News from the world of beekeeping – Items of potential interest 24 June 2019

It’s a sweltering morning in Beltsville, Md., and I’m face-to-face with bee doom. Mark Dykes, a “Bee Squad coordinator” at the University of Maryland, shakes a Mason jar filled with buzzing honeybees that are coated with powdered sugar. The sugar loosens the grip of tiny Varroa mites, a parasite that plagues bees; as he sifts the powder into a bowl, they poke out like hairy pebbles in snow.

“Right now . . .

To continue reading: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/06/19/733761393/more-bad-buzz-for-bees-record-numbers-of-honey-bee-colonies-died-last-winter

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Disrupting one gene could be first step toward treating honey bee parasite nosema ceranae

Kim Kaplan, Agricultural Research Service

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have taken the first step towards a weapon against the major honey bee parasite Nosema ceranae. . . .

To continue reading: https://phys.org/news/2019-06-disrupting-gene-honey-bee-parasite.html

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Researchers Search For Solutions To Help Montana’s Honey Bees

Rachel Cramer

Honey bees play a vital role pollinating many of the nuts, fruits and vegetables we eat, and they’re an important part of Montana’s economy. But the number of bees dying each year is higher than it was two decades ago. A team of researchers are looking for solutions, ranging from new genetic clues to wildflowers.

Montana beekeepers produced over 10 million pounds of honey last year, generating around $23 million. Some of that came from Smoot Honey Company in Power . . .

To continue reading: https://www.mtpr.org/post/researchers-search-solutions-help-montana-s-honey-bees ❀

How a Honey Bee’s Waggle is Inspiring Aerospace Design

The next time you see a bee land on a flower, watch how busy its abdomen is. It scrunches up, it lengthens, and it curls this way and that with amazing flexibility. A group of engineers at Tsinghua University in Beijing has now found that a quite surprising mechanism is involved in that movement, and this mechanism could possibly help in the design of rocket nose cones that need to morph into different shapes to accommodate the aerodynamics, mobility, and flight control required to punch through and re-enter the atmosphere. The findings are reported in a new study . . . To continue reading: https://entomologytoday.org/2019/06/11/how-a-honey-bees-waggle-is-inspiring-aerospace-design/

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Pollen collected by US honey bees in urban settings shows dramatic seasonal variation

Pierre Lau et al.

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies require a diversity of protein-rich pollen in order to rear healthy brood and ensure colony survival. During certain seasons, insufficient or poor-quality pollen can limit brood nutrition. In this study, the authors investigated the variation in pollen collected by honey bees across developed landscapes in . . .

To continue reading: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190612141305.htm

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2018-2019 Honey Bee Colony Losses in the United States: Preliminary Results

Note: This is a preliminary analysis. Sample sizes and estimates are likely to change. A more detailed state-specific report, as well as a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed scientific journal, will follow at a later date.

Selina Bruckner et al.

The Bee Informed Partnership (BIP; http://beeinformed.org) recently conducted the 13thannual survey of managed honey bee colony losses in the United States. This past year, 4,696 beekeepers collectively managing 319,787 colonies as of October 2018 provided validated colony loss survey responses. The number of colonies managed by surveyed respondents represents 11.9% of the estimated 2.69 million managed honey-producing colonies in the nation (USDA, 2018).

During the 2018-2019 winter (1 October 2018 – 1 April 2019), an estimated 37.7% of managed honey bee colonies in the United States were lost (Fig. 1). This loss represents an increase of 7 percentage points compared to . . .

To continue reading: https://beeinformed.org/results/2018-2019/

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To help the bees, protect the prairie

By Will Kane

California almond farmers who depend on commercial bee hives to pollinate their lucrative crops would benefit from increased efforts to protect essential bee foraging territory in northern prairie states, according a University of California, Berkeley, researcher.

A new paper, published this week in the journal Land Use Policy, shows . . .

To continue reading: https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/06/14/to-help-the-bees-protect-the-prairie/

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Test your bee and other pollinator knowledge!

It’s pollinator week and USGS is providing science to better understand the status of pollinator species. Here’s the chance to test your knowledge . . .

To continue reading: https://www.usgs.gov/news/test-your-bee-and-other-pollinator-knowledge

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We depend on pollinators

Happy Pollinator Week! For 2019, it’s June 17-23. Most people think of bees when they think pollination, but don’t stop there. “Think the “b” alliteration: bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. But don’t forget the flies, ants, mosquitoes and moths!” writes Kathy Keatley Garvey in her Bug Squad blog.

Did you know . . .

To continue reading: https://ucanr.edu/news/?routeName=newsstory&postnum=30589

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Bees Required to Create an Excellent Blueberry Crop

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, June 17, 2019–Getting an excellent rabbiteye blueberry harvest requires helpful pollinators–particularly native southeastern blueberry bees–although growers can bring in managed honey bees to do the job, according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.

This is especially true for commercial rabbiteye blueberry producers in Mississippi and Louisiana. With sufficient pollinators, they have been able to increase . . .

To continue reading: https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/41485/20190617/bees-required-to-create-an-excellent-blueberry-crop.htm

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Boosting Bee Health…Naturally

Posted by Sue Kendall

Everyone wants healthy, thriving honey bee colonies. One-third of the food we eat requires pollinators, and commercial beekeepers transport honey bees hundreds of miles each year to pollinate almond trees and other crops.

A scientist with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and his colleagues have found that honey bee colonies foraging on land with a strong cover of clover species and alfalfa do more than three times better than . . .

To continue reading: https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2019/06/19/boosting-bee-healthnaturally

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Garden Plot: Making pollinator gardens and hydrangeas bloom

Mike McGrath

The “Golden Triangle” stretches from The White House to Dupont Circle. As part of an ongoing project to beautify this region, The Smithsonian and the Triangle’s Business Improvement District have created more than 260 pollinator-friendly tree box plantings throughout the area. . . .

To continue reading: https://wtop.com/garden-plot/2019/06/garden-plot-making-pollinator-gardens-and-hydrangeas-bloom/slide/1/

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Bees find new home after swarming at Bridgeport Village in Tigard

Thousands of bees swarmed a tree at Bridgeport Village shopping mall in Tigard earlier this week, forcing the mall’s manager to make a decision that could mean life or death for the vulnerable insects.

With customers walking around . . .

To continue reading: https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/06/bees-find-new-home-after-swarming-at-bridgeport-village-in-tigard.html

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Bayer buzzes with excitement during National Pollinator Week

The Bayer Bee Care Program is celebrating National Pollinator Week by honoring those who are working hard to support bees and other pollinators around the country. The company announced Blue Ribbon Beekeepers to recognize the outstanding achievements of young people who have made a positive impact on their communities through beekeeping or pollinator-related research.

These Blue Ribbon Beekeepers include past winners of the annual Bayer Bee Care Program Young Beekeeper Award, as well as other outstanding up-and-comers in the beekeeping industry. The inductees are: . . .

To continue reading: https://www.agdaily.com/news/bayer-celebrates-national-pollinator-week/

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Public asked to plant gardens for bees/pollinators at PennDOT rest stops, interchanges, traffic islands

Mary Ann Thomas

It’s National Pollinator Week (June 17-23) and PennDOT is asking the public to plant pollinator gardens at approved PennDOT-owned properties including rest stops, interchanges and traffic islands in Armstrong and Clarion counties, as well as other areas covered by the district.

Individuals or groups such as clubs, schools, churches, businesses and families may apply . . .

To continue reading: https://triblive.com/local/regional/public-asked-to-plant-gardens-for-bees-pollinators-at-penndot-rest-stops-interchanges-traffic-islands/

FROM CATCH THE BUZZ:

Pollinator Week Proclamations Span the United States and Galvanize Citizens.

Pollinator Partnership (P2), which founded Pollinator Week in 2007, announced today that the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and the U.S. Secretary of… Read on » 2. Heavy Smoke from Northern Alberta Wildfires is Causing Concern for Some of the Canadian Province’s Beekeepers.

Alan Harman Heavy smoke from northern Alberta wildfires was causing concern for some of the Canadian province’s beekeepers. The Calgary Herald reports beekeepers say… Read on » ❀ FROM ABJ EXTRA:

U.S. Beekeepers Lost Over 40% of Colonies During the Last Year, With Annual Survey Showing Winter Losses as the Highest Ever Recorded Samantha Watters

Beekeepers across the United States lost 40.7% of their honey bee colonies from April 2018 to April 2019, according to preliminary results of the latest annual nationwide survey conducted by the University of Maryland-led nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership. The survey results . . . To continue reading: https://mailchi.mp/dadant.com/abj-extra-june-20-2019-us-beekeepers-lost-over-40-of-colonies-during-the-last-year?e=d476a0d684

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