- 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...
- 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
A Chowchilla beekeeper lost more than 400 hives to thieves this month, but with networking and investigation, was able to find the hide-out and get his bees back.
UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Shannon Mueller spoke to KMPH Channel 26 News about the heist.
"They (farmers) are paying about $180 a hive, so those hives are worth a lot of money and because of that, we’ve seen a real increase in the theft of colonies," Mueller said.
In all, the stolen bee colonies were worth about $120,000, according to an article in
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
When Jessica Brainard picked up a pint of Häagen-Dazs ice cream at a Sausalito 7-Eleven in 2008, she added a link to a chain of events that culminate tomorrow with the official grand opening of the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis.
Brainard was featured in a Marin Independent Journal article that detailed how she and three other local landscape designers followed a link on that fateful ice cream carton, leading to their having a substantial role in the creation of the half-acre garden that will raise awareness about the plight of the honey bee.
Interpretative planner...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The scientists at UC Riverside will digitize and consolidate nearly one million bee specimen records from ten collections across the United States with the support of a three-year National Science Foundation grant, according to a story published last week in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
UCR museum scientist Doug Yanega - the co-principal investigator of the grant that also involves UC Davis, UC Berkeley and seven other institutions - oversees one of nation's best collections of bee specimens, the article said. It includes iridescent green and blue...
