The National Bee Unit has today (Wednesday 3 July 2019) confirmed a sighting of an individual, female Asian hornet in New Milton, Hampshire, after it was reported by a member of the public. Based upon visual examination, the hornet is likely to be a queen. Monitoring is underway to detect any other Asian hornets in the vicinity […]
If you see a bee crawling on the ground in the summer, there’s a good chance that little guy is in trouble. Bumblebees have such a high metabolism and are usually so busy, even one with a stomach full of nectar can be just 40 minutes away from starvation, according to Professor Dave Goulson. Which […]
An article with superb pictures by Nadia Shira Cohen which can be found via: https://wepresent.wetransfer.com/story/nadia-shira-cohen-world-press-photo-2019/ For centuries, the Mayan beekeepers of the Yucatan Peninsula have been one of the largest producers of honey in the world. But in 2011, the Mexican government started encouraging farmers to grow soy beans, offering generous subsidies to those who did. […]
Picture: Lactic Acid Bacteria For centuries honey has been used as a folk medicine for the treatment of upper respiratory tract and wound infections, and even in modern hospitals, where honey is used on wound dressings. Many of its antimicrobial characteristics have been recognised but there are still unknown substances that contribute to this activity. […]
Picture: Wild Bee (Credit: Nigel Raine) esticide regulations designed to protect honeybees fail to account for potential health threats posed by agrochemicals to the full diversity of bee species that are even more important pollinators of food crops and other plants, say three new international papers co-authored by University of Guelph biologists. As the global […]
A new class of pesticides positioned to replace neonicotinoids may be just as harmful to crop-pollinating bees, researchers cautioned Wednesday. In experiments, the ability of bumblebees to reproduce, and the rate at which their colonies grow, were both compromised by the new sulfoximine-based insecticides, they reported in the journal Nature. Colonies exposed to low doses of […]
Picture: Lilla Frerichs Bumblebees acquire a taste for pesticide-laced food as they become more exposed to it, a behaviour showing possible symptoms of addiction. This study of bumblebee behaviour indicates that the risk of pesticide-contaminated food entering bee colonies may be higher than previously thought, which can have impacts on colony reproductive success. In research published today […]
PhD student Melissa Mobley and Robert Gegear, assistant professor of biology and biotechnology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), examine bumblebees that have been fed small doses of a neonicotinoid pesticide as part of a study of the effects of the compounds on the long-term stability and survival of bee populations. Credit: Worcester Polytechnic Institute Read […]
Bumble Bee Colony Scientists are urging for improved regulation on pesticides after finding that they affect genes in bumblebees, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London in collaboration with Imperial College London. For the first time, researchers applied a biomedically inspired approach to examine changes in the 12,000 genes that make up […]
Scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered bee venom can kill the HIV virus without harming the body. Bees could hold the key to preventing HIV transmission. Researchers have discovered that bee venom kills the virus while leaving body cells unharmed, which could lead to an anti-HIV vaginal gel […]