neonics have been widely used on Canadian crops by industrial farmers for more than two decades. Since their introduction, British Columbia has experienced 12 to 38 percent losses in honeybee populations each winter.

According to the Montreal Gazette, "Research has shown that lethal impacts to bees caused by neonics range from impaired memory and less success in breeding, to reduced resistance to illness."

Vancouver city council votes to ban use of neonicotinoids
In light of the mounting reports displaying the toxic effects neonics have on honeybees, Vancouver made history by becoming the largest city so far to outlaw their use.

The Vancouver city council's decision came as the result of a federal lawsuit filed by the environmental groups The David Suzuki Foundation, Friends of the Earth Canada, Ontario Nature and the Wilderness Committee, against Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PRMA), for allowing the use of neonicotinoids without conducting the proper scientific research to evaluate their potentially harmful environmental impacts.

In Vancouver's case, it wasn't just the farming and agricultural industries' use of neonics that became alarming – it was its residents' use as well. The greater population of Vancouver has allegedly been drowning their lawns with the toxic stuff in attempts to keep out chafer beetles, a nuisance grub that kills grass roots.

A series of city reports found that when pollinating insects, including honeybees, rest on plants sprayed with neonics, they become extremely vulnerable to being poisoned by the presence of the pesticide

Scientists identify unlikely organic alternative to neonics
Instead of using neonic pesticides to treat their lawns, scientists are urging citizens of Vancouver to use nematodes, microscopic worms that effectively infect and destroy chafer beetles without harming honeybees, to rid their lawns of the root-killing grub.

Mark Winston, SFU researcher and honeybee health advocate, praised Vancouver's ban of neonics. "We overuse pesticides," he said. "There's a huge fallacy in policy making that the only way we can feed the world is by using pesticides, and that doesn't stand up to the data. Organic and sustainable systems are as close to or as productive as pesticide farming."

While Vancouver joins Montreal and the entire province of Ontario as the first Canadian regions to outlaw the use of neonics, Canada's federal government remains divided on the issue.

According to Gwen Barlee, spokeswoman for the Wilderness Committee, Canadian environmentalists are not happy with Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency's delay in issuing a nationwide ban on neonics, despite the surplus of information linking them to honeybee population declines.

In response, Rebecca Gilman, spokeswoman for Health Canada, claimed, "Health Canada is actively reviewing the emerging body of scientific and monitoring data and is conducting an extensive re-evaluation of all agricultural uses of neonicotinoid pesticides in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation."

Here's to hoping that the same corporate lobbyist corruption by the pesticide industry that's been preventing the U.S. government from tackling the issue of neonics, won't seep its way into the Canadian federal government as well. Check back for updates.

Sources:

CBC.ca

MontrealGazette.com

WorldPopulationReview.com

HuffingtonPost.ca

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/054688_Vancouver_bee_die-offs_neonics_ban.html#ixzz4EmLFbs6F

[Flash]

Well, a much larger city did it in 2015, namely Monteal. Those pesticides are now banned and we endure more mosquitoes - also more wasps. Well, this is nature taking its rightful place. So Canadians are getting the message.


Montreal bans neonicotinoid pesticide to help save the bees

Researchers have linked use of neurotoxin to massive decline in bee colony
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-bans-neonicotinoid-pesticide-to-help-save-the-bees-1.3360458


Vancouver becomes largest city to outlaw bee-killing neonicotinoids, instead opting for natural pest control

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Insects/Man-Honey-Comb-Bees.jpg

(NaturalNews) Last week, the Vancouver city council cast a unanimous vote to issue a citywide ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides. Neonicotinoids, or neonics for short, are a group of pesticides first introduced into large scale agriculture in the 1990s, and are believed to be one of the leading causes of recent honeybee die-offs.

Initially presented as a safer alternative to DDT pesticides, neonics have been widely used on Canadian crops by industrial farmers for more than two decades. Since their introduction, British Columbia has experienced 12 to 38 percent losses in honeybee populations each winter.

According to the Montreal Gazette, "Research has shown that lethal impacts to bees caused by neonics range from impaired memory and less success in breeding, to reduced resistance to illness."

Vancouver city council votes to ban use of neonicotinoids
In light of the mounting reports displaying the toxic effects neonics have on honeybees, Vancouver made history by becoming the largest city so far to outlaw their use.

The Vancouver city council's decision came as the result of a federal lawsuit filed by the environmental groups The David Suzuki Foundation, Friends of the Earth Canada, Ontario Nature and the Wilderness Committee, against Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PRMA), for allowing the use of neonicotinoids without conducting the proper scientific research to evaluate their potentially harmful environmental impacts.

In Vancouver's case, it wasn't just the farming and agricultural industries' use of neonics that became alarming – it was its residents' use as well. The greater population of Vancouver has allegedly been drowning their lawns with the toxic stuff in attempts to keep out chafer beetles, a nuisance grub that kills grass roots.

A series of city reports found that when pollinating insects, including honeybees, rest on plants sprayed with neonics, they become extremely vulnerable to being poisoned by the presence of the pesticide

Scientists identify unlikely organic alternative to neonics
Instead of using neonic pesticides to treat their lawns, scientists are urging citizens of Vancouver to use nematodes, microscopic worms that effectively infect and destroy chafer beetles without harming honeybees, to rid their lawns of the root-killing grub.

Mark Winston, SFU researcher and honeybee health advocate, praised Vancouver's ban of neonics. "We overuse pesticides," he said. "There's a huge fallacy in policy making that the only way we can feed the world is by using pesticides, and that doesn't stand up to the data. Organic and sustainable systems are as close to or as productive as pesticide farming."

While Vancouver joins Montreal and the entire province of Ontario as the first Canadian regions to outlaw the use of neonics, Canada's federal government remains divided on the issue.

According to Gwen Barlee, spokeswoman for the Wilderness Committee, Canadian environmentalists are not happy with Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency's delay in issuing a nationwide ban on neonics, despite the surplus of information linking them to honeybee population declines.

In response, Rebecca Gilman, spokeswoman for Health Canada, claimed, "Health Canada is actively reviewing the emerging body of scientific and monitoring data and is conducting an extensive re-evaluation of all agricultural uses of neonicotinoid pesticides in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation."

Here's to hoping that the same corporate lobbyist corruption by the pesticide industry that's been preventing the U.S. government from tackling the issue of neonics, won't seep its way into the Canadian federal government as well. Check back for updates.

Sources:

CBC.ca

MontrealGazette.com

WorldPopulationReview.com

HuffingtonPost.ca

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/054688_Vancouver_bee_die-offs_neonics_ban.html#ixzz4EmLFbs6F

[william r sanford72]

Pesticide industry lobbied $33M last year to influence legislative process, fighting vigorously to keep dangerous products on market

Tuesday, July 19, 2016 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Money/Handshake-Over-Money-America.jpg

(NaturalNews) Love him or hate him, there's no denying that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has sparked a renewed national conversation about the problem of special interest corruption in Washington. And perhaps no entity is now more in the spotlight as a result of Trump's candid indictments than the chemical industry, which lobbies American politicians to the tune of tens of millions of dollars every single year, just to keep its dangerous and often unnecessary pesticides and herbicides on the market.

It's something we here at NaturalNews have been warning about for years: Agricultural chemicals, contrary to chemical industry claims, are harming our precious pollinators at an alarming rate. Neonicotinoids, for instance, a class of systemic insecticides that are already banned throughout much of Europe, have been scientifically shown to harm bees and other pollinators, and yet they remain commercially available to American farmers at the behest of a powerful and well-funded chemical cabal.

Further evidence of this special interest corruption is presented in a new report by Friends of the Earth (FoE) entitled Buzz Kill: How the Pesticide Industry is Clipping the Wings of Bee Protection Efforts Across the U.S. It reveals that large chemical companies like Dow, Bayer CropScience, DuPont, CropLife, Syngenta and Monsanto collectively spend upwards of $33 million annually lobbying for their products to remain on the market, even when science shows that these chemicals are killing bees and threatening our food supply.

In 2015, the Dow Chemical Company forked over nearly $11 million to fight federal and state efforts to curb agricultural chemical use, even when it threatens pollinators like honeybees, without which we would no longer be able to grow foods like almonds and citrus fruits. During the same year, Monsanto spent more than $4.3 million with the same goal in mind: to block any meaningful regulation from being enacted which would protect our pollinators.

"On the federal and state levels, the industry's pattern is to support studies, task forces and advisory committees which do not focus on pesticides, while vigorously opposing any legislation targeting research or regulations on neonicotinoids," the FoE reports explains, adding that the chemical industry is now actively thwarting all efforts at the federal level to rein in the out-of-control overuse of harmful crop chemicals.

"In states which explore pollinator protection laws, agrichemical corporations, farm bureaus and other agribusiness groups have lobbied intensively to ensure that reforms do not ban or limit neonicotinoids."

White House 'Pollinator Task Force' a diversion to protect chemical company interests, not pollinators
Unbeknownst to the general public at large, the chemical industry has been working overtime in the background to redirect the regulatory focus away from chemical companies and onto beekeepers, the very folks whose livelihoods are at stake from the constant threat of chemical destruction. The White House's "Pollinator Task Force," which was supposed to have addressed this chemical threat on behalf of bees, has instead gone after the victims of the problem rather than the problem itself.

"Years of work behind the scenes by industry advocates paid off big time," reported Pest Control Technology magazine back in May 2015, after the Obama administration released its honeybee health strategy, which intentionally left out neonicotinoids from the list of threats that honeybees face.

"Overall, we were pleased with the outcome," admitted Jim Fredericks, vice president of technical and regulatory affairs at the pro-chemical National Pest Management Association, concerning the direction the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would now take under the direction of the Obama administration.

As to how this castrated regulatory reform will affect the interests of the chemical industry at large, Fredericks added that it's, "not so much going to impact the structural pest management industry." In other words, it's just business as usual in the Administration of "Change," which has done nothing but further this chemical holocaust that's destroying our land, our pollinators and our food supply.

Sources for this article include:

Webiva-Downton.S3.Amazonaws.com[PDF]

CommonDreams.org

FoodForensics.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/054701_pesticides_lobbying_honeybees.html

[william r sanford72]

Report: Pesticide industry delaying bee protections across U.S.

Posted Jun. 15, 2016 / Posted by: Katherine Berko

Bayer, Syngenta, Monsanto influence shaping federal and state pollinator plans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Amid an ongoing pollinator crisis that threatens our food system, a new report issued today by Friends of the Earth documents how the pesticide industry has weakened and delayed pesticide reforms and is shaping new pollinator “protection” plans nationwide that do little to protect bees, but a lot to protect industry profits.

The investigation, titled “Buzz Kill: How the Pesticide Industry is Clipping the Wings of Bee Protection Efforts Across the U.S.,” reveals an array of pesticide industry tactics to slow urgently needed pollinator protection measures at federal and state levels:

* Lobbying intensively to delay bee protections: The industry is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbying to delay state and federal action on the pesticides they manufacture. As a result, state pollinator protection plans across the U.S. are falling short in several ways, including:
•State pollinator protection plans currently provide more protections for pesticides and pesticide users than for bee keepers and bee colonies.
•Pesticide industry influence is pervasive throughout states’ legislative and regulatory planning efforts.
•Plans lack metrics to measure effectiveness, improvement or failure.

* Cycling through the revolving door: The pesticide industry has infiltrated federal regulatory agencies via the “revolving door.” In hundreds of documented cases, employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency have shuffled between regulatory agencies and companies including Bayer, Syngenta and Monsanto.

* Using “public-private” partnerships to cast doubt on pesticide problems: Pesticide manufacturers have cultivated strategic partnerships with public agencies and academic groups that call into question pesticides’ culpability and that help bolster the companies’ credibility.

* Swaying science and education: The pesticide industry has directly funded or influenced science by donating to education initiatives and building strategic alliances with academics.

“Pesticide companies are successfully pulling the wool over the eyes of our policy makers, which has resulted in a patchwork of initiatives by our state and federal government to that do little to curb or restrict pesticides,” said Tiffany Finck-Haynes, food futures campaigner with Friends of the Earth. “Our government is giving more weight to the pesticide industry than to protecting bees, beekeepers, our food supply and environment. It is critical for policymakers to stand up for the long-term health of our food system, not the short-term profits of companies that manufacture a leading cause of bee declines.”

This week, a national “Keep the Hives Alive Tour” kicked off June 13-23, with stops in South Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, to mark National Pollinator Week. At the end of the tour, beekeepers, farmers, farmworkers, scientists and advocates will deliver a truck load of 2.64 million dead bees to Washington, D.C. to urge the EPA, USDA and Congress to take action on toxic pesticides and support sustainable agriculture.

Buzz Kill builds on FOE’s 2014 “Follow the Honey” report, which revealed how chemical companies Bayer, Syngenta and Monsanto employ deceptive tobacco-style public relations tactics to:

* manufacture doubt about scientific findings on pollinator die-offs;

* convince politicians to delay action on neonicotinoid pesticides (a leading contributor to bee declines);

* and protect chemical industry sales and profits at the expense of bees and our food system.
Buzz Kill builds on FOE’s 2014 “Follow the Honey” report, which revealed how chemical companies Bayer, Syngenta and Monsanto employ deceptive tobacco-style public relations tactics to:

* manufacture doubt about scientific findings on pollinator die-offs;

* convince politicians to delay action on neonicotinoid pesticides (a leading contributor to bee declines);

* and protect chemical industry sales and profits at the expense of bees and our food system.

Today’s report details how new state pollinator protection plans, many still unfinished, have been heavily influenced by pesticide industry interests.

“Pesticide companies appear to have succeeded in delaying regulatory action on the pesticides they manufacture and market, but enough is enough,” said Finck-Haynes. “Beekeepers, farmers, farmworkers, scientists and advocates across the country are uniting to demand real action by our government to protect pollinators and support sustainable agriculture.”

Both reports – “Buzz Kill: How the Pesticide Industry is Clipping the Wings of Bee Protection Efforts Across the U.S.” and "Follow the Honey: 7 ways pesticide companies are spinning the bee crisis to protect profits” – can be found at www.foe.org/beeaction.

http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2016-06-report-pesticide-industry-delaying-bee-protections-across-us

[william r sanford72]

How water collector bees know when to quench hot hive's thirst

Thirst is a sensation that we can all relate to; however, dealing with this basic physiological impulse takes on a whole new dimension when an entire bee colony craves water. 'We are interested in the social physiology of honey bee colonies, that is, how they work as physiological units', says Thomas Seeley, from Cornell University, USA, who was curious how the elderly bees that are tasked with gathering water know when the colony's collective thirst is running high. 'Water collectors do not spend much, if any, time in the broodnest, and yet somehow they know when to start collecting water to control its temperature', explains Seeley. Intrigued, the scientist and his colleagues Madeleine Ostwald and Michael Smith turned up the heat to make a bee colony thirsty. They discovered that water collector bees begin searching for water when the colony is thirsty in response to insistent begging by nest mates; and when water is available and the colony is hot, water bottle bees store water for later use. The team publishes their findings in Journal of Experimental Biology at http://jeb.biologists.org.

Bees use three mechanisms to cool an overheated hive - nest evacuation, fanning with their wings and water evaporation - so Seeley and his colleagues raised the temperature in a glass-walled hive by positioning a lamp close to the broodnest to find out how the hive responded. However, the water collectors did not spring into action immediately. It was only when the workers began desperately begging for water - by walking up to the face of another bee, contacting the bee's antennae with her own and then extending her tongue between the mouthparts of the other bee - that the water collectors increased their water-bearing activity. By begging more, the thirsty nurse bees in the broodnest had prompted water collectors to embark on water-collection flights and the hive managed to stabilise its temperature at around 40°C.

The team then removed the nearby water supply for 2.5h to find out how the hive coped, and this time the temperature soared dangerously to almost 44°C. 'The water collectors continued visiting the empty water source, which they probed feverishly but unsuccessfully', recalls Seeley. Ostwald and Smith also gauged the colony's thirst by pipetting a 0.2 ml puddle of water onto the floor of the hive, which the bees gulped down in just 46s - in contrast to the well-hydrated cool bees from earlier in the day, which took almost 5min to drain the puddle. Despite increasing the air flow through the hive by recruiting more fanning bees and evacuating workers, the thirsty bees were unable to use evaporation to keep the hive cool. However, when the team returned the hive's water supply 2.5h later, the water collectors' delivery rate skyrocketed, from 3.2g/30min (when the hive was cool) to 22.8g/30min as the colony satisfied its thirst; which is impressive when each bee can only carry 50mg of water per excursion. Some even performed waggle dances to recruit additional water collectors.

Finally, the team set the bees another challenge when they warmed the hive briefly while providing unrestricted access to water before gathering bees later the same day to analyse their crop contents and the contents of brood cells. 'We had to open the hive in the evening and then pluck bees, one-by-one, off the combs, and squeeze their abdomens so that they would regurgitate their crop contents to get data', recalls Seeley, who narrowly avoided being stung in the eye by the disturbed insects. However, the team's courage was rewarded when they discovered that the hive was stock-piling water in the brood comb. In addition, many of the bees had bulging abdomens full of water. 'We called them the "water bottle bees"', chuckles Seeley, who is now keen to find out whether water collector bees are also motivated by their own personal thirst.

Source: The Company of Biologists

http://www.sciencecodex.com/how_water_collector_bees_know_when_to_quench_hot_hives_thirst-186746

[william r sanford72]

Wild birds 'come when called' to help hunt honey

By Jonathan Webb
Science reporter, BBC News

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/1339B/production/_90474787_dsc_2507holdingfemalehoneyguide.jpg

New findings suggest that the famous cooperation between honeyguide birds and human honey hunters in sub-Saharan Africa is a two-way conversation.

Honeyguides fly ahead of hunters and point out beehives which the hunters raid, leaving wax for the birds to eat.

The birds were already known to chirp at potential human hunting partners.

Now, a study in the journal Science reports that they are also listening out for a specific call made by their human collaborators.

Experiments conducted in the savannah of Mozambique showed that a successful bird-assisted hunt was much more likely in the presence of a distinctive, trilling shout that the Yao hunters of this region learn from their fathers.

"They told us that the reason they make this 'brrrr-hm' sound, when they're walking through the bush looking for bees' nests, is that it's the best way of attracting a honeyguide - and of maintaining a honeyguide's attention once it starts guiding you," said Dr Claire Spottiswoode, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, UK, and the University of Cape Town, South Africa, who led the study.

She and her colleagues wanted to test what contribution this sound actually made.

http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/225D/production/_90479780_dsc_2950femalehoneyguide.jpg
The greater honeyguide's proper Latin name is 'Indicator indicator'

"In particular, we wanted to distinguish whether honeyguides responded to the specific information content of the 'brrr-hm' call - which, from a honeyguide's point of view, effectively signals 'I'm looking for bees' nests' - or whether the call simply alerts honeyguides to the presence of humans in the environment."

To make that distinction, the team made recordings of the "brrrr-hm" call, as well as of general human vocal sounds such as the hunters shouting their own names, or the Yao word for "honey".

Then, Dr Spottiswoode accompanied two Yao honey hunters on 72 separate 15-minute walks through the Niassa National Reserve - a protected area the size of Denmark - playing these recordings on a speaker.

"This was great fun," she told BBC News. "We walked hundreds of kilometres through beautiful landscapes and occasionally bumped into elephants and buffalo and lions and so on. It's a really remarkable wilderness where humans and wildlife still coexist."

http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/10CBD/production/_90479786_dsc_3875bees'nestinsterculiatree.jpg
Beehives are often high in the trees

Sure enough, walks accompanied by the "brrrr-hm" recordings were much more likely to recruit a honeyguide (66% of the time, compared to 25% for the other vocal sounds).

The special call also trebled the overall chance of finding a beehive (a 54% success rate, up from 17% for the other sounds).

"What this suggests is that honeyguides are attaching meaning, and responding appropriately, to the signal that advertises people's willingness to cooperate.

"We already knew very well... that honeyguides communicate with humans, using special calls and behaviour to lead honey hunters to bees' nests. What our work has done is to complement those findings, by showing that humans communicate back to honeyguides too.

"It seems to be a two-way conversation between our own species and a wild animal, from which both partners benefit."

http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/E57B/production/_90474785_dsc_2180choppingopenbees'nestinfelledtree.jpg
The hunters use smoke and axes to safely open the bees' nests

Prof Richard Wrangham, a biological anthropologist at Harvard University, said the new study greatly strengthened the idea that honeyguides had evolved to cooperate with humans in this way.

He said a previous explanation, that the teamwork originated with another species - such as honey badgers or baboons - and was then co-opted by humans, had fallen from favour because the birds had never been witnessed guiding these animals.

"[This study] shows just how tightly attuned they are to human sounds," Prof Wrangham told the BBC. "They're not just generally interested in weird noises - anything loud or unusual or whatever. They have been trained, as it were, to look for humans.

"That really supports the notion that this is an evolved, co-evolutionary relationship."

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36854465

Honey Guide Bird amazing BBC Documentary..

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[william r sanford72]

:facepalm:Genetic pesticide: Monsanto, startups seek alternatives to manage bugs and weeds

Posted: Sunday, July 24, 2016 12:30 am

Associated Press |

ST. LOUIS. If not treated, the invasive varroa mite will almost certainly show up in a honeybee hive, latching on to the pollinators, feeding off their internal fluids and threatening to weaken the colony to the point of collapse.

Western bees never evolved defenses to the Asian parasite, brought to North America about 30 years ago. Many of the existing treatments are mite-targeting pesticides that can damage the bees or their honey.

Its a problem Monsanto scientists think they can help solve by tailoring a treatment with far more specificity than synthetic chemicals, one that uses the language of DNA to target genes unique to only the varroa mite. And the agriculture giant thinks it can do it by simply feeding the bees a sugar solution full of RNA, the molecule that transcribes DNAs instructions.

Monsanto already has signed up 2,500 colonies around the country for trials of its bee health product, which started this year.

In all my years in the industry, Ive never heard of this big of a trial in beekeeping,� said Jerry Hayes, who heads Monsantos bee health operations.

The tests could prove significant, not only for honeybees crucial for pollinating the food supply, but for a technology platform that has potential applications far beyond beekeeping. Monsanto believes it will be the first of its products to market that utilize the new genetic technology, probably around 2020.

Monsanto isnt alone. Startups with operations in the St. Louis region are looking at their own products using the technology, and other large agribusiness companies are racing to commercialize it.

The mechanism, known as RNA interference or RNAi, has stoked excitement among researchers and industry since its discovery won two scientists a 2006 Nobel Prize.

This is a learning platform for RNA interference, Hayes said.So we can figure out how to use it on other bad bugs.

http://www.thonline.com/news/agriculture/article_01ae0755-d53b-5a52-ad37-f7bdf4d8ff9e.html

[Cidersomerset]

Not Just Bees, All Insects are in Decline and Heading for Extinction

By David on 24 July 2016 GMT

https://www.davidicke.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Insects-on-Display.jpg


http://www.wakingtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/WT-Logo-Color-Orange-Red-Fade-1.png

July 23, 2016


‘Researchers are feverishly working to understand the global die off of the world’s
bee species, and have linked colony collapse disorder to the use of neonicotinoid
pesticides along with other common agrichemicals. As it turns out, the impact of
modern industrial agriculture and widespread chemical contamination of our
environment is not just affecting bees, but also contributing to the loss of all
insects, and some scientists believe we are moving in the direction of mass extinction.

Several studies by entomologists in recent years support this notion and raise the
flag for greater concern. German researchers with the Krefeld Entomological
Association have since 1989 been conducting an annual experiment measuring the
volume of summer insects in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Trapping migratory and mating insects in the wild has proven there is indeed a
significant reduction in populations of many species of invertebrates.’

Read more: Not Just Bees, All Insects are in Decline and Heading for Extinction

http://www.wakingtimes.com/contributors/alex-pietrowski/


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http://www.wakingtimes.com/2016/07/23/not-just-bees-insects-decline-heading-extinction/

[william r sanford72]

How Do Honey Bees Curl Their Abdomens?

https://entomologytoday.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/apis67-xl.jpg?w=460

By Erin Weeks

Watch a honey bee wiggle its abdomen on a flower or do the waggle dance in a hive, and you’ll have some idea of the variety of ways in which bees use their hind ends. Thanks to new research published in the Journal of Insect Science, the movement of the many-segmented bee butt is a little less mysterious.

In 2015, a team of researchers from Tsinghua University in Beijing used a high-speed camera to observe how honey bees curl their abdomens while in flight and under restraint. The work confirmed that bees can manipulate the shape of their abdomens (for instance, to improve stability while flying), but that they can only bend in one direction — down, toward the bee’s underside.

Now, in a follow-up paper, the same team has identified the mechanism behind that movement. Specialized membranes that connect a honey bee’s abdominal segments are thicker on the top of the abdomen than on the bottom, allowing curling in just one direction.

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Honey bee abdomens contain up to nine overlapping segments, which taper and end with the bee’s stinger. Like little armored plates, the segments are made of tough chitin to protect the abdomen’s soft insides: the digestive tract, venom gland, and ovary/spermatheca (in queens and drones).

A thin, flexible layer of cells called the folded intersegmental membrane (FIM) is what connects the tough outer plates together, allowing each concentric segment not just to attach to its neighbor, but to slide into the next one. The authors call this movement “telescoping.”

“Our research on the ultrastructure of the FIM is of great significance to reveal the bending and flexing motion mechanism of the honey bee abdomen,” said Professor Shaoze Yan, one of the co-authors. “During nectar feeding, a honey bee’s abdomen does high-frequency respiratory exercises and assists the suction behavior of mouthparts to improve the intake efficiency.”

In this experiment, the researchers looked at forager honey bees from a single hive on Tsinghua University’s campus. Using the same combination of high-speed videography and scanning electron microscopy as they did in 2015, the engineers recorded the abdominal wiggling of live honey bees and the internal shapes of dissected bee abdomens. The flying videos were shot at 500 frames per second, and the dissected abdomens were imaged in thin slices.

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The microscopy showed that the membranes along the top of the honey bee’s abdomen are two times thicker than those on the bottom. This asymmetry allows the segments to lengthen on top and contract on the bottom, resulting in the unidirectional curling the researchers observed in the bees they filmed.

It’s a design that the paper’s authors suggest is ripe for exploration by more engineers, perhaps for use in aircraft design. The engineering world takes frequent cues from the natural world, and the honey bee is one of the planet’s most socially sophisticated animals. Humans might well have something to learn from its wiggling abdomen.

Read more at:

– Critical Structure for Telescopic Movement of Honeybee (Insecta: Apidae) Abdomen: Folded Intersegmental Membrane

https://entomologytoday.org/2016/07/25/how-do-honey-bees-curl-their-abdomens/

[william r sanford72]

New report reveals EPA assesses toxicity of pesticides individually, while ignoring environmental impacts of chemical cocktails

Tuesday, July 26, 2016 by: Isabelle Z

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(NaturalNews) It's no secret that agrochemical companies will beg, borrow and steal to protect their financial interests, and a new report shows that the EPA is essentially looking the other way while Big Ag resorts to clever means of getting its dangerous products approved.

The report from the Center for Biological Diversity, which is entitled Toxic Concoctions: How the EPA Ignores the Dangers of Pesticide Cocktails, shows that during the past six years, the EPA has approved almost a hundred pesticide products which contain certain combinations that heighten their toxicity and danger to pollinators.

The Center pored over patent applications that were made for pesticide products that contained at least two of the active ingredients that the EPA recently approved for Big Ag firms such as Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow and Bayer. They found that the EPA completely overlooks synergistic combinations during the approval process.

When chemicals are mixed in the environment, there may be no interaction, which means that it would appear as if the dangers of each one can simply be added together to determine the overall risk. However, in synergistic combinations, two or more chemicals that might have been relatively safe on their own become exponentially more harmful; in other words, the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. This means that the effects these chemicals can have on the environment and human health are actually a lot more severe than the estimates show.


The data are there but the EPA isn't paying attention

When submitting patent applications for pesticides, Big Ag companies often include data showing the synergistic toxicity to organisms being targeted. However, when the EPA carries out its approval process, it often claims it can't evaluate any possible synergistic effects due to a lack of data. The EPA says it only recently became aware that this data exists in the patents themselves, which means the pesticide companies are not being forthcoming in sharing the information with the EPA. Surprise, surprise.

The report found that almost 70 percent of the products approved by the EPA for those four firms had one or more patent applications showing synergy between its active ingredients. And 72 percent of these applications involved very popular pesticides such as glyphosate, dicamba, 2,4-D, atrazine and several neonicotinoids.

The report's author, Nathan Donley, Ph.D., says that the EPA's practice of only assessing toxicity of pesticides individually, rather than in scenarios where they are used alongside other chemicals, could potentially cause "widespread danger to people, waterways and wildlife."

The report calls on the EPA to take the patent data and other evidence into account and make dramatic changes to the way it approaches pesticide mixture assessments.

The report concludes: "The entire pesticide-approval process is designed to narrowly assess the toxicity of individual active ingredients one at a time; yet when most of these active ingredients are being routinely co-applied on agricultural fields across the country, the initial analyses that were done are no longer relevant to real-world exposure scenarios and are not an appropriate estimate of true risk."


It's time to take matters into our own hands
This is yet another example of why we can't rely on the very agencies that are supposed to protect us and the environment from this type of harm. Choosing organic food whenever possible can certainly help us avoid the dangers associated with pesticides, but these chemicals have a way of popping up where you least expect them. In his book Food Forensics, Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, tested groceries, supplements, spices and even protein powders for heavy metals and other toxins, and the results show that much more needs to be done to control the use of these chemicals.

Sources include:

CommonDreams.org

BiologicalDiversity.org[PDF]

Science.NaturalNews.com

FoodForensics.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/054777_EPA_pesticides_synergistic_combinations.html

[petra]

Not Just Bees, All Insects are in Decline and Heading for Extinction

I do believe Nostradamus predicted this, but maybe we are turning some tables, have you heard the ozone hole is closing? I can't believe how happy I am, I didn't think it possible

https://weather.com/science/environment/news/ozone-hole-closing-nasa

EDIT: Added source link and fixed quote

[william r sanford72]

USDA NATIONAL HONEY REPORT

HONEY MARKET FOR THE MONTH OF JULY, 2016

www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/fvmhoney.pdf

[william r sanford72]

Toxic Flowers and Greenwashed Legislation
Published on Jul 25, 2016

www.theorganicview.com.

BR3XDqf1QwM

[william r sanford72]

Chemical industry withholding crucial data about pesticide toxicity from regulatory authorities

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Copyrighted/Worker-PouringToxic-Roundup.jpg

(NaturalNews) Crucial data on pesticide toxicity is often concealed by the deceptive language put in place by the chemical industry. To bypass regulatory oversight, the chemical industry uses clever marketing language to make their patented chemicals sound legitimate. Some of the biggest agrochemical formulators, including Monsanto, Dow, Bayer and Syngenta, are claiming that their chemicals are safe, while hiding the known compounding, synergistic effects of their pesticides (often hidden in patent applications).

There is no scientific standard or regulation to address the synergy of new pesticide products, the compounding effects of pesticide formulations, or the unknown toxic effects of mixing and accumulating pesticides in the fields. For these reasons alone, pesticide burden and toxicity is far greater than assumed. Over time, as various amounts of pesticides accumulate in ground water and in soil, people become nothing but rats in a DNA-damaging real life lab experiment.

The gray area: Synergistic effects of widely-used agrochemicals lead to compounding toxicity

According to an investigation by the watchdog group, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), nearly 100 different pesticide products aren't really safe at all, even after being given a license by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Over a six year time period, the EPA actually green-lighted nearly 100 pesticide products that had synergistic compounds known for "increasing the dangers to imperiled pollinators and rare plants." Ecological biodiversity and agricultural sustainability are at risk here, but the threats are allowed to continue on.

These synergistic effects occur when two or more chemicals come together and interact in a way that increases and emboldens their toxicity. In tests, one chemical may be non-toxic at a certain level, but when the chemical is combined with another, the newfound toxicity can cause considerable harm to pollinators, rare plants or human health. The EPA may deem that a certain pesticide is safe at a certain level of exposure, but over time, intermixing chemicals can generate much greater toxic effects.

The CBD's latest report, Toxic Concoctions: How the EPA Ignores the Dangers of Pesticide Cocktails, breaks down the harm that the chemical industry is doing by fooling regulatory authorities and using loopholes to embellish the data.

Over 90 agrochemicals on the market cause synergistic, compounding toxic effects
One of Dow AgroScience's toxic pesticide products was revoked in 2014 for these reasons. Dow's Enlist Duo, containing 2,4-D and glyphosate, causes such toxic, synergistic effects to plants, that the EPA revoked its license, even after approving it in October 2014.

Several products patented by Monsanto, Dow, Bayer and Syngenta have similar synergistic effects that the companies fail to properly disclose. No one is really studying and cross checking what these compounding effects can do to the environment and to human beings.

The Center for Biological Diversity investigated 140 patented products from these large chemical companies. Ninety-six of them or (69 percent) demonstrated synergy between the various active chemicals in the products. Of the patented applications, 72 percent of the products demonstrated synergy involving the most widely-used chemicals in agriculture. These chemicals included glyphosate, atrazine, 2,4-D, dicamba and the neonicotinoids thiamethoxam, imidacloprid and clothianidin, among others.

"It's alarming to see just how common it's been for the EPA to ignore how these chemical mixtures might endanger the health of our environment," said CBD scientist Nathan Donley. The EPA doesn't even cross examine compounding synergistic effects for the many different neonicotinoids.

"It's pretty clear that chemical companies knew about these potential dangers, but the EPA never bothered to demand this information from them or dig a little deeper to find it for themselves," he stated.

While the government looks the other way, CWC labs is working toward greater transparency. CWC labs will soon have the capability to disclose not only the heavy metal content of popular food items, but also various pesticide levels. In this way, CWC labs can help the public recognize where they may be consuming toxic, synergistic combinations of agrochemicals.

Sources include:

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/pesticides_reduction/pdfs/Toxic_concoctions.pdf

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/07/19/damning-probe-finds-epa-turning-blind-eye-toxic-chemical-cocktails

http://www.naturalnews.com/054803_toxic_chemicals_synergistic_effects_toxicity.html

[william r sanford72]

Are Neonicotinoids Impacting Bee Sperm

Published on Jul 28, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Tom Theobald discuss new research on the impact of pesticides on bee sperm. Stay tuned! “The Neonicotinoid View”, which is produced by The Organic View Radio Show is unique, weekly program that explores the impact of neonicotinoids on the environment. Tune in each week as June and Tom explore the latest research and news from the beekeeping community.
www.theorganicview.com.

Xg23DJmQIAE

[william r sanford72]

Many social insects have soldiers, but only one bee does – and Jatai bee soldiers are unlike any other soldier caste biologists have ever seen

By Yao-Hua Law

29 July 2016


On the campus of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, some trees buzz more than others – which is exactly what behavioural ecologist Francisca Segers had hoped for.

She approaches one buzzing tree. There is a short wax tube extending from a hole in the trunk. Hovering around the opening are half a dozen small yellow-and-brown bees, the source of the gentle buzz.

Next, Segers reaches into a box she is carrying and takes out a tiny black lump. It is the crushed head of a robber bee (Lestrimelitta limao), freshly killed that morning. She gingerly places the robber bee head on the tube opening, and watches as it slowly rolls down the tube into the tree.

In an instant, a cloud of the tiny yellow-and-brown bees bursts from the tube. "It was just six bees flying at the entrance… then suddenly there were two hundred," says Segers.

These are no ordinary bees, though. Colonies of Tetragonisca angustula, known locally as "Jatai bees", are particularly adept at seeing off enemies. That is because Jatai bees, uniquely, have developed a soldier caste.

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Jatai bees built heavily fortified nests

Christoph Grüter at the University of Mainz and his colleagues first announced in 2012 that Jatai bees have soldiers. Their suggestion stirred up quite a buzz.

Of course, we already know that a number of other social animals have evolved a soldier caste: ants, termites, and even some less socially-complex animals like aphids, snapping shrimps and flatworms. Yet until Grüter and his colleagues made their announcement, nobody had found bee soldiers. That fed a general assumption that bees cannot evolve such a class.

One reason why Jatai soldiers went unnoticed for so long is because of the diminutive size of this particular bee.

because of the diminutive size of this particular bee.

"It is very difficult to spot the size differences in Jatai bees because they are so small," says Martin Kaercher, who examined the defensive behaviours of Jatai guards for his PhD at the University of Sussex. "I had also not expected size differences in bees."

Kaercher was not alone. Over the years, many researchers have examined the 5mm-long Jatai bees up close, without noticing that certain individuals are subtly, but consistently, larger. Size differences at such scale are almost impossible to spot; at least, without very good vision. Fortunately, Grüter's colleague, Cristiano Menezes at the University of Sao Paulo has an eye for detail.

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An army ant (Eciton hamatum) soldier bites

"We were running a study where we introduced workers from one Jatai bee colony to the nest entrance of another," says Grüter. "Eventually, Cristiano noticed that the guards seemed larger than the workers we introduced."

Meticulous measurement of more than 300 bees confirmed Menezes's observation: Jatai bees guarding the entrance are 30% heavier than the rest. They also have larger hind legs.

"I was amazed and delighted [to know of Jatai bee soldiers], since we only knew about caste differences in ants and termites," says Kaercher of Grüter's 2012 discovery.

Why might Jatai bees have developed a class of soldiers while other bees apparently have not?

There is no definitive answer, but clues might come from Segers's experiments with the decapitated heads of robber bees. Because it turns out that robber bees pose a very real threat to Jatai colonies.

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Jatai bees are the only species known to have soldiers

Robber bees are pirates on wings. They plunder the colonies of other bees – like the Jatai – and raid their stores.

If one robber bee encounters a Jatai colony and returns to its own colony to recruit more robbers for an attack, the result can be devastating, says Segers. "We have lost colonies to robber bees."

This is why it is in the Jatai bees' best interests to attack a robber scout before it can relay its message. As Segers's experiment shows, the mere whiff of a robber bee's presence is enough to alert the Jatai soldiers. They rush out of the nest and charge at the intruder, flying close enough to lock on to the robber bee with their powerful jaws.

"Ideally, the Jatai bee grabs the wings of the robber bee and doesn't let go," says Grüter, who has witnessed many such fights. Both bees fall out of the sky, the robber grounded by the soldier. They grapple with each other as the robber bee tries to tear away its tenacious attacker.

Eventually, the much larger robber bee usually succeeds in killing the Jatai soldier, often decapitating it in the process. But the dead bee's relentless jaws clamp on to its killer, preventing the robber from flying away.

"The Jatai bees commit suicidal defence, lying on the ground with the robber bee until maybe an ant comes along and [takes] them away," says Grüter.

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An unidentified termite soldier

Jatai soldiers hover around the nest, expanding the defence perimeter and intercepting robber bee scouts before they reach the colony. In addition, Jatai bees seal their nests at night, and use wax and resin on complex nest tunnels to entangle enemies.

It is a surprisingly comprehensive system, which Grüter has described as "one of the most sophisticated defences among social bees".

"I've read that Jatai bees and robber bees overlap greatly in their distribution," says Grüter. "If so, this would mean a long history of co-evolution and arms race between the bees."

Recently, however, Grüter and his colleagues reported that Jatai bee soldiers are quite unlike any other animal soldiers we know.

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This turtle ant (Cephalotes rohweri) soldier has a huge head

While ant or termite soldiers do little else but fight enemies, Jatai bee soldiers also partake in civilian duties. They build and clean the nest, nurse the larvae and dry the wax.

Even more surprising is that in the first half of their month-long lives, Jatai bee soldiers outwork the workers. On average, each Jatai bee soldier performs ten different behaviours to the worker's eight, and each soldier does between 30 and 40% more work than the workers. Most of this work involved nest maintenance.

"We do not know of any other case where soldiers show more diverse behaviours than workers," says Grüter. "In ants, soldiers are specialists that work very little and have a relatively narrow set of behaviours.

"What we see in Jatai bee soldiers is counterintuitive. It goes against the theory of caste evolution that increasing specialisation leads to narrowing behaviour sets."

For now, Grüter and his colleagues can only speculate why Jatai bee soldiers are so versatile and hard-working.

Perhaps Jatai bees have evolved their specialised soldier caste far more recently than other social animals, so the soldiers have not yet evolved to focus all their efforts on fighting.

Or perhaps Jatai soldiers can work like workers do because they are not starkly different in size and shape. The soldiers in colonies of army ants or leafcutter ants dwarf the worker ants like tigers to cats. Jatai soldiers, in contrast, stand next to Jatai workers like horses to donkeys.

"Maybe there are developmental limits that make it impossible for Jatai bees to evolve extreme soldier types," Grüter says.

Those limits might be set by the design of their nests.

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Worker and soldier ants (Pheidole rhea)

All Jatai bees are born in rigid cells of brood combs in the hive centre. Worker bees regurgitate food into each cell, the queen adds an egg, and the worker seals the cell. The egg hatches and the larva eats the provisioned food, developing in the cell until it emerges as an adult.

Segers found that Jatai soldiers are reared in specific cells right in the centre of the brood. There the cells are a little larger and receive more food, giving rise to larger and heavier bees. But the size difference is still constrained by the need for the cells in the brood combs to tessellate.

In contrast, ant and termite larvae grow in open space and are fed continuously by their carers, which allows individuals destined to be soldiers to grow much larger.

Scientists call the larger Jatai bees "majors" and the rest of the smaller workers "minors". Jatai bee majors make up less than 6% of the workers. Most end up as soldiers.

But that does not happen until the end of their lives

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/976_549/images/live/p0/42/tn/p042tndh.jpg
An African driver ant (Dorylus sp.) soldier

Newly-emerged majors and minors alike start work in the brood, deep in the hive. As the workers age, they move further from the hive's centre and switch occupations, dealing with waste, wax and resin. At this stage, majors work a lot more and have a couple more tasks in their repertoire than minors.

But by the third week of their short lives, when their workplace moves to the periphery of the hive, minors and majors wear completely different uniforms. Minors forage for food while majors guard the hive, most becoming the soldiers that Grüter and Segers study.

"In a way, soldiers are really just hard-working workers until they reach the entrance," says Grüter. "It makes sense to call them majors, and refer to them as soldiers only when they pick up the defence at the end of their lives."

Majors seem to be an asset to the hive. They outwork minors early in their life, and then later they help defend the hive. But they make up less than one-tenth of the workforce of the hive. So why does a Jatai bee colony not produce more majors?

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/976_549/images/live/p0/42/tn/p042tn68.jpg
The entrance to a Jatai bee nest

For one thing, majors are expensive. A juvenile major eats 20% more food than a juvenile minor, and as adults they likely eat more food too. Yet majors do not collect food for the nest.

Furthermore, Jatai bee majors may work more than minors, but nobody has compared their efficiency. "If majors are less efficient, they might not be worth the extra cost," says Grüter.

For a better sense of the value a Jatai colony places on its majors, we simply have to look at the way colonies respond to limited food and threats. In one experiment, Segers moved Jatai bee colonies into areas where competition for food was intense. Five months later, the colonies had adapted by producing smaller soldiers – but minors remained the same size.

In areas where enemy robber bees are rare, meanwhile, Jatai bee colonies deploy fewer soldiers. But when scientists jack up the threat for several weeks, or give the impression of a greater threat by rolling robber bee heads into the nest, Jatai bee colonies build up their army of soldiers.

In other words, it appears that Jatai bees can tune their production of majors and minors according to their needs. Majors – soldiers – are valued most when robber bees are lurking.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/976_549/images/live/p0/42/tn/p042tn9n.jpg
Jatai soldiers guard the nest entrance

This makes sense to Paul Cunningham, an insect behavioural ecologist at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, who has documented a four-month-long war between Australian stingless bees. He thinks that enemies play a key role in shaping the evolution of a defence system.

"If your enemy are larger bees and you are more likely to overpower them with individual strength, then having strong soldiers is an advantage," says Cunningham. "This is the case with Jatai bees against robber bees."

On the other hand, if both sides are similarly matched in strength, then the colony with the most workers wins. "Having stronger fighters isn't always the best strategy."

Next, Grüter and his team will scrutinise other bee species for soldiers. If they discover soldiers in other bees, they could better understand how species of bees evolve soldiers.

The diverse behaviours of Jatai bee soldiers "draw a big question mark", says Grüter. "[It's] not just about the evolution of soldiers in this species but also in general about the evolution of physical caste in social insects."

Perhaps other bees have also evolved hard-working soldiers that juggle many tasks. But that is not going to bother the Jatai bees – they are concerned only with robber bees and honey. As new cohorts of Jatai bee majors emerge from brood cells, they will live as all of the previous generations of soldiers did: work harder than the rest and die guarding the nest.

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160728-jatai-bees-are-the-only-species-that-have-a-soldier-caste

[william r sanford72]

Researchers identify how queen bees repress workers' fertility

Date:

August 3, 2016

Source:

University of Otago

Summary:

Researchers have discovered the molecular mechanism by which queen honeybees carefully control worker bees' fertility.

https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/08/160803072815_1_540x360.jpg

Researchers from New Zealand's University of Otago have discovered the molecular mechanism by which queen honeybees carefully control worker bees' fertility.


It has long been known that worker bees have a very limited ability to reproduce in a hive with a queen and brood present, but in their absence, a third of them will activate their ovaries and lay eggs that hatch into fertile male drones.

It is queen pheromone that represses worker bee fertility, but how it achieves this has remained unclear.

Now, Otago genetics researchers have identified that an ancient cell-signalling pathway called Notch, which plays a major role in regulating embryonic development in all animals, has been co-opted to also constrain reproduction in worker bees.

In research newly published in the journal Nature Communications, Professor Peter Dearden and colleagues Drs Elizabeth Duncan and Otto Hyink demonstrated that chemically inhibiting Notch signalling can overcome the effect of queen mandibular pheromone (QMP) and promote ovary activity in adult worker bees.

Professor Dearden says they were surprised to find that Notch signalling acts on the earliest stages of egg development in the ovary, perhaps even on the stem cells that make the ovary, and that in the absence of QMP the Notch receptor in a key region of worker bee ovaries becomes degraded.

"Without active Notch signalling taking place, the worker bee eggs are now able to mature. This contrasts with its role in fruit fly reproduction in which the signalling is vital for fertility," Professor Dearden says.

He says it is not yet clear whether QMP works directly on ovaries or is acting via signalling between the brain and antennae.

"However it is acting, the outcome is that Notch signalling's fundamental role in the ovary has been modified and transformed in honeybees into social control of worker bees' reproduction," he says.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160803072815.htm

[william r sanford72]

Study: Sperm count reduced in honeybees exposed to neonicotinoids

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Food/Honey-Bee-On-Flower-Pollin.jpg

(NaturalNews) New research has revealed that neonicotinoid pesticides reduce the sperm counts of male honeybee drones, a fact that may at least partly explain the rapid decline of bee populations over the last decade.

For several years now, experts have been aware of a link between the widespread use of neonicotinoids and declining bee populations, but a recently published study was the first to definitively prove that these insecticides negatively affect the reproductive capacity of male insects.

A group of researchers from the Institute of Bee Health at the University of Bern, Switzerland, conducted tests on male honeybee drones to measure the effects of two widely used neonicotinoid insecticides, thiamethoxam and clothianidin, on the sperm of male honeybee drones.

The team took semen samples from sexually mature male bees that had been exposed to neonicotinoids at levels comparable to those found in sprayed fields. Their results showed a 39 percent average decrease in living sperm in the exposed bees, compared to those in the control group.

Neonicotinoids linked not only to male bee infertility, but also higher mortality rates
In addition, the mortality rate among male bees exposed to neonicotinoids was found to be almost double that of bees not exposed to the pesticides.

Honeybee queens require quality sperm to perform their role in maintaining the survival of the hive.

From New Scientist:

"Honey bee queens make a single mating flight from the nest to collect sperm from as many as 20 different males, which they store within a dedicated organ over their entire lifespan.

"This is vital for the survival of the hive, as it equips the colony with the genetic diversity needed to resist disease, parasites and environmental challenges."

Lead researcher Lars Straub said that if a queen bee does not collect enough quality sperm on her once-in-a-lifetime mating flight, the worker bees in the hive will sense that the queen is "ineffective," and will kill her – a scenario Straub and his colleagues have dubbed "game of drones."

Having to replace the queen is generally bad news for bee colonies:

"Replacement of the queen is costly as it hinders the growth of the colony. And as replacing a queen can only occur at certain periods in the year, colonies can sometimes go for long periods without one, putting them in danger of collapse."

It is theorized that neonicotinoids may damage sperm DNA and affect sperm motility, but the exact mechanisms are not yet fully understood.

The researchers were not particularly surprised to find that neonicotinoids affect the reproductive capacity of invertebrates, since other studies have shown similar results in "non-target male vertebrates."

U.S. continues spraying neonicotinoids while the EU reviews recent ban
The use of neonicotinoids has become a controversial issue – the European Commission is currently reviewing a 2013 temporary ban on their use – but in the United States neonicotinoids are still widely used.

For example, neonicotinoids are sprayed on up to 94 percent of corn crops grown in the United States, while U.S. bee populations continue to drop at an alarming rate.

Over the past ten years, beekeepers have reported an average beehive loss of 30 percent or more, with some losses in excess of 50 percent.

Over the past ten years, beekeepers have reported an average beehive loss of 30 percent or more, with some losses in excess of 50 percent.

But bees are not the only victims of negative health effects from exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides. These neurotoxins are also a threat to other animals, including everything from birds to humans.

Neonicotinoid pesticide exposure in humans has been linked to brain and nervous system damage. It turns out that what kills unwanted crop pests is harmful to humans, too – a not so surprising fact, considering that all animals, including humans, share many basic biological traits.

What is surprising, however, is that it took so long for mainstream science to confirm the obvious ...

Sources:

NewScientist.com

RSPB.RoyalSocietyPublishing.org

Collapse.news

NaturalNews.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/054862_honeybees_low_sperm_count_neonicotinoids.html#ixzz4GNOeJT00

[thunder24]

this may of been posted before but thought i would share as it just came to my attention.... says scientists have thrown all kinds of bacteria at this Manuka honey and the bacteria does not gain a resistance to it....
http://www.realfarmacy.com/obscure-honey/

[william r sanford72]

Kelulut honey — a health elixir from stingless bees(borneo)

http://cdn.theborneopost.com/newsimages/2016/08/C_PC0015348.jpg
Elli stirs kelulut bee honey in a glass of plain water.

AFTER chatting for about 10 minutes, he excused himself to get some drinks for us from the house.

While he went in, I walked around to see his simulated empurau habitat which he has been maintaining for about 10 years.

About a minute later, he came come out with a small dark-maroon glass container and 1.5 litres of cold water and placed them on a table outside the verandah across the facade of his house.

Moments later, he went into the house again and came out with two glasses and two tablespoons. I began to wonder what was he doing when he walked into the house a third time. Before I could figure it out, he emerged and walked towards the table, carrying a half-full plastic basket, containing some nicely packed bottles of dark-gold coloured juice.

While I was busy taking pictures of his empurau reared in a cement tank, he sat on his chair and invited me to join him, saying: “I want you to try my kelulut honey.”

My first thought was “is it kelulut honey from stingless bees that I once wrote about?”

Then I replied: “Ok, sure, thank you. After all, I have never tasted this honey before in my life.”

So he dribbled slightly more than a tablespoonful into a glass, poured cold water in and stirred it. Next, he moved the glass towards me, inviting me to try the concoction. I lifted up the glass and drank.

My reaction: “Eh, why so sour?”

Yes, the drink was sour compared to normal honey which is very sweet.

Curious about the taste, I asked if I could taste the pure honey in the bottle and he allowed me to have a scoop.

http://cdn.theborneopost.com/newsimages/2016/08/C_PC0015349.jpg
Elli taking a close look at the castles of a bee colony.

The pure honey tastes sourish sweet and is also runny, unlike normal honey which is sticky.

I guess this stingless bee honey must be having much less sugar content than regular honey – hence the tangy flavour. It’s also not as “heaty” as normal honey.

I wrote about the rearing of meliponines (stingless bees) sometime in 2014 and have always assumed the taste of kelulut honey, derived from plant resins the bees use to build their hives and honey pots, is sweet.

So I looked towards Dr Elli Luhat, sitting in front of me, and asked: “Why is your honey sour.”

He smiled: “The taste of this honey varies at different times of the year, depending on the flowers and trees the bees visit. But generally, the taste of kelulut honey is quite different from that of ordinary honey bees. It’s not as sweet as other varieties of honey.”

Elli, who is a forest scientist, said the taste was greatly influenced by the nectars or flowers the bees were feeding on, adding that sometimes, it could taste slightly sweet while at other times, like some wood or wild flowers.

“If the bees feed on sweet flowers within their rearing environment, then the honey can taste slightly sweet,” he explained.

Elli’s kelulut honey is collected from a farm along Kuching-Serian Road. Most of the time, the bees feed on gaharu flowers which the apiarists have integrated with other plants on the same piece of land.

Right now, Elli and his partner collect about 200 litres of kelulut honey per month from the 3,000 boxes or colonies at the farm. The honey is sold either to friends or exported to Sabah.

“We started rearing these bees in 2014 and it took about six months for each colony to build their honey pots. Based on my experience, the period for each colony to start producing honey also depends on the availability of nectars while the quantity of honey produced depends on population size,” he said.

According to Elli, the queen bee plays a very significant role in the growth of the colonies.

“The queen bee is the production house. The more productive the queen, the bigger the population, and the more the honey produced.”

He said what the queen bee produced were actually worker bees whose task is to collect nectars and bring them back to the castles (boxes).

“To fill the honey pots or bags, a lot of worker bees are needed. If you could have three or four queens inside each box, then you could have millions of bees and a great deal more honey.”

However, Elli pointed out that it was sufficient to have two queens in each colony.

“So our immediate challenge is to take out some of the queens from the existing boxes – if there are more than two – and put them in separate boxes to multiply. I will have to identify the queens and also the best plants for the colonies to feed on.”

He believed after almost two years, some of the castles could be having more than two queens since the total bee population at the farm now runs into the millions. The queens are bigger and normally live in a special place within the colony.

Aside from gaharu trees, Elli is also looking into planting other trees that bear flowers – most probably sweet flowers.

“The bees need to feed on nectars otherwise there will be no honey to fill the pots,” he noted.

Elli stressed there is no compromise on the quality of their honey, assuring they would only sell pure honey with high propolis (bee-glue) contents.

Propolis is produced by bees through their saliva mixed with bee food such as pollen, bark, tree shoots and flowers. The bees gather resins from pine and other cone-producing evergreen trees, blend the resins with wax flakes and pollen, then bring them back to the hives where they use the sticky mess to patch holes, seal cracks and build panels.

Propolis which determines the quality of the honey, is said to have properties that boost the immune system. The bee-glue contains all 16 amino acids, glucose, vitamins A, B, C, D and E, bioflavonoids and minerals. Bioflavanids improve and repair the body systems of people and livestock.

“In the wild, because of the propolis, other insects never attack the honey. The glue is a natural insect repellant,” he added.

According to Elli, it’s easy to test whether honey is diluted or pure.

“To test for purity, just drop some of the honey on the floor, and over time, when you see ants eating it or fungus growing on it, then the honey is not pure. This indicates sugar or sugar cane juice could have been added after the honey had been diluted to increase the quantity.”

He believed one of the benefits of kelulut honey was that it could boost energy and strength, given that stingless bees are active all year round.

“You can just drink kelulut honey without mixing with water or any food. It’s good to drink it daily,” he said.

In addition to its unique flavour, there are also numerous studies conducted onthe medicinal values and health benefits of kelulut honey on the basis that stingless bees produce honey and propolis rich in antioxidants.

Propolis can function as anti-fungal, anti-fungus, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory remedies and is commonly used as an active ingredient in cosmetics, creams and tablets.

Antioxidants have many functions, especially in containing free radicals and preventing cancer.

http://cdn.theborneopost.com/newsimages/2016/08/C_PC0015350.jpg
Propolis produced by the stingless bees.

http://www.theborneopost.com/2016/08/07/kelulut-honey-a-health-elixir-from-stingless-bees/

[william r sanford72]

Approaches and Challenges to Managing Nosema in Honey Bee Colonies

https://entomologytoday.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/apis-mellifera3-aw.jpg?w=410&h=265

By Erin Weeks

It’s a tough time to be a pollinator.

Bee, butterfly, and bat populations are in decline across the globe. Even the honey bee, perhaps the best-studied pollinator, has suffered great losses as beekeepers and researchers struggle to identify the causes. In recent years, it’s become clear that no one factor is responsible — honey bees face an onslaught of pressures, ranging from pesticides to viruses to parasites.

A recent Journal of Economy Entomology paper puts a spotlight on just one of these problems, the honey bee pest Nosema. Summarizing decades of intensive research from across the globe, two University of Minnesota and Pennsylvania State University entomologists outline precisely why Nosema represents an intractable problem for beekeepers. Their sobering conclusion — that far more research and resources are still needed to equip beekeepers with the right tools for managing Nosema infections — throws into relief the challenge of understanding and reversing global declines not just in honey bees, but in many other pollinators as well.

Nosema species, two of which are known to infect honey bees, belong to a group of fungi known as microsporidians. These fungal parasites live out their days within the cells of a host animal, which, in the case of N. apis and N. ceranae, is the digestive tract of honey bees. Perhaps as a result of this lifestyle, microsporidians such as Nosema evolved stripped-down versions of mitochondria. Unable to manufacture enough energy themselves, Nosema relies instead upon the energy produced by its honey bee host’s cells, with sometimes-grave consequences for the host.

https://entomologytoday.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/nosema-spores.jpg?w=410&h=269
Nosema spores (red arrows) in a sample with pollen and tissue debris.

Anchored in the midgut and munching on its host’s energy molecules, Nosema can effectively “starve” infected honeybees. This can accelerate a bee’s normal development, causing worker bees to mature earlier into foragers — but poor ones at that. Nosema-infected bees take longer rests, are less efficient at gathering pollen and nectar, and are more likely to become disoriented than their uninfected counterparts. The parasite spreads when spores leave the digestive tract. When enough of a colony’s inhabitants are infected, the colony suffers or even collapses.

So what’s a beekeeper to do? The first obstacle is to determine whether a colony is, in fact, suffering from a Nosema infection.

“One of the major challenges of diagnosing Nosema is that there are no 100 percent reliable clinical symptoms,” said lead author Holly Holt. “Without a microscope or molecular tools, it’s impossible to visually inspect a colony with the naked eye and know with certainty whether Nosema of either species is present.”

Laboratory testing is currently the only foolproof method for diagnosing the parasite, which can be time- and resource-prohibitive for many beekeepers. (However, beekeepers in the United States and Canada can benefit from free testing provided by the USDA.)

Several promising methods of diagnosis are on the horizon, including a pregnancy test-like dipstick that confirms the presence of Nosema, but none are widely tested and available yet.

More challenges await the beekeeper that does overcome the hurdle of diagnosis. There’s a desperate need, Holt and co-author Christina Grozinger stress, for guidelines and best practices as to when a beekeeper should intervene and treat Nosema. After all, not every Nosema infection results in colony collapse. Some don’t even require treatment.

That’s because Nosema species have shown a patchwork of prevalence and virulence in honey bees. Of the two Nosema species that parasitize European honey bees, N. apis has been familiar to beekeepers since the early twentieth century, and N. ceranae represents a newer, potentially more competitive and concerning threat. Studies have shown the species to have wildly different impacts on honey bees in different locations.

Variations in climate, honey bee resilience, other hive stressors, and Nosema strains all play a role in determining whether the parasite will prove undetectable or a death sentence for a hive. In other words, beekeepers need localized guidelines.

When Nosema does begin to choke a hive, beekeepers have few treatment options from which to choose. Fumagillin is the only widely used chemical treatment for Nosema, but its toxicity in humans resulted in a European Union ban on the chemical. More recent research has shown that fumagillin may not be so great for bees, either; over the long-term, it may even exacerbate the problem it’s meant to treat.

Other treatments for Nosema, including anti-fungal molecules, essential oils, and good, old-fashioned equipment sterilization, have not yet been studied enough to be widely implemented.

A one-size-fits-all approach to treating Nosema, the paper argues, will never work for global honey bee populations. It’s a portrait in miniature of the wider challenges and knowledge gaps that beekeepers face.

“Researchers have a lot to do to support beekeepers,” wrote Holt, who is the science coordinator for the Monarch Joint Venture. “The good news is that there’s a huge amount of cross-disciplinary and cross-organization effort going into pollinator conservation. However, positive change will not come about without policy changes based on scientific findings and continued support of research that seeks to investigate and mitigate pollinator stressors.”

Read more at:

– Approaches and Challenges to Managing Nosema (Microspora: Nosematidae) Parasites in Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Colonies

https://entomologytoday.org/2016/08/08/approaches-and-challenges-to-managing-nosema-in-honey-bee-colonies/

[william r sanford72]

Pesticides used to help bees may actually harm them

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2016/pesticidesus.jpg
In general, honeybee health has been declining since the 1980s, with the introduction of new pathogens and pests. Credit: Rob Flynn.


Pesticides beekeepers are using to improve honeybee health may actually be harming the bees by damaging the bacteria communities in their guts, according to a team led by a Virginia Tech scientist.

The discovery, published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, is a concern because alterations can affect the gut's ability to metabolize sugars and peptides, processes that are vital for honeybee health. Beekeepers typically apply pesticides to hives to rid them of harmful parasites such as Varroa mites.

"Although helpful for ridding hives of parasites and pathogens, the chemicals in beekeeper-applied pesticides can be harmful to the bees," said Mark Williams, an associate professor of horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and lead author. "Our research suggests that pesticides could specifically impact the microbes that are crucial to honey bee nutrition and health."

For the project, the team extracted genomic data from honeybees that lived in hives that were treated with pesticides (three different kinds) with those that were not. Samples were pulled from hives in three separate Blacksburg locations.

Honeybees from chlorothalanil-treated hives showed the greatest change in gut microbiome, said Williams, who is also affiliated with the Fralin Life Science Institute.

Looking ahead, the team plans to investigate the specific changes in gut microbiota activities that affect honeybee survival. Honeybees are the foundation of successful high-value food production.

"Our team wants to better describe the core microbiota using bioinformatics to help best characterize the microbes that support healthy honeybees and thus stave off disease naturally," said co-author Richard Rodrigues, a postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State University and formerly a graduate student in Williams' lab.

Other authors include Troy Anderson, a former assistant professor of entomology at Virginia Tech; Madhavi Kakumanu, a postdoctoral scientist at North Carolina State University and former Virginia Tech graduate student in Williams' lab; and Alison Reeves, a former graduate student in Anderson's lab.

In Virginia, the approximate rate of hive loss is more than 30 percent per year, and continued losses are expected to drive up the cost for important crops that bees make possible, such as apples, melon and squash.


Explore further: Honeybees entomb to protect from pesticides

More information: Honey bee gut microbiome is altered by in-hive pesticide exposures, DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01255 , http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01255/abstract

Provided by: Virginia Tech search and more info website

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-08-pesticides-bees.html#jCp

[william r sanford72]

New FDA rules on beekeeping, hive health in 2017

http://www.canindia.com/wp-content/uploads/To-bee-or-not-to-bee.png
Antibiotics used by beekeepers will no longer be available over the counter in 2017. In an effort to address concerns with antibiotic resistance, the FDA has ruled that antibiotics used to treat common bee diseases will now need to be ordered

Honey bees may not provide unconditional love, nor will they assist in any rescue efforts. These animals, however, share the same need for health care as do our beloved, four-legged pets. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration is demanding it.

“Bees are insects, but few veterinarians realize they are also classified as food animals,” said Dr. Don Hoenig, co-owner of One Health Veterinary Consulting in San Antonio. “This January, the FDA will be enforcing new rules regarding honey bees and prescriptions. This is a new opportunity for veterinarians, and we should tap into the need for education.” Dr. Hoenig enlightened veterinarians about this “new” food animal at the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Annual Convention, August 5-9, in San Antonio.

Effective January 1, 2017, antibiotics used by beekeepers will no longer be available over the counter. In an effort to address concerns with antibiotic resistance, the FDA has ruled that antibiotics used to treat common bee diseases will now need to be ordered by a veterinarian either through a prescription or Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD). Beekeepers can no longer diagnose and treat problems requiring antibiotics without a licensed veterinarian.

Billion dollar industry

According to www.honey.com, there are 115,000 to 125,000 beekeepers across the United States operating in the billion-dollar industry. The Bee Informed Partnership surveyed beekeepers and found that only 1/14 currently use drugs. “Most beekeepers will not be affected by the FDA changes,” said Dr. Chris Cripps, co-owner of Betterbee. “But, at the same time, most U.S. veterinarians don’t know about bees or their diseases. We have a gap to fill.” Dr. Cripps is also speaking at the AVMA Convention about the new mandates.

Betterbee sells beekeeping supplies on line and in its store in upstate New York and is a go-to source for education in basic beekeeping to advanced management and disease detection, but, like the vast majority of veterinary practices, the business currently provides no clinical services to honey bees. So who is going to step up come January 1?

Initially, veterinary “stepper uppers” may be skewed more heavily toward veterinarians in large-animal practices, which already incorporate a business model of going to the patients, and not vice versa. Drs. Hoenig and Cripps both agree that veterinarians involved will have an affinity for bees and a desire to get the necessary education. “Veterinarians have always self selected what topics they want to delve into and what animals they will specialize in at their practice,” said Dr. Hoenig. “Curriculums evolve, but the common factor is always meeting the standards of care.”

In order to write a VFD, the veterinarian also needs to have established a Veterinary Client Patient Relationship, or VCPR. As Dr. Hoenig explained, a veterinarian can’t “phone in” a prescription for beekeepers. According to the FDA Guidance document, this needs to be either a state- or federal-defined VCPR in which a veterinarian engages with a client to assume responsibility for making decisions about animal health and has sufficient knowledge of the patient by virtue of patient examination and/or visits to the facility where patient is managed. This would include a visit to the beeyard during which a veterinarian looks at records of treatment, opens a percentage of the hives and evaluates the health of the colony. The expiration date of the VFD is not to exceed six months.

Anti-biotics and bacteria

With the word out since 2013 on changing FDA regulations, Dr. Cripps has fielded calls from veterinary medical schools at Cornell University and Mississippi State University. “The Deans have heard about the FDA changes and want to know how they can best serve the students,” said Dr. Cripps. “Bees have been in the curriculum in the veterinary medical program at the National Autonomous University of Mexico as well as most other programs outside North America. I expect our U.S. schools to follow in some manner.”

Antibiotics are also used to treat bacterial diseases, such as American Foulbrood (AFB). The highly contagious disease kills developing bees, with millions of infectious spores produced in each affected bee. As bees clean their hive, they carry spores to all parts of the hive, including the honey, and to other hives. AFB spores are so difficult to kill that they can be reactivated after 70 years of storage. Fire and gamma-irradiation are typically used to clean up affected hives.

“If beekeepers treat their hives with sugar infused with antibiotics, clinical AFB can be suppressed,” said Dr. Cripps. “With the new regulatory measures in place, we might see a resurgence of the disease because antibiotics now cannot be administered without a prescription or VFD, and some beekeepers may forego finding a veterinarian to save time and money. For most large beekeepers, though, added cost for veterinary care could be quite minimal per hive.”

A possible resurgence could cause havoc during pollination season, said Dr. Cripps. Flatbed trailers bring tens of thousands of hives to places like California to pollinate almonds, and Maine to pollinate blueberries and apples. Orchards pay up to $200 a hive to have the bees stay for a short period to pollinate trees so they produce more and better fruit or nuts. It’s big business with a potentially big risk. If infected hives introduce disease to a temporarily heavily populated area, “disease could spread rapidly as the hives go to the next crop or home,” according to Dr. Cripps.

“This is reality,” said Dr. Hoenig. “Veterinarians need to get educated through our local associations, in wet labs and through meetings like the AVMA Convention and, hopefully, USDA accreditation modules. We need to have involvement throughout the country. It’s a challenge and a One Health opportunity for veterinarians, where we can make a difference to the overall well being of animals, people and the environment. We need to work together.”

To learn more about the AVMA Annual Convention, visit www.avmaconvention.org. For more information on media opportunities at the AVMA Convention, and to register as a press attendee, contact Michael San Filippo, AVMA senior media relations specialist, at 847-285-6687 (office), 847-732-6194 (cell) or msanfilippo@avma.org. Members of the media must register with the AVMA prior to the convention to validate their press credentials and ensure that their press badges and materials are ready for them when they arrive. Registration for the press is free.

The AVMA, founded in 1863, is one of the oldest and largest veterinary medical organizations in the world, with more than 88,000 member veterinarians worldwide engaged in a wide variety of professional activities and dedicated to the art and science of veterinary medicine. – USNewswire

http://www.canindia.com/new-fda-rules-on-beekeeping-hive-health-in-2017/

[william r sanford72]

Wax Moth Treatment to Help Your Bees Win the Battle

How to Keep Wax Worms from Destroying Your Hive

http://cdn.countrysidenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/wax-moth-treatment-nl.jpg

All hives, even healthy ones, will have wax moths. I didn’t understand this when we first started beekeeping. I thought that if we were good beekeepers our hives wouldn’t get wax moths. It wasn’t until one of our hives was destroyed by wax moths, and I started searching for wax moth treatments that I realized wax moths are just something that all hives face. However, that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing we can do to help the bees win the battle.

Wax month are moths that sneak their way into a hive and lay eggs in the honey comb. When the eggs hatch, the wax worm will eat through the beeswax, honey, pollen and sometimes even the bee larvae and pupae. As they eat their way through the hive they leave a trail of webs and feces. The webbing hinders the bees from being able to catch the worms and remove them from the hive. The bees can’t use the wax or even clean it when it has webbing.

In a strong colony, the house bees will find and remove the wax worms before much damage is done. In strong hives there is no need for wax moth treatment, just let the bees do what they’re supposed to do. In a weak hive the wax worms can get the upper hand and destroy the hive in 10-14 days.

Once the wax moth worms pupate they spin tough cocoons into the wood of the hive. The cocoons are so tough that the bees cannot remove them. They literally drill into the wood and ruin the structure of the hive. Once the moths emerge from the cocoon, they fly off, mate and then the cycle starts all over.

http://cdn.countrysidenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Wax-moth-destruction.jpg
What’s left of comb from a hive that was destroyed by wax moths.

Wax Moth Treatment

The most important thing you can do when bee farming is to have strong hives. Strong hives are hives that are healthy and working. They are hives that will be able to take care of themselves and still have enough energy to protect their hive from invaders. You’ll still need to check on strong hives and make sure they have access to water and are doing well, but they’ll be doing the work of maintaining their home.

When making your bee hive plans and building your own boxes, be sure to seal them well. When you’re putting the hives together use glue and nails to make sure there is a tight fit. The moths will try to slip in wherever there is a small opening. The more openings there are, the harder it will be for the guard bees to protect them.

http://cdn.countrysidenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Wax-moth-scraping.jpg

Don’t pile extra supers on top a hive until they are ready for a super. If you go ahead and pile two or three supers on top thinking that eventually the bees will fill them with honey, all you are really doing is giving the wax moths a great place to lay lots of eggs. Just keep an eye on the hives and add one super at time as needed.

I’ve read in several beekeeping and gardening books that mint is a deterrent to wax moths. I couldn’t find any hard evidence that this is the case but since there are many peppermint plant uses and we’ll be trying this in the future. If it doesn’t help, we’ll have plenty of peppermint to use in tea and other fun things.

Wax moths cannot survive freezing temperatures at any life stage. That is really great news for beekeepers who live where it freezes. However, they can survive in warm areas such as basements, garages and hives. So, just because you live where it freezes, don’t think you won’t have wax moths. They’ll find a place to overwinter.

http://cdn.countrysidenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/wax-moth-worm.jpg

But since they cannot survive freezing temperatures, it’s a really good idea to freeze frames and boxes for 24 hours before storing them. We keep an old chest freezer that we use just for this purpose. If you have enough freezer space you can just keep the boxes in there at all times. But most of us don’t have that kind of extra freezer space.

For storing your supers, don’t store them in dark places like a garage or basement. Wax moths do not like the sun; they prefer dark, warm places. If you live where it snows, it’s perfectly fine to store your boxes outside and let the freezing temperatures freeze the wax moths and wax worms. If you live where is doesn’t freeze you can still store your boxes outside and let the sun help deter the wax moths.

When you stack the boxes for storing, try to stack them off the ground, in a criss-cross fashion so that light and air can get to all of them. They can be stored in a covered shed or put some corrugated fiberglass panels over them to protect them from the rain.

When you stack the boxes for storing, try to stack them off the ground, in a criss-cross fashion so that light and air can get to all of them. They can be stored in a covered shed or put some corrugated fiberglass panels over them to protect them from the rain.

It’s important to check the boxes and frames for wax moths (at any life stage) before using them the next season. If you see wax worms or cocoons, scrape them off. You can also scrub them with bleach water and then lay them out in the sun to dry. Before putting them on the hive, be sure that all the seams have a tight fit.

http://cdn.countrysidenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/wax-moth-chickens.jpg

Several beekeeping books and most agriculture extension websites recommend using Paradichlorobenzene (PDB) crystals to fumigate supers that have wax moths. PDB is not the same as regular moth balls from the store. Do not use regular moth balls in your hives. We’ve never used PDB and don’t ever plan on using it. However, this product is considered a safe wax moth treatment, so I feel it is prudent to mention it.

When our hive was destroyed by hive moths we scraped all the frames and the supers. We let our backyard chickens help us clean out all the worms by letting them pick through our scrapings. When the chickens were done, we burned all the scrapings. Then we scrubbed the frames and boxes with some bleach water and left them out in the sun to dry. We’ll check the boxes and frames again before we use them on another hive. We feel like this is a better way to manage wax moths than using a pesticide.

http://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/lifestyle/beekeeping/wax-moth-treatment-to-help-bees-win-the-battle/

[william r sanford72]

Glyphosate mutation holocaust taking place across the world... and it's no dystopian sci-fi film

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Farming/Danger-Sign-Crops-Farm-Soil-GMO-Pesticides.jpg

(NaturalNews) In the dystopian novel 1984, George Orwell describes a world we thought we'd never see: perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and of course, public manipulation through tyrannical "English" socialism. The privileged elite even persecutes independent thinking, calling it "thought-crime." This "Big Brother" party of the government, in the story, pushes propaganda and engages in historical revisionism, so everything people see and hear through media and in history books fits the ruling power's agenda. This authoritarian, Orwellian, fictional world of deception, manipulation, and secret surveillance is exactly what we all know today in the USA as real, not "conspiracy theory" or some pulp fiction novel from 30-some years ago.

No, we know NSA's prism; and we know about Monsanto's poisonous crops laced with noxious pesticide chemicals; we know that the sodium fluoride in tap water lowers human IQ; we know that the government controls and watches all social media, tracks every phone call and email, and controls the mass media propaganda; and we know that the cameras at intersections and on street corners aren't put there for our "safety." We also know that the cancer epidemic in America is not "inherited." What else do we know for sure?



1984–2016: GMO, Glyphosate and 'Gatorade' Idiocracy

In the satirical, science-fiction comedy film Idiocracy, actor Luke Wilson plays the role of a soldier who takes part in a top-secret military hibernation experiment. To his dismay, he wakes up 500 years later, also in a dystopian world where crime runs rampant, pollution is everywhere, and all the crops are dying, because the government thinks watering them with Gatorade is healthy and sustainable, since Gatorade contains "electrolytes!" The President is mentally challenged, like all of the citizens, who are either in prison or watching their "boob tube" while sucking down gooey-sugar-food through straws. The cult film was more than a spoof on how society and the government are quickly eroding the environment and everyone's health in the process, but rather it nailed the problems of today – right on the head.

Just like "President Camacho" in Idiocracy, our U.S. Presidents allow crops to be watered and sprayed with poison, but can't seem to figure out the problem with the dying crops and dying people. Monsanto, an evil corporation, runs the FDA, and says spraying glyphosate on all crops is 100 percent safe, 100 percent of the time, for 100 percent of the people, including children, babies and pregnant mothers. Just like in the "fictional" film where we are informed that the parent corporation of the crop poison "Brawndo" is the same corporation that purchased the FDA and the USDA.

30 years of GMO and counting: Autism, mental health disorders, malformations, infertility, immune-deficiency, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's

Thirty years ago genetically modified organisms were introduced into the DNA of U.S. crops to kill insects and weeds. Mountains of scientific evidence since have proven without a doubt that Roundup (which is 50 percent glyphosate plus other deadly chemicals working in tandem to make glyphosate even more toxic), causes cancer in animals.

Neonicotinoids ("neonics") are also toxic herbicides that killed nearly half of all the honeybees in America last year. The bees die from dementia, as they can't find the honeycomb or do their job pollinating.

Now we're seeing grotesque, horrific animal mutations taking place all over the world, thanks to deadly glyphosate. Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) deemed glyphosate a probable carcinogen for humans. One study conducted by researchers from Germany and Egypt found that pigs fed glyphosate spawn "mutant" offspring that are plagued by deformations, including some with missing eyes and transgender organ development.

U.S. Dystopia Disease

How stupid are we? To continue to consume known carcinogens daily and wonder why humans and animals are dying of cancer, Alzheimer's and birth defects, is just plain "idiocracy." The pesticides, including insecticides and herbicides, used on U.S. conventional crops are killing everything they touch, except for the poisonous GM plants that contain the same chemicals as part of their genetic makeup. Thanks a lot "science!" What will the humans and their babies look like after 30 more years of glyphosate consumption? Will we recognize our own relatives? Will we all be deformed and still be eating poison? Will we all die young?

There's no use walking when it's "past time to run." Get smart now and stop consuming toxins. Boycott everything GMO. Buy local and organic. Watch out for chemical-based medicine too! Avoid all that "idiocracy."

http://www.naturalnews.com/054919_glyphosate_chemical_mutations_George_Orwell.html

[william r sanford72]

57 different herbicides linked to the rapidly declining bee population

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Insects/Bees-Honeycomb-Hive.jpg

(NaturalNews) Upwards of 57 pesticides are responsible for poisoning European honey bees and contributing to the rapidly declining bee population worldwide.

Multiple studies have confirmed that there is a strong link between herbicide use and bee deaths. Although there are various factors at play, multiple lines of research converge on herbicide use as a significant variable. So much so, that the European Union has issued a ban on the use of neonicotinoid herbicides.

A recent study focused on this link was published in the Journal of Chromatography.

Weeding through a jungle of herbicides
Researchers are faced with the challenge of trying to understand which combination of herbicides impacts honeybees in different ways. In order to examine this more quickly, researchers from the National Veterinary Research Institute in Poland have developed a way to analyze 200 pesticides at once.

"Bee health is a matter of public concern -- bees are considered critically important for the environment and agriculture by pollinating more than 80% of crops and wild plants in Europe," Tomasz Kiljanek, lead author of the study from the National Veterinary Research Institute in Poland, said in a press statement. "We wanted to develop a test for a large number of pesticides currently approved for use in the European Union to see what is poisoning the bees."

Given the vast range of herbicides currently in use, it is hard to determine which ones are detrimental to bees. Kiljanek and his colleagues used a method known as QuEChERS – often deployed to detect the presence of herbicides in food – to investigate over 70 bee poisoning cases. Approximately 98 percent of the herbicides they analyzed were allowed to be used in the European Union.

The sting of extinction
The researchers found that 57 herbicides were present in poisoned bees. Herbicides, even in low concentrations, can impair the bees' immune systems, enabling viruses and parasites to destroy the colony. The team hopes that their findings will broaden the knowledge of different herbicides that are dangerous to bees.

"This is just the beginning of our research on the impact of pesticides on honeybee health," Kiljanek said.

"Honeybee poisoning incidents are the tip of the iceberg. Even at very low levels, pesticides can weaken bees' defense systems, allowing parasites or viruses to kill the colony," he added.

"Our results will help expand our knowledge about the influence of pesticides on honeybee health, and will provide important information for other researchers to better assess the risk connected with the mix of current used pesticides."

Previous research centered on other factors attributed to the decline of the global bee population, like climate change and disease. It has been suggested that diesel exhaust, for example, could be altering half of the floral scents that bees use to seek flowers, which could be responsible for the death of some bees.

A United Nations alert issued last February warned that hundreds of billions of dollars worth of crops could be wasted because of the declining bee population, putting the global food supply at risk.

One out of every six species of vertebrates are facing extinction, while two out of every five bee, butterfly and pollination insects are also in grave danger, reports TechTimes.

Sources include:

ScienceDaily.com

ScienceDirect.com

TechTimes.com

Metro.co.uk

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/054947_honey_bees_herbicides_extinction.html#ixzz4H2VrlCSP

[william r sanford72]

Surveys of Corn and Soybean Fields Reveal Implications for Pollinator Conservation

https://entomologytoday.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/agapostemon-virescens.jpg?w=410&h=284
Agapostemon virescens, one of the most abundant pollinator species found in corn and soybean fields in Iowa. Photo by Alex Wild. www.alexanderwild.com

Although corn and soybeans do not need insects for pollination, they do offer floral resources that are used by insect pollinators. So what kind of insects are commonly found in corn and soybean fields? The answer to that question can be found in a new article published in Environmental Entomology.

Researchers from Iowa State University used modified pan traps to compare the insect communities found in the two crops. All in all, they captured 6,704 individual insects representing at least 60 species. Thirty-four species were collected in both crops, 19 were collected only in corn, and seven were collected only in soybean.
The most abundant insects were solitary, ground-nesting bees, which accounted for 65% of the insect pollinators collected from both crops. Surprisingly, honey bees and bumble bees accounted for only 0.5 percent of all insects captured.
“Even though production agriculture includes practices that negatively impact pollinators, a community of pollinators persists within them,” the authors wrote. “Despite a reduction in plant diversity that has come with the production of corn and soybeans, there may still be biodiversity that could respond to conservation efforts.”
Since most of the pollinators found in the survey were ground-nesting bees, the researchers suggest that increasing the adoption of no-till practices may increase their numbers since tillage can destroy their nests. This could potentially help soybean farmers, as previous studies have shown that unmanaged bees can increase yields by as much as 6 percent.

A program known as STRIPS (Science-based Trials of Row-crops Integrated with Prairie Strips) could also benefit pollinators. Although the program was designed to prevent nutrients and sediment from eroding into watersheds, it could also benefit pollinators by providing a variety of flowering plants for them to forage.
Read more at:
– Defining the Insect Pollinator Community Found in Iowa Corn and Soybean Fields: Implications for Pollinator Conservation
http://ee.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/08/03/ee.nvw087

https://entomologytoday.org/2016/08/11/surveys-of-corn-and-soybean-fields-reveal-implications-for-pollinator-conservation/

[william r sanford72]

The Truth About Neonicotinoid Research: Field Studies Vs Lab Studies

Published on Aug 9, 2016

There have been numerous studies about neonicotinoids which have been criticized because of the perimeters used. In this segment of The Neonicotinoid View Radio Show, Dr. Christopher Connolly, from the University of Dundee talks about the difference between field studies vs laboratory studies when it comes to research on neonicotinoids..

www.theorganicview.com.

QbspWFNbaOo

[Bill Ryan]

.
Forgive me... I had to share this: :muscle:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/12/politics/f-22-raptor-grounded-honey-bee-swarm/index.html

F-22 Raptor grounded by 20,000 bees

The US Air Force's F-22 Raptor may be the most advanced fighter jet in the world but even with $143 million-worth of stealth and supersonic capabilities, it proved to be no match for one unlikely adversary --- a huge swarm of honey bees.

An F-22 aircraft from the 192nd Air Wing was temporarily grounded on June 11 after crew members at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia discovered nearly 20,000 bees hanging from the jet's exhaust nozzle following flight operations.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160812105543-f-22-bees-nozzle-exlarge-169.jpgHoney bees hanging from the exhaust nozzle of an F-22 Raptor engine on June 11, 2016 at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.

"I was shocked like everyone else because it looked like a cloud of thousands of bees," said Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Baskin, 192nd Maintenance Squadron crew chief, in an Air Force press release.

Rather than try to clear the bees from the jet themselves, crew members realized that honey bees are at risk of extinction and contacted local beekeeper and retired US Navy veteran, Andy Westrich, who proclaimed the hive the largest he had ever seen after being escorted to the aircraft.

Westrich used vacuum hoses to wrangle the thousands of bees into several large buckets and safely relocate the colony.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160812105423-f-22-bees-bucket-exlarge-169.jpgBeekeeper Andy Westrichwas called to remove and relocate the bees to a safe place.

Before transporting the bees to their new home at a local beer production facility, Westrich took them to his house and found that the hive weighed nearly eight pounds in total, according to the Air Force release.

[william r sanford72]

'Smart' Plant Virus Helps Host To Reproduce More

http://images.scienceworldreport.com/data/thumbs/full/26573/680/0/0/0/tomato-plant.jpg
Tomato plant is the host of the "smart" plant virus that actually helps in pollination.
(Photo : Junko Kimura | Getty Images)

Plant viruses usually infect the host and kill the plant host eventually, but this discovery by Dr. John Carr and fellow scientists from the University of Cambridge described a bizarre strategy of cucumber mosaic virus that helps the host plant to reproduce more.

The cucumber mosaic virus helps stimulate the host tomato plant to produce chemical signals that attract more insect vectors, in this case aphids. However, it was observed by Dr. Carr's team that aphids is not the only arthropod affected by the chemical signals, insect pollinators also displayed altered foraging behavior. This chemical signals specifically appeal to the bumble bee species, a major pollinator of the tomato plant. This chemical signals alters the behavior of bumble bees to trick them to be more "attracted" to the infected plants than the healthy ones.


This way, just before the plant dies, the plant can spread its pollen to other plants. The virus however is not transmitted through pollination but the quality of the seed and the plant that will germinate may be reduced since the pollen came from an infected plant. Infection to plant hosts are very much harder as compared to animals since plants are non-motile and viruses can only be transmitted through insect vector bites. The virulence or the virus' ability to kill the host is not really a sustainable way for plant viruses to survive since if they are not capable of reproducing to another host, they will more likely be eradicated. This strategy ensures the survival of the virus for more generations to come.

The authors of the research suggested that the virus might be improving the pollination success of the plant that might eventually lead to reproduction success as a way to "compensate" to the low yield caused by the infection.
The researchers are currently studying the implications of the research to understand more about the behavioral patterns of insect pollinators and vectors based on the blend of chemical signals that come from the plants as well as the viral strategies of other plant viruses and how it manipulates the plant's cellular machinery to its benefit.

http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/45441/20160814/bizarre-plant-virus-help-host-reproduce-more.htm

[Cidersomerset]

Neonic pesticide link to long-term wild bee decline

By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent

16 August 2016


http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/9F2E/production/_90805704_20341576793_79d9acb252_c.jpg
Species that fed regularly on oil seed rape such as the buff tailed bumblebee
showed more serious declines

The large-scale, long-term decline in wild bees across England has been linked
to the use of neonicotinoid insecticides by a new study.Over 18 years, researchers
analysed bees who forage heavily on oilseed rape, a crop widely treated with "neonics".

The scientists attribute half of the total decline in wild bees to the use of these
chemicals. Industry sources say the study shows an association, not a cause and
effect.

read more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37089385

[william r sanford72]

Urbanization affects diets of butterflies

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2016/1-urbanization.jpg
Mr. Anuj Jain from the NUS Department of Biological Sciences conducting studies on butterflies. Credit: National University of Singapore

A study led by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) revealed that most tropical butterflies feed on a variety of flower types, but those that are 'picky' about their flower diets tend to prefer native plants and are more dependent on forests. These 'picky' butterflies also have wings that are more conspicuous and shorter proboscis. The reduction in native plants due to urbanisation affects the diet of such butterflies, and researchers suggest that intervention may be needed to manage their preferred flower resources.


These findings are the outcome of a three-year study on how urbanisation affects the diets of tropical butterflies. "Butterfly species exhibit different levels of flower preferences and flower specialisation. Understanding the complex phenomenon of flower specialisation of butterflies is important as butterflies are known to be important pollinators of tropical forests. Changes in vegetation structure due to urbanisation could alter butterfly behavior, and in turn, result in changes in native plant pollination and reproduction," explained Mr Anuj Jain, who conducted the study as part of his doctoral research at the Department of Biological Sciences at NUS Faculty of Science.

"It is worrying that butterflies that are flower specialists may become increasingly dependent on fewer native flower sources. To conserve such butterflies, there is a need to develop intervention measures to maintain the availability of suitable flowering plants," Mr Anuj added.
Results of the study were published online in the journal Biological Conservation in July 2016.

Impact of urbanisation on tropical butterflies
When butterflies hunt for nectar, they collect pollen on their legs and body, which helps in pollination for the reproduction of plants. Studying the flowers that butterflies feed on is critical in understanding the reproduction and dispersal of different types of plants.

"So far, studies on the flower-feeding patterns of butterflies have been concentrated in temperate countries, such as the United Kingdom and Spain, but this area is not well-studied for the tropics. With massive landscape transformation that is happening in the tropics, there is a need to understand flower use by butterflies, to assess the implications on pollination and plant reproduction, as well as conservation of butterfly species," said Associate Professor Edward Webb from the Department of Biological Sciences at NUS Faculty of Science, who supervised the study.

To address this research gap, Mr Anuj collaborated with Assistant Professor Krushnamegh Kunte from the National Center for Biological Sciences in India, and butterfly experts from the Nature Society (Singapore) to look deeper into the flower-feeding patterns of tropical butterflies

Over a period of three years, the research team surveyed 62 sites in Singapore, which included both forested areas and urban parks, and recorded 3,092 flower visits by 190 butterfly species feeding on 149 plant species.

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2016/2-urbanization.jpg
Yellow vein lancer (Pyroneura latoia) butterfly, a flower specialist that feeds on a single native flower species, feeding on flowers of the Leea indica plant. Credit: Tea Yi Kai

Some tropical butterflies benefit from urban vegetation while others suffer
The researchers found that among the 190 butterfly species observed nectaring during the study, 30 were flower specialists who are 'picky' about their diets, feeding only on selected flower species, while the rest feed from a wide array of flowers.

A few forest butterflies were found to be critically dependent on single native flower species. One of them is the Yellow Vein Lancer (Pyroneura latoia) butterfly, which fed on flowers of the native plant Leea indica in 74 per cent of feeding observations. The team also found that the Lycaenidae family of butterflies, which is the most extinction prone and most habitat-specialised butterfly family in Singapore, is the most flower-specialised.

Of the 19 butterfly species that made at least 10 flower visits in both forests and urban parks, five species expanded their diet when they are in urban parks, which have more non-native plants compared to forested sites. This suggests that non-native flowering plants may be benefitting some butterflies by providing extra nectar resources.

"Native flowering plants in the forests of Singapore tend to be spatially dispersed and flowering events are short, sporadic and few, except during times of mass flowering. The presence of non-native plants may make up for this shortfall in native flowering events. The impacts of non-native flowering plants can be complex, potentially benefiting generalist species while being detrimental to specialists," explained Mr Anuj.

Flower specialisation and evolutionary adaptation of butterflies
The research team also studied the factors that made butterflies flower-specialists or generalists and found that butterflies that feed on fewer flower species (i.e. specialists) have wings that are more conspicuous.
Mr Anuj said, "Our results suggest that the conspicuousness of the butterflies may be an important evolutionary adaptation to escape predators during feeding. When butterflies are feeding, they tend to be vulnerable to predation. They will need to optimise foraging strategies or morphologies to reduce the time they spend on flowers, which may reduce exposure to predators and may lower predation."

It was also found that butterflies that are flower generalists had longer proboscis lengths than specialists. Possession of a long proboscis is beneficial to butterflies because it widens food choices by allowing access to nectar in deep flowers, which typically secrete more nectar than short flowers.

Future studies to focus on impact of tropical butterflies on plant reproduction
In their current study, the research team could only quantify flower use by butterflies, but did not investigate the impact that the butterflies have on seed production, seed dispersal and establishment of native plants.

To further their understanding on the true costs and benefits of non-native plant species to butterflies in tropical forests, the team hopes to carry out community-level experiments involving multiple plant species over the entire plant reproduction cycle.

Explore further: Insect's wings key to azalea pollination

More information: Anuj Jain et al, Flower specialization of butterflies and impacts of non-native flower use in a transformed tropical landscape, Biological Conservation (2016). DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.06.034

Journal reference: Biological Conservation
Provided by: National University of Singapore

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-08-urbanization-affects-diets-butterflies.html#jCp

[william r sanford72]

Time for a musical intermission..brought to you by the Upsetter.. Lee scratch Perry.

"I change my mind
My mind is mine
and I change the time
I changed the time and
the time is mine...."

-The Upsetter.Fight to the Finish.

D2-FdufiFEY

[william r sanford72]

National Honey Bee Day

August 20, 2016

A day for honey bees....a program for the entire year.
 
 
No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
                             Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

http://www.nationalhoneybeeday.com/images/245_Noreen_s_bee_1crop.jpg

Only when the last tree had died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish caught will we realize we cannot eat money.....based on a Cree saying.

http://www.nationalhoneybeeday.com/home.html

[Stephanie]

National Honey Bee Day

August 20, 2016

A day for honey bees....a program for the entire year.
 
 
No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
                             Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

http://www.nationalhoneybeeday.com/images/245_Noreen_s_bee_1crop.jpg

Only when the last tree had died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish caught will we realize we cannot eat money.....based on a Cree saying.

http://www.nationalhoneybeeday.com/home.html

🐝🐝 Honey bee blessings. 🐝🐝

[Hervé]

First long-term study confirms that neonic-treated crops are responsible for mass honeybee deaths (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/study-neonic-pesticides-bees/)

Justin Gardner The Free Thought Project (http://thefreethoughtproject.com/study-neonic-pesticides-bees/)
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 18:05 UTC



https://www.sott.net/image/s15/307482/large/markedqueenoncomb14b.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s15/307482/full/markedqueenoncomb14b.jpg)
© Dr Bill Hughes


The rise of industrial agriculture — led by companies such as Monsanto that push monoculture, chemical-based farming and patented life forms — has brought a flood of pesticides that wreak havoc on natural ecosystems.

Insects and animals that eat insects fall victim to the millions of gallons of pesticides dumped on cropland, which run off into waterways, drift to nearby habitats and are picked up as residue by visiting pollinators.

In the 1980s, Bayer developed a potent new class of pesticide called neonicotinoids (neonics), which rapidly came to dominate industrial agriculture. In 2008, they represented (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid#Decline_in_bee_population) 24 percent of the global market for insecticides, with Imidacloprid becoming the most widely used insecticide in the world.

Almost all U.S. corn and about one-third of U.S. soybean is treated with neonics. A "major advance" happened when agribusiness developed neonic-coated seeds, where every part of the growing plant becomes infused with the toxin, including pollen.

After government regulators, deep in the pockets of agribusiness, rushed to approve neonics for commercial sale, scientific studies began documenting the ecological impacts. Bird populations and other insectivores declined due to a lack of insect prey, as neonics became more widely used.

In 2006 we began seeing dramatic die-offs of honeybee populations, which play a vital role in pollinating food crops. Colony collapse disorder became a common occurrence, with bees showing classic signs of insecticide poisonings such as tremors, uncoordinated movement and convulsions.

Dead bees in and around hives showed the presence of neonics, and new research found that low-levels of neonics in bees made them susceptible to viral infections and mites, and reduced the reproductive ability of queen bees. Corn and dandelion pollen brought back to hives routinely tested positive for neonics.

Other insects are devastated by neonics, including the North American bumblebee which has seen a 90 percent decline. The threat to wild bees, honeybees and other pollinators is becoming ever more clear as more studies come out.

Now, the first long-term study (http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12459) of neonic impacts on wild bees has confirmed that the popular pesticide is linked to long-term bee decline.

Researchers in England looked at 18 years of data on 64 wild bee species and the use of neonics on the oilseed rape plant, which is widely treated with neonics, finding that about half of the total decline is due to the insecticide. All of the 34 species that forage on oilseed rape showed at least a 10 percent decline from neonics, with the most affected group experiencing a 30 percent decline from neonics.

The findings of the Centre for Ecologh and Hydrology team appear in the journal Nature.

"Historically, if you just have oilseed rape, many bees tend to benefit from that because it is this enormous foraging resource all over the countryside," lead author Dr. Ben Woodcock told the BBC (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37089385). "But this co-relation study suggests that once its treated with neonicotinoids up to 85 percent, then they are starting to be exposed and it's starting to have these detrimental impacts on them."

The research adds to several laboratory and short-term field studies which have found negative effects of neonics on honeybees and wild bees. Even the EPA has been forced to admit (http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2016/01/epa-finds-major-pesticide-toxic-bees) neonics kill bees.

"The negative effects that have been reported previously do scale up to long-term, large-scale multi-species impacts that are harmful," said co-author Dr Nick Isaac. "Neonicotinoids are harmful, we can be very confident about that and our mean correlation is three times more negative for foragers than for non-foragers."

While agribusiness will continue to deny that their favorite insecticide has anything to do with declining bee populations, well-informed consumers have already forced a change (http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/08/16/new-tests-find-significant-decrease-bee-killing-pesticides-bee-friendly-plants) at retail stores. Large garden centers, including Lowes and Home Depot, have committed to eliminating neonic-treated garden plants which are often planted for the purpose of attracting pollinators.

However, the vast majority of neonic application is in the hands of companies such as Bayer and Monsanto that produce both seeds and chemicals to use on seeds and plants. Their friends at the FDA and other government agencies are complicit in unleashing neonics without bothering to truly consider how these toxins affect the environment.

Source: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160816/ncomms12459/full/ncomms12459.html

[william r sanford72]

The latest Brexit buzz is about the fate of England's honeybees

SURBITON, England - The honeybees buzzing inside the hives in this community garden outside of London appear blissfully oblivious of the follies of man. But the political drama that has engulfed their human keepers since Britain voted to leave the European Union could ensnare them as well.

Few have bothered to consider what the country's historic decision to end its four-decade alliance with the continent will mean for the humble arthropod. Gaining far more attention have been the passionate debates over the merits of immigration and the limits of globalization that fueled the nation's desire to quit Europe.
But unraveling any marriage is a complicated affair, and the fate of Apis mellifera highlights how entangled Britain has become with the 27 countries beyond the English Channel. At stake are the future of European regulations of pesticides that could threaten the 250,000 hives on this island nation, medicines that can be used to treat honeybee ailments, and funding for inspectors responsible for ensuring the health of Britain's bees.

"The EU treaty is a finely balanced, huge political compromise between national governments," said Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "People think, 'Oh, it's just a free-trade agreement,' but it's not. It's much, much bigger than that."

Britain's vote to leave the EU, popularly known as "Brexit," was a repudiation of the belief in the free movement of goods and people that is at the heart of the alliance with Europe. Implementing those principles has generated reams of regulations and legislation that trace their origin to the EU's seat of power in Brussels and touch even the most obscure corners of the economy. There are carefully worded communiques on climate change, mandates for medical devices, prescriptions for pension administration and standards for safety procedures.
No one knows how many rules will remain intact and how many will be renegotiated - or abandoned altogether. No one is even certain how much legislation emanates from Brussels. Attempts to count are often politicized, according to Annette Elisabeth Toeller, a public policy professor at FernUniversitaet in Germany.
"We don't have the capacity within Parliament, within our civil service, to do all that - to basically start from scratch again," said Jeff Ollerton, a professor of biodiversity at the University of Northampton. "There's not enough time in the next 100 years."
The honeybee falls under the jurisdiction of the European Food Safety Authority. The EU produces more than 200,000 tons of honey for human consumption each year, but officials' interest is not merely culinary. Bees are a critical pollinator of Europe's farm crops, and their indirect impact on agriculture is estimated to be 22 billion euros, dwarfing the sales of honey. Beekeepers hope that means their interests would not be ignored in any future discussions.

"Beekeeping is a little bit like - well, I wouldn't say religion," said Tim Lovett, spokesman for the British Beekeepers Association. "If you're against bees, you're in serious trouble."

EU officials published an assessment last year of the 1,965 species of bees native to Europe and found that 9.2 percent are threatened with extinction. There is a working group on apiculture and bee health within the European Parliament, the alliance's legislative arm. And this summer, the fifth annual "Bee Week" took place in Brussels. The theme: "Bees caring for Europeans. Europeans caring for bees?"
Beekeepers are divided over what the Britain's departure from the EU will mean for their hives. Generating the most buzz is a temporary ban on pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, used by farmers. Environmentalists and bee enthusiasts had lobbied for the moratorium after noticing that bees exposed to the chemical appeared to act drunk, becoming disoriented and getting lost.
Now the question is whether Britain will keep the ban or roll it back.

"Environmental issues cross political boundaries. In order to tackle them, you have to work together," said Norman Carreck, science director at the International Bee Research Association. "If the U.K. leaves, everything is open to negotiation."

To those who supported remaining in the EU, the moratorium is exactly the type of regulatory minutiae that the alliance is supposed to alleviate. A centralized bureaucracy helps Britain compete in an increasingly interconnected world. Rather than negotiate with 28 agencies over pesticide use across Europe, beekeepers need only deal with one. A unified bloc also gives Britain greater leverage in negotiations with other world leaders. Collectively, the EU is the largest economy in the world - bigger than the United States. Alone, the United Kingdom is a distant fifth.
But to the majority who voted to leave, Brussels instead has become synonymous with faceless bureaucrats standing in the way of a British resurgence. And they have railed against red tape with the same fury that Americans aim at Washington.
Supporters of ending the alliance point to the example of the "bendy banana," an EU requirement that top-graded bananas be "free of malformation and abnormal curvature." An EU rule that mandated coffeemakers come with an energy-efficient setting sparked outrage. A review of the standards for candles - EN 15426:2007, EN 15893:2007 and EN 15494:2007 - was slammed as "barmy Brussels bureaucracy."

"When in doubt, Europe makes a regulation," Lovett said. "Frankly, 28 countries will never agree."

Lovett has worked with honeybees for more than 30 years, a one-man hive of activity who has served as trustee, chairman, president and now spokesman for the beekeeper's association. Although the organization took no official stance on Britain's break with the continent, Lovett said his years of work in the bureaucratic weeds on behalf of bees has made him skeptical of what was once billed as the grand European project.
How Britain will extract itself from the regulatory thicket in Europe remains unclear. Officials could try to leave many of the rules not directly related to trade and immigration in place. But voters may want a more decisive break, and European leaders have signaled reluctance to cut the recalcitrant nation an easy deal. A more dramatic move would be to cut ties altogether - a regulatory "nuclear option" - forcing Britain to back to square one, an unprecedented undertaking that experts estimate could take a decade or more to complete.
To a honeybee, it might as well be eternity. Worker bees live only a few weeks, although a queen bee can rule for years. There are about 24 hives at the apiary at Kingston Gardens, southwest of London and near one of the last remaining palaces from the reign of King Henry VIII.
On a recent summer morning, Lovett donned his white beekeeping suit and filled a metal can with burning cardboard and grass. As smoke wafted out, he fanned it toward one of the man-made hives, rousing its inhabitants to life.

Lovett pulled out a wooden frame of honeycombs teeming with large, black-eyed drones - too many drones, actually, a potential sign of an impending swarm. When that happens, worker bees will take off with their queen, fleeing the old hive in a massive uprising and establish their colony elsewhere.
And once they leave, there is no turning back.


http://napavalleyregister.com/news/nation-and-world/the-latest-brexit-buzz-is-about-the-fate-of-england/article_a283fea4-3c59-578c-b104-db3508d39eb3.html

[william r sanford72]

Rwanda: NAEB to Host Global Honey Expo

By Triphomus Muyagu

The National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) and ApiTradeAfrica have organized the 5th All-Africa International Honey which will be held next month in Rwanda.

Also dubbed ApiExpo Africa, the exposition - scheduled for September 21-26 - will be held at Camp Kigali under the theme: 'Driving Socio-Economic Transformation in Africa: The Role of Commercial Beekeeping.'

George William Kayonga, the CEO of NAEB, told the press on Thursday that the expo will be an avenue for sharing knowledge and technology.

"We want to promote beekeeping as a source of employment that generates household income and enhances environmental protection. We also want to get certification for standards such that honey gets demand on both local and foreign markets," he said.

Kayonga further announced that Rwanda was recently registered among African countries that are eligible to export honey to the European Union.
"ApiExpo Africa 2016 will attract investments to the agricultural sector, particularly the beekeeping industry," he added.

Organizers say over 3000 participants from Africa, the Middle East, Europe, USA are expected to showcase bee products such as honey, beeswax products, propolis, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Statistics from Rwanda Development Board (RDB) show that the current demand for honey is 1715 metric tons, up from 1625 in 2006. Production also increased from 38 metric tons in 2005 to 321 metric tons in 2010.

There are 83,000 beekeepers and 93,000 beehives with only 18 collection centers across the country. Projected private investment in honey sector is estimated at $7 million by 2017.

In many African countries, apiculture has been practiced for many years through successive generations and along inherited patterns as a traditional activity in a non-commercial nature. Honey, the main product, has been used for food, medicine and brewing traditional liquor.

Today, local and international demand for honey is still far from being satisfied. More investment is required so that the apiculture sector is market-driven.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201608190575.html

[TODD & NORA]

First Long-term Study Confirms World’s Most Popular Pesticide is Wiping Bees Off the Planet

Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/study-neonic-pesticides-bees/

[Fanna]

HYPOTHETICALLY:

Let us say in this completely hypothetical situation someone were guerilla beekeeping in some EMPTY lot somewhere that had a few dragon lines passing through way out of sight behind overgrown weeds and surrounded by beautiful trees. The only true claim being a decade old real estate sign with more weeds beginning to engulf.

Would her bees have legal protection to stay in their magical and service-oriented land if some insane person would buy property in such a dangerous neighbourhood?

[william r sanford72]

HYPOTHETICALLY:

Let us say in this completely hypothetical situation someone were guerilla beekeeping in some EMPTY lot somewhere that had a few dragon lines passing through way out of sight behind overgrown weeds and surrounded by beautiful trees. The only true claim being a decade old real estate sign with more weeds beginning to engulf.

Would her bees have legal protection to stay in their magical and service-oriented land if some insane person would buy property in such a dangerous neighbourhood?

Split them/make more hives and find new homes for the sisters so no matter what happens to the other/og magical bees and land there sisters hives and line....live on.


William.

[william r sanford72]

EPA continues to ignore the bee extinction epidemic ... could end in collapse of ecosystem

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Insects/Bees-Honeycomb-Hive.jpg

(NaturalNews) A coalition of farmers, food advocates and environmentalists from across the U.S. recently paid a visit to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) headquarters, where they stacked a wall of plastic containers filled with more than 2.6 million dead bees – the victims of a pesticide-induced pollinator holocaust that federal regulators don't seem at all concerned with addressing.

The "Keep the Hives Alive" tour is trying to grab the attention of apathetic government power-holders whose blatant disregard for the epidemic of Colony Collapse Disorder, also known as CCD, threatens to eliminate bees from the planet by the year 2035. Bee colony numbers reportedly declined by roughly 40 percent between 1947 and 2005 – from 5.9 million to 2.4 million. And the situation has gotten progressively worse in recent years: In the span of just one year, from 2015 to 2016, honeybee colonies declined by a shocking 44 percent.

The Bee Informed Partnership has been tracking bee declines for a number of years now, and experts affiliated with the group are deeply concerned about what they're seeing. Bee losses are now reaching record numbers, with no end in sight, and next to nothing is being done to stop the biggest known culprit: neonicotinoid pesticides.

"We're now in the second year of high rates of summer loss, which is cause for serious concern," says Dennis van Engelsdorp, an assistant professor of entomology at the University of Maryland, and project director for the Bee Informed Partnership. "Some winter losses are normal and expected. But the fact that beekeepers are losing bees in the summer, when bees should be at their healthiest, is quite alarming."

'Neonics' responsible for up to half of all wild bee deaths, new study confirms
In addition to the dead bees, activists presented some 4 million signatures urging the EPA, which has failed in its duty to protect our pollinators from noxious chemicals, to issue an immediate ban on "neonics," which a new study out of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) in the UK confirms is killing bees in record numbers.

The 18-year study evaluated the long-term impacts of neonics on bees, particularly those that forage on oilseed rape (canola) plants. The agricultural use of neonics on commercial crops, scientists say, is responsible for up to half of wild bee deaths. And, as increasingly more arable land is converted to cash crops like canola that are sprayed with neonics, a greater percentage of bee losses will be attributed to the chemical.

"In the five years since I started keeping bees, I've seen many hives killed by pesticides," says James Cook, a beekeeper from Minnesota who's deeply concerned about the future of our most precious pollinators. "If some fundamental things don't change, it's going to be really hard for beekeepers to adapt to the environment around us."

Bees aren't just vital for growing food; they're also providers of some of the most nutritious food available – foods like untreated raw honey, Manuka honey and bee pollen products. All of these will become a thing of the past if bees go extinct, which is why action needs to be taken now to protect bees and promote their growth rather than their decline.

Back in May, the state of Maryland was the first in the U.S. to pass a Pollinator Protection Act, which restricts consumers from using neonics on crops. Now it's time for Congress to pass nationwide restrictions on neonicotinoid use on commercial crops, which are a toxic nightmare for bees, bats and our other cherished insect pollinators.

Sources for this article include:

TrueActivist.com

BeeInformed.org

BBC.com

BeyondPesticides.org

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/055066_bee_populations_neonicotinoids_ecological_collapse.html#ixzz4IAajRbL3

[william r sanford72]

Nutrition matters: Stress from migratory beekeeping may be eased by access to food
August 24, 2016

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2016/nutritionmat.jpg

In the first large-scale and comprehensive study on the impacts of transporting honey bees to pollinate various crops, research from North Carolina State University shows that travel can adversely affect bee health and lifespan. Some of these negative impacts may be reduced by moving bee colonies into patches with readily available food or by providing supplemental nutrition when there are few flowers for honey bees to visit, the researchers say.

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are among the country's most important agricultural pollinators. They are frequently trucked around the United States - in short and long distances—to pollinate crops like apples, almonds and berries. But the impact of that travel remains unclear and ripe for study, says Hongmei Li-Byarlay, a National Research Council senior research associate in NC State's Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and co-first author of a paper describing the research, which aimed to be the first to directly measure stress in these types of colonies.
Combining the results of three different experiments, the research shows that traveling bees generally have shorter lives than stationary bees. Traveling bees also have greater oxidative stress levels—which ages them more quickly and may lessen their capacity to fight off disease and parasites.

"We found that migratory beekeeping influences the lifespan of bees, but how this impacts health and honey bee aging is more complicated and often more influenced by the environment these colonies are in," said Michael Simone-Finstrom, an NC State postdoctoral researcher during this research and co-first author of the study who currently works at the USDA honey bee research lab in Baton Rouge, La.

In one experiment, bees from commercial colonies that had traveled to pollinate almonds in California and then in Maine were compared to bees from colonies that remained stationary in the NC State apiary. Traveling colony bees lived about one day less than the stationary bees

"One day may seem trivial, but when a normal forager bee lifespan is only around 20 days, one day is significant," Simone-Finstrom said.
In the second experiment, researchers compared lifespan and colony health of migratory bees that traveled relatively short distances in North Carolina—35 to 60 miles in a handful of trips—to stationary bees; both types of colonies were controlled by the researchers.
"We saw the same lifespan differences as in the first experiment, plus we saw more oxidative stress in traveling bees when compared to stationary bees," Li-Byarlay said.

However, this increase in stress levels was only apparent early in the season—May and June—when the stationary bees had plenty of access to food. As the flowers dried up in the North Carolina summer heat, stationary bees had to work harder to find food while the traveling bees were moved into fields of blooming plants and therefore did better.

In the third experiment, researchers compared oxidative stress levels of stationary bees with bees that were transported across North Carolina for three hours each day for six consecutive days—a more intensive bee travel regimen than the second experiment. The results shed light on how the bee-rearing environment—where bees were raised as larvae—can impact the oxidative stress levels when bees become adults. In this experiment, foraging bees raised in migratory bee colonies had higher oxidative stress levels than foraging bees raised in stationary hives.

Li-Byarlay says she'd like to look at longer-term effects of bee migration and the interaction with nutrition, as this study examined bees over the course of roughly four months in late spring and summer. As honey bee colonies nationwide currently experience higher annual mortality, understanding effects through overwintering and mitigation of these effects would be particularly insightful.

Explore further: Male bees protect female bees from sexually transmitted diseases
More information: "Migratory management and environmental conditions affect lifespan and oxidative stress in honey bees" DOI: 10.1038/srep32023

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-08-nutrition-stress-migratory-beekeeping-eased.html#jCp

[william r sanford72]

Steps for Successfully Filtering Beeswax
Melting Beeswax the Easy Way

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When people find out that we are honey bee farming, they always ask about the honey. But bees also produce beeswax and something will need to be done with the beeswax when you harvest honey. We have tried several ways of filtering beeswax and our favorite way is to filter the wax on the stove top.
Having beeswax available is so fun. A few years ago at our homeschool co-op, I taught a group of middle school children how to make beeswax candles. Most of them didn’t realize that bees made a wax that could be used and made into useful items.

After that we brainstormed other beeswax uses and several of the students learned how to make lip balm at home. It was great to hear their excitement over something so simple and yet so exciting to them.
Filtering beeswax at home is pretty simple and there are several ways to do it. I’m going to show you how we filter beeswax but first let me give you a few tips we’ve learned along the way.
First, don’t ever melt beeswax directly on an open flame. The wax can catch on fire just like grease can. A water bath is great for filtering beeswax.
Secondly, if you want to retain the natural anti-microbial properties in beeswax, do not heat it higher than about 175°F. Beeswax has a melting point of 140°F to 145°F, so 170°F is more than adequate for melting it. Water boils at 200°F so don’t let the water boil.
It’s best to use pots and utensils that are dedicated for beeswax uses. Cooled beeswax is hard to remove so I suggest you pick up some used pots at the thrift store and use those. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did!

Lastly, if you happen to be filtering quite a bit of wax or already know you’re a messy cook, like I am, you might want to put a drop cloth down on the floor in front of the stove and on any counter where you might be working. I always think I’m not going to drop any pieces of wax but a few days after filtering or making something with the wax, I always find spots of wax on my floor and have to scrape them up. It’s just easier to put something down on the floor to catch the drops.
Depending on how old the wax is and where it came from will determine what method you use for filtering beeswax. If you have capping wax with some honey on it, you can put the wax in a pot of water and gently melt it. When it’s all melted, the wax will float on top and harden as it cools and the honey will separate out into the water. Once the wax is completely hardened, run a butter knife around the perimeter of the wax and then lift the wax out.
The process for filtering beeswax with a lot of debris is similar to the process for filtering capping wax. Since most of our wax comes from bee removals, we have a lot of debris in our wax and use the method shown in this post.

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Supplies for Filtering Beeswax
Fine cheese cloth or other loosely woven fabric
Beeswax
Large pot (It’s helpful to have one that is reserved for beeswax.)
Water
String

How to Filter Beeswax

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Wrap the wax in cheesecloth and tie with a string. We use several layers of cheese cloth when there is a lot of debris

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Put the cheesecloth in a large pot of water and gently heat.

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As the wax melts it will leech out of the cheesecloth but the debris will be contained.

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When the wax is melted, remove the cheesecloth with the debris and let the pot cool.

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Once the wax is hard, run a butter knife around the perimeter of the wax and lift the wax out of the water.
Now you can remelt the clean wax and make smaller pieces of it or use it in projects . To remelt the wax, put it in a clean heat safe jar or pitcher and put it in a pot of water. Boil the water to melt the wax, kind of like a double boiler. You can also use a traditional double boiler.
I like to pour the clean wax into a silicone muffin tin and then let it harden. Each puck is about 2.5 ounces and is a good size to work with and it’s very easy to get the beeswax pucks out of the mold once they’ve cooled.  You can also use other things like small milk or cream cartons. We’ve tried several different things but have found that using a silicone muffin tin to use as a mold works best for us.

Have you ever filtered beeswax? What do you do with it?

http://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/lifestyle/beekeeping/steps-for-successfully-filtering-beeswax/

[william r sanford72]

Vulture Bees are the Only Bees That Eat Rotting Meat

Vulture bees are part of a larger bee genus that don't sting, but they also are the only bees that survive by eating rotting meat.

http://i0.wp.com/www.ripleys.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/vulture-bees.jpg?w=800
Trigona Spinipes bee By Jose Reynaldo de Fonseca

MINI BELIEVE IT OR NOT –
Vulture bees are the only bees that don’t eat pollen or nectar; they survive on rotting flesh.
Vulture bees are a subspecies of bee in the Trigona genus
Trigona bees are the largest genus of stingless bees
They don’t like fully rotten meat, but prefer something a little fresher
Like flies, they eat by regurgitating saliva and a honey-like substance onto the food and then lap it up



http://www.ripleys.com/blog/vulture-bees/

[william r sanford72]

Parasitic Bees: Natural-Born Robbers

http://www.gotscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/cuckoo_bee_series_2_1_by_dalantech-d93ldd4-e1471624529524.jpg

By Steven Spence

Photography by John Kimbler

When we think of bees, most of us picture honeybees or possibly bumblebees. In fact, there are over 20,000 species of bees. Some are social, such as honeybees and bumblebees, while others are solitary. Bees typically build nests, collect pollen and nectar, and care for their offspring. Some bees, though, do not busy themselves with these things; instead, they move in as parasites, taking over other bees’ nests. Estimates based on surveys of North American bees indicate that as many as 15 percent of all bee species may be parasitic. A recent study focusing on wild bee species in Paris, France, found that 5 percent were parasitic bees [1].
Well, I’ve Never Seen Parasitic Bees
Reading that 5 to 15 percent of bee species are parasitic, we might think that we ought to see these bees everywhere. Actually, we do encounter them, but most of us don’t recognize them. One reason is that the number of species doesn’t measure how many bees of each species are out there. In the Paris study, only 1.2 percent of all the bees collected were parasitic despite representing 5 percent of the species.

Another factor to consider is that we are most likely to take note of easily recognizable honeybees and big fuzzy bumblebees, but there are many more types of bees around us. The majority have solitary lifestyles that do not capture our attention the way social bees do as they fly in and out of the colony in numbers. Additionally, most of these parasitic bees look quite similar to their target hosts. The main difference is the lack of hairs for carrying pollen baskets on the parasitic bees’ legs.

Bee species that are parasitic by thievery are known in the scientific literature as kleptoparasitic (or cleptoparasitic). They are more commonly referred to as “cuckoo bees” [2]. Like the cuckoo bird, these bees lay their eggs in the nests of other bees.

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Solitary Bees: Robbing Their Nests

When targeting the nest of a solitary bee species, the cuckoo bee finds a suitable spot, waits, and observes. Once the potential host has established and provisioned the nest, the cuckoo bee waits for the host bee to go out. The cuckoo bee enters the nest, lays an egg, and leaves. Her egg develops faster than that of the host species. This larva devours the pollen and nectar stores intended for the host bee’s larvae—and will also consume the host larvae.

Social Bees: Overthrowing Their Queen

Taking on a social bee colony is much more complex. The cuckoo bee has to select a colony of the right size. Taking over a colony cannot happen without the cuckoo bee fighting and killing some of the worker bees. If she picks too small a colony, there might not be enough workers left after the takeover to feed her and her offspring. If she picks too large a colony, she may be overwhelmed by the number of worker bees that oppose her.

In a study of parasitic bumblebees [3], scientists captured multiple days of interactions on video. What they saw confirmed that parasitic bees find their targets using their sense of smell. The parasitic bumblebees could even identify the ages of worker bees by smell. That may seem surprising, but bees (along with many other insects) make use of pheromones, which are chemical scents, to trigger various behaviors. Pheromones may be used to trigger alarms reactions like swarming an attacker, to leave food trail markers, to trigger other individuals to feed another, to attract mates, and even to suppress ovulation in worker bees.
Knowing the worker bees’ ages was important for the cuckoo bee because older workers were more likely to oppose her. Once the cuckoo bee has gotten rid of the most aggressive opponents, she threatens and intimidates the other workers instead of killing them. She grabs them and shows them her stinger, but does not actually sting them. This display of dominance is enough to pacify them, allowing her to remain in the colony alongside the queen.

http://www.gotscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/baited_bumblebee_series_1_3_by_dalantech-d9su6c2-e1471624913952.jpg
A bumblebee feeding. Photo by John Kimbler.


http://www.gotscience.org/2016/08/parasitic-bees-natural-born-robbers/

[william r sanford72]

Toms mentions chem trails...June mentions being under attack..pluss good update and info...

Planting Wildflowers Without Testing For Neonicotinoids

Published on Aug 25, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Tom Theobald talk about why efforts are being made to continue planting wildflowers without testing for neonicotinoids and the new federal lawsuit against EPA regarding labeling of seed treatments.

www.theorganicview.com.

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:heart:

[william r sanford72]

Why Can't We Trust Research From Land-Grant Colleges

Published on Aug 29, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Tom Theobald talk about why land-grant colleges either intentionally or unintentionally appear to distort the truth. Is this another play courtesy of the corporate spin machine?
www.theorganicview.com.

HxucxqNKuJo

[william r sanford72]

Australian Honey Bee Decline, New MN Rules, Zika News

Published on Sep 1, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Tom Theobald talk about news from Australia and the situation beekeepers are facing there, the new rule on neonicotinoids in Minnesota and why spraying mosquitoes for Zika is also killing bees.

www.theorganicview.com.

VapXabTP5ho

[Hervé]

‘Mass killing’: Anti-Zika spraying accidentally slays millions of SC’s honeybees (https://www.rt.com/usa/357932-zika-spraying-kills-millions-bees/)

Published time: 1 Sep, 2016 18:01
Edited time: 1 Sep, 2016 18:07
Get short URL (http://on.rt.com/7o6k)


https://cdn.rt.com/files/2016.09/original/57c85f8fc36188517f8b45d0.jpg
© Laszlo Balogh / Reuters


Millions of South Carolina’s bees have unexpectedly fallen victim to the US fight against the Zika virus. Hives of bees dropped dead in Dorchester County, attempting to flee an insecticide attack that had primarily targeted mosquitoes.

“My bee yard looks like it’s been nuked,” local Juanita Stanley told AP, describing the devastating effect of the aerial spraying.

Stanley, for whom bees is a major income, is a co-owner of Flowertown Bee Farm and Supply in Summerville. They have lost nearly 2,5 million honeybees from 46 hives.

On Sunday morning, parts of Dorchester County were sprayed with Naled, a common insecticide that kills mosquitoes on contact. In the US, it has been used for nearly six decades, since 1959, primarily to control adult mosquito population.

Given that Dorchester County has seen an increase in insects due to rains and floods, humidity, a mild winter and an extremely hot summer, to local officials it seemed like a helpful move to prevent Zika. Especially after four travel-related cases of the virus were confirmed in Summerville. As of August 26, South Carolina had a total of 43 confirmed Zika cases.




https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/455783246500872193/20aU1Fcr_bigger.jpeg EHN ‏@EnvirHealthNews (https://twitter.com/EnvirHealthNews)
Millions of bees dead after SC sprays for #Zika (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Zika?src=hash) mosquitoes. http://EHN.org/t/1692193038704117870 … (https://t.co/qt9itBoVIb) @bbguari (https://twitter.com/bbguari) @washingtonpost (https://twitter.com/washingtonpost)


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CrRUfXtW8AQr4cH.jpg

“The aerial application will allow county officials to target areas wherein the level of demand cannot be addressed with ground spraying and larval control alone,” the county said (https://www.dorchestercounty.net/index.aspx?recordid=664&page=27) in a statement before spraying.

However, the fact that Naled, which poses no threat to people or animals, is highly toxic to bees, was not taken into account.

“My wife called a short time after the flyover and said, ‘We have a mass killing,’” a hobby beekeeper Andrew Macke told AP. “‘We have thousands and thousands of bees dead all around our pool deck and our driveway, just everywhere.’”

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends spraying between dusk and dawn, when bees are not typically foraging. In Dorchester, an airplane dispensed Naled mist, between 6:30 am and 8:30 am Sunday.

“Had I known, I would have been camping on the steps doing whatever I had to do screaming, ‘No you can’t do this,'” Stanley told Charleston’s WCSC-TV.

At the same time, the county informed locals about spraying days beforehand, both on its website and Facebook as well as via numerous media outlets.

Officials have issued a statement Tuesday, saying they were “aware that some beekeepers in the area that was sprayed on Sunday lost their beehives.” The County has opened a call center to receive information on losses related to mosquito spraying.

[william r sanford72]

Calgarians to climb mountain peaks to highlight plight of 'stressed' bees
Pair will climb nearly 11,000 metres in a day to help spread their message

http://i.cbc.ca/1.3746640.1472845121!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/spencer-madden.JPG
This is the outfit Spencer Madden will wear on Monday when he scrambles the four peaks of the Canmore Quad to raise funds and awareness about the declining bee population. (Spencer Madden/Eco Not Ego International)

Two Calgarians hope to create a buzz around the plight of bees by bagging four mountain peaks in a day — with the added of challenge of wearing beekeeper suits and carrying 40 kilograms of honey.

Spencer Madden, co-founder of Eco Not Ego International, says the goal of their "crazy outdoor challenge" is simple: to save the bees, he told the Calgary Eyeopener on Friday.

Chestermere becomes Western Canada's first Bee City
A bee-autiful story: Man saves queen-less bee swarm with the help of Facebook group

Madden and his business partner, Josie Ganos, started the Bee Aware AB campaign to raise funds and increase awareness about the threat to honey and wild bees around the world. 

Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Ganos and Madden will begin their ambitious quest to complete what is known as the Canmore Quad.

The quartet of peaks they'll climb over 24 hours includes Grotto Mountain, Lady McDonald, the east end of Rundle peak and the Ha Ling peak. There's a total elevation gain of about 11,000 metres.

http://i.cbc.ca/1.3746656.1472845671!/fileImage/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/original_620/canmore-qaud.png
The route Spencer Madden and Josie Ganos will take in their 24-hour quest to scramble the four peak of the Canmore Quad. (@canmoremd, canmorerunner.com)

"The purpose is to simulate some of the conditions bees are under and stresses that they are receiving in this current environment," says Madden. 
Though the weather looks favourable, the trek is not without some dangers — especially while wearing the unorthodox gear. Madden says they'll remove their beekeeper head coverings as they cross the "knife's edge," a narrow spine along Lady McDonald peak. It's a deadly drop of about 700 metres on the north side and a chute of about 1,000 metres of nasty terrain on the south side.
The pair hopes to raise $2,000 and all the proceeds will go to free educational programs for school children and giving people the chance to  interact with bees at Madden's apiaries.

Negative synergies for bees

Madden's fascination with bees began in childhood, but after learning more about their rapidly declining numbers he was moved to do something.
"There's just something about those fuzzy little creatures that warms my heart, and as you get older you realize the reality is that they are under stresses, and it just snowballed from there."

http://i.cbc.ca/1.3746710.1472846780!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_620/bee-hive.JPG
The aim of Eco Not Ego International's Double Bee project is to help double the bee population to pre-industrial levels, according to its website. (Eco Not Ego International)

Many scientists have speculated on the reasons for the decline in bees, says Madden.
"Some of the biggest factors are pesticide and herbicide use, which affects the bee's ability to find their way back to the hives."
Other theories include climate changes, as well as the way agricultural industry works with the need for high yield and turnover, plus the clear-cutting of trees.  

"All these things create a horrible synergy for the bees and have really made their populations take a nosedive."
Einstein's words of warning
"The day the last bee dies, humanity has about four years to live," said Madden quoting Enstein's ominous words. 

"One third of our food supply is pollinated by bees and imagine going into your grocery store ...  and there's just no food if the bee population is allowed to continue to collapse."

http://i.cbc.ca/1.3746729.1472848115!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_620/josie-ganos-bee-hives.JPG
Josie Ganos sits amid her bee hives. She'll join Madden on the 24-hour, four-peak trek on Monday. (Eco Not Ego International)

Madden is the proud owner of apiaries, but he's quick to point out that "(the bees) own you."
But it's helped him understand how bee colonies work and that people could take some lessons from the fuzzy insects.
"You can  draw a lot of parallels with how society and how we could be working as well, harmonizing and everyone having a role in trying to do something for the better."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgarians-mountain-climb-endangered-bees-awareness-1.3746602

[william r sanford72]

usda..NATIONAL HONEY REPORT August 26, 2016

www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/fvmhoney.pdf

[william r sanford72]

Tell me A Story: The Lotus Flower and the Frogs

adapted by Amy Friedman and illustrated by Meredith Johnson

http://www.recordonline.com/storyimage/TH/20160905/NEWS/160909999/AR/0/AR-160909999.jpg&MaxW=650

Once upon a time in India, there was a beautiful pond filled with lotus flowers beside a palace. Whenever the lotus flowers blossomed, the bees came from near and far. Those bees swarmed the flowers, enjoying their sweet honey, and the air filled with the sound of satisfied buzzing.

Whenever this happened, the frogs that lived all year long in the pond would wake to the sound of buzzing, and they sat at the edge of the pond, staring in wonder. This happened year after year, but each time the frogs asked themselves the same question:

"How did the bees learn about the honey?" they whispered.
"Who told them this was the time to come?"

"The moment we open our eyes, there are the bees. How do they know?"
At long last, the Frog King called a meeting to answer the frogs' questions. "The bees," he declared, "must be the wisest creatures in the world."

And so, the king said, we can learn from the bees. They have secrets to offer the world. The king's advisers suggested that all the frogs spend their time observing the bees.

"Stay quiet. Sit very still. Keep your eyes wide open," said one of the king's advisers. "Do not stop watching and listening. Observe everything you can, so that we can learn the bees' secrets."

And so, every year, when the bees arrived and began to swarm the lotus blossoms, the frogs grew still. They squatted at the edge of the pond and watched. They listened. Some of the bravest frogs sometimes swam close to the flowers and tried to understand the meaning of the bees' language. When the bees were gone, they gathered and discussed what they had learned.

"The bees certainly buzz," the frogs all agreed. "Perhaps if we learned how to buzz, we would be wise, too."

At night, the frogs practiced buzzing. But no matter how hard they tried, the sounds they made did not sound like that soft, gentle buzz of the bees. They filled the night air with squawking, rather than than buzzing. It was too loud, too high and too fast.

They practiced all night long, and in the morning they were exhausted. But they were no wiser.

At long last, the Frog King decided he must speak to the Queen of the Bees. "I will meet with her and ask her how they know when the lotus flowers will blossom."

That year, he waited until the first lotus blossomed. Sure enough, the bees appeared at the pond and the air filled with their sounds.
The Frog King greeted the first arrivals: "Welcome back. How are you? So good to see you. Please, tell your queen I request the honor of her presence in my home."
The drones told their queen of the invitation. She was delighted. The frogs had never been hospitable; they seldom invited others to their pond, and as far as anyone knew, no one had ever been invited to the Frog King's home.

The next day, the Queen of the Bees flew to the Frog King's home at the edge of the pond, just beside the palace.

"Welcome," said the Frog King, "I am glad you have come to my home. Please, help yourself to the honey I have collected for you."
The queen was deeply touched seeing the bowl of honey in the Frog King's home.

"Now," he said, "I have a very important question to ask you."

The Queen of the Bees bowed. "Ask me anything. I am pleased that the frogs have welcomed the bees. It is far more pleasant to be friends than foes."

The Frog King agreed. "It is, but let me tell you what is troubling us. We live in the pond beside the lotus flowers. We sleep beside the flowers, too. Still, we never know when they will blossom, and we do not know where you live."
"Far, far away," said the queen, "but we seldom stay in one place for long. When we smell the lotus flowers, we make our way here."
The Frog King nodded. "So you say you smell the lotus blossoms?"
"Yes," said the queen. "Their scent is powerful and travels across the wind. That is what lures us to this place."

The Frog King was amazed. He and his frogs knew the pond was a lovely place. They proudly observed their home. They listened to the sounds around them. They tasted and touched what they saw. But they had never thought to use their sense of smell, and they had never noticed the sweet scent of the lotus blossoms.

The next day, the king told the frogs the secret of the bees, and they were astonished. And from that day on, the frogs paid closer attention to the sweet scents of their world, and life became still more beautiful.
** ** **

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20160905/NEWS/160909999

[william r sanford72]

Land-Use Change Rapidly Reducing Critical Honey Bee Habitat in Dakota

The Northern Great Plains of North and South Dakota, which support over 40 percent of United States commercial honey bee colonies, are quickly becoming less conducive to commercial beekeeping as a result of land-use changes, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study published today.

The USGS scientists found that landscape features favored by beekeepers for honey bee colony, or apiary, locations are decreasing in the region, and crops actively avoided by beekeepers, such as corn and soybeans, are becoming more common in areas with higher apiary density. Areas that showed high levels of grassland loss and high apiary density were mostly in central and southern North Dakota and the eastern half of South Dakota.
The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Insect pollinators are critically important for maintaining global food production and ecosystem health, and U.S. insect pollination services have an estimated annual value of $15 billion,” said Clint Otto, a scientist at the USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center and the lead author of the report.

The scientists investigated changes in biofuel crop production, including corn and soybeans, and grassland cover surrounding approximately 18,000 registered commercial apiaries in the Dakotas from 2006-2014. Results show a continual increase in biofuel crops totaling 1.2 million hectares, or almost 3 million acres, around apiaries mainly located in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Dakotas. These crops were avoided by commercial beekeepers when selecting apiary sites in the region.
The authors explained that conversion of pasture, conservation grasslands and bee-friendly cultivated crops to biofuel crops likely impact both managed and wild pollinators because it reduces forage availability and increases the use of chemicals that negatively affect pollinators and their ecosystem services.

“Our study identifies areas within the Northern Great Plains that managers can target for honey bee habitat conservation,” Otto said.
This research is important because one of the key goals of the Pollinator Health Task Force strategy is to establish 7 million acres of pollinator habitat by 2020.
Most of the commercial honey bee colonies that spend the summer in the Dakotas provide pollination services for crops such as almonds, melons, apples and cherries elsewhere in the U.S. According to the report, the Northern Great Plains have served as an unofficial refuge for commercial beekeepers because of their abundance of uncultivated pasture and rangelands, and cultivated agricultural crops such as alfalfa, sunflower and canola that provided forage for bees.

For more information about USGS pollinator research in the Northern Great Plains, please visit the USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center or the USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab websites.

https://scienceblog.com/487677/land-use-change-rapidly-reducing-critical-honey-bee-habitat-dakotas/

USGS Pollinator Research and Monitoring

More pollinator research at: https://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/

3_O6RDdrfDc

[onawah]

Bayer Raises Offer to Buy Monsanto
http://www.wsj.com/articles/bayer-raises-offer-to-buy-monsanto-1473121719


German company raises bid to $127.50 a share from $125, says higher price depends on reaching a ‘negotiated transaction’y JACOB BUNGE
Updated Sept. 5, 2016 11:53 p.m. ET

Bayer AG raised its offer to buy Monsanto Co. and create a new global leader in seeds and pesticides, though the German firm said the higher price depended on achieving a “negotiated transaction.”

Bayer, which has been discussing a deal with Monsanto since mid-May, said it would pay $127.50 a share for the St. Louis-based biotech seed giant, up from its previous offer of $125 a share. The higher offer values Monsanto at over $65 billion, including debt.

Monsanto acknowledged the improved offer, and called the discussions with Bayer “constructive.”

“Monsanto is continuing these conversations as it evaluates this proposal, as well as proposals from other parties and other strategic alternatives to enable its Board of Directors to determine if a transaction in the best interests of its shareowners can be realized,” officials for the company said.

Executives of the pharmaceutical giant have said that acquiring Monsanto, the world’s largest supplier of crop seeds and genes, will create a global firm with a deep portfolio in pesticides, positioned to help farmers around the world produce food for a growing and more affluent population.Werner Baumann, who took over as Bayer’s chief executive just weeks before launching what would be the aspirin maker’s biggest-ever acquisition, is pursuing the deal as rivals in the $100 billion global market for seeds and pesticides seal their own mergers. Mr. Baumann has faced pushback from some Bayer shareholders, however, who have worried about Bayer shifting focus away from its pharma division.

Monsanto has said it sees the virtues of combining its prowess in seeds with Bayer’s much broader range of pesticides, but Monsanto’s board in July unanimously rejected Bayer’s previous offer of $125 a share as too low and “insufficient to ensure deal certainty.” Analysts have said around $135 to $140 a share may be a more realistic price.

Bayer said Monday that there was no assurance a deal would be struck, and if one was, it would remain subject to regulatory approvals.

Monsanto shares settled Friday at $107.44. Bayer shares settled 0.7% lower Monday at €94.24 (about $105).

Monsanto is weighing Bayer’s takeover proposal as the U.S. company’s own profits have come under pressure from the slumping farm economy, where bin-busting harvests have pushed down grain prices and forced farmers in the U.S. and elsewhere to reduce spending on everything from crop seeds to tractors and land. The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week projected that U.S. farm incomes this year will hit their lowest point since 2009, forcing more farmers to consider switching to generic weedkillers, put off buying new machinery, and trade down to cheaper seeds.

Monsanto has responded to the downturn by laying off about 16% of its global workforce and curtailing some research projects, including a Brazilian sugar cane effort.

While Bayer has touted its deal as offering Monsanto investors an attractive price for the company, some Monsanto shareholders have said that Monsanto should seek a higher figure based on the long-term potential of some of its investments, including a data analytics business that crunches weather, soil and crop information to formulate farming advice.

Bayer and Monsanto have few alternative partners. DuPont Co. and Dow Chemical Co., which both maintain big divisions focused on seeds and crop sprays, unveiled their own merger in December, a plan that eventually will lead to the spinoff of three independent companies, including one focused on agriculture. That deal’s closing now is likely to slip into early 2017 after European Union antitrust officials moved to open an in-depth probe of the deal, citing competitive concerns in herbicides and insecticides, among other product lines.

Syngenta AG, another top seed and pesticide maker, is moving ahead with a planned sale to China National Chemical Corp. for $43 billion, in a deal that would broadly expand China’s heft in high-tech seed development as the country works to modernize its agricultural sector. That deal last month won a key nod from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.


Bayer waiting for Monsanto to engage after spurned bid - sources | Reuters

Monsanto Co (MON.N), the world's largest seed company, has still not opened its books more than two weeks after it rejected Bayer AG's (BAYGn.DE) $62 billion acquisition offer but left the door open to a possible deal, according to people familiar with the matter.

The impasse shows that little progress in negotiations has been made since Monsanto on May 24 turned down its German peer's $122-per-share cash offer but said it was open to "continued and constructive conversations."

Monsanto has said that Bayer's offer "significantly undervalues (the) company and also does not adequately address or provide reassurance for some of the potential financing and regulatory execution risks related to the acquisition."


Bayer, however, has no plans to increase its offer without first reviewing Monsanto's confidential information, the sources said on condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the talks.

The Leverkusen-based company needs access to Monsanto's books before it can decide whether it can pay a higher price, as well as offer a more detailed plan on how to address potential antitrust risks, the sources added.

Bayer also has no intention currently to go hostile with its bid, the sources said.

Monsanto, based in St. Louis, has not directly told Bayer that it is looking for better terms in order for it to offer the German company access to confidential information, according to one of the sources.

However, Monsanto's lack of engagement demonstrates that it not only views Bayer's offer as too low, but that it does not even consider it as a basis for negotiations, the sources said.

The situation did not change even after Monsanto held a regular board meeting this week to approve a quarterly dividend of 54 cents per share.

Bayer declined to comment, while a Monsanto spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

The Wall Street Journal had reported earlier on Friday that Bayer had made a new takeover approach to Monsanto that was rebuffed, in part because it didn't include a higher price.

Bayer's unsolicited bid for Monsanto is the largest all-cash takeover on record, according to Thomson Reuters data, just ahead of InBev SA's $60.4 billion offer for Anheuser-Busch in June 2008.

Global agrochemicals companies are racing to consolidate, partly in response to a drop in commodity prices that has hit farm incomes. Seeds and pesticides markets are also increasingly converging.

ChemChina plans to buy Switzerland's Syngenta (SYNN.S) for $43 billion, after Syngenta rejected a bid from Monsanto. Dow Chemical Co (DOW.N) and DuPont (DD.N) are forging a $130 billion business.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Arno Schuetz and PJ Huffstutter in Chicago; Editing by Paul Simao)

http://www.firstpost.com/fwire/bayer-waiting-for-monsanto-to-engage-after-spurned-bid-sources-reuters-2828276.html

[william r sanford72]

Pollinators: Lord of the Rings Actor Dominic Monaghan Weighs In...

PYWqYzevBTs

Dominic Monaghan, Actor/Environmentalist & Urban Bee Keeper/Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan. For tonight's Green Report - We go to Northern California - where butterflies have been mysteriously disappearing for decades. According to new research published in Biology Letters - there's even more proof that the butterflies aren't just disappearing because of land-use and the climate changing - they're disappearing because humans are killing them with neonicotinoid pesticide use. The research team - lead by Professor Matthew Forister from the University of Nevada - looked at 40 years of data to separate the different factors that correlate with the declining butterfly population. The authors found that the butterfly population in Northern California made it a biodiversity hotspot - but that populations have been in decline since the late 1990s without any correlation to recent temperature or land-use changes. But the decline lines up neatly with the increase use of neocotinoids - which were first used in 1995 in Northern California. Here now to discuss the importance of butterflies and other pollinators in our ecosystem - is Dominic Monaghan - Actor - Environmentalist - Bug Aficionado and Urban Beekeeper.

http://www.thomhartmann.com/bigpicture/pollinators-lord-rings-actor-dominic-monaghan-weighs

[william r sanford72]

How one man is saving China's endangered bees

Most beekeepers in China keep imported bees from Europe because they are easier to manage and produce more honey.
But 60-year-old Li Yongchang decided to keep indigenous Chinese bees a decade ago.
They have been on the verge of extinction for years, and Li is on a mission to pass on his skills to raise these creatures essential to China's natural environment.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37316005

[william r sanford72]

Agroscope : Secrets of honey-making by bees unveiled

Bern, 09.09.2016 - From never seen before X-ray images of honey bee combs, a research team from Agroscope and the Institute of Bee Health at the University of Bern (both Switzerland) could study how honey is produced. The team used computer tomography to measure sugar concentration in the wax cells, without disturb-ing the sensitive mechanisms of the colony. They found that bees use several techniques to ripen honey.

Honeybees collect nectar from flowers and concentrate the sugar it contains to produce honey. Honey reserves in their wax combs allow colonies to survive over winter when no food is available in the environment. This rich source of sugar is also appreciated by humans and honey is harvested for consumption. Despite the importance of honey for honey bee and humans societies, little is known about its production by worker bees.

In an article in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, a joint research team from Agroscope at the Swiss Confederation and from the Institute of Bee Health at the University of Bern (Switzerland) could quantify the changes in sugar concentration in wax cells during honey production by worker bees.

'Due to the technical difficulties of measuring sugar concentration in wax cells without disturbing the bees, we still ignore much of how nectar is transformed into honey', says senior author Vincent Dietemann from Agroscope. 'Computer tomography is conventionally used to examine humans or animals for medical purpose, but here we used this technique to scan whole honey bee hives. We could, for the first time, measure and literally see the sugar concentration of honey in the wax cells' adds lead author Michael Eyer from both Agroscope and Institute of Bee Health, who has been working on this project for the past two years

Honey production, use and computer tomography - Background

Honey bees collect their food from plants in their environment. Floral pollen is the honey bee's main source of protein. Nectar gained from flowers and honeydew derived from plant-sucking insects, provide the sugars to fuel their muscle activity. During honey production, enzymes are added to nectar and honeydew by the bees and water is eliminated to concentrate sugar. Water is evaporated actively by workers who manipulate regurgitated droplets of nectar with their mouthparts. In parallel, passive evaporation operates on the cell content.

Honey is a rich source of sugar exploited by humans since at least 15,000 years. In addition to its role as sweetener, honey is also used for its health benefits that include healing of wounds and fighting off infections. Switzerland has an annual average honey production of 3'400 tons, with an annual consumption of 1.3 kg honey per person.
Computer tomography generates three dimensional X-ray images and is based on the measurement of density and the visualization and quantification of the differences in density of the component materials. Since the density of a sugar solution varies with its concentration, the former parameter can be used as a proxy for the latter.

Article citation
Eyer M, Neumann P, Dietemann V (2016) A Look into the Cell: Honey Storage in Honey Bees, Apis mellifera. PLOS ONE 11(8): e0161059. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0161059.
The study was supported by the Vinetum Foundation, the Foundation Sur-La-Croix and Agroscope. It was performed by researchers from Agroscope, Switzerland (Swiss Bee Research Center, Swiss Confederation) and the University of Bern, Switzerland (Institute of Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty).

http://www.4-traders.com/news/Agroscope-Secrets-of-honey-making-by-bees-unveiled--23029821/

[william r sanford72]

Honeybees give former prisoners a new chance

Beekeeping provides transitional jobs as they re-enter the workforce.

https://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2016/09/sweet-beginnings-workers-check-hives.jpg.653x0_q80_crop-smart.jpg
Sweet Beginnings workers check the hives at the Chicago-area apiaries. (Photo: Sweet Beginnings)

Not a lot of people want to get up close and personal with bees. Despite their contributions to the environment, bees can be a little scary.

Likewise, people who have recently been in prison can inspire fear. But when given the chance, says Brenda Palms Barber, they both can produce something sweet and good.

Barber is CEO of Sweet Beginnings, a program that is part of the North Lawndale Employment Network outside of Chicago. The social enterprise creates full-time transitional jobs for men and women who have been incarcerated. The program was created for people with criminal backgrounds who often have a difficult time finding employment once they're released.

The board of Sweet Beginnings created a job training program, but they found that so many of their clients experienced closed doors once they revealed their past. Barber realized their group had to create a business to employ them personally. That would help give them the social and job skills to get them re-introduced back into the workforce and prove to potential employers that they were ready to take on responsibility.

"We had to demonstrate to society that people who have served their time have, in fact, served their time" Barber says.

They mulled several options for types of businesses to start, many of which were "very, very bad ideas," Barber says. Finally, one board member suggested beekeeping. Why not, they thought, agreeing to meet with beekeepers to learn more.

"It was in a conversation with these beekeepers, that they shared it's a hobby or a profession passed on through storytelling. And I thought most people love to learn through stories. That's really how we landed here."

Donning the protective suit
https://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2016/09/kelvin-bee-suit-sweet-beginnings.jpg.838x0_q80.jpg
Kelvin dons his bee suit as he works with the hives at Sweet Beginnings' apiaries in the Chicago area. (Photo: Sweet Beginnings)

Beelove was born in 2005. The group soon had five apiaries with 130 hives throughout the Chicago area, making them the largest urban beehive operator in the city. Because honey has a low profit margin, they decided to also make skincare products from some of the honey that would be extracted from the hives.
When given the opportunity to work with the bees, most clients weren't hesitant to put on the protective suit.

"People were so desperate for a job that they were willing to put aside their fears to work," Barber says. "The greater fear was to not have a job at all."

If some people couldn't conquer their fears, they ended up with other jobs like labeling and packaging products, assembling hives, or helping sell items at markets and fairs.

"There are always those who are incredibly fearful and never get over it and those who just love working with the bees," Barber says. "Most will tolerate the bees but they all have a respect for them and the miracle that the honeybee is and the important work they do."

The sweet taste of success
https://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2016/09/sweet-beginnings-selling-customers.jpg.838x0_q80.jpg
Sweet Beginnings participated in the Chicago World Fair Trade's Pop-up Shop in July 2016. Here, Christopher R demonstrates beelove body creme. (Photo: Sweet Beginnings/Facebook)

About five to 10 employees work for Sweet Beginnings' beelove project at any one time. They're employed full-time for three months, then transition into the job market. In the decade or so since beelove started, nearly 500 former prisoners have had jobs with the company.

Beelove honeybees have produced 1,600 pounds of honey. Although the majority is sold and packaged as raw natural honey, the rest is made into products ranging from body cream and shower gel to lip balm and sugar scrub. The products can be purchased online and at Whole Foods and various other retailers.

"One thing Sweet Beginnings does besides producing beautiful skincare products and local honey is restore a person's self-worth and help them gain confidence in themselves so they can be good employees and make good choices," Barber says. "When you know your own value, you make better choices in life."

Interestingly, Barber says sometimes people who aren't involved in the project seem confused that the honeybees are so productive in the inner city areas where the hives are located. They want to know where do the bees go? Where do they find flowers?


Barber points out that they have a number of parks and backyard gardens, but there are also a lot of weeds.

"Bees don't discern between what we as humans see as a flower or a weed. They just see the positive and transform it into something that is good. That's what we are doing with individuals who are interested in turning their lives around," she says.

"I love that this little honeybee is teaching us so much about humanity. People are afraid of people with backgrounds and people are naturally afraid of bees. Bees can sting you and we have all been stung by people. Yet they can still produce goodness."

http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/honeybees-give-former-prisoners-second-chance

[william r sanford72]

That stings: Insecticide hurts queen bees' egg-laying abilities
September 9, 2016 by Scott Schrage

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2016/thatstingsin.jpg
Judy Wu-Smart, an entomologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has published new research suggesting that a popular class of nicotine-based insecticides have substantial effects on honey bee colonies. Credit: Scott Schrage, University of Nebraska

The world's best-selling insecticide may impair the ability of a queen honey bee and her subjects to maintain a healthy colony, says new research led by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln entomologist.

The research examined the effects of imidacloprid, which belongs to a popular class of nicotine-based insecticides known as neonicotinoids. Honey bees often become exposed to neonicotinoids in the process of pollinating crops and ornamental plants while foraging for the nectar and pollen that feed their colonies.
Queen bees in colonies that were fed imidacloprid-laced syrup laid substantially fewer eggs - between one-third and two-thirds as many, depending on the dose of imidacloprid - than queens in unexposed colonies, the study reported.

"The queens are of particular importance because they're the only reproductive individual laying eggs in the colony," said lead author Judy Wu-Smart, assistant professor of entomology. "One queen can lay up to 1,000 eggs a day. If her ability to lay eggs is reduced, that is a subtle effect that isn't (immediately) noticeable but translates to really dramatic consequences for the colony."

Wu-Smart and her colleague, the University of Minnesota's Marla Spivak, assessed colonies populated by 1,500, 3,000 and 7,000 honey bees. Some colonies received normal syrup, with others given syrup that contained imidacloprid in doses of 10, 20, 50 and 100 parts per billion, or PPB.
Colonies that consumed the imidacloprid also featured larger proportions of empty cells, the signature hexagonal hollows that serve as cribs for honey bee broods. About 10 percent of cells in the unexposed colonies were vacant, compared with 24, 31, and 48 percent of the 20, 50 and 100 PPB colonies, respectively. The finding suggests poor brood health in the exposed colonies, Wu-Smart said.

The researchers further found that exposed colonies collected and stored far less pollen, which they convert into a "bee bread" that provides crucial protein for recently hatched larvae. While more than four percent of the cells in unexposed hives contained pollen, less than one percent of cells in even the 10 PPB colonies did.

And the honey bee equivalent of biohazard containment - the removal of mite-infested or diseased pupae before they can infect the hive - also suffered. An unexposed colony of 7,000 bees removed more than 95 percent of the ailing brood, but a 100 PPB colony eliminated only 74 percent and a 50 PPB colony just 63 percent. Wu-Smart said this reduction in hygienic behavior indicates that the exposed colonies could be more susceptible to pests and pathogens

Yet Wu-Smart and Spivak also discovered that some of the insecticide's apparent effects, such as decreasing the amount of time a queen spent moving through the hive or the number of worker bees foraging for food, dissipated as the size of a colony increased.
"What we can say is that smaller colonies tend to be more vulnerable, because the queens are more likely to become exposed," Wu-Smart said. "When we look at our general beekeeping practices, the early spring is when colonies are at their smallest size. They're coming out of winter, and a lot of them are naturally smaller."

Unfortunately, Wu-Smart said, growers typically apply insecticides or sow insecticide-treated seeds at that same time. Even imidacloprid-treated crops that bees typically do not pollinate, such as corn, can contribute to exposure when winds sweep up the dust stirred by planting machines and carry it across miles of landscape. That dust can settle in willow trees, dandelions, clovers and other flowering plants that represent food sources for honey bees.

Though Wu-Smart said she doesn't consider banning neonicotinoids a practical step in protecting honey bee colonies, she did advocate for regulating insecticide-treated seeds the same way the industry does with sprays and other application techniques.

"When you spray a pesticide, you have to consider things like wind and temperature to reduce drift," she said. "You can't aerial-spray on a windy day. With seed-treated products, there is no label telling (growers) that it's been treated with an insecticide. There is no restriction as to when you can plant.
"When we do a lot of the extension outreach and talking to growers, many of them are unaware that this is even a problem. So just having that label on the bag saying that planting these seed treatments on a windy day could potentially cause some effects on bees could be useful."

The new study represents another step toward understanding the complex, often intertwined ways that neonicotinoids and other insecticides affect honey bee colonies, Wu-Smart said.
"What we're seeing now is that beekeepers will ... check their hives, say that the hives look good, come back a few weeks later, and (see) the colony start to look really weak," she said. "They'll come back (again), and the colony is dead or dying. So it's a slow decline of their colony health.
"In many of these cases, we want to figure out why these colonies are dwindling when they should be at their peak production. This is providing some of that insight. It's not answering all the questions, but it's definitely something to consider."

Wu-Smart and Spivak published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports.

Explore further: Pesticides not the sole culprit in honey bee colony declines

More information: Judy Wu-Smart et al, Sub-lethal effects of dietary neonicotinoid insecticide exposure on honey bee queen fecundity and colony development, Scientific Reports (2016). DOI: 10.1038/srep32108

Journal reference: Scientific Reports
Provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-09-insecticide-queen-bees-egg-laying-abilities.html#jCp

[william r sanford72]

Seek and you shall find—bees remain excellent searchers even when ill
September 12, 2016

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/csz/news/800/2014/1-bee.jpg

Honeybees are hardwired to efficiently search the landscape enabling them to continue working for the greater good of their hives even when they are sick, according to new research co-authored by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

Radar technology has been used to show for the first time that bees remain nimble and able to search and respond to their environment even when they have infections or viruses.

Honeybees tirelessly commute between rewarding flower patches and their hive, often hundreds or even thousands of metres apart. Their remarkable navigational skills rely on distinct landmarks, such as trees or houses, which they very efficiently find and memorise on orientation flights.

Experts fitted a transponder, a tiny dipole aerial much lighter than the nectar or pollen normally carried by the bee, to the thorax of the bee. Tracking each bee individually they would pick up a radar signal form the transponder showing where and how it was flying.

Co-author Professor Juliet Osborne from University of Exeter, said: "We tracked the individual flying bees with a harmonic radar system. This involves attaching a very lightweight aerial to their back but it doesn't affect how fast they fly, or how much nectar they collect. It is still the only method for getting these really detailed data on where the bee flies."

Bees, like humans, can fall ill and getting around during periods of sickness can become very challenging. However, this study shows that even very sick bees are still able to optimally search their surroundings in so-called Lévy flight patterns.

Lead author of the study, Dr Stephan Wolf from QMUL's School of Biological and
Chemical Sciences, said: "The honeybees we observed had remarkably robust searching abilities, which indicate this might be hardwired in the bees rather than learned, making bees strong enough to withstand pathogens and possibly other stressors, and allowing them to still contribute to their colony by for example, foraging for food."

Lévy search patterns are a natural mathematical pattern found across the animal kingdom, including in early human hunter-gathers, and describe certain movements like stalking for prey or searching for mates. The pattern alternates between clusters of short steps interjected with longer steps in between, which allows the individual to efficiently comb through large surface areas.

Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, the team monitored six groups of bees who were affected with a virus and a fungus-like disease to varying degrees. The flight behaviour of 78 bees was observed.

The researchers discovered that the unhealthy bees didn't fly as far or for as long as the healthy bees but they continued to search in the same manner, suggesting that the pattern was inbuilt.

The work opens up new avenues to better understand and ultimately mitigate a number of adverse factors affecting the way animals interact with their environment, including ecological key species such as bee pollinators.
Explore further: Interaction between Varroa destructor and imidacloprid reduces flight capacity of honeybees

More information: 'Optimal search patterns in honeybee orientation flights are robust against emerging infectious diseases' by S.Wolf et al will be published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Journal reference: Scientific Reports
Provided by: Queen Mary, University of London

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-09-findbees-excellent-searchers-ill.html#jCp

[william r sanford72]

'Unusual' Bee Species Drills Apartment-Style Nests Out of Rock

http://www.livescience.com/images/i/000/086/057/original/sandstone-bee-nests.jpg
The bee species Anthophora pueblo excavate their nests in hard sandstone, such as here in Utah's San Rafael Swell.
Credit: Michael Orr/Utah State University

A newly discovered species of bee does things the hard way, gnawing its nests out of solid rock even when softer dirt is available.

This hard work appears to pay off, however, by providing the bees greater protection from the vagaries of life in the desert Southwest. The species, dubbed Anthophora pueblo, has been found in Utah, in southwest Colorado and in Death Valley in California, where it pocks vertical sandstone rock faces with tiny holes. Though the bees seem to be solitary nesters, they build these rocky alcoves next to one another, like insect apartment-dwellers.

"The bee is very unusual," study researcher Michael Orr, a doctoral student in biology at Utah State University, told Live Science.

Hidden discovery

The first hint of Anthophora peublo's existence dates back to the early 1980s, when entomologist Frank Parker — an author on the current study and the former head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bee Lab in Utah — discovered bees nesting in holes dug into sandstone in Utah's San Rafael Desert. Parker chipped out a couple of blocks of sandstone and reared the bees until they emerged from the rock; the nests and bee specimens then sat in a museum collection, unstudied.

Flash forward to the present day, when Orr began doing fieldwork studying other members of the Anthophora genus. He'd seen bees using the sandstone nests, and when Parker told him about the original discoveries in the 1980s, he knew he had to investigate more fully.

He did some detective work to rediscover Parker's original field sites, where the gap is still visible from the chunk of rock he chiseled out 36 years ago, Orr said. Something else remains the same, too.

"One of the greatest moments for me of this project was going back and revisiting that site from almost 40 years ago, and just walking up and the bees are still there," Orr said. "They're still using this same spot."

Orr and his colleagues discovered the sandstone-dwelling bees at seven sites total, the researchers reported on Sept. 12 in the journal Current Biology. They're mostly found in natural rock formations, but some nest in ancient Pueblo dwellings made by human hands — lending them their species name.  

The bees, which are covered in the familiar black-and-yellow stripes, nest in sandstone at all but two sites, Orr said, where they burrow into silt. At these silt sites, the sandstone is about 2.5 times harder than the sandstones that the bees burrow into.

"They prefer it up until it's at a certain hardness threshold and then it doesn't make sense for them anymore," he said.
 Costs of excavating

There's a cost to burrowing in stone. Older female bees commonly show wear and tear on their mandibles, Orr and his colleagues reported, and it takes more energy and time to dig through sandstone than dirt. However, there's evidence that building nests to last confers benefits to the bees' offspring, which may reuse their parents' tunnels. The bees are also able to hole up in their dwellings and delay emergence for up to four years when times are lean and not many desert flowers are blooming; sandstone probably protects the bees from erosion or flash floods better than dirt during these long quiescent periods, the researchers wrote.

While long-lasting nests used through multiple generations can attract parasites, the sandstone also seems to stymy freeloaders, the researchers found. In the sandstone blocks found in 1980, the nesting sites had been colonized by parasitic beetles called Tricrania stansburii. The larva of these beetles hitch rides on bees back to the bee nests. However, only six out of 69 larvae had successfully emerged from their nesting cells, Orr said. The rest died, unable to get out of the tough stone. The hardness of the rock seems to help keep the parasite population in check.

The sandstone should also deter microbial parasites. "Sandstone has relatively little organic matter in it naturally because of the way it's formed, and because of that most of the microbes that are using it are making their own food through things like photosynthesis," which requires sunlight, he said. "Anything making its own food through photosynthesis will be much less likely to invade a bee's nest and eat the bee's food."

The bee nests also provide a sort of secondary shelter for insects and arachnids that can't chew through rock on their own, Orr said. At least 20 species use the burrows, about half of which are parasites. Other "renters" of the rock apartments include spiders, other bee species and wasps, he said.

In the future, Orr hopes to track the bees as they come and go to find out if they're entirely solitary or if they cooperate to share nests. He's also working to get the local Native American community involved in the study and to draw more non-scientists into noticing these odd bees.

"I'm hoping to build kind of this sort of citizen science network where people can report these nest sites to me," he said. Acting on tips and doing his own explorations, he's found more than 50 new nesting sites since the paper was submitted to the journal, he said.

http://www.livescience.com/56073-bee-drills-nests-out-of-rock.html

[william r sanford72]

Study: Scientists That Won’t Link Pesticides To Bee Deaths Are Often Funded By Agrochemical Industry

‘Syngenta and Bayer have a substantial amount of influence in the debate,’ said one neurobiology researcher in response to a Greenpeace analysis of corporate corruption in pesticide research.

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A bumble bee perches on rape blossoms near Munich, southern Germany. A new study shows that scientists funded by pesticide makers downplayed the role pesticides had in
decimating worldwide bee populations

MINNEAPOLIS — Pesticide manufacturers have spent millions influencing researchers who are investigating the role of neonicotinoids, a nicotine-like chemical found in many major pesticides, in bee die-offs, according to a recent analysis by Greenpeace.

The analysis arrives just weeks after scientists released the results of a long-term study that shows neonicotinoids are extremely dangerous to wild bees in the United Kingdom.
Bayer and Syngenta, two of the world’s top manufacturers of neonicotinoid-based pesticides, gave over £2 million (over $2.6 million) to British universities engaged in research on pesticides and plant sciences between 2011 and the start of 2016, reported Joe Sandler Clarke, a journalist for Greenpeace’s Energydesk, on Aug. 29.

“Syngenta and Bayer have a substantial amount of influence in the debate,” Dr. Christopher Connolly, a reader in neurobiology at Scotland’s Dundee University, told Clarke.
Energydesk sent Freedom of Information requests to 135 universities, requesting details on studies funded by Bayer or Syngenta, and heard back from 70 institutions. Among the top recipients of corporate funding were Nottingham University, which received £557,500 from Syngenta for research into plant sciences between 2011 and 2015, and Reading University, which received £587,952 for similar research during the same period.
Dave Goulson, a professor of biology at Sussex University, acknowledged that it’s difficult to measure the exact extent of corporate influence in his field. However, he told Clarke:

“It does seem to be the case that research funded by agrochemical companies rarely seems to find evidence that their products harm the environment, while independently-funded research often finds major adverse effects caused by the same products.”
He further acknowledged: “Scientists are under huge pressure to obtain research funding and so are naturally likely to be keen to keep their funders happy.”
 
Scientists increasingly confident that ‘neonicotinoids are harmful’

While it appears some researchers were taking corporate money to follow an agribusiness agenda, others continue to document the harm caused by neonicotinoids.
Neonicotinoid pesticides were banned from use on all flowering plants in the European Union in 2013. A team of seven scientists recently compared wild bee populations to levels of neonicotinoid use on oilseed rape crops in the U.K. between 1994 and 2011. The study, published Aug. 16 in the science journal Nature Communications and led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, showed that the populations of dozens of wild bee species declined significantly as the use of neonicotinoid pesticides increased, with the populations of one species down as much as 30 percent.

“[T]he average decline in population across all 62 species was 7.0 percent, but the average decline among 34 species that forage on oilseed rape was higher, at 10 percent,” reported Kate Kelland, a Reuters journalist who attended a press conference led by Ben Woodcock, who co-led the study.
Woodcock told reporters:

“Prior to this, people had an idea that something might be happening, but no one had an idea of the scale. [Our results show that] it’s long-term, it’s large scale, and it’s many more species than we knew about before.”

Connolly, the neurobiologist interviewed by Greenpeace, has also authored important research into the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides. In April, he and seven other researchers released a study in the journal Scientific Reports which showed two major neonicotinoids, Bayer’s imidacloprid and Syngenta’s thiamethoxam, have harmful effects on bee populations and the brain cells of individual bees. Surprisingly, a third chemical, Bayer’s clothianidin, appeared to actually increase the number of queens produced by a colony.

Connolly, who supports an ongoing ban on all neonicotinoid pesticides, including those containing clothianidin, praised the recent study by Woodcock and company. “The evidence against neonicotinoids now exists in key bee brain cells involved in learning and memory, in whole bees, entire colonies and now at the level of whole populations of wild bees,” he told Kelland.
Overall, there seems to be growing consensus among scientists that neonicotinoids pose a threat to bees. Dr. Nick Isaac, lead researcher of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology’s study, told Greenpeace’s Clarke:

“Neonicotinoids are harmful. We can be very confident about that.”

http://www.mintpressnews.com/study-scientists-that-wont-link-pesticides-to-bee-deaths-often-funded-by-agrochemical-industry/220344/

[william r sanford72]

FDA Finds Monsanto’s Weed Killer in U.S. Honey

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The Food and Drug Administration, under public pressure to start testing samples of U.S. food for the presence of a pesticide that has been linked to cancer, has some early findings that are not so sweet.

In examining honey samples from various locations in the United States, the FDA has found fresh evidence that residues of the weed killer called glyphosate can be pervasive - found even in a food that is not produced with the use of glyphosate. All of the samples the FDA tested in a recent examination contained glyphosate residues, and some of the honey showed residue levels double the limit allowed in the European Union, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. There is no legal tolerance level for glyphosate in honey in the United States.

Glyphosate, which is the key ingredient in Monsanto Co.’s Roundup herbicide, is the most widely used weed killer in the world, and concerns about glyphosate residues in food spiked after the World Health Organization in 2015 said its cancer experts determined glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen. Other international scientists have raised concerns about how heavy use of glyphosate is impacting human health and the environment.
Records obtained from the FDA, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, detail a range of revelations about the federal government’s efforts to get a handle on these rising concerns. In addition to honey, the records show government residue experts discussing glyphosate found in soybean and wheat samples, “glyphosate controversies,” and the belief that there could be “a lot of violation for glyphosate” residues in U.S. crops.

Even though the FDA annually examines foods for residues of many pesticides, it has skipped testing for glyphosate residues for decades. It was only in February of this year that the agency said it would start some glyphosate residues analysis. That came after many independent researchers started conducting their own testing and found glyphosate in an array of food products, including flour, cereal, and oatmeal. The government and Monsanto have maintained that any glyphosate residues in food would be minimal enough to be safe. But critics say without robust testing, glyphosate levels in food are not known. And they say that even trace amounts may be harmful because they are likely consumed so regularly in many foods.

The residue issues are coming into the spotlight at the same time that the EPA is completing a risk assessment to determine if use of this top-selling herbicide should be limited. The agency has scheduled public meetings on the matter Oct. 18-21 in Washington. The EPA’s risk assessment report was initially due out in 2015, but still has not been finalized. The agency now says it will be completed in “spring 2017.”
In the records released by the FDA, one internal email describes trouble locating honey that doesn’t contain glyphosate: “It is difficult to find blank honey that does not contain residue. I collect about 10 samples of honey in the market and they all contain glyphosate,” states an FDA researcher. Even “organic mountain honey” contained low concentrations of glyphosate, the FDA documents show.

According to the FDA records, samples tested by FDA chemist Narong Chamkasem showed residue levels at 107 ppb in samples the FDA associated with Louisiana-based Carmichael’s Honey; 22 ppb in honey the FDA linked to Leighton’s Orange Blossom Honey in Florida and residues at 41 ppb in samples the FDA associated with Iowa-based Sue Bee Honey, which is marketed by a cooperative of American beekeepers as “pure, all-natural” and “America’s Honey.” Customers “can be assured that Sue Bee Honey is 100% pure, 100% all-natural and 100% American,” the Sioux Honey Association states.

In a Jan. 8, 2016 email Chamkasem pointed out to fellow FDA scientists that the EU tolerance level is 50 ppb and there is no amount of glyphosate allowed at all in honey in the United States. But Chris Sack, an FDA chemist who oversees the agency’s pesticide residue testing, responded by reassuring Chamkasem and the others that the glyphosate residues discovered are only “technically a violation.”
“The bee farmers are not breaking any laws; rather glyphosate is being introduced by the bees,” Sack wrote in response. “While the presence of glyphosate in honey is technically a violation, it is not a safety issue.”

Sack said the EPA had been “made aware of the problem” and was expected to set tolerance levels for honey. Once tolerance levels are set by EPA - if they are set high enough - the residues would no longer be a violation. When contacted this week, the EPA said there are currently no pending requests to set tolerance levels for glyphosate in honey. But, the agency also said: “there is no dietary risk concern from exposure to glyphosate residues in honey at this time.”
Sioux Honey Vice President Bill Huser said glyphosate is commonly used on farm fields frequented by bees, and the pesticide travels back with the bees to the hives where the honey is produced.

“The industry doesn’t have any control over environmental impacts like this,” Huser said. Most of Sue Bee’s honey comes from bees located near clover and alfalfa in the upper Midwest, he said. Beekeepers located in the South would have honeybees close to cotton and soybean fields. Alfalfa, soybeans and cotton are all genetically engineered to be sprayed directly with glyphosate.

The FDA results are not the first to find glyphosate in honey. Sampling done in early 2015 by the scientific research company Abraxis found glyphosate residues in 41 of 69 honey samples with glyphosate levels between 17 and 163 ppb, with the mean average being 64 ppb.
Bee keepers say they are innocent victims who see their honey products contaminated simply because they might be located within a few miles of farms where glyphosate is used.

“I don’t understand how I’m supposed to control the level of glyphosate in my honey when I’m not the one using Roundup,” one honey company operator said. “It’s all around me. It’s unfair.”

The FDA did not respond to a question about the extent of its communications with Monsanto regarding residue testing, but the records released show that Monsanto has had at least some interaction with the FDA on this issue. In April of this year, Monsanto’s international regulatory affairs manager Amelia Jackson-Gheissari emailed FDA asking to set up a time to talk about “enforcement of residue levels in the USA, particularly glyphosate.”
The FDA routinely looks for residues of a number of commonly used pesticides but not glyphosate. The look for glyphosate this year is considered a “special assignment” and came after the agency was criticized by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in 2014 for failing to test for glyphosate.

The FDA has not released formal results of its testing plans or the findings, but Sack made a presentation in June to the California Specialty Crops Council that said the agency was analyzing 300 samples of corn; 300 samples of soy; and 120 samples each of milk and eggs. He described some partial results achieved through April that showed glyphosate levels found in 52 samples of corn and 44 samples of soybeans but not above legally allowed levels. The presentation did not mention honey. The presentation also stated that glyphosate testing at the FDA will be expanded to “routine screening.”

The USDA also will start testing for glyphosate, but not until next year, according to information the agency gave to the nonprofit group Beyond Pesticides in a meeting in Washington in January. Documents obtained through FOIA show a plan to test in syrups and oils in 2017.

Soybeans and Wheat
Like the FDA, the USDA has dragged its feet on testing. Only one time, in 2011, has the USDA tested for glyphosate residues despite the fact that the agency does widespread testing for residues of other less-used pesticides. In what the USDA called a “special project” the agency tested 300 soybean samples for glyphosate and found more than 90 percent - 271 of the samples - carried the weed killer residues. The agency said then that further testing for glyphosate was “not a high priority” because glyphosate is considered so safe. It also said that while residues levels in some samples came close to the very high levels of glyphosate “tolerance” established by EPA, they did not exceed those levels.

Both the USDA and the FDA have long said it is too expensive and is unnecessary to test for glyphosate residues. Yet the division within the USDA known as the Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has been testing wheat for glyphosate residues for years because many foreign buyers have strong concerns about glyphosate residues. GIPSA’s testing is part of an “export cargo sampling program,” documents obtained from GIPSA show. Those tests showed glyphosate residues detected in more than 40 percent of hundreds of wheat samples examined in fiscal 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The levels vary, the data shows. GIPSA has also been helping FDA access soybeans to test. In a May 2015 email, GIPSA chemist Gary Hinshaw told an FDA food safety official that “it isn’t difficult to find soybeans containing glyphosate.” In a December 7, 2015 email from FDA chemist Terry Councell to Lauren Robin, also a chemist and an FDA consumer safety officer, Councell said that glyphosate was present even in processed commodities, though “way below tolerance.”

The fact that the government is aware of glyphosate residues in food, but has dragged its feet on testing for so long, frustrates many who are concerned about the pesticide.

“There is no sense of urgency around these exposures that we live with day in and day out,” said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/fda-finds-monsantos-weed_b_12008680.html

[william r sanford72]

posted about Hallucinogenic Honey back in the thread some time ago"Mad Honey" with a good vid documenting the adventure...there is a vid with this link from vice that I didn't post that is interesting...

Hunting for Hallucinogenic Honey in Nepal

https://vice-images.vice.com/images/content-images-crops/2016/09/01/hunting-for-hallucinogenic-honey-in-nepal-v23n6-body-image-1472724974-size_1000.jpg?
Twice each year, the bravest men among the Gurung villagers of Talo Chipla suit up in makeshift protective gear, like the netted hats worn above, for a traditional hallucinogenic honey hunt. All photos by Igor Kropotov

Every year, for centuries in Nepal, members of the Gurung ethnic group have climbed down the sides of cliffs amid swarms of bees—putting their lives on the line—to collect wild honey. It is not just any honey, of not just any bee: Nepal's Apis dorsata laboriosa is the largest honeybee in the world, and in the Himalayan hills, its nectar boasts hallucinogenic properties. Those effects are documented from 401 BC—when Greek soldiers, traveling through modern day Turkey near the Black Sea, indulged in a similar honey and were debilitated with intoxication—to today. I'd heard some fascinating but vague stories about this custom, and I'd seen amazing photos and videos of past hunts. Intrigued by this ancient culture and the mysterious psychedelic effects of the honey, I joined the Gurung in their excursion last spring.

It took nearly two days for me to get from Katmandu to the village of Talo Chipla in the foothills of the Annapurna Himalayan mountain range, where villagers welcomed me with flower garlands and an orange Buddhist prayer scarf. The Gurung know the honey to be a powerful medicine that alleviates joint pains, and if taken in small doses, to also produce mild highs. In larger doses, ingesting the honey can send you on a toxic, cold-sweat trip of hallucinations, vomiting, and diarrhea that can last for more than 24 hours.
There's a lot of talk these days of the global depopulation of bees, and its implications for the environment have recently become a concern among international conservationists. Data on current populations of these Himalayan bees in Nepal are scarce, but contrary to the last government survey conducted, which showed a slight population decline, men and women in Talo Chipla told me that their bee populations are actually thriving, and so the biannual quests for their honey—once in late fall and once in late spring—continue. The Gurung's honey-hunt tradition plays a central role in the cultural identity of those in this region, and they welcomed me warmly when I arrived.

The rhododendron is Nepal's national flower, and its pollen, picked up by these gigantic bees, contains the chemical grayanotoxin, which can infuse their honey with its drug-like qualities. In spring, the pink flowers blanket the hills, at altitudes too high for domesticated honeybees to fly, so to harvest honey that contains grayanotoxin, locals have one option: to scale the cliffs. There's no way to control the amount of rhododendron pollen consumed by the bees, so the potency of the high-inducing honey varies from season to season, if there are any effects at all. Still, come spring and fall, the harvests continue as they have for centuries. To the Gurung, hunting for honey seems to be as much about passing on tradition as it is about the honey itself.

Most of the villagers come from families that sustained life through agriculture for generations, but these days, many in Talo Chipla are employed to maintain a hydroelectric dam that was installed nearby. Each year, an increasing number of Nepalis leave rural villages to work abroad, and honey hunting has become a way for the villagers to maintain a connection with their ancestors.

"Only those who can control their fears and remain unflinching in the face of death can be a honey hunter," said Bais Bahadur Gurung (all of the villagers in the region go by the last name Gurung), the 65-year-old chief of the district. The role comes with great risk, but it's matched with equal amounts of respect and honor. Many of the senior hunters in Talo Chipla no longer collect honey today, but the villagers have faith in the upcoming generation. "Old men may have experience," Bais Bahadur explained, "but the young men have balls."

https://vice-images.vice.com/images/content-images-crops/2016/09/01/hunting-for-hallucinogenic-honey-in-nepal-v23n6-body-image-1472725037-size_1000.jpg?
The hunters empty baskets of hives and honeycombs, knocked from the cliffs, onto tarps. Once the bees are removed, the honey is strained and divvied into containers, and then it's ready to be consumed.

The night before the hunt, I laid in my tent thinking about the bees. Their hives are giant disks, the size of coffee tables, and hang from the cliffs in colonies of more than 50 hives. I drifted to sleep envisioning swarms of bees flying into my esophagus and making a hive in my hollowed-out chest cavity.

The next morning, I downed a cup of instant coffee and hiked an hour farther into the jungle with the villagers. We assembled in a small nylon camping tent for a breakfast of chicken and frog-leg soup for good luck. A bundle of dead frogs hung from the pole above our heads as we ate. About 30 hunters dressed in whatever protective gear they could find: Despite the heat, some wore winter coats to cover their forearms and torsos; some covered their heads by wrapping mosquito netting around plastic construction helmets and separated the mesh from their faces with beaks of bamboo.

From what I could tell, the ancient method for the collection is as makeshift as the hunter's outfits. I watched cautiously as the men anchored an enormous ladder constructed out of strands of bamboo and wooden rungs to the trunk of a tree on top of the cliff. Below, two men lit a massive fire of freshly cut wood and green leaves that created clouds of smoke that filled the hives and subdued the bees. In teams of two or three, the Gurung men descended the ladder. Others, using a rope, lowered a wooden basket lined with plastic, dangling them below the hives. Then, one by one, the hunters attempted to dislodge the hives from the face of the cliff, knocking chunks of honeycomb into the suspended basket beneath them. Nearly half of the hives whizzed past the baskets and exploded as they crashed onto the rocky crags below.

Sadly, in years past, some of the hunters have met the same fate. "Thirty years ago, when one of the hunters was on the rope, the fire below somehow made the ladder catch fire," recounted Yaocho Gurung, one of the village elders. "This man fell from the cliff, and his body smashed onto the rocks of the river."

This year's hunters returned safely, but the tragic stories linger. "At first, I am very scared going down the ladder," Tulsi Gurung, one of this year's hunters told me. "But when I see the hives, I get filled with power and become fearless."
They may be fearless, but the brave men don't go unscathed. When the Gurung emerged from the cliff, their hands were swollen with bee stings and looked like they'd been inflated with pumps. But the same wasn't true of their egos: The hunt is not a pissing contest, and the men were humble and nonchalant in their victory.

The Gurung use the honey they collect primarily as a sweetener or mild painkiller to dull the aches of agricultural work and alter their moods slightly. But recently, a large market for the nectar has opened up throughout northeastern Asia. There are buyers in China, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea (Nepal's Maoists have strong political ties to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea), where the honey is believed to promote erectile function.

Once back on top of the cliff, men sifted through the baskets of honeycomb with their bare hands. I watched as the hunters used sticks to mash their slurry of wax, honey, and half-dead bees through a bamboo filter and into a large metal pot. Wild Himalayan honey is darker and runs thinner than the honey produced by farmed bees, and as I swallowed the dose the hunters offered me, I could feel a tingling sensation in my throat. I ate two teaspoons, the amount recommended by the honey hunters, and after about 15 minutes, I started to feel a high similar to weed. I felt like my body was cooling down, starting from the back of my head and down through my torso. A deep, icy hot feeling settled in my stomach and lasted for several hours. The honey was delicious, and though a few of the hunters passed out from eating a bit too much, no one suffered from the projectile vomiting or explosive diarrhea I'd been warned about. Roughly 20 minutes later, still a little buzzed, we hiked back to the village with our spoils for a celebration.

When we arrived, the rest of the village was waiting, eager to hear about the hunt. They sacrificed a chicken, which we ate with dhal bhat (a rice and lentil soup), and performed traditional dances, fueled by endless cups of local firewater called raksi. We partied late into the night.

The next morning, I was groggy from the day's excitement and a night of raging. The hunters got to work dividing the honey among themselves and the rest of the community. Those who'd come from other villages to help asked for a little extra for their aging parents, to treat the aches and pains caused by arthritis. Each year more of the honey makes its way out of the village—nearly the entire stock of a recent hunt was sold to a Japanese man who brought the honey back to his home country.
As the season's collection came to an end, some villagers I spoke to said they fear that, like the declining populations of honeybees globally, the forces of modernization might threaten the Gurung honey hunters' traditions. Suresh Gurung, who at age 19 is the youngest hunter of the village, is not among them. "Those who are devoted will remain or return," he said. "Our culture will stay alive for many years to come."

This story appeared in the September issue of VICE magazine.

http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/hunting-for-hallucinogenic-honey-in-nepal-v23n6

[william r sanford72]

Golden Goose Award Goes to Researchers Who Turned Honey Bee Foraging Patterns into Powerful Web-Hosting Tool
Posted On: September 15, 2016

https://www.dadant.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2016/09/ABJ-Extra_Sept14-2016_1-300x300.jpg
Five interdisciplinary researchers who developed a Honey Bee Algorithm used by webhosting companies will be saluted at an award ceremony next week at Library of Congress

John J. Bartholdi III, Sunil Nakrani, Thomas D. Seeley, Craig A. Tovey, and John Hagood Vande Vate will receive the Golden Goose Award on Sept. 22 for their study of honey bee foraging behavior and the development of the “Honey Bee Algorithm” to allocate shared web servers to internet traffic. The original honey bee research, funded by the National Science Foundation and Office of Naval Research, unexpectedly led to the algorithm that major webhosting companies now use to streamline internet services and increase revenues in a global market worth more than $50 billion.

The Golden Goose Award honors scientists whose federally funded work may have been considered silly, odd, or obscure when first conducted, but has resulted in significant benefits to society. Bartholdi, Tovey, and Vande Vate, all engineers at Georgia Institute of Technology, and Seeley, a Cornell University biologist, are being cited for their curiosity-driven research on how honey bee foragers are able to maximize nectar collection in ever-changing environments. A decade-plus later, Tovey and Nakrani, also an engineer, adapted the basic research to develop the “Honey Bee Algorithm” for allocating shared web servers to changing internet traffic. The algorithm performs up to 20 percent more efficiently than others and distributes web transactions to servers more smoothly and quickly for users.

“The internet is one of mankind’s greatest accomplishments, and these scientists studied one of the smallest parts of nature to make it better,” said Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), who had the original idea to create the Golden Goose Award. “Their ingenuity is the kind of talent that makes America’s scientific and research community the best in the world.”

The Georgia Institute of Technology engineers and Cornell University biologist will be honored along with two other teams at the fifth annual Golden Goose Award Ceremony at the Library of Congress on Sept. 22. Descriptions of this year’s other winners, as well as those from previous years, can be found at the Golden Goose Award website.

“The idea that honeybees and assigning computer servers have anything in common would have previously sounded preposterous to most, and yet, through the work of these men, we now know that honeybees are ingrained with a superior set of engineering skills,” said Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA), a supporter of the Golden Goose Award since its founding in 2012. “These distinguished gentlemen understood that scientific innovation requires creativity, patience, and a determination to get results.
I applaud their work on the ‘Honey Bee Algorithm’ to demonstrate that seemingly unrelated ideas can work together and to help make our ever-increasingly networked society run better and more efficiently.”

Bartholdi, Tovey, and Vande Vate were inspired to study honey bee foraging after Vande Vate heard Seeley describing his own honey bee research on National Public Radio. “I wonder if the bees would do any better if they hired us as consultants?” Vande Vate mused to his colleagues after hearing the program. The tongue-in-cheek question led to a years-long examination of the honey bees’ decentralized foraging patterns from a systems engineering perspective.

“Investing in research and development leads to new discoveries that improve our lives, and also creates jobs and helps to keep our country competitive,” said Rep. Bonamici (D-OR), a member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee and co-founder of the Congressional STEAM Caucus. “Just as we shouldn’t judge books by their covers, we shouldn’t judge research projects by their titles. The Honey Bee Algorithm is an excellent example of how federally funded research can lead to creative approaches to solving problems.”

After three years of developing a mathematical model based on honey bee foraging behavior, Tovey joined Seeley for an empirical test of their model at the Cranberry Lake Biological Station in upstate New York. There, the scientists set up a controlled experiment where they were able to track 4,000 individually labeled forager bees as they moved to and from artificial nectar sources. The experiment beautifully confirmed the model, showing that the bees had evolved to distribute themselves in such a way that each forager bee gathers nectar at roughly the same rate over time and ensures the hive can adapt to changing nectar resources.

The biological research motivated Bartholdi, Tovey, and Vande Vate to continue exploring beyond honey bee foraging, looking for ways that nature’s self-organizing systems could be applied to human problems. Since they published their work on honey bees in 1993, the engineers have brought nature’s lessons to bear on problems ranging from managing online retail orders from distribution centers to dispatching transit buses efficiently to avoid the bunching familiar to public transit users.

Tovey, in particular, sought to apply the work on honey bee foraging to a variety of problems, but it wasn’t until then graduate student Nakrani walked into his office in 2002 talking about web-hosting computer servers that he settled on a perfect application.

In web-hosting, servers perform like nectar foraging bees. Clients asking to use the servers – internet shoppers for example – mimic the changing landscape of flower patches. The clients put up money, earning revenue for the web host, while the flowers provide nectar. Shared webhosting servers operate by switching from one application to the next based on demand for any given application. Each server, for security reasons, can run only one application at a time, so switching applications – like a honey bee finding a new flower patch – requires down time and incurs a revenue penalty as the server shifts and loads a new application. The ideal algorithm adjusts to rapidly changing internet demand and delivers the maximum total revenue – just like honey bee colonies foraging for nectar.

Today, major web-hosting companies are using Tovey and Nakrani’s Honey Bee Algorithm and other similar biologically-inspired methods to boost revenues and more efficiently allocate their servers. Every internet user benefits when servers are ready in the right place and in the shortest time.

About the Golden Goose Award

In 2012, a coalition of business, university, and scientific organizations created the Golden Goose Award, conceived by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) as a strong counterpoint to criticisms of basic research as wasteful federal spending such as the late Sen. William Proxmire’s (D-WI) Golden Fleece Award. Learn more at http://www.goldengooseaward.org/history/.

https://www.dadant.com/news/golden-goose-award-goes-to-researchers-who-turned-honey-bee-foraging-patterns-into-powerful-web-hosting-tool

[william r sanford72]

Could Eating Honey Be A Form Of Microbial Time Travel?

Did you know that there are billions of years of biological information encoded within your cells, and that depending on what you do or do not eat, the information is activated or remains latent?
It is a biological fact that the distant past is embedded within the present. No one could have described this more aptly and tangibly than Thich Nhat Han when he said:

If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.”

The germline cells within our bodies (sperm and ovum) represent a quasi-immortal and unbroken biological thread tying us all back, through an almost infinite number of cell replications, to LUCA. These germline cells represent, against all odds, the resilience of biological systems to persist through incalculably vast stretches of time and innumerable vectors of adversity. They are “deathless” relative to somatic cells in that their biological information has been passed down from generation to generation for billions of years without interruption, and that will continue to be passed forward within the successfully conceived progeny of all the species inhabiting this planet today.

http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/bacteria-600x600.jpg

And so, biological entities are unique insofar as they inhabit the present while containing within themselves information stretching so far back in the distant past as to approach geologic time scales.

The Microbial Basis for Human Identity
Before we delve into nutrition as a form of “microbial time travel,” we must first provide context by taking a brief look at how our species’ self-definition has been completely transformed by the discovery that we are at least as much “germs” as we are “human.”

We now know that we are more microbial than human. Constituted by at least 10 times more bacterial, viral, and fungal cells than actual human cells, we are more accurately described (at least in biological terms) as a “meta-organism” than a hermetically-sealed off body isolated from outside life.

Perhaps even more profound is the fact that the total genetic information in our bodies is about 99% microbial in origin, with many of these microbes performing life-sustaining functions for digestion, immunity, and even cognition. Even when explore only the “private” genetic contribution of our cells, we find that the human genome is about 10% viral (retroviral) in origin, and that “our” mitochondria are actually “alien” in origin: somewhere around 1.5 billion years ago an ancient bacteria entered into symbiotic relationship with our cells to perform both oxygen-detoxifying and energy-producing functions by losing their independence and becoming our mitochondria. [Note: Learn more about the implications of the microbial basis for human identity in the article: “How The Microbiome Destroyed the Ego, Vaccine Policy, and Patriarchy.”]

When we look at ourselves through this microbial lens, where we “end” and the living and breathing environment “begins” is no longer as clear as the boundary of our skin. What we eat or expose ourselves chemically, for instance, not only becomes of crucial significance in determining the state of our health and disease risk, but to our very identity. This information is beginning to affect the way we look at ourselves as a species in evolutionary terms. In fact, the hologenome theory of evolution states that we are a “holobiont,” a host whose fate is and always was inseparably bound to all its symbiotic microbes. As with classical evolutionary theory on our how genes evolve, selective pressures from the environment have shaped the types and numbers of microbes that now form the basis for both our health and disease susceptibility. And what are some of the most important “selective pressures” that have gone into creating our holobiont selves over the course of unimaginably vast swaths of time? Dietary, environmental, and cultural ones, of course.

When Hippocrates said “we are what we eat,” this was true not only in molecular terms, i.e. the food we eat produces molecular building blocks from which our bodies are constructed, but also in microbial terms, i.e., the microbes we expose ourselves to and cultivate through nutrition affect and/or permanently alter our holobiont selves. Which leads us to the topic of honey and “microbial time travel.”
Honey, Would You Please Pass The Genome?

While we often think of our “cave man” ancestors as being shaped primarily by their “meat-based” diet, and the harnessing of fire for cooking, acquiring and eating honey may have been an equally crucial dietary determinant in our evolutionary trajectory as well. According to one researcher, Alyssa Crittendeyn, PhD, honey helped make us human:

It appears that the human sweet tooth has a long history in human evolution. New research proposes that honey may have been important in human evolution. Upper Paleolithic (8,000 – 40,000 years ago) rock art from all around the world depicts images of early humans collecting honey. The images range from figures climbing ladders to access hives residing high in trees to figures smoking out hives filled with honeycomb. Honey and bee larvae are important foods consumed by many populations of hunters and gatherers worldwide. Foragers in Latin America, Asia, Australia, and Africa include honey and bee larvae as major components of their diet. The Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania, the population with whom I work, even list honey as their number one preferred food item!”

So, while our ancestors may have consumed honey, what does it have to do with our microbial identity?

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Honey actually contains a range of beneficial microbes contributed by bees and the plants they forage, including lactic-acid producing bacteria (Lactobacilli), and when eaten raw, may contribute health-promoting strains to our bodies. These bacteria have been identified as indispensable to the immunity of the individuals and the hive as a whole, as well as in affecting the behavior of the different types of bees that inhabit these complex colonies. Considering the possibility of our ancient co-evolutionary relationship with honey, is it possible that our own immune systems and microbial populations share dependency on honey-based microbes?

There is no doubt that in a day and age where the previously timeless and unbroken chain of microbial custody between vaginally birthed and exclusively breastfed offspring has been profoundly disrupted, our inner microbial terrain has become completely ravaged. Add to this the daily barrage of food-like but synthetic dietary inputs, along with a battery of antimicrobial toxicants unleashed by the industrial revolution and now festering in the post-industrial chemical soup we are all now immersed in, the intimate link between the human and microbial sides of the holobiont’s multiplicitous identity has all but become irreparably severed. Could honey help heal these wounds? Could eating ancestral foods infused with equally ancient symbiotic bacteria help us recover, and “travel back” in biological time to a far more stable state of health? Could these bacteria and their metabolic byproducts provide epigenetically meaningful information to regulate the expression of our own genome? Could this also explain why honey has been identified to have at least 100 health benefits?  

An Age Old Relationship
A fascinating study published in PLoS in 2012 might help answer this question. Titled, “Symbionts as major modulators of insect health: lactic acid bacteria and honeybees“, it characterized the diverse and ancient lactic acid bacteria populations of microbiota within the honey crop of honeybees and related species. Amazingly, they discovered species from the Lactobacillus and Bifobacterium genera in these bees that suggest a 80,000,000 year or older history of association. This means that honeybees and their honey may contain bacteria that humans may have maintained contact with and ingested throughout the entire course of their evolution as foragers of honey, which would also include our pre-human predecessors. Within the confines of their bodies, these insects may have provided an environment for these ancient symbiotic bacteria to survive intact for millions of years, enabling animals (like humans) to periodically replenish their microbiomes through consuming bee products like honey infused with them.

Since food is not just “fuel” or “building blocks” for the body, but informational, containing “epigenetic inheritance systems” as real and valid to the expression of our DNA as the primary nucleotide sequences in our genome, this discovery has profound implications. For those whose microbial heritage has been decimated and/or supplanted with genetically altered (via recombinant or chemical induction) food stuffs, eating real, wild-harvested raw honey might re-infuse the body with information and microbes that not only have important health-promoting but are indispensable for the informational integrity of our species identity.

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My lecture where I elaborate on “food as information.”

This is, of course, not limited to honey. Technically, everything we eat (or do not eat) will affect the trajectory of our health, both individually, and as a species. For example, the present agricultural system carpet-bombs monocultured land with biocides often destroying the profound microbial biodiversity vital to gene-regulatory information and proxy physiological capabilities, i.e. the production of enzymes and anti-microbial factors that our genome itself does not possess.  This is why seeming “superstitious” farming practices such as taking wild-soil (from old growth systems) and using it as inoculant in newer farming land may be so effective at producing vitally nourishing food. These old-growth microbial communities, perhaps a byproduct of millions of years of coevolution, are capable of contributing a wide range of biotransformed soil metabolites for the plant’s nutritional needs, as well as infusing the edible plants themselves with strains of bacteria, fungi, and even viruses, important to our own health.

The American herbalist Paul Schulick once aptly named the interstitial layer of microbial communities within the soil and our gut a “life bridge.” This bridge can be visualized both “spatially” as a physiological bridge which connects our bodies via microbes directly to the Earth, forming an inseparable whole (the holobiont), and temporally, by bridging the gap between the present and the ancient past.
One thing is for sure, the more we explore the complexity of human physiology and optimal health, the more mysterious and amazing life appears to be

http://right.is/conservative-opinion/2016/09/could-eating-honey-be-a-form-of-microbial-time-travel-2-5674.html

[Hervé]

Surprise! FDA finds Monsanto's weed killer in U.S. honey (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/fda-finds-monsantos-weed_b_12008680.html)

Carey Gillam Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/fda-finds-monsantos-weed_b_12008680.html) Thu, 15 Sep 2016 15:27 UTC


https://www.sott.net/image/s17/345105/medium/n_HONEY_628x314.jpg (https://www.sott.net/image/s17/345105/full/n_HONEY_628x314.jpg)
© YUJI SAKAI VIA GETTY IMAGES


The Food and Drug Administration, under public pressure to start testing samples of U.S. food for the presence of a pesticide that has been linked to cancer, has some early findings that are not so sweet.

In examining honey samples from various locations in the United States, the FDA has found fresh evidence that residues of the weed killer called glyphosate can be pervasive - found even in a food that is not produced with the use of glyphosate. All of the samples the FDA tested in a recent examination contained glyphosate residues, and some of the honey showed residue levels double the limit allowed in the European Union, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. There is no legal tolerance level for glyphosate in honey in the United States.

[...]

Full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/fda-finds-monsantos-weed_b_12008680.html

(Bumping post # 1157 (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?62676-Calling-all-light-warriors-the-Bees-need-you-&p=1098810&viewfull=1#post1098810))

[william r sanford72]

Mainstream media finally admits U.S. honey is contaminated with glyphosate weed killer (Roundup)

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Insects/Bee-Hive-Honey-Boxes.jpg

(NaturalNews) Freedom of Information documents obtained by the group U.S. Right to Know reveal that the FDA has confirmed the presence of glyphosate contamination in honey being sold on U.S. store shelves.

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the world's top selling herbicide. Roundup's explosive commercial success has been largely driven by the use of crops genetically engineered to withstand direct application of the herbicide. In 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared the chemical a probable human carcinogen.

The documents show that every honey sample tested by the FDA contained glyphosate residue, in some cases at levels twice those allowed in the European Union (EU).

FDA downplays astonishing findings
Although the FDA conducts annual tests for pesticide residues in many food products, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) annually tests produce, both agencies have historically declined to test for glyphosate residue, claiming that the chemical is so safe that there is no need.

In 2014, the U.S. Government Accountability Office criticized the FDA for this policy, and new pressure came with the IARC's 2015 ruling. A number of researchers conducted their own independent tests, finding glyphosate residues in various grain-based foods, including non-GMO products such as oats. Critics noted that even small amounts of residue can add up to alarming doses given how widespread glyphosate is among foods that are consumed regularly.

So the FDA initiated a "special assignment" this year to test some foods, including honey. Scientists tested honey gathered from across the country sold by brands including Louisiana-based Carmichael's Honey, Florida-based Leighton's Orange Blossom Honey and the Iowa-based Sue Bee Honey cooperative.

"It is difficult to find blank honey that does not contain residue. I collect about 10 samples of honey in the market and they all contain glyphosate," one researcher wrote in an internal email.

Even a brand of honey marketed as "organic mountain honey" contained glyphosate.

The scientists found glyphosate concentrations of 22 parts per billion (ppb) in Leighton's, 41 ppb in Sue Bee and 107 ppb in Carmichael's. This is consistent with a prior independent study that found average residue levels of 64 ppb in 41 of 69 honey samples.

What happened when FDA scientist Narong Chamkasem informed his fellow scientists that some of the samples far exceeded the EU tolerance level of 50 ppb, and that technically, any levels of residue violate U.S. law because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has never set an acceptable threshold?

Chris Sack, the FDA's head of pesticide residue testing, dismissed the glyphosate contamination as only "technically a violation," and said that he had informed the EPA that they should set tolerance levels for honey. If, as expected, the EPA sets levels higher than 106 ppb, the problem will disappear with the stroke of a pen.

Bees and consumers suffer
Honey farmers expressed distress at the findings. Sioux Honey vice president Bill Huser – whose company markets its product as "100% pure, 100% all-natural and 100% American" – noted that glyphosate gets into honey because it is sprayed on the agricultural fields that bees forage in.

"I don't understand how I'm supposed to control the level of glyphosate in my honey when I'm not the one using Roundup," said another honey company operator. "It's all around me. It's unfair."

Research suggests that glyphosate actually functions as a toxin to bees, and may be contributing to declining populations worldwide.

Like the FDA, the USDA also initiated a "special project" to test soybeans for glyphosate residue this year. The findings showed widespread contamination. Similar results have been found by a special USDA division that tests wheat destined for export to countries more skeptical about claims that glyphosate is "harmless."

Like the FDA, the USDA also initiated a "special project" to test soybeans for glyphosate residue this year. The findings showed widespread contamination. Similar results have been found by a special USDA division that tests wheat destined for export to countries more skeptical about claims that glyphosate is "harmless."

Meanwhile, the EPA is still working on a risk assessment report to decide if glyphosate use should be limited. Originally expected in 2015, the report is now due in "spring 2017."

"There is no sense of urgency around these exposures that we live with day in and day out," said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides.

Sources for this article include:

HuffingtonPost.com

NaturalNews.com

EcoWatch.com

NaturalNews.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/055363_glyphosate_Roundup_honey.html#ixzz4Knt3lcCt

[Star Tsar]

The Kev Baker Show

Joe Alton, M.D - The Coming Bee Apocalypse & Preparedness Tips

Published 20th September 2016

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Dr Alton MD, AKA Dr Bones is our special guest & tonight we get into the dwindling bee numbers & what it means for all of us.

The Zika virus has seen areas of the USA sprayed with a dangerous chemical called Naled in an attempt to wipe out the mosquitoes responsible for carrying the disease. However, this has had a deadly effect on the bee population. We also discuss the harm that modern pesticides are having on our pollinators.

Then we get int some preparedness topics including what to do in the event of the next flu outbreak that is sure to follow sometime in the near future, & get the doc’s take on the likelihood of a full-blown zombie apocalypse.

Finally we discuss pain treatment, or lack thereof, in the USA & go over the war against natural remedies & drugs.

Supporting Article Here : http://kevbakershow.com/bee-apocalypse-kbs/

G5W95EjMXiA

[william r sanford72]

Neonicotinoids: Unpublished industry studies detail harm to bee health

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Chemical giants Bayer and Syngenta commissioned private studies which showed that their neonicotinoid pesticides can cause serious harm to bees, a Greenpeace investigation has uncovered.

The revelations come with the UK set to decide its own policy on pesticide use once it leaves the EU. The UK lobbied against the current EU ban when it was introduced.
The company research – designed to reveal the level at which their products harm bees – was obtained through freedom of information (FOI) requests to the US environmental regulator. 

Publicly the two firms have often sought to play down suggestions that their products can cause harm to honey bees.

Weak research

However, the studies will cause little surprise in industry circles. Industry and scientists have long known that the products can harm bees at certain levels.
Instead the research has been criticised by experts because it assumes a very narrow definition of harm to bee health and ignores wild bees which evidence suggests are more likely to be harmed by neonicotinoids.

It means the studies may substantially underestimate the impact of the two firm’s products on pollinators.

Due to commercial confidentiality rules, Energydesk is not allowed to release the studies in full.

Transparency

The latest revelations have sparked calls for greater transparency from the industry and regulators to publish data on the impact of pesticides on pollinators used to make – or lobby for – regulatory decisions.
Responding to Greenpeace, Syngenta said it’s study was due to be published in a journal – though the company did not give details. Bayer said the study would be discussed at an upcoming conference.

Both firms claimed that whilst the studies did show a risk to honeybees from their products this would only apply at higher concentrations than normally seen in agriculture.
Each study focused exclusively on honeybees, though recent research has shown that the chemicals have a negative impact on wild bees.
Matt Shardlow, chief executive of the charity Buglife, told the Guardian:

“These studies may not show an impact on honeybee health [at low levels], but then the studies are not realistic. The bees were not exposed to the neonics that we know are in planting dust, water drunk by bees and wildflowers, wherever neonics are used as seed treatments. This secret evidence highlights the profound weakness of regulatory tests.”

Bee deaths

The newly uncovered studies examined the impact of Bayer’s clothianidin and Syngenta’s thiamethoxam on honey bees at varying concentrations.
Both show that chemicals can seriously harm honey bee colonies at high concentrations, though the effects were less marked at lower levels,  concentrations of 50 parts per billion (ppb) and 40ppb respectively.

Christian Krupke, an entomologist at Purdue University, told Energydesk: “Bayer and Syngenta’s commitment to pollinator health should include publishing these data or otherwise making them public. This work presents a rich dataset that could greatly benefit the many publicly funded scientists examining the issue worldwide, including avoiding costly and unnecessary duplication of research.”

In the US, the EPA is currently conducting a review of neonicotinoid pesticides and their impact on pollinator health.
Back in January the first stage of this review found that imidacloprid, which is made by Bayer, harmed honey bees and suggested it “could potentially take action” to “restrict or limit the use” of the chemical by the end of 2016. The findings of the reviews into thiamethoxam and clothianidin, from which these two studies are taken, are due to be published in 2017.

Denials

The unpublished research comes after previous assurances by Syngenta in particular about the impact of its product on pollinators.  
On its website, Syngenta, states there is “no direct correlation between neonicotinoids use and poor bee health’ and ‘the allegation that neonicotinoids-based pesticides are inherently damaging to bee colonies or populations is not true”.
In statements issued to Energydesk last month the firm added:

“None of the studies Syngenta has undertaken or commissioned for use by regulatory agencies have shown that thiamethoxam damages the health of bee colonies and we stand by the integrity of our neonicotinoid product.
The private research did not examine the impact of the product on bee colonies in “normal” conditions. Other studies have done so however.

Last month, a study by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology linked the long-term decline of wild bees in England to the use of neonicotinoids.
A major field study in Sweden last year found that wild bees were badly affected when exposed to fields treated with clothianidin, while honey bees proved more robust.
Energydesk reached out for comment from the EPA, but did not receive a response at press time.

Bayer and Syngenta responses in full.

In a statement to Energydesk, a Bayer spokesperson said: “The study conducted in North Carolina is an artificial feeding study that intentionally exaggerates the exposure potential because it is designed to calculate a “no-effect” concentration for clothianidin. Although the colony was artificially provided with a spiked sugar solution, the bees were allowed to forage freely in the environment, so there is less stress (which can be a contributing variable) than if they were completely confined to cages.

“This protocol was developed jointly by Bayer and the EPA several years ago and it is now being applied to other compounds. Based on these results, we believe the data support the establishment of a no-effect concentration of 20 ppb for clothianidin, which is consistent to that of other neonicotinoids.”

“One of our research scientists will make a public presentation next week at the International Congress of Entomology meeting in Orlando, Florida, in which he will discuss the similarities of the findings of these studies, as well as the merits of the new test protocol.”
Responding to our story, a Syngenta spokesperson said: “The EPA asked us to do this study and agreed the methodology. A sucrose based mechanism was used on the basis that it was required to expose bees artificially to Thiamethoxam to determine what actual level of residue would exert a toxic effect.

“There were transient effects observed and the reported No Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) for this study was 50 ppb (parts per billion). It is accepted that residues of Thiamethoxam in pollen and nectar from seed treated crops are in the single ppb level. So this reported NOAEL of 50 ppb indicates that honey bee colonies are at low risk from exposure to Thiamethoxam in pollen and nectar of seed treated crops. This research is already in the process of being published in a forthcoming journal and is clearly already publicly available through the Freedom Of Information process in the United States.”

http://energydesk.greenpeace.org/2016/09/22/neonicotinoids-bayer-syngenta-bees/

[william r sanford72]

After FDA found weedkiller in nearly 100% of honey products, it kept the information secret and refused to warn the public

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Misc/Glyphosate-Red-Hand-Herbicide.jpg

(NaturalNews) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been doing its best to protect Monsanto and the entire GMO industry by dragging its feet and hiding information regarding glyphosate content in foods.

Glyphosate, the most widely-used herbicide on the planet and an essential component in GMO agricultural methods, has been the subject of increasing concern - particularly since the World Health Organization (WHO) classified it as a "probable human carcinogen" in 2015.

For many years, the FDA avoided testing foods for glyphosate residue at all, parroting Monsanto's assurances that the herbicide poses no threat to human health, but under mounting public pressure it finally began conducting tests in February of this year.

Although the agency routinely tests foods for other pesticide residues, it has rather suspiciously left glyphosate off of the list until now.

From The Huffington Post:

"[FDA testing] came after many independent researchers started conducting their own testing and found glyphosate in an array of food products, including flour, cereal, and oatmeal. The government and Monsanto have maintained that any glyphosate residues in food would be minimal enough to be safe. But critics say without robust testing, glyphosate levels in food are not known. And they say that even trace amounts may be harmful because they are likely consumed so regularly in many foods."

And the results of the FDA's own tests are truly disturbing

Glyphosate residue found even in "100% all-natural" honey
Documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal, for example, that glyphosate residue was found in all of the honey samples tested by the FDA - even honey marketed as being "100% all-natural." Some of the samples contained twice the European Union's allowable amount of glyphosate residue, and there is no allowable limit for glyphosate in honey produced in the U.S. - at least not yet.

This means that U.S. honey producers are technically in violation of the law - at least until tolerance levels are set by the FDA.

FDA denial and stalling tactics
But the FDA doesn't seem to be in any hurry to set any tolerance levels for honey. In fact, internal emails obtained through FOIA requests reveal that although honey producers are technically in violation, the agency doesn't consider it important because "it is not a safety issue."

In other words, the FDA is still dragging its feet to do anything, and is not currently planning to either set tolerance levels, or hold honey producers responsible for violating the law. In a statement, the FDA said: "there is no dietary risk concern from exposure to glyphosate residues in honey at this time."

And, of course, it's not really the fault of the honey producers to begin with, since glyphosate use is so widespread and because beekeepers have no real control over where the bees collect the pollen used in making honey.

The emails and other documents obtained show that the FDA is aware of the "glyphosate controversy," but seems both unwilling and unable to do much about it, other than keeping its test results secret and continuing its stalling tactics.

But slowly, the truth is leaking out regarding the dangers of glyphosate and the fact that both the FDA and the USDA have been corrupted through the lobbying efforts of Monsanto and the GMO industry as a whole.

For years, the Frankenfood industry has managed to keep its dark secrets with the help of a sold-out federal regulatory system, but the public is finally waking up to the deception and the dangers posed to the health of virtually every person on the planet.

Nothing short of a worldwide ban on GMOs and the use of glyphosate is an acceptable solution - we must collectively continue to fight the Frankenfood industry until it no longer exists in the United States or anywhere else.

Sources:

HuffingtonPost.com

USRTK.org

OrganicAuthority.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/055395_honey_glyphosate_FDA_emails.html#ixzz4KztoJSfo

[william r sanford72]

Wake Up Call — Bumble Bee Just Proposed for U.S. Endangered Species Status

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/bee-768x403.jpg

Earlier this month, mosquito eradication efforts in South Carolina, gone horribly wrong, resulted in almost total devastation to the indigenous bee populations. The pesticide used to target the Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti species of mosquito, which can carry and transmit the Zika virus, killed off millions of bees This single incident is one of many that has been laying waste to beneficial pollinators which has now led to the bumble bee’s proposed listing as an endangered species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday proposed listing the rusty patched bumble bee, a prized but vanishing pollinator once widely found in the upper Midwest and Northeastern United States, for federal protection as an endangered species, according to Reuters.
The Bumble bee is one of several wild bee species seen declining in the last couple of decades. It has now become the first ever bee in the continental United States formally proposed for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Bumble bees, as distinguished from domesticated honey bees, are essential pollinators of wildflowers and about a third of U.S. crops, from blueberries to tomatoes, said Sarina Jepsen of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, which petitioned the government for protection of the insect, as reported by Reuters.
According to experts, bumble bees’ contribution to farms is estimated at a whopping $3.5 billion.

The rusty patched species is one of 47 varieties of native bumble bees in the United States and Canada, more than a quarter of which face a risk of extinction, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Population declines among wild bees are much more difficult to document than those in honey bees, which are for the most part managed commercially and whose numbers are carefully tracked by beekeepers, Jespen said, as reported by Reuters.

According to Reuters, Jepsen said protections proposed for the rusty patched bumble bee will intensify the debate over the degree to which so-called neonicotinoid pesticides, routinely used in agriculture and applied to plants and trees in gardens and parks, have contributed to the decline of native bees.
While there is still debate over neonicotinoid pesticides, the only one not recognizing their harm — is the industry that uses them.

In the 1980s, Bayer developed a potent new class of pesticide called neonicotinoids (neonics), which rapidly came to dominate industrial agriculture. In 2008, they represented 24 percent of the global market for insecticides, with Imidacloprid becoming the most widely used insecticide in the world.
Almost all U.S. corn and about one-third of U.S. soybean is treated with neonics. A “major advance” happened when agribusiness developed neonic-coated seeds, where every part of the growing plant becomes infused with the toxin, including pollen.

After government regulators, deep in the pockets of agribusiness, rushed to approve neonics for commercial sale, scientific studies began documenting the ecological impacts. Bird populations and other insectivores declined due to a lack of insect prey, as neonics became more widely used.
In 2006 we began seeing dramatic die-offs of honeybee populations, which play a vital role in pollinating food crops. Colony collapse disorder became a common occurrence, with bees showing classic signs of insecticide poisonings such as tremors, uncoordinated movement and convulsions.

Dead bees in and around hives showed the presence of neonics, and new research found that low-levels of neonics in bees made them susceptible to viral infections and mites, and reduced the reproductive ability of queen bees. Corn and dandelion pollen brought back to hives routinely tested positive for neonics.
Other insects are devastated by neonics, including the North American bumblebee which has seen a 90 percent decline. The threat to wild bees, honeybees and other pollinators is becoming ever more clear as more studies come out.

Now, the first long-term study of neonic impacts on wild bees has confirmed that the popular pesticide is linked to long-term bee decline.
Researchers in England looked at 18 years of data on 64 wild bee species and the use of neonics on the oilseed rape plant, which is widely treated with neonics, finding that about half of the total decline is due to the insecticide. All of the 34 species that forage on oilseed rape showed at least a 10 percent decline from neonics, with the most affected group experiencing a 30 percent decline from neonics.
The findings of the Centre for Ecologh and Hydrology team appear in the journal Nature.


“Historically, if you just have oilseed rape, many bees tend to benefit from that because it is this enormous foraging resource all over the countryside,” lead author Dr. Ben Woodcock told the BBC. “But this co-relation study suggests that once its treated with neonicotinoids up to 85 percent, then they are starting to be exposed and it’s starting to have these detrimental impacts on them.”

“Endangered Species Act safeguards are now the only way the bumble bee would have a fighting chance for survival,” Jepsen added.
According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the public comment period initiated by Wednesday’s proposed listing runs through Nov. 21, 2016, after which the agency could revise its proposal or finalize a decision.

While agribusiness will continue to deny that their favorite insecticide has anything to do with declining bee populations, well-informed consumers have already forced a change at retail stores. Large garden centers, including Lowes and Home Depot, have committed to eliminating neonic-treated garden plants which are often planted for the purpose of attracting pollinators.

However, the vast majority of neonic application is in the hands of companies such as Bayer and Monsanto that produce both seeds and chemicals to use on seeds and plants. Their friends at the FDA and other government agencies are complicit in unleashing neonics without bothering to truly consider how these toxins affect the environment.

Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/bee-extinction-endangered/#aApUv06fIyTTh5ps.99

[Ascension]

Aerial spraying of NALED to combat alleged Zika carrying mosquitos results in millions of honeybee deaths in South Carolina:

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/war-on-zika-outrage-ensues-after-controversial-spray-tactic-kills-millions-of-honeybees/60219180

[william r sanford72]

Why Are There Massive Bee Deaths In Australia

Published on Sep 14, 2016

Around the world, honeybee populations have been rapidly declining. Although there is an overwhelming amount of scientific research that proves the cause for this decline is due to the widespread use of systemic pesticides called neonicotinoids, industry claims that these pesticides are not the root of the problem.

In fact, many industry apologists adamantly insist that the decline is due to Varroa Mites. While Varroa Mites do greatly impact the health of the colony, it is clearly not the case when it comes to the rapidly declining honeybee population in Australia. Why? Well, there are no Varroa Mites in Australia. So, this is a moot argument in the down under, at least for the time being. What is killing the bees? In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Colorado beekeeper, Tom Theobald talk to commercial beekeeper, Jeffrey Gibbs about Australia’s honeybee crisis.

www.theorganicview.com.

iKJIEj4f6zs

[william r sanford72]

musical intermission...brought to you by Neil Youngs Indian Givers.

CM-NkM-dIDA

[william r sanford72]

Bee keepers to protest move to commercialise GM Mustard

Jayashree Nandi | TNN | Updated: Sep 26, 2016, 07.43 PM IST

NEW DELHI: Honey cultivators and bee keepers have raised several concerns with the government's plans to introduce genetically modified (GM Mustard). Members of the Confederation of Bee Keeping Industry claimed that the number of bees had reduced dramatically after the introduction of Bt cotton. They demanded an "independent" analysis of the impact of Bt cotton on bee keeping first.

They had petitioned the government against GM Mustard too but haven't received a response yet. Honey cultivators from different parts of the country will protest the government's move to release GM Mustard on Wednesday at Jantar Mantar. Industry members are also worried that exports of honey contaminated by GM pollen may be difficult once GM Mustard is commercialized. "It will be unwise for the government to approve GM Mustard since it has a direct impact on mustard production itself, when bees are adversely affected," they said.

Members who held a press conference on Monday claimed "After the introduction of Bt cotton, bee keepers lost a whole crop...first it was a reduction in honey and later bees also reduced. We urge the government to first investigate the impacts of Bt cotton on our industry...mustard is a very important crop for bee keepers," said IS Hooda, a member of the confederation.

Deepak Pental, Delhi University scientist who led the team that developed DMH-11 transgenic mustard claimed there is no evidence to show GM Mustard can negatively impact bees. "There is no study that can prove what they are suggesting. In our trial we found no impact on bees. We saw bees were even visiting the make sterile line. It think they are just trying to malign. First people said it was herbicide tolerant which was a problem, then they said data has been fudged and now this..." Pental also said "the biosafety data is with the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF). If people want they can go look at it at the MoEF office," said

Industry members said about 5 lakh families who are in to bee keeping will be impacted if GM Mustard is commercialized. The coalition of bee keepers produce around 90,000 metric tonnes (MT) of honey in India, out of which around 35,000 MT is exported with a turnover of Rs 750 crores.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Bee-keepers-to-protest-move-to-commercialise-GM-Mustard/articleshow/54527525.cms

[william r sanford72]

WIRED publishes pro-Monsanto propaganda piece justifying the mass chemical poisoning of the world
Monday, September 26, 2016 by: Daniel Barker

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/640/Insects/Honeybee-On-Yellow-Flower.jpg

(NaturalNews) Okay, maybe Monsanto didn't actually set out to kill off the honeybees, but they're doing a darn good job of it, if you ask me – and threatening the lives of the rest of us humans, as well.

And their recent tactics have included a clever propaganda campaign designed to paint a kinder, gentler picture of their devilish operations, but it's just a thin veneer concealing a whole lot of ugly.

Not only that, but their efforts to pretend that they are actually trying to help the honeybees might unleash another Pandora's box of reckless nature-meddling technology that could lead to even more disastrous consequences for the environment, the bees and everyone else.

WIRED publishes pro-Monsanto propaganda piece
I'm not sure if someone at Monsanto managed to bribe the staff of WIRED, but a recent article published by the online magazine seems to be nothing more than an apology piece written to make the company somehow appear more human

However, the article, entitled A Swarm of Controversy - In Their Struggle for Survival Against Killer Mites, Bees Get An Unlikely Ally: Monsanto, actually reveals some disturbing facts about a new experimental technology the company is developing, while also avoiding any discussion about glyphosate and its deadly effects on honeybees.

It's as slanted a piece of journalism as I have ever come across, but even though it's obviously nothing more than pro-Monsanto propaganda, it contains some very interesting information.

The article's main focus is honeybee expert Jerry Hayes, who for the past five years has worked for Monsanto as a sort of public relations figure whose job is to explain to beekeepers the company's program involving genetically-altered RNA (ribonucleic acid) that in theory will control the varroa mite – one of the many threats currently facing honeybee populations.

The technology – which is still in development and which has so far failed in several field trials – involves altering strands of RNA (single-stranded chains of cells similar to DNA that process proteins and carry genetic information) to give it the ability to kill the predator mites.

The process is called RNA interference, or RNAi, which theoretically allows altered RNA to zero in on specific organisms, such as the varroa mite.

From the WIRED article:

"Traditional pesticides act like chemical backhoes, killing their targets (beetles, weeds, viruses) but harming good things along the way (beneficial insects, birds, fish, humans). RNAi, in theory, works instead like a set of tweezers, plucking its victims with exquisite specificity by clicking into sequences of genetic code unique to that organism."

That may sound nice, but there are a number of possibly serious risks and unknowns associated with unleashing such a technology – but hey, that never stopped Monsanto before, did it?

Monsanto's mantra has always been: "If it makes money, let's try it out – no matter how dangerous it might turn out to be!"

National Honey Bee Advisory Board: Unleashing RNAi technology 'would be more naive than our use of DDT'
In fact, even the Monsanto-praising WIRED article acknowledges that this technology could pose a serious threat:

"Lots of very different living things share genes and genetic sequences, which means it is theoretically possible, if unlikely, that RNAi could harm organisms beyond its targets. ...

"In comments submitted to the USDA, the National Honey Bee Advisory Board argued that using the technology 'would be more naive than our use of DDT in the 1950s.'"

And who was one of the first manufacturers of DDT – which causes liver, reproductive and nervous system damage?

That's right – Monsanto, of course!

But I digress. ...

Aside from revealing some of the the details regarding this unproven and potentially disastrous new Monsanto technology, the WIRED article conveniently skirts the issue of glyphosate, its bee-killing properties and its likely significant contribution to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), by shifting the blame to neonicotinoid pesticides:

"[Hayes] knew that environmentalists linked colony collapse to neonicotinoid insecticides and that they thought Monsanto was somehow to blame. But he also knew that Monsanto doesn't make insecticides. The company's most famous product, glyphosate—that's Roundup—kills plants."

But glyphosate also kills bees – it's a scientifically-proven fact – and the article makes absolutely no mention of that fact.

And so it appears that the publishers of WIRED have either sold out to Monsanto – like so many scientists, politicians and regulators have already done – or they are just plain stupid.

Knowingly or not, WIRED has become just another Monsanto shill. ...

Sources:

Wired.com

NaturalNews.com

Collective-Evolution.com

TruthWiki.org

Science.NaturalNews.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/055432_Monsanto_propaganda_WIRED.html#ixzz4LNuAZ2vq

link to wired artc...https://www.wired.com/2016/08/jerry-hayes-how-to-save-the-bees-monsanto/

[william r sanford72]

usda....NATIONAL HONEY REPORT..sept 26.

www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/fvmhoney.pdf

[Cidersomerset]

Asian hornet arrives in Britain, countless honeybees at risk

By David on 26 September 2016 GMT

http://www.newstarget.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2016/08/cropped-NewsTarget-488x125.png

By: D. Samuelson

Date: September 23, 2016

Asian hornets (Vespia mandarinia) pose no extreme risk to humans, but the
presence of these hornets could mean genocide to the honey bees . It’s not
the stinger that hurts the bees, reports The Register, it’s the hornet’s jawbone,
or mandible that will swiftly decapitate honey bees. They do their damage after
hovering around bee colonies while awaiting their prey. They can kill as many
as 40 bees in one minute.This is the first time these dangerous Asian hornets
have been discovered in the United Kingdom. Concerns that these bee killers
might make their way to the British mainland have existed for quite some time,
according to the Independent. The wasps have already made themselves at
home in France, where they have been spreading in the central and southern
regions at alarming rates.’

Read more: Asian hornet arrives in Britain, countless honeybees at risk

http://www.newstarget.com/2016-09-23-asian-hornet-arrives-in-britain-countless-honeybees-at-risk.html

============================================

https://beeinformed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Hornet-and-Honeybee.jpg


https://beeinformed.org/2014/04/15/killer-hornets/



===========================================
===========================================

Interesting article from yesterday.....

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/3.20.4/orb/4/img/bbc-blocks-dark.png


'Colossal' wasp nest found in Corby attic
26 September 2016

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/157BD/production/_91379978_wasps-1000-a.jpg
Pest controller Gary Wilkinson was called in to deal with the nest, which he described as "colossal"

A "colossal" wasp nest the size of a "barrel" with a tunnel attached has been found in the attic of a house.

The homeowner near Corby discovered the one-metre wide nest (3.2ft) while renovating the property,
which had been empty for two years, as reported in the Northampton Chronicle.

Pest controller Gary Wilkinson said "luckily" the wasps had moved out about a year earlier.

Its size and long entry tunnel made it a "spectacular work of art", he added.Mr Wilkinson was treating the
house in Pipewell for woodworm, when the owner who wants to remain anonymous, said: "Can you come
a have a quick look at this for me?"

"We just went, 'Wow', as it was colossal," Mr Wilkinson said.


Read more.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-37471529

[Sueanne47]

Ugggghhhh!!!! that is massive. I've only had a small wasp nest in my loft, hubby didnt wanna go near it, but he give it a poke and it disintegrated.

I havent seen those giant hornets in Norfolk yet, the poor honey bees have enough trouble trying to keep out of the spider webs at the moment (loads in my garden!)

[william r sanford72]

This will bee the last post for a week or 2 depending....will bee heading to North Dakota...Standing Rocks camps/protest over the pipe line.....Going to help out.
as is.....hope someone post now and again to keep this powerfull and important thread floating on the surface of Avalon.
Blessings and heart.
Truth and Balance always....
:heart:
William.

[Cidersomerset]

This will bee the last post for a week or 2 depending....will bee heading to North
Dakota...Standing Rocks camps/protest over the pipe line.....Going to help out.
as is.....hope someone post now and again to keep this powerfull and important
thread floating on the surface of Avalon.
Blessings and heart.
Truth and Balance always....

William.



Best of luck with that mate.....Keep safe.:shielddeflect:

If I see any articles I'll post um.......I can see the related topic from one
endangered species to another......

http://www.sott.net/image/s13/273731/full/Native_American_map1.jpg


First Nations In Canada And United States Sign Historic Treaty Opposing Pipelines

By David on 25 September 2016 GMT Activism, Corporate Crime

ACTIVIST POST....


First Nations in Canada and United States Sign Historic Treaty Opposing Pipelines

TOPICS:CanadaDakota Access PipelineDerrick BrozeNative AmericansOil.
.
September 24, 2016

https://www.davidicke.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/When-will-First-Nations-leaders-ensure-that-Canada-is-accountable-for-First-Nations-money-“Held-In-Trust”.jpg
When-will-First-Nations-leaders-ensure-that-Canada-is-accountable-for-First-Nations-money-“Held-In-Trust”

‘Indigenous nations from Canada and the United States have signed a treaty agreeing
to oppose future proposals for pipeline, rail, and tanker projects that attempt to carry
crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands.

On Thursday, tribes from Canada and the northern United States signed a treating
declaring their opposition to future proposals for pipelines that would carry crude oil
from Alberta to other locations across Canada and the United States. The tribal nations
are opposed to the pipelines based on potential threats to the environment.’

Read more: First Nations In Canada And United States Sign Historic Treaty Opposing Pipelines

http://www.activistpost.com/2016/09/first-nations-in-canada-and-united-states-sign-historic-treaty-opposing-pipelines.html

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The White Tribe's Onslaught Against Native Americans Isn't a History Tale—It's Alive and Well In 2016
The Dakota Access Pipeline showdown is a trip back to the future.

By Chip Ward / TomDispatch

September 20, 2016

http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/story_image/public/story_images/29105672742_63e754eed8_z.jpg

Read more.....

http://www.alternet.org/environment/white-tribes-onslaught-against-native-americans-isnt-history-tale-its-alive-and-well

[Cidersomerset]

" Don' Worry , BEE Happy "

Twd-MehV1RQ

===================================


Telegraph.....

Bees have feelings too...and become happy and optimistic after drinking nectar



Bees appear more optimistic after drinking nectar

By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor
29 September 2016 • 7:00pm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/science/2016/09/29/bumblebee_2870112b-large_trans++pJliwavx4coWFCaEkEsb3kvxIt-lGGWCWqwLa_RXJU8-large_trans++qVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpg

Bees become optimistic and happy after drinking nectar, leading scientists
to speculate they may have a consciousness. Biologists at Queen Mary
University of London (QMUL) have discovered that after bumblebees drink
a small droplet of sweet sugar water, they behave like they are in a positive
emotional state.

In a number of experiments, bees were taught to find sugary water in a blue
cylinder and not a green cylinder. When they were later presented with an
ambiguously-coloured cylinder, the bees which had drunk the ‘nectar’ flew
more quickly to the potential food source.

The scientists say it mirrors the way happy people make more optimistic
judgements about the outcome of situations. The sugar-water bees were
more optimistic that there would be food in the mystery container.

Read more....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/09/29/bees-have-feelings-tooand-become-happy-and-optimistic-after-drin/

[Cidersomerset]

Bees in Peril as First Species Added to Endangered Species List

By David on 2 October 2016 GMT




http://www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/cd_tagline_logo_blue-500_0.jpg


Saturday, October 01, 2016
byCommon Dreams

Bees in Peril as First Species Added to Endangered Species List

Listing comes amid a national crisis of declining bee populations, which is attributed to an array
of causes, including habitat loss, and the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides.

byLauren McCauley, staff writer


http://www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_large/public/headlines/hylaeus_bees.jpg?
Hawaii's native yellow-faced bees are small and dark. This one is nestled inside the flower
of ohi’a lehua, a native shrub. (Photo: Matthew Shepherd/The Xerces Society.)

‘Marking a troubling development in the crisis of pollinator decline, the first species of bees
were added to the Endangered Species List.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
announced the determined status on Friday for seven types of yellow-faced bees found in
the Hawaiian islands.

It comes after a multi-year effort by the invertebrate conservation organization The Xerces
Society to gain federal recognition and protection for the threatened bees.Xerces communication
director Matthew Shepard hailed the development as “excellent news for these bees,” but added
that “there is much work that needs to be done to ensure that Hawaii’s bees thrive.”‘

Read more: Bees in Peril as First Species Added to Endangered Species List

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/10/01/bees-peril-first-species-added-endangered-species-list

[Cidersomerset]

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Hawaiian bees are first on US endangered species list
1 October 2016


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The yellow-faced bee was once abundant across Hawaii

Seven species of yellow-faced bee native to Hawaii have become the first bees to be
added to the US federal list of endangered and threatened species.Conservationists
say the bees face extinction through habitat loss, wildfires and the introduction of
non-native insects and plants.The bees are crucial to pollinating some of Hawaii's
endangered plants.The listing follows years of study by researchers including the
Xerces Society conservation group.

Sarina Jepson, director of endangered species and aquatic programmes for Xerces,
said although yellow-faced bees are found elsewhere in the world, the species now
under protection are native only to Hawaii and pollinate indigenous plants.While
those species could potentially be pollinated by other bees, she said many could
become extinct if the native bees were allowed to die off. She told the Associated
Press news agency that threats to the bees include feral pigs and invasive ants.
The bees had also suffered loss of habitat due to wildfires, invasive plants and land
development, especially in some coastal areas, she added. Hawaii-based entomologist
Karl Magnacca, who worked with Xerces, said it had taken almost 10 years to achieve the listing.

"It's good to see it to finally come to fruition," he said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37530284

======================================================

Native bee species now protected under Endangered Species Act

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Published on 30 Sep 2016


Seven yellow-faced bee species are now under protection, a first for any bees in the nation.

[william r sanford72]

:highfive:thank you Cidersomerset for posting and caring. Discovered/found Standing Rock to bee much more than stopping a pipeline...Big Medicine.will take awhile to process the energy and info.What the Elders are attempting is a healing energy that goes well beyond anything in the usa in hundreds of years...old trauma and wounds native and European.. etc...powerfull energys at work at Standing Rock...seen and felt this first hand.
As is......taking a break.... will post as needed for the bees/our sake...so much to process.thanks again cider...........you Da man!!!



blessings and love.
:heart:
William.

[william r sanford72]

Is Censorship The New Digital Warfare Against Beekeepers?

Published on Sep 29, 2016

Neonicotinoids are the most widely used chemicals in the world. While beekeepers are fighting for the lives of their honeybees, industry is fighting equally as hard to keep their market share from tanking. Digital warfare has become the new tool for censoring information. As the efforts to stifle bee health advocates increases, the battle to ban these chemicals is becoming more evident. In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Colorado beekeeper, Tom Theobald talk about industry’s efforts to censor information about the global decline of the honeybee population and what people are doing about it.

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[william r sanford72]

Dorchester County Bee Killing Pesticide Debacle

Published on Oct 3, 2016

In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Tom Theobald talk about the Dorchester County bee-killing pesticide debacle as well as more censorship and bee declines in Australia, and the MP3 programs.

www.theorganicview.com.

xMwumJqpPLE

[Cidersomerset]

Pesticide Companies’ Own Secret Tests Showed Their Products Harm Bees: Report

By David on 6 October 2016 GMT Corporate Crime Medical/Health Planetary change


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Pesticide Companies’ Own Secret Tests Showed Their Products Harm Bees: Report

 Posted on October 5, 2016


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By Nadia Prupis

‘Agrochemical giants Syngenta and Bayer discovered in their own tests that their
pesticides caused severe harm to bees, according to unpublished documents
obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the environmental
group Greenpeace.

The companies conducted the trials on products that used the controversial pesticides
known as neonicotinoids, or neonics, which have long been linked to rapid bee decline.
Neonics are also the world’s most commonly used pesticide.

According to their own studies, Syngenta’s thiamethoxam and Bayer’s clothianidin were
found to cause severe harm at high levels of use, although the effect was lessened when
used under 50 parts per billion (ppb) and 40ppb respectively, the Guardian reports.’

Read more: Pesticide Companies’ Own Secret Tests Showed Their Products Harm Bees: Report

http://www.naturalblaze.com/2016/10/pesticide-companies-own-secret-tests-showed-their-products-harm-bees-report.html

[william r sanford72]

Flower lures pollinators with smell of honeybee fear

Trick deceives carnivorous flies with promise of bogus meal

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A South African flower catches flies with honey, or in this case, the smell of honeybees.

Several plant species lure potential pollinators with false promises of sweet nectar, sex or even rotting flesh. But Ceropegia sandersonii attracts its sole pollinator, Desmometopa flies, with the scent of fear. The flower mimics the chemical signals, or pheromones, released by alarmed western honeybees (Apis mellifera) during a predator attack. For flies that feast on the bees’ guts, it’s the perfect bait, Stefan Dötterl, a chemical ecologist at the University of Salzburg in Austria, and colleagues report online October 6 in Current Biology.

The team compared the compounds that make up the flower’s scent with pheromones released by the bees during simulated attacks. Not only did the two odors have several compounds in common, but the flies were strongly attracted to a mixture of a few of the shared compounds. That chemical cocktail has so far been observed only in the bees and C. sandersonii, the researchers say.

Before flies have a chance to wise up to the trickery, they become trapped inside the flower. The flies eventually escape about a day later, once the flower wilts, only to be duped by other flowers to finish the fertilizing task, Dötterl says.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/flower-lures-pollinators-smell-honeybee-fear

[william r sanford72]

there is a video along with this artc.that wouldn't post that may intrest some.

MIT Media Lab designs synethetic indoor apiaries to keep honeybees safe year-round

A new honeybee helper could give the tiny pollinators a safe place to reproduce and thrive. The Synthetic Apiary was produced by designer and architect Neri Oxman and the Mediated Matter group, part of the MIT Media Lab. Understanding that recent bee die-offs are due in large part to environmental conditions and exposure to pesticides, the designers theorize that controlled, indoor bee habitats could help the little buzzers survive year-round.

The creation of a controlled space in which bees can thrive directly addresses the plight of the bees from every possible angle. By design, the Synthetic Apiary concept protects the bees from the biggest threats to their survival, including errant pesticides, drastic climate changes, drought, and even flowers losing their scent. Providing a protective environment is the latest in a series of unique attempts to help save pollinators from total extinction.

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News of the experimental project emerges just days after the US Fish and Wildlife Service added seven species of bees to the Federal Endangered Species list for the first time in history. While it’s clear that honeybee colonies will need external support in order to repopulate and survive, it’s too soon to know whether the Synthetic Apiary is that solution. However, initial results are inspiring. The Mediated Matter video embedded above shows, at 2:33, the first bee birth ever documented in a synthetic environment.

http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/10/Mediated-Matter-Synthetic-Apiary-05-889x593.jpg

Oxman is no stranger to creating designs that address problems of survival. In 2014, the designer teamed up with MIT on another project, resulting in the production of eye-catching 3D-printed suits that could act as “wearable biospheres” to support human life on alien planets. Although that invention may never become a practical reality, the Synthetic Apiary concept has a buzzworthy chance at making a real difference for populations of bees right here on Earth.

http://inhabitat.com/mit-media-lab-designs-synethetic-indoor-apiaries-to-keep-honeybees-safe-year-round/

[william r sanford72]

Posted the report last month and thought to go back and reread as its mucho hard to find studys on fungicides and herbicides and how they effect bee colonys and native/wild bees because the focus tends to bee on the pesticide issue.This artic is only a slight update and catch up.

'Safe' fungicides linked to honey bee colony deaths

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New York: Some fungicides, often regarded as safe for bees, could be a major contributor to honey bee colony losses, and the number of different pesticides within a colony -- regardless of dose -- closely correlates with colony deaths, suggests new research.
"Our results fly in the face of one of the basic tenets of toxicology: that the dose makes the poison," said senior author of the study Dennis van Engelsdorp, Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland in the US.
"We found that the number of different compounds was highly predictive of colony deaths, which suggests that the addition of more compounds somehow overwhelms the bees' ability to detoxify themselves," van Engelsdorp noted.

The researchers followed 91 honey bee colonies in the US, owned by three different migratory commercial beekeepers, for an entire agricultural season. 
The colonies began their journey in Florida and moved up the East Coast, providing pollination services for different crops along the way. 
A total of 93 different pesticide compounds found their way into the colonies over the course of the season, accumulating in the wax, in processed pollen known as bee bread and in the bodies of nurse bees. 

The study, published online in the journal Scientific Reports, showed that colonies with very low pesticide contamination in the wax experienced no queen events or colony death, while all colonies with high pesticide contamination in the wax lost a queen during the beekeeping season.
The study results also suggest that some fungicides, which have led to the mortality of honey bee larvae in lab studies, could have toxic effects on colony survival in the field. 
In the current study, pesticides with a particular mode of action also corresponded to higher colony mortality.

For example, the fungicides most closely linked to queen deaths and colony mortality disrupted sterols -- compounds that are essential for fungal development and survival.

"We were surprised to find such an abundance of fungicides inside the hives, but it was even more surprising to find that fungicides are linked to imminent colony mortality," lead author on the study Kirsten Traynor from the University of Maryland said.
"These compounds have long been thought to be safe for bees," Traynor noted.

http://zeenews.india.com/environment/safe-fungicides-linked-to-honey-bee-colony-deaths_1937978.html

[william r sanford72]

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Almost there!

Very soon Monsanto will be on trial! 30 witnesses and legal experts from five continents will testify in The Hague before five international judges. These witnesses will tell the judges, and the world, how Monsanto has ruined their health, their communities, their livelihoods. We will make the theme of this year's World Food Day (October 16th) the damage to health and nature caused by chemical industrial agriculture. Citizens’ tribunals have a long history of drawing widespread attention to corporate corruption, and of ultimately leading to criminal trials. Like you, we want the Monsanto Tribunal to push courts in countries all over the world to hold Monsanto accountable for its crimes.

 
Thanks to you!

This unique event is only possible thanks to the support of people like you. Thank you! Please continue to help us to spread the word, especially just before, during and the days after the event. Forward this newsletter to friends, ask them to sign support, write to journalists you know, share our posts on Facebook on your page and in groups, retweet our messages if you use twitter, compose your own messages on other social media. You can follow the hearings on live stream, the links will be on our website a few days before the Tribunal starts. We will upload videos on our website and our Facebook page during the event. Please share!

 
    The Bayer Monsanto merger

Many of you have asked about the pending buyout of Monsanto by Bayer, and how this will affect the Monsanto Tribunal.
Here’s the good news. Bayer’s proposed buyout of Monsanto will have no negative impact on the Monsanto Tribunal. First of all, the buyout will be challenged. And even if it’s approved, it won’t be final until well into 2017. More important, when the tribunal judges issue their final advisory opinions (scheduled for December 10th), those legal opinions will apply to all agribusiness corporations (including Bayer)—not just Monsanto. Besides, the merger of giants is not a sign of strength, analysts have pointed at the signs of an industry in trouble. The possible consequences of such a merger on people and the environment make the Monsanto Tribunal even more important to send a strong signal to the world.

 
    International Criminal Court widens scope – steps towards prosecution of ecocide

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In the near future environmental destruction could lead to governments and individuals being prosecuted for crimes against humanity by the international criminal court. The UN-backed court in The Hague has mostly ruled on cases of genocide and war crimes since it was set up in 2002. It did not investigate major environmental crimes so far. In a change of focus, the ICC said recently it would also look into crimes that result in the “destruction of the environment”, “exploitation of natural resources” and the “illegal dispossession” of land. This is an interesting development. The Monsanto Tribunal might be a very good preparation for a major case at the ICC.

Growing support

These last weeks we have seen a spectacular surge in support. Some 70,000 individuals have now signed their support for the Tribunal and so did almost a 1000 organisations and companies. From local food initiatives and affected communities to huge networks like La Via Campesina, the international movement which brings together millions of peasants and farmers, landless people, women farmers, indigenous people, migrants and agricultural workers from around the world. The Monsanto Tribunal is supported by organizations from Slow Food International, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Organic Consumers, Navdanya but also by a wide range of specific campaign groups, NGO’s and businesses around the globe. Watch the new support videos on our Facebook page (also accessible without a Facebook account).


Meet the witnesses and experts

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Look at the program to get to know the 30 witnesses and experts from 5 continents who will travel to The Hague to testify. Some of their names might be familiar to you, like the French farmer Paul François, the only person who ever won a court case against Monsanto after being poisoned by Lasso. Gilles-Eric Séralini, the scientist who exposed the potential carcinogenity of GMO corn and roundup, and who was heavily attacked by Monsanto trolls. The Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser who was sued by Monsanto for patent infringement. Damian Verzeñassi and Marcelo Firpo, health experts from Argentina and Brazil. The Mexican beekeeper Angelica El Canche. Farida Ahkter from Bangladesh on the dangers of GMO eggplant (photo below).

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Witnesses and experts include:

- health experts, victims and representatives from communities affected by the spraying of pesticides in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, France, India, Sri Lanka and Paraguay,
- farmers and seed savers from Australia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Canada, France,
- beekeepers from Yucatan, Mexico,
- scientists from Brazil, Germany, France, the UK and the US.
Check the program of the hearings and pleas of the Tribunal here.


The Peoples Assembly, speakers and workshops

The People's Assembly will be a remarkable event in itself. Parallel to the hearings of the Tribunal, it will give a space to movements from all around the world to connect and network, while featuring prominent speakers like Vandana Shiva, Ronnie Cummins, André Leu, Hans Herren, Corinne Lepage, François Veillerette and many more. Three rounds of workshops on seeds, GMOs, pesticides, agroecology as the way forward and holding corporations responsible will see lots of interaction between participants from all five continents. Below, Charito Medina (MASIPAG, Philipines) and Nivia Silva (MST, Brazil) .

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See the program for more details.

Join the process, at home or in a local event

Of course we can’t all travel to The Hague. You can be with us by watching the livestream of the Tribunal, or by participating in one of the many local events on and around World Food Day. We will upload videos of the People’s Assembly on our website and Facebook during the event.
We are looking forward to this historical event and we still need your help to make it a success!
Share the word, and if you have not already done so recently,please do.

Twitter

Facebook

Website

http://en.monsantotribunal.org/main.php?name=nieuwsbrief&obj_id=409156251

[william r sanford72]

'Zeidler Faces' Michael Joshin Thiele, USA on Tree Beekeeping

Published on Oct 1, 2016

Returning the birth right of integrity and freedom to honeybees.

5CbdZEqH2rU

[william r sanford72]

Six Scientists, 1,000 Miles, One Prize: The Arctic Bumblebee

A team of researchers scours the wilds of northern Alaska for Bombus polaris, a big bee that has adapted to the cold and that can teach them more about the effects of climate change.

DALTON HIGHWAY, Alaska — “To bees, time is honey.”
— Bernd Heinrich, “Bumblebee Economics”

One hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, by the side of a dusty road, two women in anti-mosquito head nets peer at a queen bumblebee buzzing furiously in a plastic tube.

“I think it’s the biggest bumblebee I’ve caught in my life!” Kristal Watrous says.
S. Hollis Woodard looks at the prize and says, “It’s the biggest frigging bumblebee I’ve ever seen in my life!”

Dr. Woodard, an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside; her lab manager, Ms. Watrous; and a small team of young academics have embarked on a bee-hunting road trip from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay and back, almost 1,000 miles all told, more than 800 on the Dalton Highway.

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Hollis and Bren Woodard capturing bees next to the Alaskan pipeline.

They want to find out more about the bees of the Arctic, the planet’s advance experiment in climate change. Melting sea ice and a rising ocean affect its coasts. Longer, warmer summers are changing plant life in the interior, and are bound to affect the lives of insects. But even though bees are by far the most important pollinators for tundra plants, some of which, like berries, are traditionally prized by Alaska natives, not enough is known about bee populations and behavior even to spot change when it occurs. That’s what the team hopes to remedy.

I joined the group the night before, and we are now tramping over tundra and through low willows near a maintenance site for the nearby Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The site, called the Chandalar Shelf, lies in the shadow of mountain peaks as sharp as freshly made Stone Age axes — the beginning of the Brooks Range.

It is the group’s third day in the field, and my first, and although the site is actually buzzing with bees, it seems that bee hunting is like fishing. No matter where you go and when you get there, someone always says, “You shoulda been here yesterday.” Or the day before that.
Another researcher, Jessica Purcell, an assistant professor in the entomology department at Riverside, said that at the Arctic Circle two days ago, “you couldn’t shake a net at a flower without catching a bee.”

She and her husband, Alan Brelsford, both newbies to the bee business, caught 40 each. “We had to let some go,” said Dr. Brelsford, who is starting at Riverside this fall as an assistant biology professor.

Here, the bees aren’t quite that numerous, and the hunters are every bit as intense as siblings on an Easter egg hunt.
Two of them are actually siblings. Dr. Woodard’s brother, Bren, an ex-Marine and devoted participant in military history re-enactments, carries a shotgun when there is a concern about grizzlies, but it doesn’t seem to interfere with his bee hunting. He ranges far and wide, as does Jeff Diez, a plant ecologist and the grizzled veteran of the group. He has been at the university for three years.

The bee stalkers run and pounce, swiping hand-held nets like the ones butterfly collectors use, calling out, “Bee!” or “Got one!” when they are successful. They pop them into plastic tubes and bring them to Michelle Duennes, a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Woodard’s lab for identification.

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As she looks at the bees, species names roll off her tongue like ingredients in a Hogwarts potion. Sylvicola. Neoboreus. Balteatus. All bumblebees, all in the same resonant genus, Bombus.

As the team gets ready to move on, Dr. Duennes takes a few plastic tubes from Dr. Woodard’s brother, whose reputation as a bee hunter grows with each day’s successes.
“You’re like the bee whisperer,” Dr. Duennes tells him.
In its winter coat, the Dalton Highway is the star of the reality television show “Ice Road Truckers.” Partly paved and part gravel, it is more like a dust road in mid-July, but the trip could still qualify as reality TV for natural history nerds. Call it the Polarbee Express.

All the scientists are under 40. They don’t take themselves too seriously. Dr. Diez tolerates constant teasing about his Australian bush hat, and to her many tattoos, Dr. Woodard has added one of a bee larva. Dr. Duennes is a roller-derby devotee who goes by the apt nom de guerre Polly Nator.

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Hollis Woodard along the Dalton Highway

The trip is being financed by a university grant to encourage collaboration among young scientists.

“We’re at a special place in our careers,” Dr. Woodard said.
They hadn’t been in the field together, but given the available grants, “we said, well what’s the craziest thing we could think of doing?” The answer: going north to Alaska to scout the condition of bumblebees in the Arctic, where climate change is occurring at a rapid rate.

Besides, Dr. Woodard says, she has been interested in expanding beyond her recent work of studying proteins in bee brains.
“I’m really lab oriented,” she says, standing in a cloud of mosquitoes with a bug net over her head, mountains in the background and the dust of eighteen-wheelers on the narrow highway a few hundred yards away.

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Michelle Duennes processing bee specimens at the Marion Creek campground along the Dalton Highway.

“I’m trying to get out more.”

‘Pandas of the Insect World’

The authors of a guide to North American bumblebees begin their volume with the sentence: “Everyone likes bumblebees.”

“They’re the pandas of the insect world,” Dr. Woodard says. “They’re big and fuzzy. People can see them. They move a little slower.”
There are 250 species, a small fraction of the world’s 20,000 bee species. Genetic studies suggest that they first appeared on the Tibetan plateau, where the greatest variety still exists. But they have spread around the Northern Hemisphere and into South America.
They are social insects. While honeybees may congregate in insect cities of 100,000 bees or more, bumblebees live in the equivalent of small towns, with colonies of 50 to a few hundred.

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A group of Muskox along the Dalton Highway.

Almost all bumblebee colonies last for just one season. As cold weather approaches, female workers, the queen and male drones die. Only fertile females that have mated — queens in waiting — seek refuges under the tundra, sometimes in old mouse burrows, where they outlast the winter in a state of torpor. In the spring, they emerge to start the whole cycle over.

Bumblebees are the only bees that live in the high Arctic. They have adapted to the darkness and cold of wintertime that dips to 60 below zero and then to the explosion of growth and pollination under summer’s midnight sun.

And that’s why the bee hunter caravan is on the Dalton Highway.

Some changes to the climate are already obvious. Willows are taking advantage of a milder climate to spread north to areas where only the low-lying plants and lichens of the tundra had lived before. Moose follow the march of the willows.
Other changes will come. For instance, new species of bees may arrive to compete with species that adapted to the old conditions. Some bumblebee populations in more temperate regions are already suffering, partly because of climate change. In September, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the once common rusty patched bumblebee as endangered.

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Scientists from the University of California, Riverside, eating dinner and processing their data on the road.

And there are gaps in the knowledge of Arctic bees that need to be filled. The group on this expedition wants to help build up information on current populations and behavior against which to measure change.

One bee dominates the hunts, and the conversation. It is Bombus polaris, the Arctic bumblebee. Other bumblebees live in the Arctic, but polaris survives closer to the North Pole than any other bee except a parasitic species that creates no nests and breeds no workers, laying its eggs in polaris nests. Polaris hasn’t been studied that much since Bernd Heinrich examined its physiology in the 1990s. For Dr. Woodard, Bombus polaris is the trophy bee.
It has adapted so well to the cold that by shivering its muscles it can raise its internal temperature to more than 95 degrees when it is 32 outside. It lives around the world, in the northern reaches of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian high Arctic, and in Greenland.

It doesn’t just stay warm enough to fly. Dr. Heinrich suggested in his research that a spring queen warms up her ovaries to jump-start the production of eggs to be fertilized with sperm stored in her body since the previous fall.

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Approaching Coldfoot, Alaska, along the Dalton Highway.

But by the end of the day at the Chandalar Shelf, no one has yet found a bee they can identify as polaris.

That night, we camp at a gravel pit where pipes and other material for the pipeline are stored. Each captured bee is in a plastic tube, and Dr. Duennes first gases them with a can of compressed air from a grocery store. Compressed air, she explains, is not just air. This kind contains difluoroethane, which stuns the bees. .
She removes the guts to study later for bacteria and viruses they may harboring, and places them in a solution that preserves them for genetic study. The bee bodies go into ethanol.

As she works, she recounts some of the day’s events, including one bee that she thought might be a polaris, but turned out not to be. She wanted to make sure she caught it, so she grabbed it through the net to make sure it didn’t escape. She thought, “I don’t care if it stings me. But then it did. And then I was like, ‘Ow, ow, no, I do care.”

But by the end of the day at the Chandalar Shelf, no one has yet found a bee they can identify as polaris.

That night, we camp at a gravel pit where pipes and other material for the pipeline are stored. Each captured bee is in a plastic tube, and Dr. Duennes first gases them with a can of compressed air from a grocery store. Compressed air, she explains, is not just air. This kind contains difluoroethane, which stuns the bees. .
She removes the guts to study later for bacteria and viruses they may harboring, and places them in a solution that preserves them for genetic study. The bee bodies go into ethanol.

As she works, she recounts some of the day’s events, including one bee that she thought might be a polaris, but turned out not to be. She wanted to make sure she caught it, so she grabbed it through the net to make sure it didn’t escape. She thought, “I don’t care if it stings me. But then it did. And then I was like, ‘Ow, ow, no, I do care.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/10/07/science/11BEES21/11BEES21-superJumbo.jpg
Alan Brelsford and Jessica Purcell one morning at the Toolik Field Station in Alaska on their hunt for the Arctic bumblebee.

Arctic ‘Luxury’

The next day, we arrive at an oasis of luxury, the Toolik Field Station, an Arctic research base run by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The station is a remote scientific outpost dotted with soft-sided dormitories shaped like Quonset huts, outhouses on stilts and labs in rectangular modular buildings. Showers, while hot, are limited to two per week, maximum two minutes each.

The cafeteria provides unlimited do-it-yourself sandwiches, coffee, snacks and ice cream. The regular meals are hearty and delicious. There are no mosquitoes in the cafeteria, so we don’t have to solve the problem of how to lift a mosquito net over our heads to get food into our mouths. The station also has a sauna, set on the shore of icy Toolik Lake. It is clothing optional, we are told during orientation, with men’s, women’s and late evening coed hours.

But with the luxury, the bees disappear. For two days, we try sites in and around the station. Here and there someone finds a bee, but they seem to have mostly disappeared.

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Scientists celebrated finding Bombus polaris, the arctic bumblebee, at the Toolik Field Station.

Other scientists at Toolik say that earlier in the year several large snowstorms, with warming spells in between, wiped out nesting attempts by migrating birds, drowning the nests and freezing chicks and eggs. Something similar may have happened to the bees.

But on July 4, I watch as Dr. Duennes identifies the first Bombus polaris. Once the trip is over, and the researchers do genetic testing at the University of California, Riverside, they will realize that they found more than 40 Bombus polaris bees along the way, but they don’t yet know that.

The first Bombus polaris bee is a gift. A researcher who has been using fine mesh nets to capture birds has also caught a number of bees by accident. She gladly turns over two dozen or so.

The bees have been in a cardboard box, and their hairs have become matted, making it impossible to see the color markings that identify them. Dr. Duennes and Ms. Watrous set up a bee-fluffing salon in a back room of the station’s recreation building.

More Reporting on Bees

In another room, Dr. Woodard and the three other professors plot the grant application that will grow out of this trip, a pursuit of Bombus polaris they hope will take some of them to Greenland and to Ellesmere Island.

First the bee dressers wash the bees with soap and water. Then they rinse them and wash the bees in ethanol. They dry the bees with paper towels and tease the hairs apart with corners of paper towel.

I admire the transformation, and Dr. Duennes holds up one of the restored bees and says, in a cartoon voice, “I feel like a whole new bee!”
Bumblebees come in many color combinations of yellow, brown, black and red, and only experts can tell one species from another. In some cases, only a microscopic examination of the male genitalia or DNA analysis can provide a definitive identification.

But one restored bee has telltale dark color in a yellow patch on its side. Dr. Duennes and Ms. Watrous compared it to illustrations in a guidebook. They won’t say what they think until they bring Dr. Woodard in to examine the bee.
While waiting for Dr. Duennes to set up lines of bees for her impromptu Bombus test, I take advantage of the downtime to play foosball with Dr. Diez. He crushes me, and keeps bringing up this ignominy for the rest of the trip.

Even though the long road to Prudhoe Bay is ahead, and a longer road back, when Dr. Woodard picks the right bee out of the lineup, Dr. Duennes is exultant.

“I am almost certain that’s polaris!”
After scrupulously considering every possible objection to the identification, everyone in the group raises a glass to Dr. Duennes’s toast: “Extreme bees, extreme people.”

Correction: October 7, 2016
An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the status of the rusty patched bumblebee. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the species as endangered in September; the agency did not classify it as such.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/science/alaska-bumblebee.html

[william r sanford72]

:(...New medicine to protect honey bees against Varroa mites

VarroMed recommended for marketing authorisation

At its October meeting, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the granting of a marketing authorisation in the European Union (EU) for VarroMed (oxalic acid dihydrate / formic acid). This antiparasitic medicine treats the Varroa mite infestation in honey-bee colonies, which is considered to be the most significant parasitic health concern affecting honey bees worldwide.

Honey bees are essential for pollination of crops and wild plants in Europe. The European Commission estimates that pollinators, including honey bees, bumble bees and wild bees, contribute at least 22 billion euros each year to European agriculture and pollinate over 80% of crops and wild plants on the continent.

However, beekeepers around the world have reported losses of honey-bee colonies, which are considered to be caused by a combination of different factors such as habitat loss, climate change, pesticide use, and also diseases affecting bee health. A continued decline of these pollinators could lead to serious biological, agricultural, environmental and economic difficulties.

The main parasite affecting honey bees is the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor), an invasive species from Asia that has affected bee colonies worldwide. The Varroa mite feeds on the circulatory fluid of bees and brood (bee larvae) and can also contribute to the spread of viruses and bacteria.

VarroMed is intended to kill Varroa mites and is a liquid which is trickled onto bees in the hive. It contains as active substance a fixed combination of two organic acids, oxalic acid dihydrate and formic acid. Both substances have been known in veterinary medicine for a long time and are either naturally present in foods or accepted for use in foods. The medicine is not expected to pose a risk to human or animal health or the environment, if used according to the product information.

VarroMed is intended to be used as part of an integrated Varroa control programme, which includes not only treatment with medicines but also non-chemical techniques like queen trapping or drone brood removal. It can be used either as a single-dose treatment during the broodless period (winter treatment) or in the presence of brood (spring or autumn), which will usually require repeated treatments.

Treatment should only be given at times when honey is not produced by bees.

The effectiveness and safety of the product in the protection of honey bees against Varroa mites was tested in laboratory and field studies in different European climate conditions. VarroMed was effective in killing more than 80% of mites, which is below the effectiveness level of 90% recommended by the CVMP Varroa guideline. However, CVMPagreed that a lower level of 80% could be accepted when integrated Varroa control techniques are put in place. Repeated treatment of VarroMed might also result in increased bee mortality, and careful dosing is recommended to avoid overdosing.

The medicine has been classified as MUMS (minor use minor species/limited market), and, therefore, reduced data requirements apply, and these have been considered in the assessment. EMA’s MUMS policy aims to stimulate the development of new veterinary medicines for minor species and for diseases in major species for which the market is limited and that would otherwise not be developed under current market conditions.

The CVMP opinion will now be sent to the European Commission for the adoption of a decision on an EU-wide marketing authorisation.
Note

More details on honey bees are available on the European Commission website.
Related information
VarroMed: Pending EC decision

Related content
Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP) meeting of 4-6 October 2016 (07/10/2016)

External links
European Comission: Honey bees

http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/news.nsf/articles/New+medicine+to+protect+honey+bees+against+Varroa+mites+10102016111000?open

[william r sanford72]

How thoughtful......:facepalm:
10 October 2016 - 10H25
Bayer chief promises no Monsanto GM crops in Europe

BERLIN (AFP) - 
German chemicals firm Bayer said on Monday it would not introduce genetically modified crops in Europe after its gigantic takeover of US seed and pesticide producer Monsanto.

"We aren't taking over Monsanto to establish GM plants in Europe," chief executive Werner Baumann told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

"Some people think it might be easier for us than for Monsanto, given the reputation we enjoy," Baumann said, "but that's not our plan".

"If politics and society in Europe don't want genetically modified seeds, then we accept that, even if we disagree on the substance," he went on.

Aspirin-maker Bayer's planned 58.8-billion-euro ($65.7 billion) takeover of the US firm is the biggest ever by a German company.

But it is also one of the most controversial, thanks to Monsanto's GM seeds designed for use alongside its pesticide glyphosate -- which has itself made headlines this year over cancer fears.

Environmental groups, green politicians and some farmers vowed to block the "marriage made in hell" between the two companies after the deal was inked in September.
Baumann pointed to the Americas, where "when this was all new 20 years ago and we had no experience, there were justifiable reasons to be sceptical.

"Today things are different. There are no signs that this technology brings environmental risks or isn't safe," he went on.

Baumann said he was confident that US and European regulators will approve the tie-up, which it launched in response to massive consolidation in the global agriculture and chemicals sector.

Beyond the controversies over GM food and glyphosate, Bayer faces close scrutiny over its own pesticides, accused by some of contributing to mass die-offs of bees, as well as Monsanto's longstanding poor public image, dating back to its production of the Agent Orange defoliant used by US forces in the Vietnam War.

http://www.france24.com/en/20161010-bayer-chief-promises-no-monsanto-gm-crops-europe

[william r sanford72]

Wild honey harvest

A living tradition in West Timor brings sweet rewards for forests and the community

Indonesia - Every year, the traditional custodians of the Mount Mutis Nature Reserve in West Timor, Indonesia, travel back to their ancestral lands for an important cultural ritual – the harvesting of wild honey.

The annual honey harvest is important not only for the continuation of an ancient tradition, but is proving to be an important contributor to social harmony, livelihoods and  the preservation of the nature reserve as instructed by national law, according to scientist Ani Adiwinata Nawir.

“It’s a success story for community-based landscape management and how it can contribute to forest conservation in harmony with national policy,” she says.

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As a non-timber forest product, Mount Mutis honey provides supplementary income for its harvesters’ livelihoods. And because honey production relies on a healthy forest environment, there is an extra economic incentive to ensure protection of the ecosystem it depends on.

An ancient tradition

For the Olin-Fobia community, harvesting wild honey is sacred business that involves a combination of indigenous and religious rituals.

The traditional custodians live a two-day journey from the forest where they collect the honey. When the blossoms of the Eucalyptus alba appear, preparations begin for a two-to three-week camp. Food and shelter must be prepared for the journey, and personal conflicts are expected to be resolved before departure, ensuring social harmony among the community.

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The whole community joins the journey to the harvest location, and the rewards are shared equally among them

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Community member Yohanes Palo waits for the harvest

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Isak Fobia, leader of the Olin-Fobia community. He is responsible for guiding the honey harvesting ceremony from the beginning to the end, and for dividing the harvest among the community

Camp is set up at the place considered to be the ‘gateway’ of the harvest area, and religious prayers are performed. These are followed by customary rituals that include the singing and chanting of mantras, and the sacrifice of a boar to be eaten by the community.

At nightfall, a group of people head out to the harvest location. Led by the amaf, or community leader, the group includes individuals with the technical and spiritual knowledge to safely collect the wild honey. The dangerous task involves climbing to branches up to 80 meters above the ground, where hives hang from the towering trees. An older tree can play host to as many as 120 hives.

One person, the meo one, makes the climb while another, the meo menesat, sings below, flattering the giant honey bees by calling them ‘beautiful forest princesses’, and asking permission to take their honey.

“They consider the bees as their partners in the harvest,” Ani says.
Using fire and smoke to repel the bees, the harvesters slice the honeycomb from the tree, bringing it back to share equally among the community, as determined by the amaf.

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A single tree can host more than 100 hives.

A sustainable product

There is usually enough honey from the harvest for the community to use for their own purposes, and to sell outside the area. As much as 30 tons of wild honey is produced and harvested in Mount Mutis annually, accounting for 25 percent of total production in the province of East Nusa Tenggara.
The World Wildlife Fund in Indonesia (WWF Indonesia) is working together with the community-run Mutis Community Network (JMM) to brand and package the product for better market impact. The initiative is part of WWF Indonesia’s Green and Fair Products campaign, which promotes the development of sustainable products sold at a fair price.

The wild honey is now sold as “Mt. Mutis” honey, exported mainly to Java, Sulawesi and Bali in Indonesia. The commercial success story is good news for Kanoppi’s research into non-timber forest products and the multiple benefits they can bring poor communities.

The sale of honey brings additional income for the whole community. Since it doesn’t involve cutting down trees, the harvest has a low impact on the protected Mount Mutis Nature Reserve. And because the continued production of honey relies on the health of the entire ecosystem, there is an additional incentive for the community to preserve it for generations to come.

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Standing by a Eucalyptus alba, or white gum tree. the tree's blossoms are the source of Mount Mutis wild honey.

Local law, national law

Overlapping laws and regulations from the central, provincial and district governments determine the types of forest product uses allowed in the area. However, the research has found that local people are generally unaware of these rules and how they apply to the forest products that they depend on for their livelihoods. Nonetheless, customary laws are inadvertently delivering on national laws by regulating access to, and use of, protected forest.

Kanoppi’s research has found that the traditions surrounding the wild honey harvest may be among the most sustainable and effective governance measures now protecting the national nature reserve.

At other times of the year, nearby communities collect honey made from the blossoms of the Eucalyptus urophylla, known locally as the ampupu tree. But the Eucalyptus alba honey harvest is reserved for the Olin-Fobia community. Mutual respect among communities in the Mutis-Timau landscape for traditions regarding forest governance, and shared interest in the continuation of those traditions, are in effect fulfilling national policies on forest protection.

The project’s recommendation to support the honey harvest tradition has already been adopted in the district government’s strategy on landscape-level integrated management of non-timber forest products, as a reference for local government agencies.

Ani says that this success suggests great potential for customary laws in sustainable natural resource management. It also suggests that better participation is needed by local people in creating the laws that affect them and their livelihoods, she says.

http://blog.cifor.org/43871/a-living-tradition-with-sweet-rewards?fnl=en

[william r sanford72]

Nature: No single protein determines queen development in honeybees
October 12, 2016

In the first few days after they hatch, honey bee larvae feed on royal jelly secreted by the hypopharyngeal glands of adult honey bees. "It is a highly nutritious food comprising sugars, proteins and amino acids," says Robin Moritz, Professor of Molecular Ecology at MLU. After a few days, most larvae start to receive honey and pollen in their food. These will develop into worker bees. Only the larvae that are destined to become queens continue to be fed exclusively on royal jelly. The queen is the only sexually reproductive female responsible for the production of all offspring in the colony.

"Scientists have spent a long time looking for a specific substance in royal jelly that makes the larvae grow into queens," says Dr Anja Buttstedt, a research associate with Professor Moritz and lead author of the new study. As far back as the late 1970s, German biochemist Heinz Rembold already showed that no single substance was responsible for queen determination – rather, the right mix of nutrients was supposed to be essential. "The special royal diet makes the larvae eat more, stimulating their metabolism and the larval development. Other genes are expressed, and this all results in entirely different developments inside the bees' bodies," says Buttstedt. The royal diet is also essential for the queen to develop fully activated ovaries – in contrast to the sterile worker bees. At least, this was the scientific consensus for many decades, as Buttstedt explains.

In 2011, however, Japanese scientist Masaki Kamakura caused a stir when Nature published a study in which he presented a royal jelly protein, royalactin, that supposedly could turn larvae into queens. "The study surprised bee researchers around the world," says Robin Moritz. Hence the two MLU biologists decided to repeat Kamakura's experiments. They received support from two MLU pharmacists: Dr Christian Ihling and Professor Markus Pietzsch. The group exactly followed Kamakura's approach by producing a royal jelly that contained no royalactin and feeding it to larvae in the laboratory. A control group received the same food that was artificially re-enriched with royalactin. Describing the results, Buttstedt says, "Neither the royalactin-free nor the enriched larval food produced any differences in queen caste determination." Larvae that received no royalactin developed into perfect queens, while feeding the larvae with royalactin-enriched food did not increase the number of queens.

called intercastes – bees with characteristics of both workers and queens. Buttstedt says that, while this is very rare in nature, it is most common in laboratory experiments and methodologically inevitable. The MLU results confirm the suite of older studies on caste development by many other research groups. Therefore, for now, royalactin's role in royal jelly remains rather unspectacular: one of many protein sources in the larval food

###

Publication

A. Buttstedt, C. H. Ihling, M. Pietzsch & R. F. A. Moritz. "Royalactin is not a royal making of a queen", Nature 537 (2016) DOI: 10.1038/nature19349

http://scienmag.com/nature-no-single-protein-determines-queen-development-in-honeybees/

[william r sanford72]

The incredible otherwordly caterpillars of Ecuador

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From cute as a kitten to fierce as a dragon, these exquisite caterpillars prove there's no limit to bizarre when Mother Nature is driving.

Caterpillars are a wonder. The ever-so-curious larvae of butterflies and moths garner much more affection than other insect larvae, and there is little denying that they are really charming. Yes, they can inflict some serious stings and devour whole crops, but once they graduate to full-blown butterfly and moth status, they become important pollinators and part of a healthy ecosystem. Consider caterpillar-hood as the rebellious teen years.

One of the greatest challenges caterpillar face is that they are essentially slow-moving bundles of protein that make for excellent meals for their predators. Which is why they have developed all kinds of fancy tricks, like the aforementioned stinging thing as well as their array of looks which work to make them look larger, or scarier, or like other things, or hidden, and so on. All so clever, and all a delight to the nature lover with a soft-spot for larvae.

The following images show some of the extreme caterpillars of Ecuador, a place of astounding biodiversity. The photos were taken by scientist Andreas Kay, who has been documenting the diversity of life in Ecuador as an independent scientist since 2011 in order to raise more awareness for the treasures there, many of which are threatened by the destruction of tropical forests.

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For more of Kay's incredible images (and more about the individual caterpillars shown here), visit his flickr page where he has shared an incredible 16,000 photos.

http://www.treehugger.com/animals/incredible-otherwordly-caterpillars-ecuador.html

[william r sanford72]

Morgan Freeman turns his 124-acre ranch into bee sanctuary—others join to fight massive die-offs

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A new resurgence of an older story is recirculating social media and continues to bring awareness to the mass die-offs of the world’s bee population.

"There's a concerted effort to bring bees back onto the planet ... We do not realize that they are the foundation, I think, of the growth of the planet, the vegetation... I have so many flowering things and I have a gardener too. Because she takes care of the bees too, all she does is figure out, 'OK, what would they like to have?', so we've got acres and acres of clover, we're planting stuff like lavender, I've got like, maybe 140 magnolia trees, big blossoms ...
I've not ever used (the beekeeping hat) with my bees," he says. "They haven't (stung me) yet, because right now I'm not trying to harvest honey or anything, I'm just feeding them... I think they understand, 'Hey, don't bother this guy, he's got sugar water here.'"

Here is the 2014 video of Morgan Freeman telling The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon about his new “hobby” for the cause.
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Honey bees have been in serous decline for more than three decades on the United States, as noted in the National Academy of Sciences report Status of Pollinators in North America (National Research Council, 2007). Declines in the number of managed honey bee colonies used in honey production have been documented by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Servide (USDA 2014). Starting in the 1940’s hen there were approximately 5.7 million colonies in the United States, the number of managed colored used in honey production has declined to approximately 2.74 million colonies today.

By expanding the conversation through enhanced public education and outreach, as well as strongly-guilty public/private partnerships, the Strategy seeks to engage all segments  of our society so that, working together, we can take meaningful steps to reverse pollinator declines.
​Pollinators are critical to our Nations economy, food security, and environmental health. Honey Bee pollination alone adds more than $15 billon in value to agricultural crops each year, and provides the backbone to ensuring our diets are plentiful with fruits, nuts and vegetables. Through the action disscussedin this Strategy, and by working with partners across the country, we can and will help restore sustain pollinator health nationwide. 

Respect the bees. Save the bees. We need the bees. 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/12/1581035/-Actor-activist-Morgan-Freeman-turns-his-124-acre-ranch-into-bee-sanctuary-to-fight-massive-die-offs

[Cidersomerset]

I like how Morgan is resonating with his Bees........

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Morgan Freeman Calls Out Monsanto in Defense of Bees | Larry King

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Published on 2 Mar 2016
Watch the Full Larry King Now Interview Here: http://www.ora.tv/larrykingnow

[william r sanford72]

Exploring Apitherapy: Bee Products as Medicine
Honey and bee pollen are ancient medicines with modern applications

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People have been using bee products, including honey, pollen, wax and venom, for millennia. The first recorded instance of people collecting honey is documented in a rock painting—which is nearly 9000 years old—found in Spain. With respect to medicine, Egyptian medical papyri from around 1550 BCE indicate that honey was used to treat wounds.

Interestingly, Alexander the Great treated his hip pain with bee stings, and later, Charlemagne, the Frankish conqueror and Holy Roman Emperor who united much of Europe in the middle Ages, was claimed to be cured of gout by bee stings.

Bees, honey and pollen are referenced in nearly every major scripture and culture, including the Talmud, Bible, and Quran as well as ancient scrolls from the Orient, Rome and Greece. Verily, bee products have been touted as nutritive food source, health tonic, medicine, youth elixir and aphrodisiac.

Hippocrates once wrote, ‘‘Honey and pollen cause warmth, clean sores and ulcers, soften hard ulcers of the lips, heal carbuncles and running sores.”
Despite the bee being archetype, we still know little about the potential of bees or their products as medicine. Up until 200 years ago, people still thought honey came from heaven, and it wasn’t until the late 1900s that scientists figured out the chemical composition of bee venom.
The term apitherapy means the use of bee honey, venom, pollen and royal jelly as medicine. In this article, we’ll first take a look at the historical and anecdotal uses of these bee products.

We’ll then take a look at some evidence-based research suggesting a few modern medical uses of honey.

Honey

Honey is derived not only from honey bees but also stingless bees, honey wasps and honey ants. Depending on the source, there’s great variation in the color and taste of honey.

Honey has long been used to treat allergies; however, it’s been suggested that because allergies vary according to geography, the honey used must be harvested locally.

Honey has antimicrobial properties and is used to treat external wounds and bed sores. Of note, there are two types of antibacterial agents in honey, which are called inhibines. Whereas one of these inhibines can be degraded in heat or light and is derived from hydrogen peroxide, the other is thermostable and doesn’t break down after the application of heat.
Honey has also been used to treat cough, ulcers, colitis and other gastrointestinal illnesses.

Bee Pollen

Bee pollen is produced from flowers and is carried on the bodies of bees. Bee pollen is rich in free amino acids, sugars and enzymes. Some experts herald bee pollen as a superfood. In fact, bee pollen contains 50 percent more protein than meat.
Here are some medicinal uses of bee pollen:

antidepressant
appetite modulator
brain, heart, liver and prostate health
hypertension
diarrhea
constipation
cancer
autoimmune disorders (for example, thyroiditis, lupus, multiple sclerosis and celiac disease)
benign prostatic hypertrophy
memory loss

Propolis

Don’t know what propolis is?

Propolis the cement that holds hives together. Bee propolis is made of the resin that bees collect from plants and trees. Its composition varies based on season, soil, climate and type of plant.

Propolis is chock-full of waxes, essential oils, vitamins (for example, A, B1, B2, C and E), and minerals (for example, magnesium, copper, zinc, iron and iodine).

Propolis has antibacterial, antiparasitic, anticancer and antiviral properties.

Propolis has various medical uses including the following:

acute gum erosion
chronic gum erosion
denture soreness
periodontal disease
gingivitis
tissue regeneration
external warts
psoriasis

Bee Venom Therapy

Bee venom therapy (BVT) has a long history. It’s been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis for several centuries, first with live stings and then by means of injection. BVT has also been used to treat multiple sclerosis for decades.

American physician Dr. Bodog F. Beck wrote an influential book titled Bee Venom Therapy. In the 1930s, this book inspired Charlie Mraz, a Vermont beekeeper, to start treating people who complained of arthritis with live bee stings.

More than 60 components have been identified in bee venom, including antimicrobials as well as compounds with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects.

BVT has been observed to not only treat symptoms but also slow the pathogenesis, or progression, of disease. BVT has been used to treat arthritis, post-herpetic neuralgia and adhesive capsulitis. It is also incorporated into the practice of acupuncture.

Please know that about 3 percent of people experience anaphylaxis, or a life-threatening allergic reaction, after an insect sting. People who are possibly allergic to insect venom should avoid BVT.

Royal Jelly

Royal jelly is the most expensive and prized bee product. It’s secreted from glands in the heads honeybee workers and fed to queen larva. Royal jelly looks like mucus and is sometimes called “bee milk.”

Royal jelly is more than 50 percent water and the rest is sugars and proteins. It has antibacterial and antifungal properties.
Royal jelly has been used to treat hypercholesterolemia and osteoporosis, improve cognitive function and help with wound healing and tissue repair.

Evidence Basis of Honey as Medicine

All of the uses above chronicle how honey, pollen, bee venom and other bee products have been used to treat various ailments. However, the overwhelming majority of these treatments lack empirical support.

Research regarding the use of honey to treat illness is still nascent, and a dearth of actual evidence exists supporting its uses. Nevertheless, honey has been studied as treatment for certain conditions. Let’s take a look.

Treatment of Pediatric Cough With Honey

Cough secondary to a viral upper respiratory infection (with no preceding infection) is exceedingly common among children. Nighttime cough is disruptive not only for the child but also for parents who lose sleep, too. Furthermore, children need rest to recover from infection, and cough robs children of this rest.

In a bid to service parents’ desire to stop the coughing, various over-the-counter cough formulations are available, which contain antitussives (the word tussive refers to cough), decongestants, expectorants, antipyretics (fever reducers) and antihistamines. However, data suggest that these preparations offer no relief and can be dangerous.

A Cochrane meta-analysis including 8 trials with 616 children with viral-induced cough suggests that OTC medicines used to treat cough don’t reduce frequency or severity of cough, sputum production or cough counts. Furthermore, dextromethorphan and diphenhyramine—two common ingredients found in OTC preparations—were found to be no better than placebo when relieving cough symptoms or sleep difficulties.

Moreover, even codeine, which was long considered the best treatment for cough in children, has proven no more effective at treating cough than placebo. Moreover, children are particularly susceptible to codeine’s nasty side effects, including agitation, sedation, vomiting, troubles with breathing and heartbeat disturbances.
Findings from several studies suggest that a single dose of honey may reduce cough and mucus secretion in children. Additionally, honey has proven more effective than honey-flavored dextromethorphan at reducing cough frequency, the annoying nature of cough and severity of cough. Honey has also been shown to improve sleep quality in both children and parents. Finally, the WHO has been recommending honey for the treatment of cough ever since 2001.

Overall, honey is both safe and cheap, making it an enviable treatment. Please note, however, that honey shouldn’t be administered to children fewer than 12 months of age, because it can harbor Clostridium botulinum, which causes botulism, a rare illness that results in paralysis. Finally, honey given to children should always be pasteurized.

Honey as Topical Treatment for Wounds

A 2015 Cochrane systematic review authored by Jull and co-authors assessed 26 randomized and quasi-randomized trials that evaluated honey as treatment for any acute or chronic wound.

According to the authors of the study:

“Honey appears to heal partial thickness burns more quickly than conventional treatment (which included polyurethane film, paraffin gauze, soframycin-impregnated gauze, sterile linen and leaving the burns exposed) and infected post-operative wounds more quickly than antiseptics and gauze. Beyond these comparisons any evidence for differences in the effects of honey and comparators is of low or very low quality and does not form a robust basis for decision making.”

In other words, honey does appear to help with wound healing; however, much of the evidence analyzed was low quality, biased and imprecise.
On a related note, data from other research studies indicate that honey can help prevent wound infection and decrease inflammation as well as promote rapid healing and epithelialization of the wound site. More specifically, honey may stimulate monocytes to produce growth factors that promote healing.

Honey to Treat Post-Tonsillectomy Pain in Children and Teens

Anybody who has had their tonsils taken out as an older child, teenager or adult knows how painful this procedure can be. In addition to pain, hemorrhage or bleeding is another potentially serious adverse effect of tonsillectomy.

Results from a low-power 2014 randomized-control trial by Iranian researchers published in the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology seem to indicate that honey helps with recovery after tonsillectomy in kids aged between 5 and 15 years old.

This trial included 80 participants, with 40 assigned to the experimental group and 40 assigned to the control group. Participants in the experimental group were treated with antibiotics, acetaminophen and honey after tonsillectomy; whereas, those in the control group received antibiotics and acetaminophen.

Researchers discovered the following:

pain was more intense among members of the control group (those who didn’t receive honey)
participants who received honey required less acetaminophen for pain relief
those who received honey healed quicker and resumed a normal diet more quickly
those who received honey were less likely to be awakened by pain

Bottom Line

There’s still much to learn about the potential of honey and other bee products to heal. Medical effects of these things are likely multifactorial and involve osmotic effect, hydrogen peroxide content, nutritional content, antioxidant content, prostaglandins, nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide content and immunomodulation.
Before taking honey, bee pollen, bee venom and so forth as treatment, it’s best to consult with your physician first. Your physician will help gauge the severity of your illness and symptoms and provide insight into the suitability of any potential treatments.

Sources:

Fratellone PM, Tsimis F, Fratellone G. Apitherapy Products for Medicinal Use. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2016.

Goldman RD. Honey for Treatment of Cough in Children. Canadian Family Physician. 2014; 60: 1107-1110.

Jull AB, Callum N, Westby MJ, Deshpande S, WalkerC N. Honey as Topical Treatment for Wounds (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2015.

Mizrahi A. Bee Products: Properties, Applications, and Apitherapy. New York: Springer Science+Business Media; 1997.

Mohebbi S et al. Efficacy of Honey in Reduction of Post Tonsillectomy Pain, Randomized Clinical Trial. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology. 2014: 78:1886-1889.

https://www.verywell.com/apitherapy-bee-products-as-medicine-4098820

[william r sanford72]

Now Beehives Are Connecting to the IoT with Open Source Beehives
October 13th, 2016

Honeybees are vanishing, and at an alarming rate. The rise of colony collapse disorder in apis mellifera is concerning, because without honey bees to pollinate our crops, human beings will starve.

Colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon in which the worker bees in a hive simply vanish en masse, leaving behind a queen and a few nurse bees to raise the larva. Where do the worker bees go?

Enter the Open Source Beehive. It’s a small project involving a few visionaries and a couple of maker labs in Europe. The idea is to design hives that are easy to use, and expose bees to no foreign substances that might affect results. Using a CNC router, a modification of the Kenyan Top Bar hive was made in Colorado. Top bar hives allow you to inspect the hive without bothering it too much, and allow bees to make their own comb their own way.

http://www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/CkB8rTTWUAAYOZ_.jpg

A commonly used hive, the Langstroth, uses paraffin wax as a mold for the bees, and the idea is to limit exposure to foreign substances as much as possible, so that the environmental effects on hives around the world can be studied. The team is working on sensors, which can monitor temperature, hive population, and humidity, and hopefully be able to link that information with other hives around the world, creating a global database.

The hives are a modification of top bar hives developed in Kenya. Because African honeybees are more aggressive than their European and North American counterparts, a top bar hive places the honeycomb part of the hive above the colony, so fewer bees are disturbed when it’s opened. It keeps the bees calmer and makes for easier hive inspections.

http://www.solidsmack.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/hive.jpg

Building on this idea, the team designed a hive that can be made from a single 4 X 8 plywood board. Using a CNC router, or a computer-controlled milling machine, the software optimizes the cuts on the plywood, wasting little material and cutting a frame that can be assembled without nails or other materials (The best part of the whole deal). Inside the frame is a sensory device that will monitor humidity, temperature, population, weight, acoustics and electromagnetic fields. (I suggest they get a wasp defense system. We’ve all seen that nature show, a wasp comes in an destroys the whole nest.)

It’s based on the Smart Citizen Arduino device, part of a global campaign for people around the world to monitor environmental conditions in their home cities, and share the data. The data is streamed to a site online, and when aberrations within hives occur, text messages are sent to users. With time and lots of data, the team hopes that citizens the world over will know more about colony collapse disorder—and what can be done about it.

http://www.solidsmack.com/culture/open-source-beehive/

[william r sanford72]

Lawsuit Launched to Protect Plants, Monarchs From Toxic New Pesticide
Posted October 11th, 2016 for Center for Biological Diversity

WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity is suing the Environmental Protection Agency for once again approving a toxic pesticide without fully considering its potential harm to the environment. The potent new plant-killer, halauxifen-methyl, could harm rare plants and the increasingly imperiled monarch butterfly. Yet the EPA approved the chemical without a robust and legally required scientific evaluation of its effects, including its potential to harm to bees and other imperiled pollinators.

“Pesticide chemical companies are dodging the requirement that they must provide the EPA with basic information on the potential harm of pesticides, and the EPA isn’t demanding it,” said Stephanie Parent, a senior attorney at the Center. “Without all this critical information, the EPA simply can’t make pesticide-approval decisions supported by science. This is a bad deal for rare plants, butterflies and the people who love them.”

As a result of intense pressure and litigation from the Center and other advocates, the EPA is making some progress, albeit slow, in its pesticide-evaluation process — for example, prohibiting the mixture of halauxifen-methyl with other active ingredients that increase its toxic effects. Yet it allowed mixture of the product that contains halauxifen-methyl and another active ingredient, florasulum, with any other chemical (other than glufosinate) without a sound explanation of that decision. And the agency once again ignored its mandate to consider the effects of this pesticide and mixtures on endangered species.

Despite a mandate from the White House to protect imperiled pollinators, the EPA has waived the required pollinator-impact studies for a full year, allowing halauxifen-methyl to be used on fields across America without knowing how it will affect the already declining bee populations.

Despite a mandate from the White House to protect imperiled pollinators, the EPA has waived the required pollinator-impact studies for a full year, allowing halauxifen-methyl to be used on fields across America without knowing how it will affect the already declining bee populations.

“With this latest pesticide approval, the EPA is once again gambling with the health of imperiled bees and butterflies, leaving us with no choice but litigation to force them to follow the law,” said Parent. “Pesticide companies are choosing not to share critical information with the EPA about how their pesticides react with other chemicals, yet the EPA is still choosing to approve the pesticides.”

The EPA’s negligence in fully evaluating the potential harms of new pesticides is not a new development. Earlier this year the Center released a groundbreaking new report, Toxic Concoctions, finding that over two-thirds of new pesticides registered in the past six years by the four major pesticide companies had patents demonstrating their new products’ synergistic effects with other pesticides — effects the EPA failed to consider. Synergism can greatly increase the harm of the pesticides to nontarget species such as bees and butterflies. Prior to 2016 the EPA had not considered patents showing pesticide synergy or incorporated the publically available patent information into their analyses of these new pesticides. The Center followed this report with a petition to the EPA asking that it require information on pesticide synergy in pesticide-registration applications. The EPA has yet to act on this petition.

In assessing the new pesticide, the agency did make progress by asking for, and evaluating, some information on synergy. It still fell short by failing to obtain all the synergy information available or considering how the pesticide may affect bees and endangered species.  

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/lawsuit-launched-protect-plants-monarchs-toxic-new-pesticide

[Cidersomerset]

This puts a whole new meaning to Arnie's quote....." I'll Bee Back " !

You may have seen this before but I just saw the Corbett report
article and some other earlier ones below.....


Harvard University developing “RoboBees”

kkEQAufZQKA

Published on 9 Jun 2016

Researchers at Harvard University are developing autonomous, miniature
flying robots known as “RoboBees.” Are these robots the future of… bees?
Legal and media analyst Lionel of Lionel Media tells RT’s Alex Mihailovich
that if these RoboBees are given artificial intelligence and the ability to
reproduce, the results could be quite terrifying.

Tiny, Robotic Bees Could Change the World

lJCMIsLuGpg

=============================================

Scientists Engineer Robo-Bees To "Solve" Colony Collapse Problem - #NewWorldNextWeek

YvuYSF_mY1o

Published on 13 Oct 2016


Welcome to New World Next Week — the video series from Corbett Report and Media
Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in open source
intelligence news. In this week’s episode:

Story #1: The CIA Says It Can Predict Social Unrest as Early as 3 to 5 Days Out
http://bit.ly/2dYg2r6
#MorningMonarchy: CIA ‘Siren Servers’ Can Predict Social Uprisings 3-5 Days In Advance
http://bit.ly/2dNTQ7k
Sentient World Simulation: Meet Your DoD Clone
http://bit.ly/2dZ6ez6

Story #2: Germany Votes for EU Ban on Sales of Internal-Combustion Vehicles by 2030
http://bit.ly/2dYeI7S
NWNW Flashback: Volkswagen CEO Resigns As Company Crashes Into Carbon Emissions Fraud (Sep. 25, 2015)
http://bit.ly/1Vrymeq
OSVehicle: Modular Open Source Electric Car Platform
http://bit.ly/1SpuzaC
Self-Driving Cars Gain Powerful Ally: The Government
http://nyti.ms/2cE9TnC
Google Enlisted Obama Officials To Lobby States On Driverless Cars
http://bit.ly/2e9o1Qz

Story #3: Robotic Bees Being Built To Pollinate Crops Instead of Real Bees
http://bit.ly/2dZ6yhf
Flashback: Robobees (Mar. 14, 2013)
http://bit.ly/2dZ6ZZ6






Published on 2 Oct 2014
Robert Wood, a National Geographic 2014 Emerging Explorer and award-winning
engineer, is working on entirely new classes of robots—including a fleet of tiny,
robotic bees—that may one day transform space exploration, agriculture, and
search-and-rescue operations.

Learn more about Robert Wood and his work:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ne...

[william r sanford72]

Dang nabbit...you is fast Cider.:waving:..just started listening and thought it would fit nice in the bee thread.there are a few post way back in the thread about robo bees and tiny drones..tho still comes around now and again into thee ol awareness/media.
thanks for posting quick draw..:o.
now back to the chores....
:heart:
William.

[william r sanford72]

This puts a whole new meaning to Arnie's quote....." I'll Bee Back " !

You may have seen this before but I just saw the Corbett report
article and some other earlier ones below.....


Harvard University developing “RoboBees”

kkEQAufZQKA

Published on 9 Jun 2016

Researchers at Harvard University are developing autonomous, miniature
flying robots known as “RoboBees.” Are these robots the future of… bees?
Legal and media analyst Lionel of Lionel Media tells RT’s Alex Mihailovich
that if these RoboBees are given artificial intelligence and the ability to
reproduce, the results could be quite terrifying.

Tiny, Robotic Bees Could Change the World

lJCMIsLuGpg

=============================================

Scientists Engineer Robo-Bees To "Solve" Colony Collapse Problem - #NewWorldNextWeek

YvuYSF_mY1o

Published on 13 Oct 2016


Welcome to New World Next Week — the video series from Corbett Report and Media
Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in open source
intelligence news. In this week’s episode:

Story #1: The CIA Says It Can Predict Social Unrest as Early as 3 to 5 Days Out
http://bit.ly/2dYg2r6
#MorningMonarchy: CIA ‘Siren Servers’ Can Predict Social Uprisings 3-5 Days In Advance
http://bit.ly/2dNTQ7k
Sentient World Simulation: Meet Your DoD Clone
http://bit.ly/2dZ6ez6

Story #2: Germany Votes for EU Ban on Sales of Internal-Combustion Vehicles by 2030
http://bit.ly/2dYeI7S
NWNW Flashback: Volkswagen CEO Resigns As Company Crashes Into Carbon Emissions Fraud (Sep. 25, 2015)
http://bit.ly/1Vrymeq
OSVehicle: Modular Open Source Electric Car Platform
http://bit.ly/1SpuzaC
Self-Driving Cars Gain Powerful Ally: The Government
http://nyti.ms/2cE9TnC
Google Enlisted Obama Officials To Lobby States On Driverless Cars
http://bit.ly/2e9o1Qz

Story #3: Robotic Bees Being Built To Pollinate Crops Instead of Real Bees
http://bit.ly/2dZ6yhf
Flashback: Robobees (Mar. 14, 2013)
http://bit.ly/2dZ6ZZ6






Published on 2 Oct 2014
Robert Wood, a National Geographic 2014 Emerging Explorer and award-winning
engineer, is working on entirely new classes of robots—including a fleet of tiny,
robotic bees—that may one day transform space exploration, agriculture, and
search-and-rescue operations.

Learn more about Robert Wood and his work:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ne...

didn't want it to get lost...thanks again Cidersomerset.:sun:

[william r sanford72]

Plant discovered that neither photosynthesizes nor blooms

http://sciencebulletin.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Plant-discovered-that-neither-photosynthesizes-nor-blooms.jpg
Gastrodia kuroshimensis discovered on Kuroshima.Credit: (c)Kenji Suetsugu

Project Associate Professor Kenji Suetsugu (Kobe University Graduate School of Science) has discovered a new species of plant on the subtropical Japanese island of Kuroshima (located off the southern coast of Kyushu in Kagoshima prefecture) and named it Gastrodia kuroshimensis. This research was published on October 14 in thePhytotaxa.

Non-photosynthetic mycorrhizal plants, or mycoheterotrophic plants, have long attracted the curiosity of botanists and mycologists. However, a common feature of most mycoheterotrophic plants is their extreme scarcity and small size. In addition, most species are found in the dark understory of forests, only discoverable during the flowering and fruiting period when aboveground organs appear through the leaf litter. As such, we still have scant knowledge on the precise taxonomy of the mycoheterotrophic group.

Professor Suetsugu is involved in documenting the distribution and classification of mycoheterotrophic plants in Japan. In April 2016, during his research trip in the lowland forests in Kuroshima, he came across approximately one hundred individuals of an unfamiliar mycoheterotrophic species. He collected a specimen, carried out a detailed examination of the plant’s morphological characteristics and found that it was indeed a new species.

The description of a new flowering plant species in Japan is itself a very rare event as the flora of this region have been thoroughly investigated. However, G. kuroshimensis was a particularly special discovery because it is both completely mycoheterophic, deriving its nutrition not from photosynthesis but from host fungi, and completely cleistogamous, producing flowers that never bloom.

Cleistogamy, literally meaning ‘a closed marriage’, refers to plants that produce flowers in which self-fertilization occurs within closed buds. This mechanism of reproduction has intrigued botanists since the time of Darwin, and is now recognized as an important mechanism of self-pollination that is found in a diverse range of plant taxa. However, most cleistogamous species also produce chasmogamous (cross-pollinating) flowers. Cleistogamous flowers are considered a bet-hedging strategy, since they require less resources than chasmogamous flowers, and because they can provide reproductive assurance by setting seeds in the absence of pollinators and under disadvantageous environmental conditions. In addition, cleistogamous flowers can also promote adaptation to local habitats, as both maternal sets of genes can be passed onto the progeny, purging deleterious alleles (gene variants which are generally harmful). However, this is a somewhat risky strategy as the progeny are also less able to adapt to changes in spatially and temporally heterogeneous habitats.

The evolution of complete cleistogamy is therefore somewhat of a mystery. Chasmogamous flowers are an important factor in the success of most plants as even a small degree of outcrossing can result in a relatively rapid decline in linkage disequilibrium across the genome, and is sufficient to overcome the negative effects associated with an absence of effective recombination, such as the accumulation of deleterious mutations and a slowdown in the rate of adaptation. The discovery of G. kuroshimensis, therefore, provides a useful opportunity to further investigate the ecological significance, evolutionary history, and genetic mechanisms underlying the evolution of complete cleistogamy.

Source: Kobe University

http://sciencebulletin.org/archives/6379.html


:flower:

[william r sanford72]

Not sure taking the whole harvest/hive is Sustainable...tho it is interesting and suspect the bees rebuild quickly.Yes that is a Pot on his Head.Safety Gear/Honey Pot.

Harvesting Honey from Giant Honeybees in Cambodia

Out in the Rafter Beekeeping Community taking in a Sustainable Honey Harvest from a Giant Honeybee (Apis dorsata) colony in NW Cambodia,

lUWNOqZFM2M

[william r sanford72]

EPA Lies...and it was never truly Banned/Canceled....:(

Sulfoxaflor gets new registration with fewer crop uses

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2016 - New measures to protect honey bees and fewer crop uses are included in the latest registration of sulfoxaflor, a Dow AgroSciences insecticide that was canceled last year.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced the registration decision Friday, 13 months after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that EPA lacked sufficient data to show that it was not harmful to honey bees.

EPA canceled the registration in November, but subsequently approved it for use on cotton and sorghum under Section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, and Rodenticide Act, which allows pesticides to be used to protect crops in “emergency” situations even if the pesticide is not registered for that crop use. It proposed the new registration in May.

The final decision largely tracks that proposal, eliminating some crops that had been included in the previous registration. Those include “indeterminate blooming crops” such as citrus, cotton, soybeans, strawberry, and gourds such as squash and pumpkin.
EPA said it is registering sulfoxaflor, sold under the trade names Transform and Closer, for use “only on crops that are not attractive to pollinators or for crop-production scenarios that minimize or eliminate potential exposure to bees.”

“For those crops that are included and that are bee-attractive, sulfoxaflor will be allowed only post bloom, when bees are not expected to be present, and will not be allowed on any crops grown for seed, including turf,” EPA said. “These restrictions practically eliminate exposure to bees in the field, which reduces the risk below EPA's level of concern such that no additional data requirements to protect bees are triggered.”
EPA said it also is prohibiting application if wind speeds exceed 10 mph and will require a 12-foot on-field buffer on the down-wind edge to protect bees from spray drift if there is blooming vegetation bordering the treated field. The agency also will prohibit tank mixing of sulfoxaflor with pesticides that have shown evidence of synergistic activity with sulfoxaflor.

R. A. Van Steenwyk, a research entomologist who commented on the tank-mix proposal for Dow AgroSciences, said that “since sulfoxaflor has a unique mode of action that would limit the development of resistance, I would not expect to see any synergistic effects with sulfoxaflor with any tank mix for the unforeseeable future.”

A list of the crops approved for sulfoxaflor use follows.

Not Bee Attractive:
Barley, triticale, wheat
Turf grass
 
Harvested Before Bloom:
Brassica leafy vegetables
Bulb vegetables
Leafy vegetables (non-Brassica) and watercress
Leaves of root and tuber vegetables
Root and tuber vegetables
 
Bee Attractive, Applications Allowed Post-Bloom Only:
Berries (grape, blueberry, cranberry)
Canola
Fruiting vegetables (tomato, pepper, eggplant) and okra
Pome fruit
Ornamentals
Potato
Stone fruit
Succulent and dry beans
Tree nuts and pistachio

EPA said it would consider the other uses “at a later date as data become available to support those uses.”

The Center for Biological Diversity said it was disappointed in the decision, calling sulfoxaflor a “dangerous bug-killer” and saying the agency had refused to examine its effects on threatened and endangered species. CBD also called the approval “a step in the right direction because it prohibits the use of sulfoxaflor on certain blooming crops, such as cotton, among other measures.”

In its response to public comments, EPA said that delaying sulfoxaflor's registration to complete an Endangered Species Act consultation would not be in the public's or the environment's best interest because it would divert resources from “evaluating and regulating, where appropriate, what the EPA believes to be more toxic compounds, that . . . pose greater risk to endangered species than does sulfoxaflor.”

http://www.agri-pulse.com/Sulfoxaflor-gets-new-registration-with-fewer-crop-uses-10152016.asp

[william r sanford72]

Bayer AG Makes Bee Contraceptives
Published on October 15, 2016

A study just published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Biological Sciences), identifies a dramatic reduction in sperm count in bees exposed to two of Bayer AG’s most widely used pesticides—thiamethoxam and clothianidin. They found that those two neonicotinoids, “significantly reduce the reproductive capacity of male honeybees (drones), Apis mellifera. Drones were obtained from colonies exposed to the neonicotinoid insecticides or controls, and subsequently maintained in laboratory cages until they reached sexual maturity…the data clearly showed reduced drone lifespan, as well as reduced sperm viability (percentage living versus dead) and living sperm quantity by 39%.”

The study continues: “Our results demonstrate for the first time that neonicotinoid insecticides can negatively affect male insect reproductive capacity, and provide a possible mechanistic explanation for managed honeybee queen failure and wild insect pollinator decline… As the primary egg layer and an important source of colony cohesion, the queen is intimately connected to colony performance. Increased reports of queen failure have recently been reported in North America and Europe; however, no studies have so far investigated the role of neonicotinoids and male health to explain this phenomenon.”

They conclude, “For the first time, we have demonstrated that frequently employed neonicotinoid insecticides in agro-ecosystems can elicit important lethal (reduced longevity) and sublethal (reduced sperm viability and living sperm quantity) effects on non-target, beneficial male insects; this may have broad population-level implications… Although recent improvements to regulatory requirements for evaluating the environmental impacts of insecticides have been adopted, none so far directly address the reproduction of beneficial insects.”

EU Reviewing its Ban

In 2012 amid an alarming wave of sudden bee colony collapses across the European Union and growing indications that the new class of chemical pesticide—neonicotinoids—promoted primarily by Bayer AG, was responsible for what the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the advisory board to the EU, called an unacceptable risk, the EU Commissioned banned the three most widely used neonicotinoids for three years. The ban affected thiamethoxam, clothianidin and imidacloprid. The first two, thiamethoxam and clothianidin were the neonicotinoids tested by the new study.

Now the EU Commission, a new commission, has initiated a review of their ban. The scientists today at EFSA have initiated a review of their 2012 assessment on the dangers of neonicotinoid pesticide use to bee colonies. The review is expected to be completed by January 2017. Bayer and the pesticide industry, including Syngenta, are strongly lobbying for a rollback.

Bayer’s neonicotinoids are widely used across the agriculture regions of North America. Despite the growing evidence that the widely-used pesticides cause bee colony death, the US Government has yet to follow the EU ban. In January the US Environmental Protection Agency published first field trials, some ten years after widespread introduction of neonicotinoids in the US agriculture. Their results showed that imidacloprid, one of the three banned in the EU, can cause beehive populations to fall. Despite this, the US Government has yet to take any cautionary action.

The entire food chain

Most of us city slickers, who think food magically grows on the shelves of our local supermarket, have little appreciation of what’s at stake here.
In 2012 in another article after investigation into the alarming wave of bee colony collapse worldwide, I wrote, “In 2003, over the clear warnings of its own scientists, the EPA licensed a neonicotinoid called Clothianidin, patented by the German Bayer AG together with a Japanese company, Takeda. It is sold under the brand name Poncho. It was immediately used on over 88 million acres of US corn in the 2004 crop and since that time, the shocking death of more than one million beehives across the corn prairies of the Midwest has been reported.”

As I noted back then, bees and birds contribute to the essence of life on our planet. A study by the US Department of Agriculture estimated that “…perhaps one-third of our total diet is dependent, directly or indirectly, upon insect-pollinated plants.” The honey bee, Apis mellifera, is the most important pollinator of agricultural crops. Honey bees pollinate over 70 out of 100 crops that in turn provide 90% of the world’s food. They pollinate most fruits and vegetables–including apples, oranges, strawberries, onions and carrots.

Bayer AG is the world’s largest maker of neonicotinoids, making the company an understandable match to takeover Monsanto with its own range of highly toxic glyphosate-based weed-killers such as Roundup. Neonicotinoids are a group of insecticides chemically similar to nicotine. They act on the central nervous system of insects. But also on bees and small song birds. Recent evidence suggests they could also affect human brain development in newborn.

The political appointees at EPA in 2003 allowed Bayer to receive a license for Poncho despite the official judgment of EPA scientists that its substance, clothianidin, was “highly toxic to bees by contact and oral exposure” and that is was “highly mobile in soil and groundwater – very likely to migrate into streams, ponds and other fields, where it would be absorbed by wildflowers” – and go on to kill more bees and non-target insects like butterflies and bumblebees. The warning, from a leaked EPA memo dated September 28, 2005, summarizes the Environmental Fate and Effects Division’s Environmental Risk Assessment for Clothianidin, which it said “will remain toxic to bees for days after a spray application. In honey bees, the effects of this toxic exposure may include lethal and/or sub-lethal effects in the larvae and reproductive effects to the queen.”

Despite all evidence, to date the US Department of Agriculture refuses to ban neonicotinoids. In the USA 94% of US corn is treated with either imidacloprid or clothianidin pesticides. The US is the world’s biggest corn exporter. In the USA today, according to latest USDA data, as well 94% of all corn planted is GMO corn. Mostof it is Monsanto GMO corn paired with Monsanto’s toxic glyphosate-based weed killer, Roundup. Most of the US neonicotinoids come from either Bayer AG or the Swiss agrochemical giant, Syngenta, now being taken over by ChinaChem.

Bayer AG spreading bee death via its neonicotinoids, and now in a marriage with Monsanto who is spreading toxic effects harming to human embryo cells and much else? It’s beginning to look like someone is out to dramatically reduce life on our beautiful planet. Oh, but would not that be the most radical form of eugenics, of Nazi “race purification” imaginable?

Have we not been told that Bayer AG today are the good guys, making those harmless little aspirin pills? What was Bayer AG involved in during the Third Reich when it was a key part of the IG Farben complex? What were the Rockefeller companies doing to support IG Farben during the Third Reich and World War II? Some curious souls would do well to dig into those questions in light of the present developments around Bayer AG’s neonicotinoids. As the old sage once wisely said, “Just ‘cuz youse paranoid don’t mean they ain’t out to kill ya…”

— source journal-neo.org By William Engdahl

https://jagadees.wordpress.com/2016/10/15/bayer-ag-makes-bee-contraceptives/

[william r sanford72]

60m honeybees create a buzz at RAK airport

Arrivals in cargo promptly transported by honey producers to UAE farms
http://static.gulfnews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1913953!/image/1200731695.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_460346/1200731695.jpg
http://static.gulfnews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1913954!/image/2406562143.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_460346/2406562143.jpg

Published: 15:20 October 17, 2016
SMALL
MEDIUM
LARGE
Ras Al Khaimah: A flight from Cairo landed at Ras Al Khaimah International Airport on Sunday with 60 million precious passengers — honeybees.
The honeybees, destined for farms across the UAE, were promptly picked up by waiting customers after their arrival on Egyptair Cargo at 3.45pm on Sunday. It marks the first time the freighter has transported honeybees to RAK.

The huge number of honeybees arriving reflects the growing honey production industry in the UAE, which annually exports over 1,800 tonnes of honey.
Shaikh Salem Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, chairman of the airport and the civil aviation department, welcomed the flight, saying, “RAK Airport is ideally positioned to handle this precious cargo and we are grateful to Egyptair Cargo and Al Najeh Honey & Bees Trading to give us the opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities in this regard. We also appreciate all the support provided by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, RAK Customs and other authorities.”
The bees were part of a re-stocking exercise that takes place regularly, and have to be handled with great care

Mohammad Al Najeh, who runs the operation and heads Al Najeh, said the exercise of getting the bees from Egypt “has to run like clockwork to avoid disaster”.
The flight’s timing is chosen so that the bees arrive after the fierce midday heat and are met immediately by the 30 customers who pick them up and head back to the farms. Inside the aircraft, the temperature is set to -15 degrees Celsius in order to offset the high temperatures that the mass of bees create.
Last week Philip McCabe, president of Apimondia, the world beekeeping federation, visited the UAE in order to learn about the process undertaken by Al Najeh.
RAK Airport CEO Mohammad Qazi said: “We have been planning this operation for many months and our goal is simply to become the leader in the industry to deliver complete operational excellence for handling live bees. Our infrastructure is best suited for such operations and we will ensure we continue to improve and surpass our already established high standards.”

http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/transport/60m-honeybees-create-a-buzz-at-rak-airport-1.1913955

[william r sanford72]

Flying in from Europe, the rare moths as big as bats: Warm summer leads to sightings of death's-head hawk species across southern England 

Swarms of bat-sized ‘grim reaper’ moths flocking to Britain from Continent

Rare creatures get their name from the skull-like markings on their heads 

This year experts say there have been as many as 20 sightings in Britain

Swarms of bat-sized ‘grim reaper’ moths are flocking to Britain from the Continent.
A long, warm summer has led to a spate in sightings of terrifying Death’s-head Hawk-moths in the South of England, some reportedly the size of a new-born kitten.

The rare creatures, traditionally seen as omens of death, get their name from the skull-like markings on their heads and emit a ‘horrendous’ loud, piercing squeak if disturbed.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/10/16/23/39719DC600000578-0-image-a-7_1476655507525.jpg
A long, warm summer has led to a spate in sightings of terrifying Death’s-head Hawk-moths in the South of England, some reportedly the size of a new-born kitten

Normally found in southern Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Deaths-head Hawk-moths occasionally appear in the UK during autumn when warm winds from the Continent push the insects north.

This year experts say there have been as many as 20 sightings in Britain - and warned a final blast of warm weather this weekend could lead to another surge.

They have featured hauntingly in art and literature for several centuries, and an image of one of the creatures dominated the poster for the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, in which moths are used as a murderer’s calling card.

They are one of the fastest, and largest, moths found in his country, with a wingspan of six inches (130mm) – around the size of a small bat.

Zoe Randle, of the British charity Butterfly Conservation, said: ‘This time of year is peak for moth immigration. It’s like Christmas for moth recorders.
‘If the wind is coming from the Continent then they’ll use the wind to help them get here.

‘They’re pretty big - about the same size as a small mouse, or a bat - and have really big strong wings. They actually use the wind to help them fly - the wind carries them, but they fly at the same time.

‘They are really robust, stealth-like fliers. If it’s a good year for moth migration, the chances are a whole load of them come together.’

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The rare creatures, traditionally seen as omens of death, get their name from the skull-like markings on their heads and emit a ‘horrendous’ loud, piercing squeak if disturbed

So far this year, sightings have been reported across Wiltshire, Sussex and other counties in the South of England.

Maggie Prangnell, who discovered a 70mm wide moth in Pevensey, East Sussex, said: ‘It makes a horrendous noise, a scary squeaking noise’.
But although they are usually spotted in the South and East of England, Death’s-Head Hawk-moths have reached most parts of the British Isles, according to Dr Randle.

She said: ‘They’ve been as far north as Orkney, Shetland, the Isle of Man, and the eastern half of Ireland. They’ve even been recorded on the oil rigs of the North Sea.’
Dr Randle added: ‘If you leave a light on and you’ve left a window open they can come in your house, or you’ll just see them outside.

‘They are pretty big and they look frightening, but they’re totally harmless. They go into bee hives and they feed on the honey, and they make a squeaking sound when they’re disturbed.’

She insisted that they will not eat your clothes, as most people fear.
Dr Randle said: ‘We’ve got 2,500 species of moths in the UK. Of those, only six eat natural fibres. And of those six, only two can cause damage to clothes and natural fibres.

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Normally found in southern Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Deaths-head Hawk-moths occasionally appear in the UK during autumn when warm winds from the Continent push the insects north

‘So less than half a per cent of moths eat clothes. Everybody thinks that all moths eat clothes, but they don’t.’

Unlike other moths, the species mainly feeds on honey. To protect themselves from honeybees’ stings when entering their hives, the moths produce a chemical that soothes the bees.

Once inside the hive, the moth can move freely and undisturbed by mimicking bees’ scent.

Despite their scarce appearances in the UK, the moth has haunted British literature, art and folklore for centuries, believed to foretell war, hunger and death.
Legend has it the species, Acherontia Atropos in Latin, was first spotted in Britain during the execution of King Charles I in 1649.

However it is more likely that the moths became more common around that time, having actually appeared centuries earlier with the first transportation of potatoes.

They were rumoured to be tormentors of King George III, who in 1801 was thrown into one of his infamous bouts of ‘madness’ when two large Death-head Hawk moths were discovered in his London bedchambers.

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This year experts say there have been as many as 20 sightings in Britain - and warned a final blast of warm weather this weekend could lead to another surge

One of these moths was collected by the monarch’s physician and is displayed at the University of Cambridge.

In popular culture, Irish author Bram Stoker mentions the Death-head Hawk-moth in his Gothic horror novel Dracula, while English novelist Thomas Hardy includes it as a prophecy of doom in his book The Return of the Native.

The moths also have a sinister reputation in art, appearing as an ill-advised love token in William Holman Hunt’s 1851 painting The Hireling Shepherd.

More recently, a Death’s-head Hawk-moth features on promotional posters advertising the 1991 horror blockbuster The Silence of the Lambs.

Dr Randle warned that despite a recent surge in UK sightings, Death’s-Head Hawk-moths, like the rest of their species, are generally in decline.

She said: ‘As a group, moths are declining quite frighteningly. There are all sorts of factors, such as light pollution, habitat loss, changes to habitat management, urbanisation.

‘If you do see one of these, just enjoy it, because they’re absolutely incredible to see. It’s quite a spectacle, particularly with the actual skull marking on its head.
‘You can also report it to your county moth recorder. They’re in each county of the UK, and he or she collates sightings. 

'There’s a list of county moth recorders on the Butterfly Conservation website.’ 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3842170/Flying-Europe-rare-moths-big-bats-Warm-summer-leads-sightings-death-s-head-hawk-species-southern-England.html?ITO=1490

[Star Tsar]

My boy will be pleased it's his favourite thanks William!

[william r sanford72]

Endangered Bumble Bee Would Put The Sting On Drillers

http://images.thesurge.com/app/uploads/2016/10/image1.jpg?x15124

By Chaye Stephen On October 17, 2016

The rusty patched bumble bee could soon be on the endangered species list, putting the sting on drillers and mid streamers in the Appalachian Shale Basin. Pesticide use has been blamed for the decline of the bumble bee, yet the oil and gas industry likely will take the sting.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the Bombus affinis, otherwise known as the rusty patched bumble bee, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The bees once occupied grasslands and tallgrass prairies in 28 states. Since 2000, however, the bee has been reported in only 12 states – Ohio and Pennsylvania among them.
When a new species becomes federally listed as endangered, the potential regulatory liability for project developers increases – exposing oil and gas companies to new risks in places where those species may not have been an issue before.

The potential ruling could impose new restrictions on oil and gas companies building well pads in the Appalachian Basin. Additional time may be needed to obtain permits for accidental harm, and production could be delayed.

Drillers in the Utica and Marcellus are already subject to regulations to protect the threatened Northern long-eared bat, even though its dwindling population was determined to be the result of something called white nose syndrome, which is a fungus and has nothing to do with habitat destruction.

Once a species is protected by the Endangered Species Act, activities that negatively impact those species require authorization from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The government has conceded that a common class of pesticide called neonicotinoids are at least partially to blame for the loss of pollinating bees. For more than a decade the Environmental Protection Agency has been under pressure from environmentalists and beekeepers to revoke the approval of this class of insecticides.

Ortho, a top US manufacturer of lawn and garden pesticides, will phase out products containing the neonicotinoid class of chemicals, the use of which has been linked to a massive decline in the honeybee population. A division of Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Ortho recently announced that it will cease the use of neonicotinoid ingredients by 2017, while phasing out neonics in eight products that are used to kill garden pests by the year 2021.

According to The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Endangered Species Act safeguards are now the only way the bumble bee would have a fighting chance for survival.
As pollinators, rusty patched bumble bees contribute to our food security and the healthy functioning of our ecosystems.

The oil and gas industry has decried that other industries are not subject to the same restrictions when it comes to threatened or endangered species. In regards to the Northern long-eared bat, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) stated that because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enacted the listing in response to a fungal disease, and not habitat change, drillers should not be subjected to increased restrictions for new projects.

Oil and natural gas activities did not make the exempt list, even though the service acknowledged that oil and natural gas activity does not significantly affect the bat’s population levels,” according to a spokesman for the IPAA.

Typically, companies constructing well pads in the state of Pennsylvania must complete a Natural Diversity Inventory Environmental Review, an online tool that will tell them if there are threatened or endangered species in the area where they want to begin a project. If an endangered or threatened species appears in a proposed project area, the wildlife service must approve protective measures before a permit is granted to the company.

Other agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also may review projects depending upon the habitats that the project affects.
According to SWCA Environmental Consultants, other species that drillers must be accountable for include the Allegheny woodrat and the timber rattlesnake. Also of concern to the industry are the American burying beetle, Lesser prairie chicken, Greater sage-grouse, Gunnison sage-grouse, Indiana bat, Graham’s and White River beardtongues.

http://thesurge.com/stories/endangered-bumble-bee-put-sting-drillers

[william r sanford72]

Hunger for bees

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Neema Rakesh Bilkule, a 28-year-old farmer and beekeeper, checks honeycombs at Dhule’s Kevdipada village.

How the disappearance of bees could have direct influence on your diet and health.

Bees carry on their wings a lot more than just honey. From one flower to the next they carry the pollen that brings life to 75 per cent of the world crops. The taste in our food, and above all the nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables like zucchinis, tomatoes, apples and carrots, depend to a large extent on their buzzing. If these little pollinators disappeared, 71 million people could suffer malnutrition and lack of Vitamin A, while 173 million could suffer a shortage of folic acid, according to a study published last year in The Lancet. Both micronutrients are key to humans’ good health. Pregnant women and children could be the most affected, with increased chances of mortality caused by infectious diseases, blindness and neural tube defects, among other consequences.

Will the world’s agricultural production be able to meet the food demand of a population that will reach 9.3 billion in 2050? Will the loss of biodiversity, which certain studies already place above the alert level, continue?

The buzz fades

Since 2006, in Europe and the USA more than one third of the bee population disappeared. The same has been happening year after year with an impact on our economic situation. Pollinators bring US$ 235,000 million to the world economy, according to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). This is a figure that can only grow, considering that the volume of agricultural production that depends on pollination has been tripled in the last 50 years. They are tiny insects but very relevant when it comes to serving our tables.

From one side of the world to the other, some groups of people — including like farming families, the scientific community and ordinary citizens — engage in a not minor battle to protect these tiny but valuable insects.

In India, there are people and NGOs that teach rural communities the important role of pollination in improving their crops production and consequentially their life standards, nutrition and well-being. On the other side of the globe, in countries like Italy, some beekeepers become nomads to improve the productivity of the crops thanks to the flying of the bees; while small communities organise a referendum with the aim of protecting biodiversity and producing food of a better quality. A battle to protect the bees but that is closely related to global food security.

India: a potential food crisis in the making

“India is losing its pollinators” says Parthib Basu, a professor at the University of Kolkata. “We don’t have a data base to prove it, but from the Pollination Studies Centre, we are investigating in the area of Tripura, on the border with Bangladesh. The two main factors contributing to [the loss of bees] are the loss of the natural habitat and pesticides”.
India is the world’s second-largest producer of fruit and vegetables (after China), and 99 per cent of its harvest is for domestic consumption. “In our country, from 160 million cultivated hectares, 55 million depend on bees for their pollination” explains Professor Shashidhar Viraktamath, from the Universityof Bangalore, “this means that more than one third of our food exists thanks to these services”.

The consequences of bees’ disappearance in India could have a strong impact on people’s economic situation. “We have assessed the effect of pollination on five different crop productions and the annual loss can be estimated in about 726 million dollars”, explains Prof. Basu. “Not only money would be lost. This reduction could affect the family’s standard food basket. It is about the loss of food, hunger basically.”

But there is interesting work happening in the field. “After one year of studies in six different kinds of crops, we have been able to verify a raise of the productivity by 30 per cent to 48 per cent, thanks to the presence of hives,” says Ritam Bhattacharya, a researcher at the University of Kolkata. “We are currently investigating the effect of apiaries on the agriculture practiced by tribal families.”

In Tamil Nadu, meet the guardian of the bees

As a kid, A. Parthiban lived surrounded by palms, tamarind and banana trees, luxuriant vegetation typical of the state of Tamil Nadu, in south India. He used to look for bees on his way to school; the little insects he had seen on his biology books and he liked so much were flying around everywhere. He would explore under rocks and then look up to the sky to find them among the flowers hanging from the trees.

This was over three decades ago. Today, Mr, Parthiban is 43 years old, a bus driver and a family man. He works twelve hours a day, three days a week, driving the route from his town, Gobychettipalayam, to Madurai. One thing hasn’t changed, though: his interest in the tiny pollinators. The rest of the week he’s a beekeeper. And his passion has achieved unimaginable results.

“How does the work of the bees affect the productivity of my trees?” he wondered. On his tamarind fields, he has performed an investigation on the concrete benefits of pollination on his plantations and biodiversity. His experiments have received the support of the Indian government, and now he works together with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) as a trainer. In that way he tries to bring back the greenery, and the buzzing accompaniment to his childhood, to the surrounding landscape.
Although far from any University, Mr. Parthiban is investigating the same subject.

On his free days, rides his motorcycle to his tamarind fields, where he now has 450 hives, all built by himself. After several year of observation he could verify that the production of his 250 trees went from 1,000 kg to 4,350 kg last year, thanks to the bees’ contribution. For his tireless dedication he became famous throughout the state, and he now provides training to his neighbours on how to increase productivity and consequently improve their nutrition. “I want to protect bees for the sake of future generations,” he says, showing off the awards that he has received for his work.

Bees are changing farmer’s lives in rural Maharashtra

Neea Bilkule (28) must walk two kilometres from her home, a hut plastered with mud and cow dung, in the small village of Kevdipada (a seven-hour drive from Mumbai), to her beehives, in a wooden hut. This young beekeeper walks barefoot, her feet disappearing in the monsoon’s rain-soaked fields part of the way, then over a road that runs between green rice fields. She waves to her neighbours, working on the rice fields, protected from the rain by shells made of wood and plastic fabric.

Ms. Bilkule has been a farmer her entire life, but a beekeeper only for the last two years, “It’s a training program that we have carried out with over 500 farmer women from very poor or tribal areas”, says Rhea Cordeiro, of the NGO Under the Mango Tree, which encourages beekeeping as an important way to ensure food supplies for this rural population. “Thanks to the hives located near their crops, Neema’s community has seen 30 per cent to 60 per cent growth in the productivity of their crops. These are fruits and vegetables which benefit from pollination, like tomatoes, guava, mango and aubergine among others.”
Farming communities like these, in very poor areas, make up 80 per cent of the owners of agricultural land in India. Most of them eke out a living from just two or three hectares.

After the monsoon, they will harvest the crop and store it near their homes, to feed themselves the rest of the year. If these supplies run out before the following harvest, these families must make difficult decisions. The most common one: husbands move to the city looking for jobs, mostly in the construction industry.
But, says Vimal Vadvi, Ms. Bilkule’s neighbour and also a beekeeper, “Thanks to the hives, this last harvest gave enough food for all year round and of better quality. My earnings for selling guavas in the market went from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 60,000.”

“At the beginning I was very afraid of being stung”, Ms. Bilkule remembers, smiling, “but I made up my mind when I saw the benefits on the crops and my family’s health. We caught fewer colds and fevers, which are so common during the monsoon season.”

The bee crisis in Italy

In 2008 a large number of the insects died in Italy. Pesticides, especially neonicotinoids, used in corn fields caused the bees to get disoriented and unable to fly back to their hives.

That year, the government imposed a precautionary suspension of those chemicals, and research on the subject began. “According to the results of the national programmes, Apenet and Beenet, these measures have diminished the problem,” says Claudio Porrini, an entomologist of the University of Bologna and one of the leaders of the projects. “We went from an average of over 19 per cent of deaths in 2010-2011 to 10.85 per cent in 2013.”
The National Committee of Italian Beekeepers (Conapi) sent out an alert about the honey production in Italy: it shrank almost 70 per cent in comparison to 2011’s harvest. The causes are, primarily, climate change and the use of pesticides in agriculture.

“These deaths have multiple causes, and their impact varies according to the area and the time of the year,” says Agnes Rortais from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). “Chemical and nutritional treatments, climate change, diseases, inappropriate beekeeping practices and lack of environmental resources.”
According to Serena Milano, of the Slow Food for Biodiversity Foundation, “Single-crop farming is not suitable for the life of these insects, which need to eat different kinds of pollen, they are rather harmful for their immune system.”

These effects are well known, says beekeeper Armanda Manghi, who chose to leave the Padan plain and move to Santa Maria di Medesano, a town only a few kilometres away from Bologna, in the centre of the country. “This year has been difficult due to climate change. Bees continue to fly during these warm winters. Springs are cold, and flowers don’t produce any pollen, therefore the bees don’t find food. In some cases they even starve to death.”

Another indicator of these insects health that people like Armanda can verify. “The production of acacia honey, which in average was of 25 kg per hive, is now of 2 kg”, says Armanda while walking on her vegetable garden, among artichokes and herbs that she planted herself in order to help recover the local biodiversity.

Nomadic beekeepers help Italian farmers

Giorgio Baracani has been driving all night, chasing the morning light and the scent of the flowers. At a quick stop for petrol, he meets and greets other beekeepers, then drives on into the sunflower-covered hills near Marzocca, 300 km from Rome. Once there, without bothering to protect his hands, Mr. Baracani opens up the hives and the swarm of bees fly around and then towards the sunflowers.

A tendency that responds to the consumption in this country where the population bought a 5% more fruit and 3% more vegetables during 2015, according to the association that gathers the Italian producers of the agricultural sector, Coldiretti.
Giorgio drives his pickup truck through the Padan plain in the centre of Italy, characterized by a monotonous landscape, full of single-crop fields like corn, wheat, vineyards, fruit trees, carrots, onions and alfalfa.

Mr. Baracani (46) owns 350 hives. For over 24 years, he has been practising nomadic beekeeping. Farmers call him to have their fruits and vegetables pollinated during blooming time and in this way improve the quality and quantity of their harvests. Nomadic beekeeping was born to produce different kinds of honey, but in time it has become a necessary tool in the attempt to improve food production and to protect the life of the bees.

In Malles, a referendum for biodiversity

Malles is a quiet, small Alpine town in Alto Adige — in the far north of Italy, 10 km away from Switzerland and 20 km from Austria — where the locals started a little revolution. This one was about values, like caring for biodiversity and human health. And the health of bees.

This area is one of the biggest producer of fruit in Europe. But the citizens did not want the intensive farming of apple trees to be part of their landscape, like it is in most other parts of this region. They became the first town in the world to decide — through a referendum — to ban the use of pesticides.

Johannes Fragner, the town’s pharmacist, wears a white coat, and round, gold-framed spectacles, and speaks with a German accent. As he tells the story of Malles, church bells ring loudly. At home, for breakfast, Mr. Fragner eats apples, home-pressed elderberries juice, and a dessert that he prepared himself. Everything is strictly organic. He was one of the promoters of the referendum, conducted on 2014, when 76 per cent of Malles’s citizens chose to live in a pesticide-free town. After the referendum, municipal regulations were changed in order to reflect the citizens will: those who violate it have to pay fines from €300 to €3,000.

“The idea was born in 2010,” says Ulrich Veith, mayor of Malles. “The farmer families from the area that produce organically were worried about their cows eating grass that could have been contaminated with pesticides applied on neighbouring fields and that are carried by the wind.”

Gazing at the snow-capped mountains, Mr. Fragner says he wishes that this landscape could stay intact. That’s why he is convinced that in the future there’s only room for the kind of agriculture that respects biodiversity and where bees are the essential indicator of that.

“Without the work of pollinators,” explains Francesco Panella, president of the National Union of Italian Beekeepers Associations (Unaapi), “important parts of the food chain would disappear and that would affect our diet. Bees will ensure the production of food in the future, but we have to build more sustainable agricultural models.”

Malles is now a home to environmentally friendly agriculture, and the path it took is one that the scientific community also supports: “Food has to be a synonym of life, and not of dangerous substances”, says Patrizia Genilini, oncologist and member of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE Italy), as she shows some studies about the effects of pesticides on human health. “For every dollar used to buy pesticides, two more are needed for externalised sanitary and social costs.”

Growing change

This year, France has approved an amendment, part of the biodiversity law, that aims to ban the neonicotinoids; this will come into effect in 2018.

On our side of the globe, it’s not just people like Ms. Bilkule and Mr. Parthiban who see the benefits of pollination right on their tables. One Indian state has been the first in the country to be declared “organic.” That is Sikkim, the tiny green state that nestles between Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan, home to the third highest mountain in the world, Kanchenjunga.

In only 6,000 sq. km., it holds more than half a million inhabitants. Over a decade ago, Sikkim banned pesticides. This decision not only increased the productivity of their crops but it also made biodiversity bloom and brought the wild bees back.

Little insects that can now be seen looking up to the sky or under the rocks, like Parthiban used to do as a kid.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/news/hunger-for-bees/article9226423.ece

[william r sanford72]

:(Will they ever Learn?

Anthranilic Diamides Can Potentially Replace Neonicotinoid Seed Treatments in Vegetable Crops
October 19, 2016 by Entomology Today

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An adult European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis). Photo by Dan Olmstead

When used as foliar sprays, neonicotinoids have caused some concern among the general public because — like any pesticide — they can harm bees and other beneficial insects. However, using neonicotinoids as seed treatments minimizes these risks, and has become a commonly used tool for proactively protecting crops from insect damage. These seed treatments have benefits that include relatively low costs, low mammalian toxicity, and reduced worker handling of pesticides.

Within the processing vegetable industry, crops like snap bean are typically grown using neonicotinoid treated seeds to control seed and seedling pests, while pyrethroids are used later during the crop’s development to control foliar- and pod-feeding pests. Like neonicotinoids, pyrethroids can negatively impact non-target organisms and some insect pest populations can become resistant to them. Although both neonicotinoids and pyrethroids are typically cost-effective and reliable chemistries for reducing insect damage, we sought to determine if an alternative class of chemistry could be effectively used. If successful, farmers would have an additional tool for insect management, which could be especially important if neonicotinoids and/or pyrethroids lose their registrations.

Anthranilic diamides have the potential to replace neonicotinoids and pyrethroids in vegetable pest management. Chlorantraniliprole and cyantraniliprole are two active ingredients that are currently registered for use on many vegetable crops. The systematic activity and residual control provided by these products make them ideal candidates for delivery as either seed treatments or as foliar sprays to manage a variety of pests in many crops. Anthranilic diamides are also considered to be fairly selective, with low toxicity to many beneficial arthropods. However, only chlorantraniliprole is registered as a seed treatment on rice and corn in the U.S.

Registrations of new active ingredients on vegetables and other specialty crops typically occur after they are registered on row crops grown on large acreages. Such decisions, which are made by crop-protection companies, are financially based. The IR-4 Project, which is headquartered at Rutgers University in Princeton, NJ, was created to work with crop protection companies and specialty-crop industries to generate information that will lead to registrations of new crop-protection products on specialty crops. If anthranilic diamide seed treatments effectively manage vegetable pests, future registrations of these chemistries on specialty crops might be obtained through the IR-4 Project’s assistance.

We conducted a series of studies in western New York to determine if anthranilic diamides delivered via multiple approaches could successfully control two major pests of the processing snap bean industry — the seed corn maggot (Delia platura) and the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis). The results are published in the Journal of Economic Entomology.

Currently, seed corn maggots are managed with a neonicotinoid seed treatment, and European corn borers are controlled with foliar-applied pyrethroids. Chlorantraniliprole and cyantraniliprole were tested in different formulations as seed treatments and in-furrow and foliar applications, and were then compared to the standard neonicotinoid seed treatment and pyrethroid foliar sprays.

Efforts were made to substantially elevate infestations of both seedcorn maggot and European corn borer in these field trials. The anthranilic diamides performed as well as the industry standards when applied in a similar manner (i.e., comparing seed treatments with seed treatments and foliar applications with foliar applications). Many anthranilic diamide seed treatments reduced seed corn maggot damage to levels equivalent to the industry standard. Foliar applications, regardless of active ingredient (anthranilic diamide or pyrethroid), were typically more successful at controlling European corn borer than seed treatments or in-furrow applications. However, one chlorantaniliprole seed treatment was equally effective as a pyrethroid foliar spray, and many of the seed treatments and in-furrow applications substantially reduced damage compared with damage levels in the untreated control. It is possible that under lower, more typical pest pressure, these seed treatments would have performed as well as the foliar applications.

Our results demonstrate that anthranilic diamides have the efficacy of replacing their industry standard counterparts when applied in the same manner. Anthranilic diamides could replace neonicotinoid seed treatments, and foliar-applied diamides, which are already commercially available, could replace pyrethroids. More importantly, our study demonstrated that a single seed treatment of chlorantraniliprole has the potential to manage both a seed/seedling-feeding and foliar-feeding pest simultaneously, providing protection throughout the growing season. This could reduce the risk of pesticide exposure to applicators and non-target organisms, while simultaneously decreasing application costs due to the reduction in labor, fuel, and water use from switching from multiple foliar sprays to a single seed treatment.

While anthranilic diamides have been effective pest control tools, they have not been a cost-effective option for some crops. Diamides are more expensive to produce than pyrethroids and neonicotinoids, resulting in higher prices for farmers who purchase them. Reduced prices of diamides or decreased availability or efficacy of older materials will likely be needed to change existing patterns of pesticide use. Nevertheless, we envision that anthranilic diamides will play a critical role in future vegetable pest management programs.

Read more at:
– Anthranilic Diamide Insecticides Delivered via Multiple Approaches to Control Vegetable Pests: A Case Study in Snap Bean

https://entomologytoday.org/2016/10/19/anthranilic-diamides-can-potentially-replace-neonicotinoid-seed-treatments-in-vegetable-crops/

[william r sanford72]

What do Bees do in the Winter?
Is Feeding Bees in Winter Necessary?

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Unlike birds, bees don’t fly south for the winter, nor do they hibernate. So, what do bees do in the winter? They try to survive. They spend all their time and energy keeping warm and fed and waiting for spring.

In the wild, bees have a natural way of surviving by doing things such as living in moderate climates and building their hives in hollowed out trees. However, for domestic bees, it’s a good idea to give the bees a bit of extra help to survive the winter, especially if you are bee farming in areas that have severe winters.

The things that a beekeeper does to help the hives survive the winter will differ depending on what kind of hives are used; Langstroth, Warre or Kenyan top bar. The severity of the winter will also determine some of what needs to be done. For instance, if you live in a climate that rarely gets below freezing, you won’t need to insulate the hives but if you live where it’s below freezing for three solid months, you might need to insulate your hives.

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Moving false wall in Kenyan top bar hive

To begin winterizing your apiary, you will need to remove any extra “space” from the hive. Some beekeepers prefer to not do a fall harvest and leave all the honey for the bees for the winter. The full frames of honey add insulation to the hive along with providing plenty of food for the hive. This will reduce the possibility of having to use fondant for bees  as a food source and feeding bees in winter. I would suggest that unless a super is at least 70% full of filled honeycomb to not leave the super on the hive if you live in cold climate. The extra space in the super will just be more room that the bees need to keep warm. For the top bar hive, you will need to move the false wall as far up the hive as you can and still leave enough honey for the bees for the winter.

Some beekeepers prefer to harvest almost all the honey and leave just one deep for the bees for the winter. In this case, the hive will just be two boxes high and the space the bees need to warm will be limited.

The extra supers and frames need to be cleaned and stored where wax moths cannot get to them. Wax moths cannot survive freezing temperatures so storing the boxes and frames outside but under a covered roof is ideal in climates that freeze. If you live in a moderate climate consider putting them in the freezer for 24 hours before storing them for the winter. Wax moths like dark, damp climates so don’t store your boxes and frames in basements or garages if possible.
Another thing the beekeeper should do is remove the queen excluder if you are using one. This will allow the bees to move around as a cluster. This keeps the worker bees from having to make the choice between gathering honey from the reserves or keeping the queen warm and is especially important if the winter is long. Remember what happens when the queen bee dies? So keeping the queen alive is the hives number one priority and the workers will choose to starve to death in order to do that. Let’s not make them have to make that choice.

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Keeping hives off the ground helps keep pests out of the hives.

It’s important to reduce the possibility of pests stealing the bee’s honey. There are several things that can help with this. One is to make sure the hive is lifted up off the ground. We use cinder blocks but anything that will keep the hive off the ground will work. You can also use rat or mice traps around the hives to keep mice and rats away. If you use hay as an insulator or wind break you will need to make sure that mice and rats don’t make their nests in them.

The next thing the beekeeper needs to consider is moisture build up in the hive. I’ve seen all kinds of recommendations ranging from not ventilating the top of the hive and reducing the entry on the bottom of the hive to leaving the entry the same size and adding 1/8” ventilation gap between the two boxes. Like most things in life, I don’t think there is one answer for everyone or every beekeeper.

The issue with ventilation is that if you give them too much, the bees have a hard time keeping the hive warm; however, if you don’t give them enough ventilation, condensation can build up and cause all kinds of problems. Some condensation is good as it gives the bees a source of water without leaving the hive. But too much condensation can produce mold and in very cold climates can freeze which means there is ice in the hive.

Since bees are living, breathing beings, they produce carbon dioxide and when there is not enough ventilation in the hive, the carbon dioxide can build up and suffocate the bees.
If you are a new beekeeper, I suggest asking local beekeepers how they ventilate their hives in the winter. A local beekeeper who has been gone through several winters will be able to give you specific advice for your climate.

Adding a wind block to your apiary is a good thing to do in the winter. This can be a wooden wall or even stacked hay bales. The important thing is to keep the majority of the wind from the hive.

For the most part, bees do a great job of keeping their hive at 96°F all year long. In the heat of the summer, they might need a little help if you live in a hot climate. In the dead of winter, the bees in your hives might need a little help maintaining 96°F if you live in an extremely cold climate.
Snow is a great insulator, so there is no need to clear the snow from the top of the hives. However, you will need to make sure that entry to the hive is always clear of snow so you don’t trap the bees inside.

Many beekeepers in cold climates will add insulation to their hives. This might be as simple as adding hay bales around three sides of the hives, leaving the entry side open. Or it can be as complicated as wrapping the hive boxes in batting or foam and roofing paper. Again, it will depend on how cold and how long your winters are.

There is a fine balance between helping the bees stay warm during the winter and accidently tricking the bees into thinking spring has arrived. Therefore, whether or not to insulate a hive or how to insulate a hive in your climate is another great question for a local beekeeper. There is no substitute for learning from an experienced beekeeper what bees do in the winter in your area.

Bees are uniquely equipped to survive in the wild, but when we put them in man-made hives and keep them in areas that have cold winters, we need to give them a little extra help to survive the winter.

http://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/lifestyle/beekeeping/what-do-bees-do-in-the-winter/

[william r sanford72]

Will This Save Ohio's Honeybees?

Published on Oct 20, 2016
In this segment of The Neonicotinoid View, Ohio beekeeper, Michele Colopy from the Ohio Pollinator Habitat Initiative discusses efforts to protect bees in the state.

www.theorganicview.com.

TOBbSYq9adU

[william r sanford72]

EPA Violating Duty Protect Environment by Keeping Bee-Toxic Pesticides on Market

The agency has greenlighted the toxic chemical sulfoxaflor in the face of overwhelming evidences it is harmful to bees

October 21, 2016

http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/story_image/public/story_images/shutterstock_382060822.jpg

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed its plan last Friday to register the toxic chemical sulfoxaflor, in the face of overwhelming evidence that it negatively affects bee populations. This decision is the final result of a long-fought legal battle over the chemical’s registration, spearheaded by beekeepers and public health organizations concerned with what has been identified as EPA’s inadequate and flawed pesticide review processes. The agency claims that amendments made to the original registration, such as reducing the number of crops for which use is permitted or only allowing post-bloom applications, will protect pollinators. However, scientific studies have shown that there is no way to fully limit exposure to bees, especially native species that exist naturally in the environment, given that the chemical, being systemic, is found in pollen, nectar, and guttation droplets. Given the evidence of harm related to sulfoxaflor’s use, as well as its demonstrated lack of need, advocates maintain that the agency’s decision to issue an amended registration violates its duty to protect human health and the environment.

Sulfoxaflor’s initial 2013 registration was challenged by beekeepers and subsequently vacated by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals due to overwhelming risks to bees and EPA’s inadequate review of the data. Last September, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unequivocally rejected EPA’s registration of sulfoxaflor. The Court concluded that EPA violated federal law when it approved sulfoxaflor without reliable studies regarding the impact that the insecticide may have on honey bee colonies. By vacating EPA’s unconditional registration of the chemical, sulfoxaflor could no longer be used in the U.S. This decision was issued, at least in part, as a response to a suit filed by beekeepers challenging EPA’s initial registration of sulfoxaflor, which cited the insecticide’s threat to bees and beekeeping. The case was Pollinator Stewardship Council, American Honey Producers Association, National Honey Bee Advisory Board, American Beekeeping Federation, Thomas Smith, Bret Adee, Jeff Anderson v. U.S. EPA (9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, No. 13-7234). As a result of this favorable holding, a similar lawsuit was filed by European beekeepers, who asked the European Court of Justice to take the same action.

Sulfoxaflor, the chemical at issue, is a relatively new active ingredient, registered in 2013, whose mode of action is similar to that of neonicotinoid pesticides. Even though it has not been classified as a neonicotinoid, it elicits similar neurological responses in honey bees, with many believing that sulfoxaflor is the new generation of neonicotinoid. Neonicotinoids, as well as sulfoxaflor, are “systemic” insecticides, which means that they are applied to plants, they are absorbed and distributed throughout the plant, including pollen, and nectar. Sulfoxaflor was previously registered in the U.S. for use on vegetables, fruits, barley, canola, ornamentals, soybeans, wheat and others, but the amended registration removes citrus, cotton, cucurbits, soybeans and strawberries from that list. This reduction, though aimed at protecting pollinators, comes up short. Like nenonicotinoids, sulfloxoflor has a long half-life and persists in soil, where it is taken up by growing plants, presenting itself in the nectar and pollen that pollinators rely on for food. Because it can last in the environment into the next growing season, efforts to protect pollinators by mitigating measures, such as not spraying while crops are in bloom, do not do enough to protect bees.

In an effort to stop the amended registration from going through, public comments were submitted by concerned beekeepers and environmental advocacy groups, like Beyond Pesticides, that stated that approval of a pesticide highly toxic to bees would only exacerbate the problems faced by an already tenuous honey bee industry and further decimate bee populations. However, EPA dismissed these concerns and instead pointed to a need for sulfoxaflor by industry and agriculture groups for justification, claiming they need it to control insects no longer being controlled by increasingly ineffective pesticide technologies. The comment period closed earlier this summer, and the recently issued amended registration indicates that the concerns of beekeepers and environmental groups were not addressed, as EPA believes these restrictions will “practically eliminate exposure to bees on the field, which reduces the risk to bees below EPA’s level of concern such that no additional data requirements are triggered,” despite comments submitted showing evidence to the contrary.

Honey bees and wild bees have been suffering elevated population declines over the last few years. A recent government-sponsored survey reports that U.S. beekeepers lost 44 percent of their honey bee colonies between April 2015 and April 2016, one of the highest recorded losses. A recently published study by researchers at Purdue University found that honey bees collect most of their pollen from non-crop plants that are frequently contaminated with a wide range of pesticides. Numerous pesticides, including sulfoxaflor, neonicotinoids, pyrethroids, and fungicides are highly toxic to honey bees and have a range of effects including impacts on learning behavior, foraging, reproduction and queen production, as well as impairing bee immune systems making them more susceptible to parasites and disease.

In light of the shortcomings of federal action to protect these beneficial organisms, pollinators need pesticide-free habitat throughout communities. You can declare your garden, yard, park or other space as pesticide-free and pollinator friendly. It does not matter how large or small your pledge is, as long as you contribute to the creation of safe pollinator habitat. Sign the pledge today. Need ideas on creating the perfect pollinator habitat? The Bee Protective Habitat Guide can tell you which native plants are right for your region. For more information on what you can do, visit our BEE Protective page.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/epa-violating-duty-protect-environment-keeping-bee-toxic-pesticides-market

[william r sanford72]

CATCH THE BUZZ – Invasive Honey Plants Dye Woodpeckers Red

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Pigments consumed in the berries of invasive honeysuckles are causing unusual red coloration in the feathers of Northern Flickers. Source: C. Hansen

An ornithological mystery has been solved! Puzzling red feathers have been popping up in eastern North America’s “yellow-shafted” population of Northern Flickers, but they aren’t due to genes borrowed from their “red-shafted” cousins to the west, according to a new study in The Auk: Ornithological Advances. Instead, the culprit is a pigment that the birds are ingesting in the berries of exotic honeysuckle plants, a favorite nectar source for honey bees and other insects.

The Northern Flicker comes in two varieties–the birds of the west have a salmon pink or orange tinge to the undersides of their wings, while the eastern birds are yellow. Where the two populations meet in the middle, they frequently hybridize, producing birds with a blend of both colors. For years, however, flickers far to the east of the hybrid zone have been popping up with red-orange wing feathers. The prevailing explanation has been that they must somehow have genes from the western population, but Jocelyn Hudon of the Royal Alberta Museum and his colleagues have determined that the eastern birds’ unusual color actually has a different source: a pigment called rhodoxanthin, which comes from the berries of two species of invasive honeysuckle plants.

Hudon and his colleagues used spectrophotometry and chromatography to show that rhodoxanthin, rather than the type of carotenoid pigment that colors western red-shafted birds, was present in the feathers of yellow-shafted flicker specimens with the aberrant red coloration. Data from a bird-banding station helped confirm that the birds acquire the red pigment during their fall molt about early August, which coincides with the availability of ripe honeysuckle berries. The honeysuckles have also been implicated as the source of unusual orange feathers in Cedar Waxwings

“At one point considered valuable wildlife habitat and widely disseminated, the naturalized Asian bush honeysuckles are now considered invasive and undesirable in many states. This is clearly not the last we have heard of aberrantly colored birds,” says Hudon. “The ready availability of a pigment that can alter the coloration of birds with carotenoids in their plumages could have major implications for mate selection if plumage coloration no longer signaled a bird’s body condition.”

“This is the pinnacle of a lengthy series of papers on the pigments deposited in primary feathers. Hudon et al. make use of the most up-to-date spectrometric and biochemical analyses to identify and quantify the pigments,” according to Alan Brush, an expert on feather color and retired University of Connecticut professor who was not involved with the study. “In addition to demonstrating that the red pigments in the molting yellow-shafted feathers are derived from their diets, not the result of interbreeding with the red-shafted form, they illuminate the dynamic nature of pigment deposition during molt, an accomplishment in itself.”

http://www.beeculture.com/catch-buzz-invasive-honey-plants-dye-woodpeckers-red/

[mischief]

Hi William,
Thank you for keeping our bee friends in the public eye. I apprecitate your efforts.

You might be able to help me identify an new type of bee I saw this week in my garden.
At first I thought it was a fly because it was black and white, but it was fluffy and definitely bee shaped. It was black with a white band around its abdomen and had four white dots on the upper part of its 'tail'.
As far as I know this is not a bee native to New Zealand.
Any ideas?

[william r sanford72]

Hi William,
Thank you for keeping our bee friends in the public eye. I apprecitate your efforts.

You might be able to help me identify an new type of bee I saw this week in my garden.
At first I thought it was a fly because it was black and white, but it was fluffy and definitely bee shaped. It was black with a white band around its abdomen and had four white dots on the upper part of its 'tail'.
As far as I know this is not a bee native to New Zealand.
Any ideas?

Hello mischief :waving:...Wthout a proper picture its very hard for me to give you an answer...could bee a type north American carpenter bee that has hitched a ride..what you briefly describe sounds without typing it in some what like a carpenter bee..could you get a picture???...:sherlock:

william

[william r sanford72]

Swarms of precision agriculture robots could help put food on the table
by Vito Trianni, Joris IJsselmuiden, Ramon Haken

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Swarms of drones will help farmers map weeds in their fields and improve crop yields. This is the promise of an ECHORD++ funded research project called ‘SAGA: Swarm Robotics for Agricultural Applications’. The project will deliver a swarm of drones programmed to monitor a field and, via on-board machine vision, precisely map the presence of weeds among crops.

Additionally, the drones attract each another at weed-infested areas, allowing them to inspect only those areas accurately, similar to how swarms of bees forage the most profitable flower patches. In this way, the planning of weed control activities can be limited to high-priority areas, generating savings at the same time as increasing productivity.

“The application of swarm robotics to precision agriculture represents a paradigm shift with a tremendous potential impact” says Dr. Vito Trianni, SAGA project coordinator and researcher at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies of the Italian National Research Council (ISTC-CNR). “As the price of robotics hardware lowers, and the miniaturization and abilities of robots increase, we will soon be able to automate solutions at the individual plant level,” says Dr. Trianni. “This needs to be accompanied by the ability to work in large groups, so as to efficiently cover big fields and work in synergy. Swarm robotics offers solutions to such a problem.” Miniature machines avoid soil compaction and can act only where needed; robots can adopt mechanical, as opposed to chemical, solutions suitable for organic farming; and robot swarms can be exactly scaled to fit different farm sizes.

The Saga project proposes a recipe for precision farming consisting of novel hardware mixed with precise individual control and collective intelligence.

http://robohub.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/201609_drone_picture2.jpg

In this particular case, innovative hardware solutions are provided by Avular B.V., a Dutch firm specializing in industrial level drones for monitoring and inspection. Individual control and machine vision are deployed thanks to the expertise of the Farm Technology Group at Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands. Swarm intelligence is designed at the already mentioned ISTC-CNR, leveraging their expertise to design and analyse collective behaviours in artificial systems. For the next year, these organisations will team up to produce and field-test the first prototype for weed control based on swarm robotics research.

About SAGA

SAGA is funded by ECHORD++, a European project that wants to bring the excellence of robotics research “from lab to market”, through focused experiments in specific application domains, among which is precision agriculture. SAGA is a collaborative research project that involves: the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC-CNR) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), which provides expertise in swarm robotics applications and acts as the coordinator for SAGA’s activities; Wageningen University & Research (WUR), which provides expertise in the agricultural robotics and precision farming domains; and Avular B.V., a company specialised in drone solutions for industrial and agricultural applications.

http://robohub.org/swarms-of-precision-agriculture-robots-could-help-put-food-on-the-table/

[william r sanford72]

Musical intermission brought to you by Mr.Solomon Burke - "None Of Us Are Free"

Edaz7CUAZg8



:heart:

[william r sanford72]

Keeping Bees in Straw Hives—An New Journey
By Susan Chernak McElroy on October 23, 2016

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Anahat Hive entering their new woven home.

It has been five months since I brought my bright and beautiful, straw-woven Sun Hive home, and just three months since I escorted a small cast swarm up a wooden ramp and into its dark and enfolding interior. Small the swarm may have been, but the bees took to the woven hive like they had been born to it, building up their comb and their numbers in an explosion of creative energy.

Summer afternoons I would sit beneath the hive where it hung in my covered bee garden. Unlike my other wooden box hives of various sorts, the bees moved around the hive like thousands of honey-colored moons orbiting a planet. The bee activity was never just confined to the entrance, but spiraled about the egg-shaped, dung-plastered womb from morning till dark, even on the cloudiest, coldest days.

Summer afternoons I would sit beneath the hive where it hung in my covered bee garden. Unlike my other wooden box hives of various sorts, the bees moved around the hive like thousands of honey-colored moons orbiting a planet. The bee activity was never just confined to the entrance, but spiraled about the egg-shaped, dung-plastered womb from morning till dark, even on the cloudiest, coldest days.

Some days, I would lay beneath the hive and look up at this precious, new kind of cosmos, populated with amber, swirling, sun-lit bee stars and the welcoming dark gravity of the suspended mother planet. I knew from the day I had decided to attend the Sun Hive workshop that these woven hives would somehow be a significant part of my journey on the good bee road. I just didn’t know which way the path would lead.

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Apis Aboreal!

What I did know is that the shape, the scent, the Gestalt of the Sun Hive reached deep inside of me, grabbed a handful of my heart and soul, and pulled me into its mystery. My bees were giving me every indication that they wanted more of these hives, and all of my interest in my top bars and Warre’ hives began receding swiftly to the back burner of beedom.

The problem was, way back in May, I could not conceive of a way to proceed in making more of the hives. Sun Hives are complex to construct and to install in a bee garden. First, one must have the straw with which to weave them. The straw must be in long, long strands, and pliable. Rye straw is traditional. The interior of the hive is a series of wooden, beveled bars, shaped like descending-scale moons and precisely milled. The platform between the upper and lower basket that also holds up the wooden bars is a large piece of imported plywood, and the straw is woven onto two wooden starter disks to begin the baskets. To keep the shape intact, a form or template of some kind—wood or metal—must be constructed, or a beginner could never hope to weave the correct egg shape of the hive.

Once the hive is complete, it must be covered with something—traditionally organic cow dung—to protect it from UV rays that will destroy the straw. And the whole thing must be suspended precisely level to discourage the bees from connecting comb to the sides of the lower, catenary-curved basket. Of course, the hive must never, ever get wet.

Normally, when faced with this many obstacles, I throw up my hands in frustration and turn away. The only reason I was able to get books published is that my first publisher lived literally next door to me. Had I been required to run the gauntlet most writers navigate to get a book in front of a publisher, “Animals as Teachers and Healers” would never have been written and my life would have taken other directions.

But inexplicably, the concept of these woven hive designs utterly captivated me. I found myself spending hours online researching local sources for rye straw, and never found any.

I talked to woodworkers and brought them the wooden hive interiors and weaving templates and could not find anyone capable of crafting them for a price I could begin to afford.

No weavers from local groups were interested in helping me to learn coiled basket weaving with natural grasses.

Remarkably undeterred, I kept the image of the woven hives active in my mind’s eye. I layed beneath my Sun Hive, which I named “Anahat,” and watched her bees spin and thrive and sing, and I kept dreaming and imagining. Was there I hive I could make that was Sun Hive-like without all the complex inner workings? And what about that two-part basket arrangement, which was so hard to seal around the edges, leaving far too many gaps around the entire “planet?”

In June, I cut long, organic pasture grasses from my bee mentor, Jacqueline Freeman’s farm, brought it home, and stacked it up in five-gallon buckets to dry.

Then I found some long grasses growing all along the creeks where I lived (which I later identified as reed canary grass), and cut some buckets of that. Meanwhile, the brief class I had taken in May began to recede further and further away from my fingertips and my brain. How on earth had I woven that hive? Actually, I had only woven one-half of the Sun Hive: The workshop was only two days, just enough for us to weave only one basket. Also, the weaving onto the two starter disks had been started for us because this can be the most difficult and time-consuming part of the project and time was of the essence. I realized that I had no idea how to begin weaving without those two disks, no idea how much straw it took to weave an entire hive, and no idea how to work with the odd and varied grasses I was collecting in our garage.

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Finally, I find some local grass that really works for weaving. Gotta clean it all first, by pulling it through a metal rake.

Which way do you hold the straw? What direction do you circle the coils? How do you keep the coils even?

One of my beginner beekeeping students came to see the Sun Hive and reminded me that her husband was a metalworker. He told me, “I can make those forms in the size you want very easily. And inexpensively.” Suddenly, Angel and I were in business! He made me a weaving form in short order, I ordered oval flat reed for binding the coils from Amazon.com.

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“Hmmm, which way does the binding go??”

Now, the only thing stopping me was my overwhelming ignorance. But up in the bee yard, the Sun Hive was blooming with bees and song, and their call was like a golden ribbon tied around my heart, pulling me forward. One warm afternoon I told my husband I’d be out with the bees, and headed out with all my materials and tools to the bee garden. Beneath the tiny galaxy of the Sun Hive, I layed out my wonky, bent grasses, my bucket of water for soaking my binding cane, Angel’s gorgeous weaving form, scissors, and my beloved fid (a marine tool for rope repair that works great to pierce the straw coils and weave in the cane): I had ordered three of the wrong sizes of that fid before I found one that worked.

Now, the only thing stopping me was my overwhelming ignorance. But up in the bee yard, the Sun Hive was blooming with bees and song, and their call was like a golden ribbon tied around my heart, pulling me forward. One warm afternoon I told my husband I’d be out with the bees, and headed out with all my materials and tools to the bee garden. Beneath the tiny galaxy of the Sun Hive, I layed out my wonky, bent grasses, my bucket of water for soaking my binding cane, Angel’s gorgeous weaving form, scissors, and my beloved fid (a marine tool for rope repair that works great to pierce the straw coils and weave in the cane): I had ordered three of the wrong sizes of that fid before I found one that worked.

In the many weeks between hanging my Sun Hive and finally sitting beneath it to weave, my brain had been afire with possible innovations I could make to the hive to make it affordable and even better for my bees and for me. I live in a county that does not require hobby beekeepers to maintain removable combs for inspection. So I dispensed with my search for master woodworkers: I would simply not use the wooden bars, allowing my bees to attach their combs directly to the inside of the straw basket. How would I medicate my bees in such a hive? Also simple: I am a treatment-free beekeeper, so medicating my hives is not part of my “beeing.”

Now, the only thing stopping me was my overwhelming ignorance. But up in the bee yard, the Sun Hive was blooming with bees and song, and their call was like a golden ribbon tied around my heart, pulling me forward. One warm afternoon I told my husband I’d be out with the bees, and headed out with all my materials and tools to the bee garden. Beneath the tiny galaxy of the Sun Hive, I layed out my wonky, bent grasses, my bucket of water for soaking my binding cane, Angel’s gorgeous weaving form, scissors, and my beloved fid (a marine tool for rope repair that works great to pierce the straw coils and weave in the cane): I had ordered three of the wrong sizes of that fid before I found one that worked.


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Removable Sun Hive upper bars and stabilizing platform.

What about suspending the hive? The weight of such a hive full of bees, honey, and comb is significant. The straw alone would not support its suspension. Again, a simple solution that took me weeks of mental machinations to unearth: I would put a simple round, beveled disk in the top of the hive to which I would screw—from the outside—eyebolts. Voila! A hanging hive where my bees could express their deeply aboreal nature.

The Sun Hive allows the beekeeper to remove the top and/or bottom baskets for inspections. I am a low-intervention beekeeper with no need or desire to go in and mess about with my bees. I need only to see how the colony is progressing.

Removing the baskets is something I never plan to do with my Sun Hive, but I do like to take a peek inside now and then, so rather than the egg-shaped bottom basket, I decided I would weave what would look more like a traditional step, with a domed top and straight sides. The bees (and I!) would not have to deal with the imperfect junction of the two baskets and would be free to affix their comb in any configuration.

To the bottom of the basket, I would attach a round woven, lipped tray that I could attach with pegs to the bottom of the hive. The tray would have the traditional “flower” entrance of the Sun Hive, and I could remove the bottom with little disturbance to the bees. I could easily place feed bowls on the tray inside if I needed to feed my bees. The hive would look like a large, hanging bell.

But what about honey, you might ask? I’m not into bees because of honey. I am into bees because they have captivated me. They do amazing things for my yard, making an Eden out of my humble, talentless gardening efforts. But even that is a far distant second to why I keep bees. The sound of them, the scent of them, the sight of them dipping and gliding like leaves on the wind entrances me and it heals me in ways that words cannot capture. They touch me at my innermost core with symbol, motion, and tone. That is the language I call upon to commune with them.

That is the only language that works for me. The galaxy and cosmos metaphors are more than metaphors: The bees welcome me into other worlds where only good matters and only love—in its most expansive definition—is expressed. Honey? If I am wanting some honey and if the bees have plenty to spare, I can cut a section of comb from the lower combs of the hive. If a hive perishes, as so many hives do these days, the bees alway leave honey to spare. I have plenty of honey for my family without needing to make honey a factor in how I keep bees.

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Weaving outside on a sunny day, I find bees are always coming by to “lend a hand.”

In the United States, there is very little use of woven hives among beekeepers because—I keep reading—the hive are “terrible for bees.” The more I studied and the more I reflected, I came to the conclusion that woven hives are “terrible” for beekeepers who need to produce and collect a lot of honey. The hives are marvelous for bees, with the insulation value of six or more inches of wood in a much lighter hive. Also, the hives are round, and temperature control in the vertical round is optimal for bees.

As the months have passed, I have watched myself pursue this new calling with a dedication and determination unusual to my nature, and it is because of this continuing inspiration that I know I am indeed on the right path. This spring, I will be ushering all the swarms that come my way into woven hives.

We all have different ways of hearing and interpreting our inner voices, our intuition, our passions. For me, it is not so much a voice, an image, or a rational decision or conscious choice. Rather, I let myself feel and I observe the feelings. If my creative drive kicks in full-force, if my interest remains strong, I move forward and I allow myself to trust the process and be patient as each new step reveals itself. As I move forward in this way, time begins to move more slowly and in a more—how can I say this?—opaque, organic way—like stem cells coming together and morphing into a new kind of whole.

I look back on the process that has brought me here—right now—to my first prototype of what I am calling “The People’s Sun Hive.” I call it this because it is a hive that is affordable, easy-although-time-consuming to craft, and can be made with whatever grasses grow in your part of the world. I think of the Sun Hive in its classic expression as being the aristocrat of woven hives. I’m crafting something for the common people.

As fall winds her way toward the dark moons of winter, I feel as though I am awakening from a hazy dream that has crystalized into physical form and left me sitting with this lovely, bell-like creation in my lap. The ideas and images of months of sitting with the concept of the Sun Hive are coming together like puzzle pieces now, and I know the next steps on my good bee road: The winter will find me weaving, weaving, weaving. The spring will find me welcoming bees into my new creations—each hive made with loving attention and intention in every stitch.

Summer will find me teaching classes to others interested beekeepers. In the course of the year, I intend to awaken the beekeeping world to the magic of these ancient and primordial hives where bees live in total integrity to their beeing and we assume our rightful role as guardians and stewards.

http://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/DSCN1652-300x225.jpg
Just a few more rounds to go, then I’ll begin the bottom tray.

Is a woven hive calling to you? Listen!

http://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/keeping-bees-in-straw-hives-a-newold-approach/

www.beehavenblog.wordpress.com.

[william r sanford72]

Neonicotinoid Insecticide Exposure Reduces Bumblebee Colony Size

(Beyond Pesticides, October 24, 2016) Systemic neonicotinoid (neonic) exposure is associated with reductions in colony size and changes in foraging behavior, according to a recent field study done by a team of scientists at Imperial College London. The senior author of the study, Richard Gill, Ph.D., stated that when neonicotinoid “exposure is relatively persistent and combined with other stressors associated with land use change, they could have detrimental effects at the colony level.”

http://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Gary-Tate-Riverside-CA-Honey-Bee-taking-flight-Riverside-Ca2-254x300.jpg

The study, Impact of controlled neonicotinoid exposure on bumblebees in a realistic field setting, assesses the effect of exposure to the neonic, clothianidin, on bumblebee foraging patterns and colony size. Clothianidin was given to 20 buff-tailed bumblebee colonies for five-weeks in a sugar solution at a concentration of 5 parts per billion, an environmentally relevant level of the pesticide. A bumblebee colony census was done before and after the field experiment, where the number of eggs, larvae, pupae, and workers bees were recorded along with the wax and pollen stores in the colony. The researchers found that the clothianidin treated colonies had fewer workers, drones and reproductive female bees compared to the colonies with no exposure. These data add to the growing body of research on sub-lethal effects, which must be considered when looking at the effects of pesticides on non-target organisms.

This study adds to the body of science that has examined the effects of neonic exposure to bee colonies under field conditions. However, neonic pesticides have long been identified as a major culprit in bee decline by independent scientists and beekeepers, yet chemical manufacturers like Bayer and Syngenta have focused on other issues such as the varroa mite. As Beyond Pesticides wrote in the 2014 issue of Pesticides and You, the issue of pollinator decline is No Longer a Big Mystery, and urgent action is needed now to protect pollinators from these toxic pesticides.

Neonics are associated with decreased learning, foraging and navigational ability, as well as increased vulnerability to pathogens and parasites as a result of suppressed bee immune systems. In addition to toxicity to bees, pesticides like neonicotinoids have been shown to also adversely affect birds, aquatic organisms and contaminate soil and waterways, and overall biodiversity.

These findings follow on the recent decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to add a group of bees to the Endangered Species List. FWS published a final rule in early October that declares seven species of yellow-faced bees that are native to Hawaii as endangered. This announcement follows the FWS’s proposed listing of the rusty patched bumble bee as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). FWS says that it needs additional time to identify specific areas to be designated as critical habitat for the endangered bees. Further, though FWS has identified many threats to bees, including habitat loss and degradation due to urbanization, and other human activities, the final rule does not specifically point to pesticides. However, there is an overwhelming number of research studies demonstrating that neonicotinoid insecticides, working either individually or synergistically, play a critical role in the ongoing decline of bees and other pollinators.

Over the past decade, numerous studies have illuminated the negative effect that neonics have on different pollinator species, but until now little research has been performed on the chemicals’ long-term impacts. The results of this recent study provide additional evidence that links the sublethal impacts of neonic exposure and large-scale population extinctions of wild bee species.

Despite limited action in the United States by federal agencies and Congress to discontinue the use of neonicotinoid insecticides and toxic pesticides in general, consumers and advocates around the country can create safe pollinator habitat and encourage local governments to do the same. Ultimately, the widespread adoption of organic management is necessary to protect pollinators and the environment in the long-term. Farms or other land areas that are managed with chemical-intensive practices turn habitat into pollinator killing fields.

Beyond Pesticides has long sought a broad-scale marketplace transition to organic practices that prohibits the use of toxic synthetic pesticides by law and encourages a systems-based approach that is protective of health and the environment. For information on growing plants to protect pollinators, see our Pollinator-Friendly Seeds and Nursery Directory.

Use the Bee Protective Habitat Guide to plant a pollinator garden suited for your region, and consider seeding white clover into your lawn. You can also declare your garden, yard, park or other space as pesticide-free and pollinator friendly. Sign the pledge today!  More information on the adverse effects neonics can be found in the Beyond Pesticides’ report Cultivating Plants that Poison.

Source: Science Daily, Imperial College London

http://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2016/10/neonicotinoid-insecticide-exposure-reduces-bumblebee-colony-size/

[william r sanford72]

Shimmering blue plant manipulates light with crystal quirks

https://cosmos-magazine.imgix.net/file/spina/photo/8294/251016_blueleaves_1.jpg?fit=clip&w=835
Blue leaf iridescence, a striking form of structural colour originating from specialised chloroplasts.
Matthew Jacobs

It sounds like an evolutionary mistake – why would a plant that lives in the dark understory of a tropical forest reflect light from its leaves? But it's actually a brilliant way to manipulate light and jack up photosynthetic efficiency.

A team of researchers in the UK led by Heather Whitney from the University of Bristol closely examined the structures inside Begonia pavonina cells and found the light-harvesting process increased the plant’s photosynthesising efficiency by as much as 10%.
The work was published in Nature Plants.

B. pavonina lives in the understory of Malaysian tropical forests. And much like a soap bubble or beetle shell, the vibrant blue B. pavonina leaves are iridescent, which means their colour shifts with viewing angle.

In a study earlier this year, Whitney was part of a team that found iridescence in some flower petals signalled to pollinators.
But in leaves, she says, the purpose wasn’t so clear-cut – especially in a species that spends its life under thick canopies where little sunlight penetrates.

“It appears so counter-intuitive,” Whitney says. “Why would plants that live in such dark surroundings actually go to the trouble of producing structures that reflect photosynthetically useful light?”

Whitney and her crew observed the leaves under a light microscope and saw its blue colour stemmed from unusual chloroplasts – the structures responsible for photosynthesis, which uses sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen – called iridoplasts.
Normal chloroplasts contain membranes like stacked pancakes called thylakoids. They can be variable in size and thickness and their primary function is to absorb light.

In iridoplasts, though, Whitney saw the thylakoids, stacked around three or four high, were regularly spaced. This means the iridoplasts regulated light, letting only certain colours (or wavelengths) pass and ramping up the amount of light captured at the green end of the light spectrum.
So the wavelengths most useful to photosynthesis were concentrated, making the best use of the little light available.

The effect may not be limited to B. pavonina. Since iridoplasts are present in a diverse range of plants – not only iridescent ones – the researchers write the light-harvesting prowess of B. pavonina could be widespread.

“While the fact that chloroplasts interact with light has obviously long been known, that they can manipulate this light gives us a whole new perspective on chloroplasts and photosynthesis as a whole,” Whitney says.

https://cosmosmagazine.com/physics/shady-plants-manipulate-light-with-crystal-like-structures

[william r sanford72]

Monsanto Loses GMO Permit In Mexico
By Liam S. Whittaker -
Oct 25, 2016

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Many countries around the world have now completely banned genetically modified food and the pesticides that go with them, or at least have severe restrictions against them. Now Mexico can be added to the list!

According to The Yucatan Times, This comes after the world has experienced a massive resistance against Monsanto and other biotech giants that manufacture GMOs and pesticides.
The resistance is also a result of a multitude of studies that have emerged showing the environmental and health dangers that are associated with pesticides, as well as health dangers that could be associated with GMOs.

The most recent country in the headlines for banning Monsanto products is Mexico.

A group of beekeepers was successful in stopping Monsanto from planting soybeans that are genetically modified to resist their Round-up herbicide.
Monsanto had originally received a permit to plant its GM seeds on over 250,000 hectares of land, which equates to approximately 620,000 acres. That’s a lot of land and a lot of pesticide!

They were able to get the permit despite thousands of citizens, beekeepers, Greenpeace, Mayan farmers, The National Institute of Ecology and other major environmental groups protesting against it.

“A district judge in the state of Yucatán last month overturned a permit issued to Monsanto by Mexico’s agriculture ministry, Sagarpa, and environmental protection agency, Semarnat, in June 2012 that allowed commercial planting of Round-up ready Soybeans. In withdrawing the permit, the judge was convinced by the scientific evidence presented about the threats posed by GM soy crops to honey production in the Yucatán peninsula, which includes Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatán states.Co-existence between honey production and GM soybeans is not possible, the judge ruled.”

The pesticides ARE killing the bees, and farmers are unable to export pollen from GMO crops! If the honey is made from GMO crops, then the European market becomes unavailable due to the European ban that has been in place since 2001.

With the myriad of scientific information showing the dangers of pesticides used on GM foods and the physical disappearance of much of the bee population, isn’t it about time to reconsider what we call “food?” Isn’t it time to reconsider filling the fields with death?

It is time for American leaders to listen to the dozens of other countries that have banned GM food!
Mexico is the fourth largest honey producer and fifth largest honey exporter in the world.

http://csglobe.com/monsanto-loses-gmo-permit-mexico/

[william r sanford72]

Varroa Mites: No-Treatment is the Best Treatment

http://www.rootsimple.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Drohnenpuppen_mit_Varroamilben_71a.jpg
Drone pupae with varroa mites. Image: Wikipedia.

The narrative in the mainstream press about beekeeping tends to be about brave and environmentally conscious beekeepers fighting the scourge of big ag’s pesticides. But the truth is far messier. Step into the world of beekeeping and what you’ll find is a swarm of acrimonious finger pointing and a heavy reliance, by conventional beekeepers, on pesticides. Why would beekeepers use pesticides? Varroa mites.

The varroa mite is a tiny blood sucking parasite that hops on individual bees and infests whole colonies. Originally from Java, varroa first appeared in the United States in 1987. By far the number one topic at any conventional beekeeping conference is the varroa mite. My beekeeping mentor Kirk Anderson likes to quip that the singular obsession with varroa is “like going to dog show where everyone only talks about fleas.”

One of the controversial aspects of what’s come to be called “backwards” (named after an essay by Charles Martin Simon and taught by Anderson) beekeeping has been two practices: keeping feral bees for their believed varroa resistance and not treating bees in order to favor stronger colonies.

Let’s first define what a “feral” bee is. Honey bees are not native to the Americas. They were, most likely, brought here by the Spanish. Since that introduction, some honey bees escaped tended apiaries and took up residence in forests and cities where they have lived, happily, for centuries without much human intervention. To clarify, when I say “feral” bees I mean untended honey bees (Apis mellifera) not any of the 4,000 species of native bees in North America such as carpenter bees and bumblebees.

Most conventional beekeepers buy or breed their own colonies and queens. Backwards beekeepers collect swarms and remove and relocate feral colonies. When it comes to varroa mite these feral colonies have gone through a process of natural selection. When varroa arrived in the Americas, no doubt, many feral colonies died out. But the ones that had natural resistance survived. Over time feral colonies have developed hygiene practices that greatly reduce the varroa problem. They still have varroa, but they don’t succumb to it.

Most controversially, natural, backwards beekeepers such as myself do not treat our bees for mites, believing that such treatment interferes with the microbiome of the colony and leads to bees that lack natural resistance to varroa. No-treatment beekeepers don’t even use so-called “natural” treatments such as dusting with powdered sugar or essential oils.

A technological solution to varroa?

A recent article in Wired Magazine profiled Jerry Hayes, A Swarm of Controversy In Their Struggle for Survival Against Killer Mites, Bees Get an Unlikely Ally: Monsanto. Hayes was a state beekeeping inspector in Florida and an advice columnist in the American Bee Journal before taking a job with Monsanto. The article looks at Hayes’s work at Monsanto which uses RNA interference (RNAi) to target varroa. It’s easy to see why Hayes would be interested in RNAi technology. It has the potential to knock out varroa mite without the many problems of current miticides. Critics of RNAi, however, bring up the issue of risk management: the unintended consequences of using a novel technology such as RNAi. If something did go wrong it could go very wrong, what some scientists refer to as an “oops” moment.

The ideas in the article, like much science reporting in the mainstream press, suffer, in my opinion from what Nassim Taleb calls the “technological salvation fallacy,” the idea that solutions are always technological. It’s an approach that Taleb criticizes as “blind to risk.” It goes hand in hand with an 18th century Enlightenment narrative of continuous improvement that, I believe, is proving incredibly dangerous (see climate change, nuclear weapons, industrialized genocide etc.). To step out of this Hegelian view of history is, in our contemporary culture, to be a crank a description I’ve come to embrace.

My cranky advice for beekeepers

A prescient 1998 paper in the Journal California Agriculture predicted,
It is unlikely that European bees will evolve resistance [to varroa] because commercial beekeepers must treat their colonies with miticides to stay in business. Varroa eliminate feral European colonies that are then replaced either with AHB [Africanized honeybees] or with European colonies derived from nonresistant commercial colonies. In the end, AHB will spread to their ecological limits, wherever they may be.

The future predicted in that article has arrived. I have heard, from three sources in the natural beekeeping community, that conventional beekeepers are secretly buying feral AHB colonies and queens. The reason is simple. AHB colonies live with and don’t succumb to varroa because they were never treated for the problem.

My experience is limited to Southern California and I’ve only kept (well mannered) AHBs. But the no-treatment approach is not limited to AHB. Here’s what Michael Bush has to say about no-treatment beekeeping in an article on his website, Four simple steps to healthier bees,

What is the upside of not treating? You don’t have to buy the treatments. You don’t have to drive to the yard and put the treatments in and drive to the yard to take them out. You don’t have to contaminate your wax. You don’t upset the natural balance by killing off micro and macro organisms that you weren’t targeting but who are killed by the treatments anyway. That would seem like upside enough, but you also give the ecosystem of the bee hive a chance to find some natural balance again.

But the most obvious up side is that until you quit treating you can’t breed for survival against whatever your issues are. As long as you treat you prop up weak genetics and you can’t tell what weaknesses they have. As long as you treat you keep breeding weak bees and super mites. The sooner you stop, the sooner you start breeding mites adapted to their host and bees who can survive with them.

The treatment vs. no-treatment issue is so tribal in nature that, perhaps, we will have to wait for the pro-treatment technological salvationists to depart, along with Elon Musk, for those Martian colonies (good luck with that one guys) and leave us treatment-free beekeepers in peace on good old planet Earth.

http://www.rootsimple.com/2016/10/varroa-mites-no-treatment-is-the-best-treatment/

[william r sanford72]

A Ghost In The Making: Searching for the Rusty-patched Bumble Bee

Everyone has heard about bee declines, but with so much attention focused on domesticated honeybees, someone has to speak up for the 4,000 species of native bees in North America. Natural history photographer Clay Bolt is on a multi-year quest to tell the stories of our native bees, and one elusive species – the Rusty-patched Bumble Bee – has become his ‘white whale.’

Traveling from state to state in search of the Rusty-patched, he meets the scientists and conservationists working tirelessly to preserve it. Clay’s journey finally brings him to Wisconsin, where he comes face to face with his fuzzy quarry and discovers an answer to the question that has been nagging him all along: why save a species?

P7TF8PvAdnE

[william r sanford72]

AG Takes Action Against Bayer Over Deceptive Marketing About Risks of Pesticides

For Immediate Release - October 27, 2016

First-of-Its-Kind Enforcement Action by a State Attorney General Targeting a Manufacturer of Neonicotinoid Pesticides

BOSTON — Bayer CropScience, the world’s largest agrochemical company and one of the largest global manufacturers of pesticides, has agreed to pay $75,000 and change its advertising practices to resolve allegations that the company misled and deceived consumers about the potential risks its pesticides pose to bees and the environment, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

The assurance of discontinuance, filed today in Suffolk Superior Court, is believed to be the first time any major pesticide company has agreed to a court order to address alleged false advertising regarding risks posed by its products containing synthetic chemicals – known as neonicotinoids – to bees, other pollinators and species, and the environment. Bayer CropScience LP (Bayer) is a division of Bayer AG.

“Bayer made numerous misleading claims to consumers about the safety of its pesticide products, including falsely advertising that they were similar to giving ‘a daily vitamin’ to plants, when in fact, they are highly toxic to honey bees and other pollinators in the environment,” said AG Healey. “This settlement is an unprecedented step from a major pesticide manufacturer to promote truth in advertising for consumers about products that expose bees and the environment to harm and in turn also impact farming and food production.”

Honey bees play an essential role in crop pollination for both small, local farms and large national farming operations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported that a quarter of the American diet depends on honey bee pollination.

The AG’s Office began an investigation in September 2013 into Bayer’s advertising for its lawn and garden products. As a result, the AG’s Office alleges that the company violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act by making deceptive and misleading claims that its products did not present risks to bees, other pollinators, and the environment.

The lawn and garden products, which include Bayer Advanced® All-in-One Rose and Flower Care, Bayer Advanced® 12 Month Tree & Shrub Protect and Feed II, and Bayer Advanced® Season Long Grub Control Plus Turf Revitalizer, contain the active ingredients imidacloprid and/or clothianidin, which belong to a family of synthetic chemicals called neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids are systemic chemicals designed to spread their toxin throughout the plant, including into the plant’s pollen, where the toxic pesticides are easily accessible to pollinators. In addition to causing harm to bees, neonicotinoid exposure on land and in bodies of water has been associated with adverse effects on fish, amphibians, birds, and bats.

Bayer’s alleged deceptive advertisements included statements that:

Its neonicotinoid products are environmentally friendly to beneficial insects including honey bees;
Neonicotinoids are active ingredients approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), even though the EPA cautions pesticide companies not to characterize any pesticide product as EPA-approved;

Identified the active ingredient in some of its neonicotinoid products only by the term “Merit®,” when the active ingredient is the neonicotinoid pesticide, imidacloprid; and
The consumer should think of systemic insecticides like a preventative treatment, much like taking a daily vitamin.

Today’s settlement requires that Bayer refrain from using any reference or claim that the products are safe, environmentally friendly, non-toxic, or will not harm bees or other pollinators unless the company can substantiate the claims, along with prohibiting any other misleading assertions about the product being safe or harmless.
The settlement also requires that all advertisements state that consumers should read and follow all instructions on the product label.

The AG’s Office also initiated an investigation of Scotts Miracle-Gro for similar allegations, and discontinued the investigation after Scotts decided to phase out neonicotinoids from its lawn and garden consumer product line earlier this year.

For more information about residential pest control click here.

This case was handled by Assistant Attorney General Andrew Goldberg, of AG Healey’s Environmental Protection Division, and Assistant Attorney General Melissa Hoffer, Chief of AG Healey’s Energy and Environment Bureau.

http://www.mass.gov/ago/news-and-updates/press-releases/2016/ag-takes-action-against-bayer-over-deceptive-marketing.html

[The Freedom Train]

Low dose radiation can heal you and save the honey bees - Radiation Hormesis- Jay Gutierrez

OMG I totally thought ot this before - just eat a spoonful a day and before long you will be as invincible as a marvel comic superhero. There is also a strong possibility that you will glow in the dark and have two heads (cool!) :ROFL:

[william r sanford72]

USDA...NATIONAL HONEY REPORT
October 25, 2016

www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/fvmhoney.pdf

[william r sanford72]

Will Bayer Succeed In Overturning Neonic Ban
Published on Oct 27, 2016
In this week’s segment of The Neonicotinoid View, host June Stoyer and Tom Theobald talk to bee health advocate and environmental author, Graham White about the upcoming review of the 2013 ban of neonicotinoids in Europe and Bayer’s efforts to overturn it.

www.theorganicview.com.

b0AJbzZBcRE

[william r sanford72]

Monsanto Bayer: Two Destructive Corporate Conglomerates Become One

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Big AG tech giants Monsanto – maker of Agent Orange, genetically modified seeds, weed whacking chemicals – and Bayer – famed for manufacturing heroin, baby aspirin, and systemic pesticides – are merging, much to the horror of food security advocates, consumers, and non-zombies worldwide.

CNN Money declared the Monsanto Bayer merger “the year’s biggest takeover.” Symbolically, it’s the merger of the century.

At $66 billion, it’s also the biggest cash transaction on record. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders describes the mega deal as “a threat to all Americans.”

“These mergers boost the profits of huge corporations and leaves Americans paying even higher prices,” he said.

If things unfold as planned, the new company (MonBayer? BaySanto? Or should they just call themselves Poisonous?) will generate approximately 50 percent of its revenue from selling “medicine” and the other half from agriculture.

How convenient. They can make us sick with their poisonous, genetically modified faux food, and then treat us with their treadmill of drugs.

The consolidation will create supply-chain dominance, aka vertical integration, in a $100 billion global market.

Monsanto Bayer may as well fuse. They’re a compatible match.Right now, Monsanto’s herbicide-resistant GM crops withstand Roundup and/or dicamba, not Bayer herbicides. The merged giant would start engineering GM crops resistant to Bayer herbicides.

And besides, Bayer’s mischief is mistaken for Monsanto’s all the time. I can’t tell you how many times people credit Monsanto for colony collapse disorder and killing bees.

And while GMO seeds and herbicides are definitely not improving the environment, Bayer’s systemic pesticides deserve every negative implication.In fact, these chemicals are also harming worms, soil, other pollinators, our waterways, aquatic life and humans.

But everyone loves to hate Monsanto.

“The Monsanto brand has many negative associations,” says David King, associate professor at Iowa State University where he teaches undergraduate strategy and assesses the performance of mergers and acquisitions, technology innovation, and defense procurement.

He thinks the Monsanto Bayer merger is a great brand strategy for Monsanto.

According to the Monsanto’s recent courtship history – they approached Syngenta last year with an offer – they agree. King envisions a future where the Monsanto brand name will ultimately be removed as a way to reposition the consolidated firm.

Why do you think Blackwater changed its name to XE, and then Academi?

King just returned from a conference in Berlin where he talked about the Monsanto Bayer merger and learned that many in Europe feel it’s a travesty that Bayer would “tarnish its good name” by acquiring the company behind Roundup and genetically modified crops.

But critics dismiss this sentiment. After all, Bayer is viewed as “Europe’s Monsanto.”
“Bayer [does] significantly better public-relations work than Monsanto, but that’s it,” contends Antonius Michelmann, CEO of the Coalition against BAYER-Dangers.

“Bayer [does] significantly better public-relations work than Monsanto, but that’s it,” contends Antonius Michelmann, CEO of the Coalition against BAYER-Dangers.

“Both, Monsanto and Bayer are poisoning and immediately endangering animals, plants and human life. Both care just about profits and nothing else.”

Bayer already does business with Monsanto. Joint projects include a seed treatment combination: Bayer’s Poncho/Votivo seed-applied insecticide is combined with Monsanto’s Acceleron seed treatment for nematodes.

In 2011, Monsanto and Bayer joined forces to sell soybean GMO seeds coated with a systemic pesticide. In the United States, there are 90 million acres of corn sprouted from GMO seed and treated with a systemic pesticide; now Monsanto and Bayer will have all the pesticides they need in-house.

Isn’t this tarnish enough?

Gone With The Weeds

So why are the companies merging now?

Well, that very much depends on whom you ask.

According to the two Ag giants, the narrative goes something like this: It’s estimated that by 2050 there will be an additional 3 billion people on the planet. Ergo, the merger “is needed to meet a rising food demand.”

Enter Monsanto and Bayer to the rescue!

“What we do is good for consumers. We help to produce sufficient, safe, healthy, and affordable food,” Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer AG said during a recent press conference.

“[This merger] is also good for our growers. Because they[‘ll] have better choices to increase yields in a sustainable way … Together, we want to make and shape the future of farming.”

It’s amazing the millions of corn fields that can exist between rhetoric and reality.

The “we-need–to-feed-the-world” propaganda has been disproved.

“These two companies are tone deaf to public health and environmental protection. Between them they’re responsible for introducing devastating chemicals,” says Jay Feldman, Executive Director of Beyond Pesticides. “

The question asking if we can actually feed the world without toxic chemicals has long been answered. Despite all our modern ingenuity, we have the same degree of crop loss today that we had before the pesticide revolution.”

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the world produces more than 1 1/2 times enough food to feed everyone on the planet.

“Unfortunately, over a billion of the world’s people are too poor to buy this food – so they go hungry. Corporate mergers aren’t going to change that,” write authors Ahna Kruzic and

Eric Holt-Giménez (Monsanto Merger Blues,Food First). They are on point.

So what’s really the thrust behind the merger?

Ask analysts, and they’ll tell you that the entire Ag sector is depressed right now. Farmers are spending less on seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. Monsanto alone is$9 billion in debt. (It was $1 billion only three years ago.) Currently, the company isn’t in a position to invest money to develop more products and keep up with competitors.

Like the old saying goes, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

Year Of Merging Dangerously

In 2014, worldwide merger and acquisition activity exceeded $3.1 trillion, writes King, who co-edited a recent book on the subject.
At the beginning of 2016, Dow Chemical and DuPont joined forces in a $130 billion merger, and earlier this year Syngenta agreed to a $43 billion sale to China National Chemical Corp.

Writes Vox’s Brad Plumer, “mergers can help slow down the bleeding and boost market share and growth and still allow them to spend billions developing new products.”

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Over the years, Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, Dow, and BASF have respectfully gobbled up about 75 percent of small to medium-size enterprises engaged in biotechnology research. Today, what food advocates refer to as the Big Six has now shrunk to the Big Four: Syngenta, BASF and a 70 percent dominated global market between Monsanto-Bayer and Dow-DuPont.

This buyout is likely to create a grizzly future. “Seed prices could rise for farmers; consumers could see more genetically engineered foods on supermarket shelves, and our global agricultural system could end up depending on just a few companies to meet a high percentage of the world’s agricultural needs,” Leah Douglas, a policy analyst for New America, wrote in a CNN op-ed.

For those who argue the Monsanto Bayer merger will decrease market competition because of overlap, the corporate heads say, “Pashaw!” Monsanto focuses on seeds and biology, Bayer on chemicals. Au contraire, the union allows them to combine their “complementary strengths.”

3 Key Points Obstructing Monsanto Bayer Merger Madness

Bayer has finalized a $57 billion bridge loan to support its acquisition of Monsanto. According to Bloomberg, 27 lenders have joined the deal, including European and Japanese banks.
According to Maurice Stucke of the Konkurrenz Group, and formerly with the Justice Department, merger reviews of this complexity can take six to nine months.

Therefore the deal wouldn’t close until 2017, when it would then fall into the lap of the new administration. Fortunately, there are still several hurdles to navigate before this super company becomes a reality.

Shareholders in both companies must still approve the deal. Bayer holds the right to pull out if the integration is seemingly difficult or if they cannot achieve expected synergies. If Bayer does choose to break up, they’re issuing a $2 billion parting gift to Monsanto.

The merger still has to be confirmed by the European Commission. Foreign antitrust approval must also be granted. This will prove interesting since Europe is not a fan of GMO crops; many of Monsanto’s products are in fact banned in Europe.

In the United States, two antitrust agencies (the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission) need to collaborate on their analysis of the agricultural biotechnology and seed industry to ensure that the multiple transactions under consideration do not substantially lessen competition. According to the nonprofit SumOfUs, the Bayer Monsanto merger violates antitrust laws. “The proposed merger would violate a court order that was part of a U.S. Department of Justice consent decree and the primary U.S. anti-trust merger statute, the Clayton Act.”

Bayer is committed to selling $1.6 billion assets to gain antitrust approval. For instance, Monsanto Bayer control 70 percent of all cotton acreage in the U.S., which is already genetically modified by Monsanto and treated with systemic poisons by Bayer.

So the new company would be required to sell one of their existing cottonseed brands. Also Bayer’s Liberty Link competes with Monsanto’s Roundup, so they may just want to pour the mixtures together and call it a day.

Who will keep these companies accountable?

On Oct. 15-16, a panel of six internationally renowned judges will hear testimony from 30 witnesses covering five continents where there are reports of injury by Monsanto’s products.

This grassroots-led international citizens’ tribunal and People’s Assembly will culminate in November with the release of advisory opinions prepared by the judges. (Register for Monsanto Tribunal & People’s Assembly.)

The tribunal’s work, which includes making the case for corporations to be prosecuted for ecocide, is all the more relevant because of the ICC’s(International Criminal Court) announcement.

Whatever decision is reached, it may only be symbolic. No matter what happens at this tribunal, we don’t know what accountability will look like going forward. We’re living in Looney Tune times.

While there has been buzz about transparency in recent years, lies have become “the new truth” — to quote comedian and HBO Real Time host Bill Maher.

Certainly countries and corporations are getting away with murder, these days. For revolutionaries committed to a world without toxic chemicals or miles of monocultures, the proposed merger of Monsanto and Bayer means two of our rivals will now be housed under one roof; the deplorable actions that place profit over people and planet remain the same.

http://csglobe.com/monsanto-bayer-two-destructive-corporate-conglomerates-become-one/

[william r sanford72]

Most Top Retailers Sell Food Produced with Bee-Killing Pesticides
Only Aldi, Costco, and Whole Foods got passing grades

http://naturalsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/gmo_pesticides_corn_crop_man_735_275.jpg

A new ‘scorecard’ report gives a failing grade to 17 out of 20 major food retailers in the United States, based on their policies and practices regarding pollinator protection, organic options, and pesticide reduction.

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Tiffany Finck-Haynes, food futures campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said:

“U.S. food retailers must take responsibility for how the products they sell are contributing to the bee crisis.

The majority of the food sold at top U.S. food retailers is produced with pollinator-toxic pesticides. We urge all major retailers to work with their suppliers to eliminate pollinator-toxic pesticides and to expand domestic organic offerings that protect pollinators, people and the planet.” [1]

Organic Offerings and Transparency Are Lacking

The report “Swarming the Aisles: Rating Top Retailers on Bee-Friendly and Organic Food” is the work of a coalition led by Friends of the Earth and more than 50 farmer, beekeeper, farmworker, environmental, and public interest organizations.

The coalition sent a letter urging food retailers to eliminate pesticides that are toxic to bees and other pollinators, and increase U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified organic food and beverages to 15% of overall offerings by 2025. The group would like to see retailers prioritize domestic, regional, and local p­roducers.

Friends of the Earth and its allies have been successful in the past at convincing more than 65 garden retailers, including Lowe’s and Home Depot, to commit to eliminate pollinator-toxic neonicotinoid (neonic) pesticides.
According to Haynes, the demand for organic foods has grown by double-digits, but grocers aren’t keeping up. She said:

“A lot of the major food retailers have started to increase their organic offerings, but few of them have really adopted clear goals or metrics to continue to significantly increase their organic food offerings in the future.” [2]

As evidenced by the group’s research, it’s difficult for the public to know where retailers stand concerning pesticide use and organic food. Eleven of the 20 retailers’ websites examined by Friends of the Earth don’t provide basic information concerning their policies on organic food, pollinators, and/or pesticides, Haynes said, adding

Americans Are Ready for Change

A YouGov poll released 25 October 2016 by Friends of the Earth and SumOfUs reveals that 80% of Americans believe neonics should not be used in agriculture, and 65% of those who do the grocery shopping for their household would be more likely to shop at a store that has made a formal commitment to eliminate neonicotinoids.

Additionally, the poll shows that 59% of respondents believe it’s important for supermarkets to sell organic food. Another 43% said they’d likely spend more time at a different grocery store if it sold more organic food than the store they currently frequent.

Said Angus Wong, lead campaign strategist at SumOfUs, a consumer watchdog with ten million members:

“Over 750,000 SumOfUs members have spoken out advocating that U.S. Hardware stores take action to protect our pollinators. And after years of pressure, Home Depot and Lowe’s have finally enacted more bee-friendly policies.
And the findings of this poll show that a vast majority of consumers want to eliminate neonicotinoids from their grocery stores too. This is why food retailers must commit policies that protect our bees immediately.”

Only four of the nation’s top food retailers – Albertsons, Costco, Target, and Whole Foods – have adopted and made public a company-wide commitment to increase offerings of certified organic food. They are also the only retailers to disclose data on the current percentage of organic food they offer, or organic sales.

Aldi, Food Lion, part of the Delhaize Group, and Kroger disclosed data on the current percentage of organic offerings or organic sales.
None of the retailers that the group looked at have publicly committed to sourcing organic food from American farmers.

Retailer Apathy Is Killing Pollinators

Of the top 20 food retailers surveyed by Friends of the Earth, a shocking 16 were predominantly unresponsive to Friends of the Earth’s requests for information via surveys, calls, and letters. The group was forced to turn to publicly available information, including company websites, company annual reports, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, corporate social responsibility and sustainability reports, press coverage, and industry analyses, for their data.

We have bees to thank for every 1 in 3 bites of food we take; and without bees, stores would run low on everything from strawberries to almonds.

http://naturalsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/bee-infographic-e1477421583235.jpg

Science increasingly points to neonicotinoid pesticides as a leading cause of pollinator decline. Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s blockbuster herbicide, Roundup, has been shown to play a significant role in monarch butterfly declines.
Read: How You Can Help the Dwindling Monarch Butterfly Population
Several U.S. cities have banned neonics, including Boulder City, Colorado, and Portland, Oregon. This past spring, Maryland became the first state to ban the pesticides.

Sources:
[1] Friends of the Earth

[2] Public News Service

Bee Cause

http://naturalsociety.com/most-top-retailers-sell-food-produced-bee-killing-pesticides-6261/

[william r sanford72]

New PAN report warns of global contamination of health damaging glyphosate

Friday, October 28, 2016 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

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(NaturalNews) The popular herbicide glyphosate, also known as Roundup, is far more toxic to humans than the chemical industry claims it is, a new report has found. The Pesticide Action Network (PAN) in a 96-page document entitled Glyphosate, reveals how people all around the world are being systemically poisoned by glyphosate, and many of them are even dying.

Aerial sprayings of the chemical across crop fields are said to be safe for humans, because the so-called "shikimate" pathway upon which the herbicide acts exists only in plants, and not in animals or humans. But the report highlights the fact that, regardless of the supposed nonexistence of this pathway in humans, glyphosate is sill wreaking havoc on human health.

Some of the acute health effects of glyphosate exposure include gastrointestinal and skin infections, headaches, blistering on the skin, rapid heartbeat, elevated blood pressure, dizziness, numbness, insomnia, blurred vision, abdominal pain, chest pains, problems breathing, respiratory problems, sore throat and strange tastes in the mouth.

Other lesser-reported symptoms include problems staying balanced, cognitive abnormalities, impaired senses, muscle paralysis, peripheral neuropathy, decreased motor skills, chronic fatigue and abnormal body temperature. And none of this even touches on the long-term health effects of glyphosate exposure, which are significantly more problematic.

According to the report, glyphosate directly interferes with "numerous mammalian organs and biochemical pathways, including inhibition of numerous enzymes, metabolic disturbances and oxidative stress leading to excessive membrane lipid peroxidation, and cell and tissue damage." Furthermore, the report highlights "genotoxicity and endocrine disruption" that lead to "chronic health and developmental effects."

South American doctors confirm that glyphosate spraying is causing infertility, cancer
Though U.S. doctors and health experts appear reluctant to report on their observances with glyphosate, their counterparts in South America have a lot to say on the subject. Doctors in Argentina, for instance, are reporting what's being described as a "dramatic upsurge" in long-term health effects where glyphosate is being sprayed on genetically-modified soybean crops.

Included in the list of effects are infertility, pregnancy problems, birth defects, respiratory disease and various forms of cancer. Epidemiological studies have established a link between glyphosate exposure and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, hairy cell leukemia, multiple myeloma and DNA damage. Even at very low concentrations, glyphosate has been shown to damage vital organs like the liver and kidney, as well as skin cells.

Not only is glyphosate sprayed all over food crops during the growing season to kill weeds, but it's also used as a pre-harvest desiccant to speed up the growing and harvesting process. According to the report, this process is used on wheat, cotton, various cereal grains, peas, and beans, as well as other crops.

It's bad for the people who end up eating these food crops, but great for farmers and the chemical companies like Monsanto that they support when they purchase all that extra glyphosate. And the repercussions are startling. Glyphosate residues are now being found in women's breast milk, as well as in blood and urine. Even vaccines are starting to turn up as glyphosate-contaminated, which means developing babies are now being injected with this lethal poison.

"The PAN Report is extremely comprehensive and really needs to be mainstreamed so that food growers, in particular, can understand the harm they are doing to crops, the soil, the environment, wildlife, pollinators, water resources and humans," writes Catherine J. Frompovich for Natural Blaze.

"However, it will be up to consumers and farmers ... to make their concerns and priorities known about saving the planet and humankind from toxic chemicals in food, water and the air, if we are to survive toxic chemicals and their currently unavoidable poisonings."

The full PAN report is available for free online here.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalBlaze.com

PAN-International.org[PDF]

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/055803_glyphosate_PAN_report_toxicity.html#ixzz4Oa9moOvo

http://www.naturalnews.com/055803_glyphosate_PAN_report_toxicity.html

[william r sanford72]

Strength in numbers of clustering bees

Mary O’Riordan says maintaining the right temperature in the bee cluster is essential to ensuring it survives the winter as it can face several other hazards to boot.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/remote/media.central.ie/media/images/b/BeeCluster2016_large.jpg?width=648&s=ie-427955

Beekeepers are often asked if bees hibernate? They don’t. They form a cluster. Clustering is necessary for self-preservation. 

Bees are poikilothermic and all that means is that they assume the temperature of their surroundings, so if the temperature drops to zero degrees, a bee’s body temperature will go to zero degrees and it will freeze to death. 

http://www.irishexaminer.com/remote/media.central.ie/media/images/b/BeesSwarmOfBeesDrones_large.jpg?width=648&s=ie-427955

Colonies of bees have adopted a method to overcome this deficiency by gathering together in the hive to form a heat reserve.

Bees start to cluster at an ambient temperature of 14C, forming a ball with the comb running through it, the top of the ball will be in contact with the store of honey at all times, and below this where the combs are empty, the bees will creep into the cells, making the cluster almost solid, the cluster has an outer shell of bees which can be very dense ranging in thickness from 25mm to 75mm thick. 

http://www.irishexaminer.com/remote/media.central.ie/media/images/b/BeeHivePic1_large.jpg?width=648&s=ie-427955

The outer shell temperature must be maintained at 7C , (below this the outer bees will drop off and die), to maintain the critical temperature as the cluster contracts and expands.

The temperature in the centre of the cluster ranges from 20C to 30C when there is no brood in the hive, which usually happens around December/ January, and when the queen starts laying next February or so, temperatures will have to be maintained at 35C.

You may ask how do bees maintain this temperature? Well, they cluster to reduce their surface area thereby reducing heat loss. 

Bees create heat within their body by muscular activity and then within the cluster. The muscles used are the indirect flight muscles. To flex these muscles the bees need to consume honey, so the cluster needs to be near food at all times.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/remote/media.central.ie/media/images/b/BeeHivePic2_large.jpg?width=648&s=ie-427955

It is very important not to disturb the cluster, even taking off the roof for a quick look can cause a rise in temperature within the cluster by up to 6C, the bees realise there is some interference, and break the cluster to investigate and fly out.

Excluding mice from the hive is paramount, apart from the damage they do to the comb, the disturbance to the cluster can result in weakening or even loss of the colony. 

The modern open mesh floors have very big openings, why I don’t know, I’m sure the makers are not beekeepers, so they need a mouse guard which is pinned across the opening, and has bee space for the bees to exit and enter. 

Clustering is the nucleus for next year’s honey crop.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/remote/media.central.ie/media/images/b/BeesBeingBorn_large.jpg?width=648&s=ie-427955

Some important points for wintering: Make sure the bees have sufficient food to keep them going until next spring. 
Keep out unwanted visitors like mice and check there is no damage after high winds. 

Dampness, too, can be a serious problem, make sure there are no leaking roofs, as bees can withstand cold, bur not wet and dampness.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/outdoors/strength-in-numbers-of-clustering-bees-427955.html

[william r sanford72]

musical intermission brought to you by blind willie....Dark was the night...

BNj2BXW852g


:flower:

[william r sanford72]

After Cursory Review, EPA Proposes Dramatic Expansion of Toxic Pesticide Blend Enlist Duo
November 1st, 2016

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Agency Ignores Legal Requirement to Fully Consider Impacts to Environment, Endangered Species 

WASHINGTON— The Environmental Protection Agency today reapproved and proposed a dramatic expansion of the use of the toxic pesticide Enlist Duo after only a cursory review of troubling data showing the two chemicals in the pesticide combine to have “synergistic” effects that are potentially harmful to endangered species and the environment. If approved the pesticide cocktail could be used on corn, soy and cotton in 35 states — up from 16 states where the product was previously approved for just corn and soy.

The rush to expand the use of Dow AgroSciences’ toxic chemical concoction of glyphosate and 2,4-D for use on the next generation of genetically engineered crops comes only one year after the EPA asked a court to revoke its previous approval. That request, filed in response to litigation challenging Enlist Duo’s approval, resulted from the agency’s discovery that Dow AgroSciences had filed patent applications for the product filed with the U.S. Patent Office claiming “synergy.” EPA believed the product therefore could have significant and unknown environmental impacts. Today the EPA announced it does not believe the product has synergistic effects, despite Dow’s claims to the Patent Office.

“EPA's decision is a capitulation to the agrichemical industry,” said George Kimbrell, senior attorney with the Center for Food Safety. “We will continue to protect farmers, consumers, and the environment from this toxic crop system, and are exploring all legal options.”

“EPA’s sudden about-face on this product is just astounding,” said Dr. Nathan Donley, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Just last year the EPA asked a court to cancel registration of this product due to the unknown risks it posed, and now it suddenly wants to more than double the number of states where the pesticide can be used? This proposal ignores the available data and will potentially harm our environment.”

“We're disappointed that EPA has doubled down on Enlist Duo rather than pulled its registration of this hazardous pesticide. Unless EPA makes substantial changes to its previous registration of Enlist Duo, we remain confident it violates the law,” said Paul Achitoff, a managing attorney at Earthjustice.

“Once again, EPA has failed to protect the health, well-being and livelihood of America’s farmers and rural communities. The agency’s decision dramatically increases the risk of pesticide drift causing severe crop losses and harms to human health,” said Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, Ph.D., a senior scientist with Pesticide Action Network.

Background

Dow created Enlist crops as a quick fix for the superweed problem created by “Roundup Ready” crops that were genetically engineered to withstand what would otherwise be a toxic dose of the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. Just as overuse of antibiotics has left resistant strains of bacteria to thrive, repeated use of Roundup on those crops has resulted in the proliferation of glyphosate-resistant “superweeds” across millions of acres of U.S. farmland. Farmers are already reporting that some weeds have now also developed tolerance to 2-4, D. This means this next generation of new herbicide-tolerant crops will result in massive increases in pesticide use and perpetuate the pesticide treadmill.

The EPA’s negligence in evaluating the potential harms of new pesticides is not a new development. Earlier this year CBD released a groundbreaking report, Toxic Concoctions, finding that more than two-thirds of new pesticides registered in the past six years by the four major pesticide companies had patents demonstrating their new products’ synergistic effects with other pesticides — effects the EPA failed to consider. Synergism can greatly increase the harm of the pesticides to nontarget species such as bees and butterflies. Prior to 2016 the EPA had not considered patents showing pesticide synergy or incorporated the publically available patent information into their analyses of these new pesticides. 

http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/press-releases/4559/after-cursory-review-epa-proposes-dramatic-expansionof-toxic-pesticide-blend-enlist-duo

[william r sanford72]

New virus threatening world's bee populations
"Future challenges will be assessing the biological relevance of these novel pathogens," said researcher Gideon Mordecai.

http://cdnph.upi.com/sv/b/upi/UPI-9991478106352/2016/1/56b642160fa91a62a393f086e771e82a/New-virus-threatening-worlds-bee-populations.jpg

NORWICH, England, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Scientists have identified a new threat to bees, a virus carried by the invasive parasitic wasp species Vespula pensylvanica. According to a new study in journal Scientific Reports, the Moku virus is a threat to all pollinators, not just honey bees.

The virus is named for the Hawaiian island where it was first isolated. Recent DNA analysis by scientists at the Earlham Institute in England confirmed the virus' unique genetic material.

"The use of next generation gene sequencing techniques has led to a rapid increase in virus discovery, and is a powerful tool for investigating the enormous diversity of viruses out there," lead researcher Gideon Mordecai said in a news release.

Mordecai hopes his team's findings inspire scientists to more closely monitor the threat of new viruses -- and the risk of transmission -- among invasive species.
Unlike other species, limited by ecological niches, invasive species -- with track records of global adaptability -- are more likely to encourage the spread of viruses.
It's not clear yet how exactly the health of bee populations will be impacted by the new virus, but the research suggests the virus is likely to spread among bees endemic to Hawaii.

"Future challenges will be assessing the biological relevance of these novel pathogens and the role they play in the ecology of their hosts," Mordecai concluded.

While parasitic wasps and the viruses they carry are a distinct threat to bees and other pollinators, a number of studies suggest it is the cumulative effect of habitat loss, pollution and pesticides that render bees vulnerable to disease and prone to colony collapse.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2016/11/02/New-virus-threatening-worlds-bee-populations/9991478106352/


Moku virus; a new Iflavirus found in wasps, honey bees and Varroa

Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 34983 (2016)
doi:10.1038/srep34983
Download Citation

Abstract

There is an increasing global trend of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) affecting a wide range of species, including honey bees. The global epidemic of the single stranded RNA Deformed wing virus (DWV), driven by the spread of Varroa destructor has been well documented. However, DWV is just one of many insect RNA viruses which infect a wide range of hosts. Here we report the full genome
sequence of a novel Iflavirus named Moku virus (MV), discovered in the social wasp Vespula pensylvanica collected in Hawaii. The novel genome is 10,056 nucleotides long and encodes a polyprotein of 3050 amino acids. Phylogenetic analysis showed that MV is most closely related to Slow bee paralysis virus (SBPV), which is highly virulent in honey bees but rarely detected. Worryingly, MV sequences were also detected in honey bees and Varroa from the same location, suggesting that MV can also infect other hymenopteran and Acari hosts.

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep34983

[william r sanford72]

More Bad News for Honey as U.S. Seeks to Get Handle on Glyphosate Residues in Food

Carey Gillam
Veteran journalist; Research Director for U.S. Right to Know, a non-profit consumer education group

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2016-11-02-1478101514-6826308-100natural-thumb.jpg

Testing for residues of an herbicide developed by Monsanto Co. that has been linked to cancer has turned up high levels in honey from the key farm state of Iowa, adding to concerns about contamination that have triggered at least two lawsuits against honey industry players and prompted scrutiny by regulators.

The Food and Drug Administration began glyphosate residue testing in a small number of foods earlier this year after the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen in March 2015. The “special assignment,” as the FDA refers to the testing project, is the first time the FDA has ever looked for glyphosate residues in food, though it annually tests foods for numerous other pesticides.

Research by FDA chemist Narong Chamkasem and John Vargo, a chemist at the University of Iowa, shows that residues of glyphosate - the chief ingredient in Monsanto’s branded Roundup herbicide - have been detected at 653 parts per billion, more than 10 times the limit of 50 ppb allowed in the European Union. Other samples tested detected glyphosate residues in honey samples at levels from the low 20s ppb to 123 parts per billion ppb. Some samples had none or only trace amounts below levels of quantification. Previous reports had disclosed glyphosate residues in honey detected as high as 107 ppb. The collaborative work was part of an effort within FDA to establish and validate testing methodology for glyphosate residues.

“According to recent reports, there has been a dramatic increase in the usage of these herbicides, which are of risk to both human health and the environment,” Chamkasem and Vargo stated in their laboratory bulletin.

Because there is no legal tolerance level for glyphosate in honey in the United States, any amount could technically be considered a violation, according to statements made in FDA internal emails, obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

The Environmental Protection Agency may soon move to set a tolerance, however. The agency has set tolerance levels for glyphosate residues in many foods the EPA expects might contain residues of the weed killer. When residue levels are detected above the tolerance levels, enforcement action can be taken against the food producer.

“EPA is evaluating the necessity of establishing tolerances for inadvertent residues of pesticides in honey,” the agency said in a statement. The EPA also said there was no reason for consumers to be concerned about the residue in honey. “EPA has examined the glyphosate residue levels found in honey and has determined that glyphosate residues at those levels do not raise a concern for consumers,” the agency said.

Despite the reassurances, at least two lawsuits have been filed over the issue. The Organic Consumers Association and the Beyond Pesticides nonprofit group filed suit Nov. 1 against the Sioux Honey Association Cooperative, a large Iowa-based group of bee keepers who produce the nationally known brand Sue Bee Honey. Sue Bee bills itself as “America’s Honey,” but the lawsuit alleges that the labeling and advertising of Sue Bee products as “Pure,” “100% Pure,” “Natural,” and “All-natural” is “false, misleading, and deceptive.” Some of the glyphosate residues detected in the FDA tests were found in the Sue Bee brand, according to the FDA documents obtained through FOIA requests.

The claims are similar to another lawsuit, which seeks class action status, that was filed against Sioux Honey Association in late September in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Quaker Oats was sued earlier this year on a similar claim regarding glyphosate residues. The FDA has also found glyphosate residues in oatmeal, including several types of infant oat cereal.

Considering corn is a key crop in Iowa, and most of the U.S. corn crop is genetically modified to tolerate being sprayed directly with glyphosate, it is not necessarily surprising that glyphosate residues are showing up in honey in Iowa and other farm states. Honey bees naturally migrate from field to field and plant to plant, so can become contaminated by the pesticide easily and then transfer pesticide residues to their honey, according to bee industry leaders.

“It’s a chemical intrusion, a chemical trespass into our product,” said Darren Cox, president of the American Honey Producers Association. “We have really no way of controlling it. I don’t see an area for us to put our bees. We can’t put them in the middle of the desert. They need to be able to forage in ag areas. There are no ag areas free of this product.”

Sioux Honey Association President David Allibone said no one from the FDA has communicated with his group about the chemical residues found in honey, and he said he could not discuss the issue further because of the litigation.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday acknowledges the difficulties beekeepers face. They “are often the victims of, and have little recourse against, contamination of their hives caused by pesticide applications in the fields where bees forage,” the lawsuit states.

The glyphosate residues showing up in food are surprising and worrisome, according to dietitian Mitzi Dulan, a nationally known nutrition and wellness expert.
“I think more testing should be done so that we are armed with the knowledge and then we can decide what we want to put into our bodies,” Dulan said. “I do believe in minimizing pesticide exposures whenever possible.”

Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, said regulators need to do more to address the issue.
“Until U.S. regulatory agencies prohibit Monsanto and other manufacturers of glyphosate from selling pesticides that end up in the food supply, we need to protect consumers by demanding truth and transparency in labeling,” Feldman said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/more-bad-news-for-honey-a_b_12769698.html

[william r sanford72]

Bees collect honeydew from bugs before spring blossoms arrive

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Mould signals the sweet stuff

By Emily Benson

Need a sugar fix? When nectar is scarce, bees can tap into another source of sweet stuff: the droppings left behind by other insects.

This honeydew, a sugar-rich substance secreted by sap-sucking scale insects, may tide hungry bees over until spring flowers bloom.

Although we tend to think of bees as hive-living socialites, most bee species are solitary, with each female building a nest to protect her developing offspring. Adults emerge in the spring and live for just a few weeks, when they mate and gather pollen and nectar.

.Fragrant, colourful flowers are like neon arrows pointing to those resources. But how wild bees survive if they mature before the blooms do was still largely a mystery, says Joan Meiners at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Unlike colony-building honeybees, solitary bees don’t stockpile honey for times when blossoms are scarce. “There’s really not much that’s known about what bees do when there aren’t flowers,” Meiners says.

Mouldy clue

But fungus-covered bushes in central California’s Pinnacles National Park seemed to offer Meiners and her colleagues a clue.

Early in the spring, before flowers had started blooming, Meiners was surprised to see many solitary bees hovering around shrubs sporting sooty mould – a fungus that thrives on honeydew – while mostly ignoring mould-free plants.

To see if the bees were indeed seeking out the honeydew, her team sprayed non-mouldy shrubs with honeydew-mimicking sugar water or plain water.

There was one other possibility to check: the bees might have been going after the mould, perhaps as nest-building material. To test that idea, a quick-dissipating insecticide was applied to mouldy bushes to stop new honeydew production while leaving the fungus intact.

The team found that the sugar took the cake. More than 100 bees visited each group of sugar-sprayed shrubs — about ten times as many as stopped by plants misted with water alone — while only about 15 bees visited the shrubs treated with insecticide.

Crucial chow

The findings may indicate that honeydew is an important food for solitary bees, Meiners says, particularly as climate change begins to shift the timings of bee emergence and peak flower bloom.

But much remains uncertain. We still don’t know how the bees find the scentless and colourless honeydew. The team thinks that a bee may stumble across it when out looking for other stuff like water or minerals, recognise how useful it is and stay on the plant where it is found. Then other bees may notice that bee and investigate.

It is also unclear how much honeydew benefits bees, according to Jessica Forrest at the University of Ottawa in Canada. An interesting next step would be to see if the presence of honeydew translates into larger bee populations, she says.

And even where honeydew is plentiful, bees can’t do without flowers altogether, Forrest adds.
“They need pollen,” she says, as it is a crucial source of protein. “You can’t build a bee larva out of sugar water alone.”

Journal reference: bioRxiv, DOI: 10.1101/082271

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2111104-bees-collect-honeydew-from-bugs-before-spring-blossoms-arrive/

[william r sanford72]

Tagging Monarch Butterflies Helps Track Their Migration
November 3, 2016 by Entomology Today

https://entomologytoday.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/tigist-monarch.jpg?w=460

By Kevin Fitzgerald

Every autumn, the Migration Festival takes place at Lighthouse Point on the seacoast of Connecticut near New Haven. It’s a celebration of flying creatures: birds, butterflies, and dragonflies. This event is a cooperative effort sponsored by the New Haven Parks, Recreation, and Tree Department; New Haven Bird Club; Audubon Connecticut; Menunkatuck Audubon Society; Connecticut Audubon Society; New England Hawkwatch; Connecticut Ornithological Association; and the Connecticut Butterfly Association.

Part of the festivities included catching and tagging monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) that stop there to feast on flower nectar on their journey south. The public was encouraged to participate, snagging the beautiful creatures with nets and bringing them to representatives of the Connecticut Butterfly Association, who had a display table set up at the fair. Gary Lemmon, one of the founders of CBA, said, “We showed guests a chart of the life cycle and migration routes of the monarchs.”

“There could be up to ten people, mostly children, hunting down monarch butterflies at any one time throughout the day,” Lemmon said. “Many of the children already knew something about monarchs from school. For tags, we used a sheet of paper with 25 tags. Each tag is less than a quarter of an inch long. The underside of the tag is covered with glue. And we peel it off the sheet and attach it to the underside of the rear wing of the butterfly. The catchers would give the nets to one of the three of us at the table, we’d take the butterflies out if the nets, tag them, then hand them to the children, who’d let them go.”

Monarch butterflies get their common name from their regal appearance. Their wings are bright orange with black veins and white spots along the edges. Almost as flamboyant as the adult, the caterpillar or larva is striped vivid white, black, and yellow. The butterflies are large, with a 10 cm (4 inch) wingspan. Monarchs read their world with scent and color vision, and can see into the ultraviolet. They taste with their feet.

The caterpillars and adult monarchs are brightly colored and patterned to warn predators that they are foul-tasting and poisonous. The monarchs become poisonous by absorbing milkweed sap, which contains cardiac glycosides.

The butterflies will follow their migration routes to the southern United States and finally to mountain forests in the oyamel fir forests in the Michoacan hills in central Mexico, where they’ll spend the winter. Hundreds of millions of monarchs roost in the fir trees. Field workers monitor the populations, recording the script on the tags, which is a code of three numbers and three letters. The information goes to a database at Monarch Watch, an affiliate program with the Kansas Biological Survey at the University of Kansas.

In February and March, in Mexico, the monarchs mate. In March and April, that generation of monarchs flies north into the temperate zone to begin the first life cycle of the season, the females laying eggs on the way, up to 250 per day, on several species of milkweed, the only food source for monarch caterpillars. The most preferred species is common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca. Four (sometimes three) generations of butterflies live subsequently. The last generation migrates, while the other generations live for only about six weeks. The second generation will arise in May and June, the third in July and August, and the fourth and last in September and October.

So far, we’ve been discussing monarchs that live east of the Rocky Mountains. Another population of monarchs lives west of the Rocky Mountains. These migrate for the winter to southern California, and some of these fly to Mexico to join their brothers and sisters. Still another population lives in Florida but does not migrate.
Monarch eggs hatch in about four days. The caterpillar feeds on the milkweed, sometimes devouring a leaf in five minutes, and will be full-grown in about two weeks, molting five times and increasing its weight about 2,700 times. After the last moult, it transforms into a pupa or chrysalis, within which, over about ten days, it transforms into the adult form. After emerging, the adult lives for two to six weeks, feeding on flower nectar.

The monarchs found in North America constitute a single species, Danaus plexippus. Another species, Danaus erippus, lives in South America, and both are found on islands of the Caribbean. Danaus plexippus can also be found in Australia, New Zealand, some Pacific Islands including Hawaii, and Europe.

Monarchs are in trouble. Their numbers east of the Rockies have declined by more than 90 percent since 1995. In 1986, the government of Mexico established 62 square miles of forest as the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. Conservation efforts include raising and releasing monarchs and planting milkweed and nectar-producing plants in strategic spots on the migration routes. Which brings us back to tagging monarch butterflies. According to Lemmon, “This year, we only tagged six or seven monarchs. In the past, it’s usually been 100-150 for the Migration Festivals. Something major is going on to account for the loss.”

CBA member Mary Ann Nazarphyk added, “For the last two years, we’ve had almost no monarchs, maybe six or seven, and the two years previous, a few more. Some of our tagged monarchs have been collected in Mexico. Kids are so aware of the monarchs. They’ll say, ‘I know all about them,’ and their information is correct. When we let the children handle them, it makes an impression they don’t forget. It’s a lot of fun for everybody. If it helps promote conservation, all the better.”

For further reading:
– Monarch Watch
– Connecticut Butterfly Association

https://entomologytoday.org/2016/11/03/tagging-monarch-butterflies-helps-track-their-migration/

[william r sanford72]

Honey wars: crime and killings in New Zealand's booming manuka industry

An extraordinary rise in the popularity of manuka honey has led to mass poisonings of bees, thefts, vandalism and beatings

It was the day the bees died – tens of thousands of them in 300 hives, mysteriously killed.

“The massacre”, as it is being called, happened in the otherwise idyllic landscape of Doubtless Bay in New Zealand’s far north.

And for David Yanke and Rachel Kearney, co-owners of Daykel Apiaries, the cause of death was obvious: malicious poisoning.

“It is a nightmare, I don’t feel safe any more,” says Kearney as she sits at her kitchen table on her family’s farm, 40km east of the Northland hub of Kaitaia. “I feel violated. It has almost turned into a PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] experience for me.”

So far there has been no official ruling on what led to the Daykel bees’ demise, although a biosecurity incident has been ruled out by the government.

But Daykel and many other apiarists are in no doubt that the mass bee death is just the latest act of violence in the increasingly crime-ridden manuka honey industry.

The global craze for manuka, highly valued for its medicinal properties, has created a gold rush in rural New Zealand that some believe is rapidly spiralling out of control.

Last year produced a record haul of nearly 20,000 tonnes of honey, a 15% increase on the year before. In 2010 the top price fetched for bulk manuka honey was NZ$37.50/kg (£22/kg) – today it can command more than NZ$100/kg.
The export to the UK, China and other countries is expected to reach NZ$400m in the next few years.

On the back of the boom, hive thefts, vandalism and poisonings have become standard fare, with every beekeeper interviewed for this article the victim of one or more serious crimes. Verbal threats and physical beatings have also been reported and there are unconfirmed reports that beekeepers now travel in packs for protection to work remote hives.

Manuka is a native New Zealand plant, whose potent pink and white flowers have made the once maligned weed a sought-after crop.

The honey produced by bees who feed on those flowers has become highly valued for its medicinal properties, especially as a salve or wound dressing.
Positioning honey hives close to the plants means beekeepers can market their honey as “manuka” and sell it for triple the price of standard clover honey, even if the active manuka content is so low as to be negligible.

In the past five years the New Zealand apiculture industry has responded to rampant international demand for its unique product by doubling production, making David Yanke’s former bee haven in Taipa increasingly claustrophobic.

For decades, Yanke was the only registered beekeeper within a 5km radius – now there are 56 and he says his bees’ health has suffered as competition for food sources intensifies.

Supplementary feeding on sugar syrup, which used to be rare, has become a necessity for every apiarist and there is dark side of which Yanke and Kearney have come to know intimately.

Only months after they had buried the corpses of their bees, the midnight raids began. Farm gates were cut open with cordless tools, hives dumped into plastic rubbish bags and tossed carelessly into the back of open utes (trucks).

The couple have memorised every detail of the thefts, because they were captured on CCTV cameras, which were installed after the bee massacre.

The raids also always occurred on the fifth of the month – another clear indication that intimidation tactics were being used against the beekeepers.
“We want to get out of the industry,” says Yanke, a Canadian with an encyclopedic knowledge of bees. “We want to get out before things get worse.”


Bruce Robertson understands the pressures now bearing down on an industry that is being overwhelmed.

As the managing director of Haines Apiaries in Kaitaia he has watched the boom happen in front of his eyes.

Although Maori people had used manuka honey as a wound dressing for years, the apiculture industry was wary of the product, as it was tricky to work with, had a short flowering season and somewhat bitter taste.

“I got into the industry when manuka was selling for NZ$10/kg and we thought that was an incredible price,” recalls Robertson, a no-nonsense, old-school beekeeper. “Now it is commanding up to NZ$200 at the high-end – it has gone really stupid.”

Robertson has become somewhat hardened to the scale and frequency of attacks on his 3,000 hives. Over the past five years, he’s had hives stolen, vandalised and poisoned, and estimates three to four are pinched every week, at a cost of NZ$3,000-4,000.

Haines has set up CCTV cameras at the most frequently targeted sites but thieves smash or steal those. So now Robertson installs two cameras – one to film the thieves attacking his hives and the other to record the thieves stealing his CCTV camera.

“The rule used to be that you put one hive per hectare and you didn’t have another beekeeper working anywhere near you for one kilometre,” Robertson says. “Those days are well and truly gone. We have amateurs setting up hives 200m away from our manuka crop.”

Haines Apiaries was established in 1948 and is the oldest apiary in far Northland. But Robertson says the company is “at a loss” as how to deal with the current lust for liquid gold.

Placing GPS trackers in the hive boxes is an option but they’re expensive and hard to conceal on the simple wooden structures and work only if the owner has cellphone access, which is often limited in Northland.

Beekeepers have started painting their hives in distinctive colours and printing unique numbers on them, but these efforts are cosmetic and have proven close to useless.
“GPS tracking doesn’t stop guys coming in with flyspray in the middle of the night and wiping out our hives,” Robertson says. “There’s no integrity any more – it’s really sad.”

In the 12 months to June, New Zealand police received nearly 200 reports of hive or honey thefts, largely in the manuka-dense regions of Northland and central Otago.

In a statement Senior Sergeant Alasdair Macmillan said New Zealand police were working closely with industry bodies to tackle the rise of manuka crime, as well as establishing a national database for information gathering.

“Police are concerned that underreporting of the issue is preventing a full understanding of the scale of the problem and gathering intelligence on it,” Macmillan said.

“Reducing beehive thefts requires help from those within the industry and members of the public.”

But many frustrated beekeepers have taken retribution into their own hands, fed up with what they say is the police’s poor record of solving and prosecuting manuka honey crimes.

At Daykel, seeking revenge was never an option. Yanke and Kearney’s response to their trouble has become one of grief, rather than anger.

They informed the ministry for primary industries of their “mass bee death”, which had cost them an estimated NZ$200,000-300,000.

In a statement, the ministry said it tested the bodies of the dead Daykel bees for a biosecurity incident and “100 common poisons”.

MPI said it didn’t test for “an exhaustive list of every possible bee toxin or poison” but that intentional poisoning was the most likely explanation for the deaths.
Yanke has narrowed his suspicions down to two possible poisons he thinks are responsible for the slaughter but can’t afford the NZ$8,000 for additional testing by a university lab. Both poisons are cheap and easily bought in New Zealand.

The local Kaitaia police investigated the incident but dropped the case when no leads were forthcoming. A complaint by Kearney about the lack of vigour surrounding the police’s investigation has made all further interaction between Daykel and local police “very cool”, she says.

A hundred kilometres away on his Panguru farm, part-time beekeeper Lindsay Guest heard about the Daykel poisoning. The incident unnerved him, as it seemed to mark a tipping point from small, frequent acts of sabotage to something more sinister.

Guest learnt beekeeping from his father, Bill, 93, who constructed his first hive at the age of 14 with wood felled from a native Kauri tree.

The manuka crime wave is anathema to his father, who came of age when beekeeping was seen as a noble profession and Sir Edmund Hillary the archetypal beekeeper.

These days, Bill prefers to potter in his vegetable garden and largely keeps away from the farm’s 200 hives. After years of poisonings and vandalism, his heart has gone out of beekeeping.

“I feel so bad for the beekeepers today,” says Bill, who returned from the second world war with the sole ambition of building up his hives. “It has become so nasty now, I don’t like to think about it. The sweetness has gone.”
...................

Link provided with photos.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/04/manuka-honey-wars-new-zealand-crime-booming-industry-poisoning-beatings

[william r sanford72]

Beekeepers shun island divide to breed Cyprus’ own queen bee

http://static.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/8d3cba866ca9483093252804a6fce877-780x520.jpg
In this Monday, Oct. 31, 2016, Greek Cypriot beekeeper Soteris Antoniou uses smoke to disperse bees at the beehives in the field outside of Mandres village at the Turkish Cypriot breakaway northern part of the divided...

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
The Associated Press

AGILLAR, Cyprus (AP) — For Cyprus beekeepers Soteris Antoniou and Kutret Balci, the Caucasian queen bee just doesn’t have what it takes. Despite its reputation as copious honey producer, they say the widely used imported bee simply can’t cope with their island’s long, scorching summer months and tends to die off in the heat.
That’s why the two men, one of Greek and the other Turkish heritage, resolved to breed a Cypriot queen bee in a venture that defies their Mediterranean homeland’s ethnic divide, the north-south split brought on by a 1974 Turkish invasion in response to a military coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.

Both their product and their partnership are flourishing at a time when the island’s Greek Cypriot president and the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots are set to carry on reconciliation talks in Switzerland next week. Officials said the success of the five days of meetings could determine whether an accord is within reach or not.

An optimist might find a hopeful sign in the beekeepers’ humming collaboration; separated by barbed wire and mistrust for decades, they are working together to find a homegrown solution to a shared problem rather than rely on an imported model ill-suited to the history and climate in Cyprus.

Their efforts have garnered the duo a 10,000 euro ($11,025) prize from Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the easy Jet founder whose family hails from Cyprus and who has been investing in Greek and Turkish Cypriot business ventures for eight years.
So far, Antoniou and Balci say, their indigenous bee-breeding work has produced encouraging results. They have transplanted larvae from the diminishing population of Cypriot queen bees into a custom-built hive to create a bigger, hardier bee that they hope will better cope with the climate and produce more honey.

“A Cypriot bee is best for Cyprus,” said Balci’s cousin Metin, who helps with the business.
The friendship between Antoniou and Balci blossomed after 2003, when crossing points opened across a United Nations-controlled buffer zone after nearly three decades of virtually no contact between Greeks and Turks. But their connection precedes the period when politics and war conspired to keep the island’s two communities apart.

As a young man fresh out of high school in 1961, Antoniou learned beekeeping’s trade secrets from Balci’s grandfather Mustaka, who established a successful honey business in 1918. The Balci surname — it’s Turkish for “beekeeper” — attests to the heritage. After the ethnic split, Antoniou’s family relocated to a town in the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south.
With 750 hives in the breakaway north, Kutret Balci produces an average of 25 tons of honey a year for the local Turkish Cypriot market. He also exports to Britain, where there is a large Cypriot expatriate community. But drought has cut steeply into his bees’ output this year; they have produced nearly one-third less honey than last year.

Antoniou’s smaller operation of 250 hives produces an average six tons of honey each year and only supplies communities in the island’s southeastern tip. He and Balci eventually want to join their honey supplies in hopes of marketing it island-wide. They also are seeking foreign buyers for his propolis, a wax-like product bees produce to shore up hives and which has a reputation for its medicinal and therapeutic benefits.

Both Antoniou and Balci are unabashedly boastful about the quality of their honey, which they say is 100 percent organically grown. Despite the lack of rain, the Cypriot sunshine is a blessing because it infuses everything that grows with an intense aroma that’s transferred to the honey, they say.

“We have the sun, we have the good weather, so if we have rain, we have the best honey,” Antoniou says.
Antoniou and Balci may agree on the superiority of their honey, but they don’t see eye-to-eye on whether the island’s leaders will be able to thrash out a reunification deal next week. Disappointment over four decades of peace accords forged elsewhere and then rejected by Cypriots has jaded many.

The main issue President Nicos Anastasiades and the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, Mustafa Akinci, will tackle in Switzerland is how much territory Greek and Turkish Cypriots each would administer under an envisioned federation. A potential agreement would determine how many Greek Cypriots would be able to reclaim homes and property lost in the war.
The United Nations special adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, said a peace deal has never been closer. Greek Cypriot voters rejected a finalized accord in 2004, but Eide said that plan was drafted by U.N. officials, not Cypriots themselves.

This time around, it’s the Cypriot leaders who are cobbling together the deal, just like Balci and Antoniou are joining forces to make better bees.
Antoniou is skeptical, saying the decades of deadlock have calcified conditions perhaps irretrievably. But he still holds out hope a deal can be struck that would enable him to bring his beehives back to the fields where he grew up. Balci is much more upbeat that a deal is in the offing.
“I’m very positive they will find a way to resolve it,” he said

http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/beekeepers-shun-island-divide-to-breed-cyprus-own-queen-bee/

[william r sanford72]

Why Was Bee Killing Chemical Re-registered By EPA?

Published on Nov 3, 2016
Sulfoxaflor is back in the news! Recently, EPA permitted the toxic pesticide sulfoxaflor re-registration. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer talks to Michele Colopy, Program Director of the Pollinator Stewardship Council about the recent decision by EPA and how this could pose a threat to honeybees.

www.theorganicview.com.

dx0XDPIS1eg

[william r sanford72]

Newly Approved GM Potatoes Have Potential to Silence Human Genes

The USDA has just approved two GM potato varieties made using an experimental technique known as double-stranded RNA.

http://ta1.universaltelegra.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/potato-768x512.jpg

Late last week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved two new strains of genetically engineered potatoes. The potatoes, created by JR Simplot, have been engineered to resist potato blight, a plant disease made famous for its role in the Irish potato famine in the 19th century. Potato blight is still a major problem for farmers throughout the world and these new GM potatoes have been marketed as a way to prevent this disease. Simplot also claims that their GM potatoes bruise less, contain fewer black spots, and have enhanced storage capacity, though these claims have not been scientifically verified. Now, the only thing preventing these potatoes from entering the market is a voluntary review process through the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as approval for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is estimated that these processes will conclude by January of next year, entering the market officially in the spring of 2017.

However, there is a hidden danger in these potatoes. Though GM crops often use gene splicing, recombinant DNA, and similar techniques, these potatoes are the first plant product using a new technique to advance beyond the experimental stage. The technique, known as double-stranded (ds) RNA, reprograms and silences the genes of the organism. Essentially, a small molecule of RNA is inserted into the potato cells, which reprograms and silences genes in certain pathways. Yet, scientists around the world are aware that these “interfering” RNA molecules can find matches within human DNA, similarly reprogramming and silencing genes in the people who consume these potatoes. Other studies have confirmed this, such as a 2012 study which showed that dsRNA can transfer from plants to humans and other animals through food.

In addition, dsRNA can silence the genes of other organisms who interact with the potato plant, such as honeybees. A study from 2013 found that dsRNA changed the expression of over 1400 genes in honeybees, 10% of their entire genome. The changes in gene expression occurred when the bees were exposed to a single needle containing dsRNA. The affected genes were involved in important developmental and metabolic processes associated with RNA processing and transport, hormone metabolism, immunity, and response to external stimuli and stress.

Other scientists and concerned citizens have also noted that the dsRNA found in the potatoes targets several complex pathways, namely those involved in blight resistance and another involved in browning. This means that there is also the possibility that these modifications could interact with each other, creating new surprise side effects. Also, one of the substances suppressed by the dsRNA plays a vital role in the potatoes’ chemical makeup, and its absence is expected to negatively impact its ability to fight pests, something which will likely benefit pesticide companies much more than consumers.

With such potential for disaster and so many unknowns, why were these GM potatoes given the green light? Scientists at the USDA and EPA are on record saying that the current regulatory capacity is not capable of dealing with dsRNA. If that’s the case, why were plants made using this technique approved? Frankly, this appears to be yet another illustration of US regulatory agencies bowing to industrial agriculture, forcing those who unwittingly eat these GM potatoes to become guinea pigs in an illegal and unregulated experiment.


Read More: http://www.trueactivist.com/newly-approved-gm-potatoes-have-potential-to-silence-human-genes/

[william r sanford72]

A New Sperm Bank for Honeybees Could Save Agriculture

How cryopreservation techniques might sustain a threatened species, and us in the process.

http://civileats.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/iStock_6503737_MEDIUM-680x452.jpg

On a hot evening in June, Washington State University (WSU) entomologist Brandon Hopkins sat in front of a microscope in Orland, California, handling one honeybee after another as each committed one of life’s most important acts. Hopkins squeezed one drone at a time, contracting the male’s abdominal muscles to mimic a natural mating event. As the pressure exposed the drone’s penis and a speck of semen, Hopkins vacuumed it off carefully. “You do that hundreds and hundreds of times as quickly as possible,” he said.

The process is much more technical than the actual reproductive rituals of bees (which usually happen in mid-air), but the outcome is the same: The drone gives his life, and the species lives on. Rather than immediately contributing to the growth of the colony, however, this bee’s semen will be stored in liquid nitrogen and shipped to another state.

Hopkins is collecting the first-ever honeybee samples to deposit into the National Animal Germplasm Program, a national livestock gene bank run by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the main research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The bank contains the genetic material of approximately 31,000 species that have been deemed agriculturally important in the United States.

Housed in Fort Collins, Colorado, the repository began in 1957 as a seed library, but in 1999, the ARS started collecting the genetic material of animals used for food or fiber as well, including various kinds of beef cattle, freshwater fish, yaks, and bison. Researchers selecting for certain traits, or breeders trying to introduce greater variability to their stock, can draw from the ever-growing gene bank. And, in the event of catastrophic disease or man-made extinction, the library’s stock could be used to rebuild a population.

Until recently, honeybees were left out of the national repository because researchers did not have a way to indefinitely preserve their genetic material. Previous attempts to freeze bee sperm had left it hardly useable just a year later, said Harvey Blackburn, ARS program leader. Such a short shelf life defeats the purpose of the repository, Blackburn said. “We’re interested in long-term storage—not something we’d have to do every year to keep samples around.”

About five years ago, however, Hopkins developed his technique to freeze—or cryopreserve—the sperm, making it possible not only to create an emergency supply for the repository, but also to breed better bees for the field.

Hopkins’ technological advance came at a critical time. As beekeepers continue to lose a third of their bees every year on average, many are counting on breeding to combat some of the threats to honeybees, namely pests and disease.

Cryopreservation Attempts Through the Years

In the 1970s and ’80s, when researchers first began working on methods for freezing bee sperm, there wasn’t enough industry demand for the product to justify the effort, and they discontinued the work. Hopkins initially took up the long-abandoned project in hopes of addressing a problem that was growing worse—the lack of diversity in the honeybee populations.

The diversity issue traces back to 1922, when the U.S. banned the importation of live bees in an attempt to prevent the spread of pests and diseases afflicting bees around the world. The pests made it to the U.S. anyway, but the ban remains in place, and some entomologists worried the geographical limitation would lead to inbreeding, which could weaken bees’ ability to adapt to threats.

Steve Sheppard, head of WSU’s entomology department, believed introducing genes from bees in the Old World, including Italy and the Republic of Georgia, would help breeders select for stronger, healthier specimens.

In 2008, Sheppard acquired a permit to import bee sperm, enabling him to artificially inseminate queens raised by several large West Coast producers. Still, he faced the logistical problem that fresh sperm only lasts a short time unless it’s frozen.

As a doctoral student at WSU five years ago, Hopkins wanted to solve that problem. Cryopreservation differs between animals, so Hopkins could not just apply the methods that created a cottage industry from bull semen. He found that bee sperm is susceptible to “cold shock”—a condition that occurs when it’s frozen too quickly and leaves it unviable. By slowly cooling the semen instead, Hopkins discovered it was still viable after thawing.

In 2015, when the ARS finally began exploring the idea of adding bees to the Fort Collins gene bank, Blackburn realized the WSU team had already done much of the heavy lifting; WSU samples dated back several years without any sign of deteriorated viability. From there, everything fell into place.

Blackburn convened a honeybee species committee made up of people in the field who will recommend what species and subspecies should be in the repository. Their aim is to create a broad collection that represents the variability found in the United States and to look for rare traits or subspecies that should be preserved before they disappear.

For now, Hopkins and Sheppard of WSU will be the ones tasked with traveling across the states collecting material for the gene bank. Later, the cryopreservation method may be employed by other researchers in those various locations, Blackburn said.

The bee sperm collected at each site is stored in a straw resembling a cocktail straw. Each one can hold about half a milliliter of liquid. The samples are cooled to minus-300 degrees Fahrenheit and sent to Colorado, where they’re stored in 6-foot-wide tanks of liquid nitrogen. The facility is filled with these tanks, holding material from all kinds of species.

The repository holds multiple types of material for many of its specimens. Working separately at a USDA lab in Fargo, North Dakota, researchers are working on a method to cryopreserve honeybee embryos. When they succeed, that material also will be added to the Fort Collins gene bank.
“As they get comfortable with that procedure, we’ll want to be doing that as well,” Blackburn said. “It gives us two avenues in how we might reconstitute populations.”

Applications for Hopkins’ Honeybee Breakthrough

Hopkins’ method offers a new opportunity for the people tasked with maintaining live colonies in the face of various threats.
Between pesticides, parasites, the loss of foraging, and greater demands in agriculture, particularly the growth of the almond industry, bees are under significant pressure, said Pat Heitkam, one of three California queen producers whose drones supplied the first contributions to the national gene bank.

Queen production—an important aspect of the beekeeping industry—involves breeding bees with desirable traits. Producers keep their own colonies for the purpose of making new queens that they can then sell to other beekeepers. Heitkam’s operation is responsible for producing 90,000 queens each year.
“The quality of queens has always been important but now it’s more so,” Heitkam said. Where queens used to last three to four years, beekeepers now tend to introduce a new queen every year. And they’re paying more attention to quality to ensure colonies remain in good shape.

An ARS breeding and genetics lab in Baton Rouge that focuses on selecting for mite-resistant traits could use cryopreservation for a different application. Founded in 1928, the Baton Rouge lab developed a lot of the technology used to artificially inseminate bees—an important step that allowed people to make controlled crosses of species. In the last couple of decades, however, the lab has focused completely on resistance to mites, which many researchers consider enemy number one in the effort to improve bee health.

Hopkins’ cryopreservation technique could allow researchers at the lab to save genetic material from good bees for later use, even if the line of bees it came from goes away. “You can’t put bees in a jar on a shelf,” said Bob Danka, an entomologist at the lab who is also on the honeybee species committee. “It’s a struggle to keep them alive, and we spend a lot of time just managing bees here while we do the research.”

Blackburn will have the final say on who can take and use samples from the national repository but, in the end, the gene bank signifies an important breakdown in the walls between research and application. As the repository grows and technology advances, selection for positive traits, like those in the lines Danka’s lab is developing, will be more easily crossed with valuable commercial traits—gentle, hardy bees that make honey and collect pollen.

Susan Cobey, a beekeeper and researcher in the WSU entomology department, works in both spheres and said collaboration between the two has become essential.
“There’s been a huge gap between those two worlds—the science community is slow to get their information out to the industry, and the industry is impatient,” she said. “The science is more applied now because the needs are so big.”

http://civileats.com/2016/11/02/a-new-sperm-bank-for-honeybees-could-save-agriculture/

[bluestflame]

made me first beebox , had a few bought frames to get the dimensions right , will try to work out how to upload some pics later

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=353238078361692&l=2eb5b4224a

looks promising just went out to have a look and saw a couple of scout bees heading inside , has only been out half an hour

[william r sanford72]

No Bee..Just found this interesting...The Aberdeen Bestiary.

The book, the "Aberdeen Bestiary" was published in England around the year 1200. First documented in 1542 in the Royal Library at Westminster Palace, the medieval manuscript is lavishly illustrated with gold leaf and detailed images of animal scenes. The book is meant to illustrate moral beliefs through animal stories. Now, the University of Aberdeen has used high-resolution photography to enhance and digitize every page of the book, revealing features that were invisible to the naked eye.

Fit for a King? Medieval Book 'Illuminates' Likely Theft by Henry VIII

http://www.livescience.com/images/i/000/087/364/original/aberdeen-bestiary-bat.jpg
The illustration of the bat "is a fairly accurate ventral view of a bat whose wings are shown as a membrane stretching from its three fingers down to its toes and tail," according to the University of Aberdeen.
Credit: University of Aberdeen

A lavishly illustrated medieval book, full of gold leaf and finely painted images, the "Aberdeen Bestiary" had remained somewhat of a mystery.

Now, with new high-resolution images of each page of the 12th-century manuscript, scientists have found that it was likely seized from a monastic library by scouts of King Henry VIII during the dissolution of monasteries in the 1500s.

As such, the book was likely used as a tool for teaching rather than as a treasure for a royal elite, like one of the king's ancestors, the researchers said. [See Images of the Drawings and Text in the 'Aberdeen Bestiary']

"The book was used for teaching — many words have accents on them to indicate emphasis for reading out loud," lead researcher Jane Geddes, an art historian from the University of Aberdeen, told Live Science. "On one page, there is an area of dirty finger marks at the center top of the page. This would occur if you regularly turned the page upside down to show an audience."

Beastly tales

The book, which is considered an "illuminated" manuscript for its highly decorated pages, particularly those that gleam, or light up, with gold leaf, tells stories about animals as a way to illustrate moral beliefs, according to the University of Aberdeen. It was published in England around the year 1200 and first documented in 1542 in the Royal Library at Westminster Palace, according to the university.

The manuscript was bequeathed to the university's Marischal College in 1625 by Thomas Reid, former college regent and former Latin secretary to King James VI and I. Records suggest that Patrick Young, Reid's friend and son of the king's royal librarian, gave the book to Reid. 

Now, Geddes and her colleagues have taken high-resolution digital images of the book and placed them online for the first time, revealing marks that had never been seen before. [Cracking Codices: 10 of the Most Mysterious Ancient Manuscripts]

"Some were visible to the naked eye, but digitization has revealed many more which had simply looked like imperfections in the parchment," Geddes said.
Tiny holes and notes

She found that many of the book's images had puncture marks around them, likely the result of a copying technique called "pouncing" that is used to transfer an image to another page. "Tiny prick holes are placed around several of the animals," Geddes said. "Blank sheets would be placed under these holes, and charcoal sprinkled over the top, as a simple form of transfer."

http://www.livescience.com/images/i/000/087/363/i02/aberdeen-bestiary-pelicans.jpg
The three scenes in this image, called The Pelican, in the "Abereen Bestiary" show baby pelicans attacking their parents, who in turn kill the babies. Then, the mother pelican pierces her side and the resulting blood flows over the dead babies, who then return to life.

The technique generally damages the illustrations and gold leaf on the reverse of the page. "This shows that when it was produced, the need to make copies was more important than keeping the book pristine," she added.

She and her colleagues could also now see production details on the edges of the pages, features that would normally be cut off before the book was finished, Geddes said. These included marks to indicate where to rule the lines, tiny letters to indicate capitalization and notes on the colors to use, she said.

"We also had a closer look at the editing, which took place after the text was finished. There are quite a few corrections to words in the margins," she said, adding that these edits mainly showed up in a section of the book about birds.

That bird section, she said, is copied from another 12th-century book called the "Aviarium," which gives advice to Augustinian canons (an order of men in the Roman Catholic Church) on how to live a good life according to bird lore.

"Why is this section [of the book] so badly copied with many mistakes and omissions? Why is this the section with the special teaching image? I believe this section may provide a clue that the book was destined for a priory of Augustinian canons with novices who needed agreeable training," Geddes said

Historians had debated whether the book was used by a group of common people or kept in a wealthy private library.
"Although the book ended up in the royal library of Henry VIII, he probably purloined it form a monastery at the Reformation. Its heavy use indicates that it belonged in a working and training establishment, not a rich private library," Geddes said.

A website created to showcase the newly enhanced book pages will allow readers to zoom in on minute details and "examine the precise brush strokes of the artist," Siobhán Convery, head of Special Collections at the university, said in a statement.

http://www.livescience.com/56769-medieval-book-seized-by-king-henry-viii.html

Images: Animal Tales Illuminate the 'Aberdeen Bestiary'
http://www.livescience.com/56768-photos-aberdeen-bestiary.html

[william r sanford72]

Have you heard the buzz? Honeybees fall under VFD regulations too

Starting in January, honey producers will have to turn to veterinarians for their antimicrobial needs

Nov 07, 2016
By Katie James, dvm360 Associate Content Specialist

http://files.dvm360.com/alfresco_images/DVM360/2016/11/07/fcdace38-8083-429c-9f42-c70b15e08a96/veterinary-ChrisCrips-withBees-450.jpg
Veterinarian Chris Cripps works with bees.

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) regulations take effect in January to combat overuse of antimicrobial drugs in food animals, veterinarians will be in charge of an uncommon patient: honeybees.

That’s right—honeybees are considered a food animal and will be subject to the same regulations as cows, chickens and other animals raised for food production.

The antibiotics beekeepers use will no longer be available over the counter and will require a VFD order from a veterinarian to be administered.

With a rise in beekeeping's popularity—especially in backyard hives—in the last few years, veterinary clinics may see increased calls to examine hives once the regulations take effect.

What and why?

The FDA’s VFD regulations became final in 2013, allowing three years for the industry to come into compliance. They’re intended to change how antibiotics considered medically important in human medicine are used in food-producing animals in order to combat concerns of drug resistance. The FDA wants to eliminate the use of such drugs for things like growth promotion and feed efficiency and bring the therapeutic uses of these drugs under the supervision of licensed veterinarians.

These changes are meant to ensure that antimicrobials are used only when appropriate for specific animal health purposes—and the veterinarian is the one who makes that call.

A VFD, sometimes called a “VFD order,” is a written statement from a practicing veterinarian authorizing the use of a VFD drug or combination VFD drug in animal feed, according to the FDA. This statement also authorizes the client who owns the animals to obtain and use animal feed containing a VFD drug or combination VFD drug according to the indicated use.

A VFD drug is one that is intended for use in or on animal feed under the supervision of a veterinarian. A combination VFD drug is a combination product that includes at least one VFD drug.

Why not a prescription?

While all VFD and prescription medications require the supervision of a veterinarian with an established veterinary-client-patient relationship, VFD medications fall into a separate regulatory category from prescriptions. When the medication is approved for use in or on feed, it is a VFD drug. When it is approved for use in animals but not in feed, it is a prescription drug. Medications designed to be administered in water require a prescription, not a VFD. The antibiotics used for honey bees come in two forms. One has a VFD label and three have prescription labels. They are all fed to bees by mixing with sugar and sprinkling the mixture in the hive.

A small subset of the industry

One of the diseases beekeepers use antibiotics to treat is American foulbrood (AFB). AFB is very hard to get rid of—the most effective way is to burn the hive—and spores can be reactivated as many as 70 years later. Antibiotics eliminate clinical signs of the disease, but if the treatment is stopped the disease can recur.

“Antibiotics are not something that a lot of people are using, but the big producers have been using them for several years to decrease signs of AFB. If they stop using antibiotics, and don’t get a veterinarian involved because of the new regulations, then there might be a big outbreak of AFB for some people,” says Chris Cripps, DVM, co-owner of Betterbee, the Northeast Center for Beekeeping. “An outbreak can be very frustrating and demoralizing. The beekeeper may just walk away from the bees, leaving them contagious to the other bees in the area. Then the rest of the community could be affected.”

Bee care and keeping resources

Below are suggested sources of information about beekeeping and treatment. The American Veterinary Medical Association is in the process of putting together a committee that will provide guidance in the near future.

> Beevets.com
> Scientificbeekeeping.com
> National, regional and state beekeeping associations
> Honeybee Veterinary Medicine: Apis mellifera L by Nicolas Vidal-Naquet, DMV
> Invertebrate Medicine by Gregory A. Lewbart, MS, VMD, DACZM
> FDA fact sheet: Veterinary feed directive final rule and next steps
> FDA Guidance for Industry documents No. 120 and No. 233
> FDA veterinary feed directive requirements for veterinarians

Most commercial keepers know what AFB is and know to prevent or treat it, but less-experienced hobbyists may not, Cripps says. One source of infection can be secondhand beekeeping equipment, because the spores live for such a long time.

Backyard keepers just starting out may think they’re getting a great deal when buying used equipment, but they run the risk of an AFB flare-up once a new hive starts up in contaminated equipment.

The Varroa mite is actually more of a concern than AFB, Cripps says. The mites carry viruses that can wipe out a hive. Hives require treatment to keep the pest under control, but those treatments are under Environmental Protection Agency regulations and are available over the counter.

“The mites were first found in 1987 and they have spread throughout the country since then. I’d bet that every beekeeper has mites, but maybe 1 percent have AFB,” he says.

People starting hives now because of the heightened awareness that the bee population is trouble are of the mindset that they want to help the environment. They aren't looking to use antibiotics, Cripps says. They want to use as little chemical as possible on their hives.

An opportunity, not a burden

Though the new regulations mean more steps on the part of beekeeping clients and their veterinarians, there’s also an opportunity for education.

“The beekeepers are wondering why veterinarians are getting into it. Is it just about money? Meanwhile the veterinarians are also wondering why they have to get involved. Neither group is really set up well to work together, but the FDA wants it so,” Cripps says. “A lot of beekeepers are saying they’re not going to call a veterinarian, so veterinarians need to educate the community and say, ‘We're here and we know what we’re doing.’”

A lot of beekeeping regulation is handled by state inspectors who generally work in the plant side of the department of agriculture and not in the animal area, Cripps says. “Veterinarians and regulators will need to work with the USDA or the state veterinarian for some sort of marriage of the systems that the state uses for disease reporting—similar to how the state veterinarian tracks cattle inspections and health charts,” he says.

There’s an opportunity for veterinarians who already know about bees and beekeeping and who can handle hives and work bees to step up and help educate, Cripps says. He and the staff at Betterbee have been working to create Beevets.com, an online resource where veterinarians who are interested in bees can list their contact information and beekeepers can find veterinarians in their area.

“It’s interesting, because I thought I left practice as I started getting into bees, but there have been a lot of questions from veterinarians and beekeepers,” Cripps says.

http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/have-you-heard-buzz-honeybees-fall-under-vfd-regulations-too

[william r sanford72]

You won’t bee-lieve these macro images: USGS bee lab uses Canon 5D Mark II to catalog pollinators

This fall, seven types of bees were added to the US federal list of endangered and threatened species. This marked the first time that bees have been on the list. Considering the importance of bees as pollinators of fruits, nuts and vegetables, their introduction to the endangered species list marks a serious concern for the agricultural economy and global food production.

Beyond their importance in the environment, and the importance of biodiversity as a whole, bees are also fascinating creatures to look at. In that spirit, the USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitor Lab (BIML) has been photographing and cataloging bee species. Even better, they've hosted over 3,000 images on their Flickr page and published the images to the public domain.

As macro photographers know, the shallow depth of field when shooting a subject very close can make capturing sharp images quite difficult. To help create images that are sharp from front to back, you can utilize focus stacking, a technique wherein you capture images at different focus distances and then combine them during post-processing to digitally increase the depth of field. If you'd like to read more about this, particularly in the context of insect macro photography, check out our piece from earlier this year on Levon Biss, who combines up to 10,000 images of a single insect captured with a microscope lens to create highly-detailed, massive photographs.

https://www.imaging-resource.com/?ACT=44&fid=17&d=6461&f=29513815324_94cb521d2a_k.jpg
Andrena gnaphalii

https://www.imaging-resource.com/?ACT=44&fid=17&d=6461&f=28628798874_ae2ea3e8f9_k.jpg

https://www.imaging-resource.com/?ACT=44&fid=17&d=6461&f=19705634539_2ae6c8923c_k.jpg

Not only are all of the images in the public domain, but the USGS BIML is very open about its photographic techniques as well and there is a lot to be learned from them. They have published a detailed look at their set-up and the gear they used, which you can read about here. The backbone of their setup is a Canon 5D Mark II with a Canon manual MP-E65mm f/2.8 macro lens. They use a Canon MT24EX macro flash as well, with flash power set manually. Aperture values range from f/5.0 to 7.1, ISO speeds are often low, between 100 and 250, exposure times are 1/80s to 1/200s in most cases.

The guide linked above discusses how they use their StackShot rail as well. Post-processing work includes stacking shots in Zerene software and using Photoshop to tweak color, sharpness and remove specks of dirt and any specimen pins that might be visible in the final shot, particularly when looking at a subject's eyes, which tend to attract a lot of pieces of dust and fibers during shooting.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2016/11/07/you-wont-bee-lieve-these-macro-images-usgs-bee-lab-uses-canon-5d-mark-ii

USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab...Flikr images.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/with/30705742391/

[william r sanford72]

Was South America a refuge during the dino-killing mass extinction?

New fossils from Argentina shed light on the last mass extinction – the one some 66 million years ago that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs.

http://images.csmonitor.com/csm/2016/11/1012509_1_1107-insect-damage-leave-four_standard.png?alias=standard_600x400

Much of what scientists know about the mass extinction that killed perhaps as much as three-quarters of life on Earth, including the non-avian dinosaurs, comes from fossils unearthed in the western interior of North America. Fossils from other parts of the world at that time have been more scarce. 

Scientists had speculated that perhaps regions of the Southern Hemisphere, like South America, had been a sort of refuge for species during the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) extinction event, and then those organisms went on to repopulate the globe. 
But that actually might not be the case, a team of paleontologists suggest in a paper published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

In South America, "there was an extinction at the same time as there was an extinction in North America," study lead author Michael Donovan, a PhD student at Pennsylvania State University, tells The Christian Science Monitor in a phone interview. 

But that doesn't mean the mass extinction had the same effect in both regions. Mr. Donovan's research suggests that life in South America may have recovered in less than half the time it took in North America.

But that doesn't mean the mass extinction had the same effect in both regions. Mr. Donovan's research suggests that life in South America may have recovered in less than half the time it took in North America.

These leaves weren't just dead plant matter, though. Donovan and his colleagues studied fossilized leaves that had been nibbled on or burrowed into by insects. And, because plant-eating insects are specialized in which plants they eat and the damage they cause, studying these fossilized plant-insect associations can tell the scientists about the diversity of both plants and insects alive at the time.

"There aren't many insect body fossils," Donovan explains. "So we can use insect damage on fossil leaves as a sort of proxy for the diversity of plant-eating insects that were around."
The team studied fossils from about 67 million years ago, just before the extinction event, and the insects apparently were voracious then. These leaves show a wide variety of insect-caused damage. But 65-million-year-old fossils showed the diversity of these bite marks had plummeted by about 21 percent right after the mass extinction swept the planet some 66 million years ago.

Donovan also examined fossils from 64 million years ago and 62 million years ago, and found that the diversity of insect damage was back up to its pre-extinction levels in the most recent fossils – just 4 million years after the mass extinction event. 

Four million years may seem like a long time, but in the western interior of North America recovery took about 9 million years. 
Perhaps the ecosystem in what is now Argentina was such that organisms were less affected by the mass extinction. 

Or, Donovan suggests, perhaps this different recovery rate has something to do with the distance from the Chicxulub crater in Mexico. That's because most scientists agree that the mass extinction was likely triggered by an asteroid slamming into what is today the Yucatán Peninsula. The impact of that event may have been less severe in the southern tip of South America simply because it was farther away. 

"A lot of times when we think about mass extinctions or we think about these very abrupt events, we think about a global response," Daniel Peppe, a paleontologist at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, who was not part of the research, says in a phone interview with the Monitor. "I think it gets oversimplified in that you think the response is the same everywhere. And this is really showing that it's not."

It's important to understand the nuances of how ecosystems have recovered from mass extinctions in the past, Dr. Peppe says, especially because scientists think we're in the midst of the Earth's sixth mass extinction right now.

Given that there has been little material to study from the southern hemisphere across the K-Pg boundary, Stephen McLoughlin, a paleobiologist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History who was not part of the study, writes in an email to the Monitor, this study "makes a useful advance in our understanding of the evolution of biotic interactions through major Earth crises."

Studying the fossilized interactions between plants and insects can yield crucial insights into major ecosystem changes in a few ways.

"[Plant-insect associations] represent the most abundant and diverse groups of terrestrial organisms," Torsten Wappler, a paleontologist at the Steinmann Institute at the University of Bonn who was not involved in the research, writes in an email to the Monitor. "As such they have by far the most complete and diverse fossil record of terrestrial organisms for this period of time."

And, Dr. Wappler says, not only do these fossils provide insight into the organisms themselves, "To look at the herbivory pattern could provide deep insights in fossil ecosystem and food web structures that were not possible when only look at them individually."

Plants and insects are integral parts of food webs, Dr. Dunn says. Many animals eat them, they help degrade organic material, and insects are key pollinators. As such, studying them is a good way to study the overall ecosystem, she says. "You could say that insects are kind of a harbinger of what was going on ... If you have some major change going on in the insects, it's a pretty good sign that there's something going on in the whole ecosystem."

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/1107/Was-South-America-a-refuge-during-the-dino-killing-mass-extinction