- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Even though scientists have been studying colony collapse disorder of honeybees for five years, the relentless bee mortality still has them mystified, according to a segment that aired on PBS' NewsHour yesterday.
"We really don't seem to have accomplished a whole lot, because we're still losing, on an average, approximately 30 percent or more of our colonies each year. And that's higher than it used to be," UC Cooperative Extension bee expert Eric Mussen told reporter Spencer Michels. "Only 25 percent of the beekeepers seem to have this CCD problem over and over and over. The...
- Posted By: Jeannette E. Warnert
- Written by: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology will be featured today (Thursday, July 28) on the PBS NewsHour, which is broadcasting a special program on colony collapse disorder (CCD) and the nation’s honey bees.
Correspondent/producer Spencer Michels recently interviewed Mussen at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis and toured the half-acre Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven.
The same program will air at both 3 and 6 p.m. on the West Coast. The bee piece will air about “30 or 33 minutes into the show,” Michels said.
“This will feature a number of...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A swarm of Africanized honeybees attacked a 70-year-old man in Modesto last week in the first reported assault by so-called "killer bees" north of Tulare, the Modesto Bee reported. The man was stung more than 50 times, but survived the attack.
Laboratory tests determined the bees were "Africanized," or hybrids descended from swarms moving north from Brazil since scientists brought African bees to breed in the late 1950s.
A UC publication, Africanized Honey Bee Facts, says the insect's killer reputation has been exaggerated. The bees look and pollinate the same as common...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
CNN posted a story on its website yesterday about a movement in beekeeping that embraces "organic" techniques. "Backwards Beekeepers" are advocates of chemical and pesticide-free beekeeping -- far different, they say, from the commercial beekeeping industry.
The article noted that commercial beekeepers are dealing with the disappearance of an alarming number of bee hives, a phenomenon scientists call colony collapse disorder.
Backwards beekeeper Russell Bates calls the problem "chemical collapse disorder" because, in addition to the stress on bees caused by certain commercial beekeeping practices, the beekeepers use miticides and antibiotics...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The KQED blog "News Fix" included a quick update yesterday about the California deep freeze that fizzled.
"It didn't snow in San Francisco — not really — or anywhere else near sea level late last week. Boo hoo. Let's get over it," wrote Dan Brekke.
But it was cold, so Brekke spoke to UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Joe Connell about the effect of the cool February temperatures on California's almond crop.
Honeybees don’t like to fly in rain or freezing temperatures, Connell told him, so almond pollination has been delayed.
In other bee news,...