Denmark, ISIS, urban honey, Nosema

Managing Nosema Parasites in Honeybee Colonies

Whether it’s bats, butterflies, birds, or honeybees, pollinators are largely in decline. Honeybees have been studied especially in this regard because the number of factors contributing to collapsed colonies cannot be nailed down by researchers or beekeepers. In the Journal of Economy Entomology, one paper recently focused on just one of these known factors:  the…

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honeybees, colony collapse disorder, pesticide, decline

Pesticides Harming Honeybee Fertility

It’s been well reported that honeybee populations are declining not only in the United States but also around the globe, with the suspected reasons including pathogens, malnutrition, loss of habitat, and, of course, pesticides (or more specifically neonicotinoid pesticides). While it’s been heavily suspected that pesticides are a contributing factor to colony collapse disorder (CCD)…

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honeyguides, honey hunters, Mozambique

Honeyguides: Uniting People and Honey in Mozambique

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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honeybees, colony collapse disorder, pesticide, decline

MD Coalition Critical of State Pollinator Plan

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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yellow jackets, nests, honeybees

Yellow Jackets vs. Honeybees

When it comes to those who harbor misgivings about honeybees, they often hold grudges due to times when they were stung by aggressive, little flying black-and-yellow insects, who are more often than not lumped under the catchall category of “bees.” However, what many don’t understand is these “bees” may not be bees at all—more specifically,…

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