Light therapy may offer protection to honeybees that have been exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides, according to new research from University College London. In a recent study, UCL scientists studied the effects of light therapy and pesticides on commercial honeybee hives. Two out of the four studied hives were exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides for 10 days.…
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The holidays is the one time of year where baking and creating delectable sweets is at an all-time high throughout the year. Everyone is busy making apple pies, custards, cookies and many other delicious desserts for the various parties and get-togethers that happen over the span of a couple of months. In order to make…
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Heavy rains in South Australia are delaying plants from blossoming and leaving beekeepers without honey. The rainfall seems to be slowing down production, especially in Adelaide Hills. It is ironic considering lack of rain and dry seasons are usually the greatest concern with most farms, as a proper balance of rainfall and dryness being an essential…
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In Doubtless Bay, New Zealand, at least tens of thousands of bees or 300 hives were killed. The owners of Daykel Apiaries and the lost hives believe the cause of death may have been poisoning. So far, no one knows what happened to the bees, but many believe the deaths were a form of sabotage…
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The honeybee’s cousins are gaining more attention this week due to new research from the University of California Riverside. Wild bee species are quickly becoming more important to the pollination and honey-making process due to the growing increase in colony collapse disorder (CCD), which is negatively affecting millions of honeybees all over the world. Bearing…
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If beekeepers are looking to have healthier colonies this year and many more to come, a new study out of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggests they put pesticides down—or at least the highly popular classes of nicotine-based pesticides that hold great similarities to neonicotinoid pesticides, which have largely come under scrutiny in recent years. According to this…
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For those of us who grew up with images of animated bears obsessed with honey and acquiring more of it (Winnie the Pooh, of course), we’ve learned to associate the image of bears and honey with the ideal picture of cuteness and adoration. While this image is reminiscent of our childhood days, when the situation…
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By January 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin requiring beekeepers who need antibiotics to treat their hives—which can be up to thousands—to have them treated by a veterinarian, rather than beekeepers simply buying antibiotics over the counter. “Beekeepers are going to need a veterinarian now,” said Don Hoenig, a former Maine veterinarian.…
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Most have heard that within nature, animals can form symbiotic relationships with other animals, plant life, and so forth, with some being commensal, mutualistic, or parasitic. In northern Mozambique, a southern African country across the channel from Madagascar, the village of Mbamba and its surrounding plains is the home to a mutualistic relationship many believed…
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It’s unfortunately become common to hear about theft of beehives not only in the states, but especially in New Zealand, where Manuka honey is produced thanks to the ever-present Manuka bush. Being a successful industry, Manuka honey has encouraged many to take the easy route by stealing beehives in the middle of the night. During…
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In recent months, there have been legislative efforts in various US states to place restrictions on pesticides (specifically neonicotinoids) that are believed by some experts to be harmful to honeybees and other pollinators. Maryland in particular has led the charge by its General Assembly passing the first statewide consumer restriction on neonicotinoids earlier this year,…
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No matter your drink preference, it’s hard to deny that whiskey has grown in popularity in recent years or even decades, from micro-distilling, experimental grains, a revived cocktail culture, and an all-around growing appreciation of the brown spirit. Such facts can be said about US whiskeys as wells as that of Australia and New Zealand…
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In the United States, there have already been some efforts to place limits on pesticides called neonicotinoids, which are believed to the have deadly effects on honeybees and other pollinators, with honeybees specifically having large declines in the last ten years due to a number of likely reasons that include neonicotinoids. Some states have passed…
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The word ‘Honey’ typically generates thoughts of bees and natural sweet goodness on hot biscuits with warm tea served in the afternoon. However, this unique ingredient can also be used to sweeten your daily beauty routine to provide additional moisture to hair and face for amazing results. You want to ensure that you do the…
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The impact the Manuka honey industry has made on New Zealand and the world is hard to believe, considering the Manuka bush was once thought of as some invasive species to be rid of back in the 1950s. It is now considered one of the most valuable niche products out there, with many rural communities…
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How Food Irradiation Can Make Honey Safer Given the panic and fear that comes from botulism, salmonella, and other diseases born of contaminated food, many food producers and distributors have had safety precautions put in place to protect themselves from lawsuits and the public from these diseases, whether it’s by pasteurizing milk, purifying water, and…
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We all likely watched episodes of old black-and-white TV shows, and if the series featured a traditional family in a suburb where nothing burned, no one had bathrooms, and generally nothing bad ever happened—more often than not, if the series ever featured firemen, they were not putting out fires but rescuing cats stuck in trees.…
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It’s hard to not get nervous whenever coming upon a honeybee hive in the woods or in the backyard. Given honeybees’ ability to protect themselves with their best defense mechanism (that painful stinger), your first reaction would understandably be to assume they are the aggressive stuff of nightmares and to run the away, which as…
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We all have our favorite foods, but Michael Geraghty, the Irish body coach and fitness guru who’s made a splash on social media in recent months, has reminded us of the distinction between regular food and superfood, which is a marketing term for foods with supposed health benefits. As someone with a strong take on…
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The threat to honeybees presented by pesticides—specifically those with neonicotinoids—have become so well-known beyond the scientific community that even companies like Scotts Miracle-Gro have started the process of discontinuing their use permanently by certain dates and substituting those harmful products with safer alternatives. Given the rate of loss being around 45 percent of colonies per…
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At this point, it is well known that global honeybee populations are in decline, with one survey showing a 44 percent loss of colonies in the US alone. Whether due to parasites, neonicotinoid pesticides, or malnutrition, these losses directly impact people as well, given we rely on honeybees as pollinators, and as a result many…
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As the Manuka honey industry continues to grow in New Zealand and elsewhere, a consistent surplus of beekeepers is becoming more common, and with that many honeybee operations in one finite space, problems are bound to come up. In some cases, those problems have the potential to be dangerous. And that is why truck drivers,…
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It’s not uncommon to hear about specific programs gaining emphasis in public education because of their more practical use in certain areas, such as Spanish or French acquiring programs due to the more likely chance that American students will need those languages over others like Italian or Portuguese, given the US sits sandwiched between two countries…
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For as long as we’ve studied them, pathogens still require further understanding for how they affect living creatures at the rates in which they do. Given the rate at which honeybee colonies are collapsing—almost 30 percent annually—and the fact of pathogens being a contributing factor, there has been much research focusing on how exactly pathogens are…
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As many likely know or have at least heard, US honeybee populations are declining for more than one reason including pesticides, lack of nutrition, and the spread of diseases through varroa mites and other parasites acting as vectors (like mosquitoes and malaria). In an effort to understand these factors, especially diseases, USDA and university researchers…
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It’s no secret that many veterans who come home from war or combat have trouble adjusting back into civilian life, whether because of a sense of foreignness of being thrown back into relative safety after months or years of hypervigilant survival or because something specifically traumatic happened like the loss of brothers and sisters in…
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With ISIS growing in the Middle East and becoming more dangerous every day, beekeeper Aref Haboo, who had 45 hives near the Turkish border, decided to flee Syria to find asylum for his wife and three children. Having to leave them behind temporarily, Aref fled through the desert, slept in cold abandoned warehouses, and spent…
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For some lucky parts of the country, this past winter season had several spurts of warm days, with temperatures sometimes climbing as high as 70 degrees before coming back down to the typically frigid air one expects of winter. While it was nice to have glimpses of spring and a break from the cold, there…
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Manuka honey has grown quickly into one of the most sought after bee products on the market with plenty of reason. Consumers love the New Zealand product for its richness and many benefits in spite of the high prices associated with a limited supply—local NZ beekeepers who’ve been in the business for years are seeing…
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The debate over marijuana use has been a hot subject for the past few years, with four states having legalized the right to grow, distribute, sell, and buy the drug within their borders, with many states continuing to discuss the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana. As the debate continues, many states still recognize marijuana…
DetailsThe Maori people of New Zealand, just like the Native Americans, have their lands taken from them, given back to them, and then left in a state of uncertainty about rights to that land. The 1993 Te Ture Whenua Maori Act helped end the lengthy discussions in the Maori community on how to balance the…
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Yemen, a small Arab country on the southeastern side of Saudi Arabia, has been engaged in civil war since early 2015. The warring sides include the Yemeni government and Houthi forces, who took control of the nation’s capital, Sana’a, soon after the crisis began in a coup to reinstate former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The…
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New Zealand has benefited so much because of its burgeoning Manuka honey market, so much so that the country’s neighbor, Australia, wants to get in the market too and really compete in a business that gains more buyers every day. Such competition can only benefit both economies, especially given that competition in a free market…
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There have been reports of drought in many countries over the past year and, as Americans have discovered the hard way in California, severe droughts carry the risk of forest fires. As of 2016, over 615,000 acres in the Australian state of Tasmania have burned in bush fires, raising concerns that the inaccessibility and remoteness…
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Paul Madren, who currently ranks as a North Carolina master beekeeper, says that in 1959, a bee colony swarmed into his yard and moved in. “I’ve been keeping bees ever since,” he said. Madren’s dedication to his craft appears to have had a domino effect in his community, so much so that a beekeeping school–Surry…
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Manuka honey is a growing industry in New Zealand, with the island country’s honey exports worth over $200 million per year. Some industry numbers are even saying those same exports will be worth $1 billion in 2028. With such figures, there has been a rush–New Zealand’s gold rush, in a way–by corporations and other big…
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Ethiopia is remembered internationally for its 1973 and 1984 famines, both of which sparked desperate, worldwide calls for aid when hundreds of thousands of its countrymen were starving to death and images of malnourished children were brought into living rooms around the world. Ever since then, the country has worked its hardest to shed that…
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With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the start of U.S. trade embargo, the Caribbean island of Cuba has had few major trading partners for its industries, including its honey trade. Because of this, Cuba could not afford pesticides for agricultural endeavors, and as a result of this Cuba effectively embraced organic…
DetailsSpotlight Placed on the ‘Sweet Side’ of Manuka Honey Hawera Symposium is using Manuka honey as its top-billing subject at an upcoming conference. New Zealand exports of the sticky stuff have increased to over $200 million per year which is aligned with the international demand for the product and experts believe that the potential for…
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Honey Reaps Rewards, Scores Big in Overseas Markets The popularity of Manuka honey is continuing to grow and although medical Manuka honey is not yet worth its weight in gold just yet it does have a very high value of $1,000 a kilogram. Manuka honey continues to be one of New Zealand’s most profitable exports…
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