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September 2008
Geologists' guide the newcomers
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
... and now Allegiance's former chief executive, the geologist Ian Levy, thinks he may have found a second major discovery through his new venture, AusNiCo. ...
Cuba faces food shortage after hurricanes
guardian.co.uk - UK
Photograph: Reuters Cuba has warned it faces food shortages for the next six months after the devastating damage from hurricanes Gustav and Ike. ...
Artful beekeeping
Detroit Metro Times - Detroit,MI,USA
Meanwhile, changes in agricultural land-use policies and extensive use of pesticides and herbicides severely fragment bees' habitat and cause the death of ...
Working for bees
Carson Times - Reno,NV,USA
"I had read about the problem of bee death and how important bees are to agriculture," Cooper said. "This project can hopefully help promote the growth of ...
Beekeepers abuzz with information
Business Gazette - Gaithersburg,MD,USA
Live bees scramble back and forth in long tubes connecting the two observation hives to the outside world of The Great Frederick Fair, and Adam Finkelstein ...
See all stories on this topic Michigan Apples: Bee illness could plague growers
The Packer - Lenexa,KS,USA
Certain segments of agriculture will be harder hit than others, should the trend continue, with almond-growers suffering the most, Huang said.
Commonly used pesticide might be killing honeybees
DetNews.com - Detroit,MI,USA
We yardeners can't deal with the bee problem in agriculture, but we definitely can take a look at how we are using Merit in our own yard. ...
Afghans fear a harsh, hungry winter
Independent-Bangladesh - Dhaka,Bangladesh
While the severe drought contributed to the decline of poppy cultivation in the central and northern provinces, it also pushed farmers into debt. ...UM plays role in understanding Colony Collapse Disorder
Montana Kaimin - Missoula,MT,USA
Bee colony pollination affects about one-third of all food consumed in the United States, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Web site,
The rules of tunnel etiquette
The Charlatan - Ottawa,Canada
... of underground tunnels. The tunnels are decorated by lovely murals, discarded Tim Hortons cups, strange mould and the occasional mysterious puddle. ...
Drought threatens Argentine farms economy
International Herald Tribune - France
Local newspapers are already comparing the dry spell to a severe drought that swept the country in the 1988-89 growing season, killing crops and slashing ...
Slumping Supervalu looks like bargain
Minneapolis Star Tribune - Minneapolis,MN,USA
When it comes to explaining why Supervalu Inc. shares have plunged 35 percent since early June, Wall Street analysts have no shortage of plausible ...
Slow Food menu draws crowds of tasters
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
referring to the world food shortage and the growing obesity problem in America. For Alice Waters, a Berkeley restaurateur and one of the key organizers of ...
Honeybees Vanishing
KFBK - Sacramento,CA,USA
As agricultural science continues to search for a reason for vanishing honeybees, a group of researchers will tour some Yolo County farms Wednesday. ...
As Food Becomes a Cause, Meeting Puts Issues on the Table
Washington Post - United States
While commercial bee operations truck their hives thousands of miles each summer, the Mitchells keep their 80000 bees close to home. ..
Dog gives a buzz to protecting bees at risk
Times Online - UK
Bumblebees have suffered a severe slump in numbers in recent years because of pesticides and the loss of their habitat to agriculture and urban development.
State responded too slowly to bee parasite
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - Honolulu,HI,USA
However, the $500 million agriculture industry widely depends on bees for crop pollination. Hawaii had been one of the few places on Earth free of the mite, ...
Bee Colony Collapse Could be Devastating to Food Companies
Natural News.com - Phoenix,AZ,USA
... in which bees abruptly desert their hives and die. While the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and a number of ...
August 2008
Billions of Dollars Worth of Food Wasted Each Year
Voice of America - USA
By Joe DeCapua As many poor countries face food shortages and soaring food prices, much attention is being given to boosting agricultural production. ...
Healthy Honey Bees is Primary Goal of Research Team
Imperial Valley News - Holtville,CA,USA
If high hive losses continue, it could be devastating to agriculture. Approximately 1.3 million beehives are needed every year just to pollinate the almond ...
Benefits of honey intake
The New Nation - Bangladesh
... the human diet is derived directly or indirectly from crops pollinated by bees. Today honeybees are an essential part of a healthy agriculture economy. ...
Harvesting Honeybees
Fort Scott Tribune - Fort Scott,KS,USA
... Haagen-Daz and Burt's Bees. For more information on the disorder visit the United States Department of Agriculture's Web site at www.ars.usda.gov.
Africanized honeybees found in Winn Parish
Bastrop Daily Enterprise - Bastrop,LA,USA
“Our duty is to notify the publci and beekeepers in the Winn Parish area that Africanized bees are present.” Strain cautioned that residents who spend a lot
Bee-killing varroa mites spread beyond Oahu
Honolulu Advertiser - Honolulu,HI,USA
That poses a big hit for the state's $500 million a year agriculture industry. "Queen bees are the basis of colonies," Wong said
Arizona company tries to amp up honeybees
Arizona Republic - Phoenix,AZ,USA
The Buzz reported Friday that beekeepers nationally are continuing to lose an alarming percentage of the bees they use to commercially pollinate crops. ...
Pavilions to showcase Slow Food
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
... tropical birds and other beauties - designers at Pentagram Design have been busy giving the academy, with its living roof and otherworldly planetarium, ...
Severe drought and food price increases cause malnutrition and disease
ReliefWeb (press release) - Geneva,Switzerland
Food shortages have further been exacerbated by the global rise in food prices and ongoing conflict. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation ...
Food shortage hits Khotang
Kantipur Online - Kathmandu,Nepal
BY DAMBAR SINGH RAI KHOTANG, Aug 17 - The frequent transportation strikes which halted supply of essential commodities have brought about an acute shortage ...
Trigg finds niche in lettuce
Glasgow Daily Times - Glasgow,KY,USA
Trigg’s lettuce is not certifiably organic because he uses hydroponic fertilizer, but he doesn’t use any pesticides or insecticides. ...
Proposal worries chicken farmer
TheChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada
"There would have to be a separate pair of boots for the field, for each of the greenhouses and each place where chicken houses are located," he told Frank ...
'Locavores' promote locally grown fruits and vegetables
NewsOK.com (subscription) - Oklahoma City,OK,USA
Robert Stelle, 61, talks about organic farming with visitors to his Sunrise Acres farm in Newcastle. Stelle and his wife, Barbara, have become part of a ...
Ore. researcher hopes dye attracts bees to fields
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
Honeybees are typically used in agriculture. But that species of bee is dying off because of a mysterious ailment known as colony collapse disorder, ...
The Sting Of Bee Die-offs
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
one bee expert asked pointedl during testimony to the House subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture—a minor committee to be hearing testimony ...
Bee keepers
Long Island Business News (subscription) - Ronkonkoma,NY,USA
The Secretary of Agriculture put a $90 million price tag on the effects of colony collapse disorder, or CCD, which happens when hives are abandoned by bees. ...
The plight of the honeybee
Omaha World-Herald (subscription) - Omaha,NE,USA
... according to the US Department of Agriculture. "The third of our diet that the bees are pollinating is all the real good stuff: the nuts, the almonds, ...
Paradise Valley home one with environment
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle - Bozeman,MT,USA
It’s only for when his rainwater-storage tanks bottom out and that hasn’t happened since the family moved in three months ago. All of the house’s water is ...
Fish shortage driving dolphins to seek food in nets)
Cyprus Mail - Nicosia,Cyprus
“In the Mediterranean, fishing over-exploitation has led to a reduction of food in the eco-system of the dolphins, meaning that they are forced to get food ...
July 2008
Nowadays, growing your own food is not only healthful and green ...
Santa Rosa Press Democrat - Santa Rosa,CA,USA
... buying first one greenhouse and then a second. In a faltering economy, some folks are also looking at skyrocketing food costs, particularly for organic, ...
2 million flowers for one pound of honey
Richmond Register - Richmond,KY,USA
... the Berea College Agriculture Department brought a beehive with transparent walls into the library’s Berea and Richmond branches so bees could be seen ...
Risky Beesness: Beekeepers stung by mysterious colony collapses ...
Columbia Business Times - Columbia,MO,USA
... crop reported by the Department of Agriculture since 1945. There's also the demanding physical labor and, of course, the danger of multiple bee stings. ...
Study: Greenhouse Bees Infecting Wild Bees With Pathogen
Medical News Today - UK
... in North America, these pollinating bees are suffering widespread declines, and this could have a devastating impact on agriculture and food supplies. ...
World without bees: a sting felt far beyond the breakfast table
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
Billions of pounds depend on the honeybee's contribution to agriculture, and yet the scientists investigating the new plague struggle by on a few hundred ...
Famine, soaring food prices threaten millions in east Africa
AFP -
The UN says 707000 people in Uganda's rural region of Karamoja are in dire need of food, and a further 80000 people face severe food shortages in Djibouti, ...
Mouthpiece - Some food for thought amid the clamour for biofuels
Scotsman - United Kingdom
Who would have thought that Europeans would be worried about food shortages, when only a decade ago, the European Union's main concern was how to reduce the ...
Islands report food shortage
Miadhu - Maldives
Island office of Kumundhoo of the same atoll informs that they are too facing food shortage due to severe weather conditions and stock of staple foods from ...
Bees gain better protection under new laws
Isle of Man Today - Isle of Man,UK
At the request of bee-keepers the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry drafted new laws, which were approved by Tynwald this week. ...
Interest in native bees on the rise
Macon Telegraph - Macon,GA,USA
Except for bumblebees, native bees live in individual burrows underground or in wood. "We live in an age of industrial agriculture, and the honeybee is an
The Unbearable Lightness of Bee-ing
Fort Collins Now - Fort Collins,CO,USA
It might not be quite that bad, but it’s true that humans are highly dependent on bees; modern agriculture has evolved to rely on them. ...
Fruits and Berries for All Seasons
Centralia Chronicle - Centralia,WA,USA
By Victoria Stewart In his greenhouses in Adna, Wood and his wife Carollyn raise many fruits and berries the “experts” say can’t be grown in a greenhouse. ...
The Simple, Wrong Way To Eat
Daily Green - USA
Liter for liter, organic dairies use 20 times as much land as conventional dairies and produce 16 percent more greenhouse gases. A Carnegie-Mellon study ...
Colony collapse
Montrose Daily Press - Montrose,CO,USA
Hedrick has been taking care of bees since he was about 6 years old; he’s now 93. He had checked his hives and all seemed healthy. However, when he checked ...
Buzz about bees
Orangeburg Times Democrat - Orangeburg,SC,USA
Ward says that people who take bees for granted might take more notice if they realized what groceries would cost without them. Their role in agriculture is ...
The Latest Buzz on CCD
Southwest News-Herald - Chicago,IL,USA
Still, this problem needs a solution, and fortunately for all of us, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has some of the world's top bee experts working ...
’Salmonella-spooked shoppers favor farmers market
The Register-Guard - Eugene,OR,USA
The vendors who brought tomatoes — still grown in greenhouses or cold frames because of the cool spring — were all but sold out by midday Saturday.
’WHATS HAPPENING TO THE BEES? Alberni Valley News - Port Alberni,BC,Canada
... loss of bees over the winter and into the spring of 2007, said John van Westendorp, apiculture specialist for the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands
Bee story has a nasty sting in the tail
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
The bees had been taken to New Brunswick to pollinate a blueberry crop. The practice is common in modern agriculture. Because of huge monocultures (single ...
Scientists still baffled at bee losses
Online Athens - Athens,GA,USA
... according to the US Department of Agriculture. The same thing happened again this past fall and winter - worker bees just disappear, often leaving
Bee decline could raise food costs more, panel told
Seattle Times - United States
"No bees, no crops," North Carolina grower Robert Edwards told a House Agriculture subcommittee. A record 36 percent of US commercial bee colonies have been ...
Sweet! Revival of the honeybee cheers keepers
Minneapolis Star Tribune - Minneapolis,MN,USA
... New Jersey's chief bee expert. According to the US Department of Agriculture, honeybee pollination adds more than $15 billion in value to about 130 ...
How much does it cost to borrow a colony of honeybees?
Slate - USA
Growers complained that the skyrocketing cost of renting bees was forcing them to raise prices on crops. Just how expensive is it to rent a colony of bees? ...
'Housing project benefits those without homes
DL-Online - Detroit Lakes,MN,USA
The units will be heated by a geothermal system that circulates water deep into the ground to keep a constant temperature instead of relying on a furnace or
Local foods have never left our plate'
Globe and Mail - Canada
... for stunning views on your left and, on the right, for Burkhart's Greenhouses, which sells organic vegetable transplants, vegetables and hanging plants. ...
Container gardening can be very fruitful
MLive.com - MI,USA
It's also exciting to see a local greenhouse, Elzinga & Hoeksema Greenhouses, 5268 East O Ave., develop a line of vegetables and fruits specifically for ...
Fisheries, Not Whales, To Blame For Shortage Of Fish
Science Daily (press release) - USA
The food security rationale for culling cetaceans, the report co-authored by Dr Pauly for the Humane Society International contrasts “the widely different ...
Biotech wheat to ease world food shortage
Enter Stage Right - Sudbury,Ontario,Canada
However, British authorities are now saying that the world's current food shortage underscores the huge increase in world food and feed production needed to
June 2008
Biotech Wheat to Ease World Food Shortage
American Daily - Stow,OH,USA
However, British authorities are now saying that the world’s current food shortage underscores the huge increase in world food and feed production needed to ...
Floods bring peck of trouble for Iowa's produce farmers
DesMoinesRegister.com - Des Moines,IA,USA
Susan Jutz of ZJ Farms near Solon, a partner and vegetable grower in a Community Supported Agriculture organization that supplies vegetables to 250 members ...
Activities aim for education on importance of area's bees
Urbana/Champaign News-Gazette - Champaign,IL,USA
"Honey bees are the premier managed pollinators for American agriculture," Berenbaum said. "They are responsible for pollination of over 90 crops,
Sustainable Living: Big buzz over disappearing honeybees
Times Herald-Record - Middletown,NY,USA
Modern agriculture, with its credo of planting "fence row to fence row," leaves little native plants (read "weeds") that the wild bees need. ...
THE BUZZWORD
Lancaster Newspapers - Lancaster,PA,USA
Bee boosters tie the phenomenon to bumped-up interest in self-sufficiency and sustainable agriculture, and to concern about the mysterious colony collapse ...
A battle for the bees
Steamboat Pilot - Steamboat Springs,CO,USA
Bees are crucial for agriculture pollination. According to an article from the Public Library of Science, “In 2000, the value of American crops pollinated ...
No shortage of honey bees in Wisconsin _ yet
Chicago Tribune - United States
... according to the US Department of Agriculture. John Swanson, owner of Swan-Bee-Honey LLC of Howard Lake, Minn., said his losses were double that rate. ...
Vanishing bees a threat to our survival
The Kingston Whig-Standard - Kingston,Ontario,Canada
The showNatureon PBS broadcast a fascinating and frightening program on Sunday evening. It reported that bees are disappearing at an alarming rate and could ...
Where are the honey bees?
MPNnow.com - Rochester,NY,USA
... director of the Agriculture and Life Sciences Institute at Monroe Community College, thought pesticides, like Gaucho, played a hand in killing the bees.
Number of bees in sharp decline
Buckingham Today - Buckingham,UK
"Around 80% of crop pollination is done by honey bees," he said. "Agriculture and orchards are affected by a decline in bees, and hawthorn, blackberries, ...
Honeybee deaths down, but keepers report no storybook comeback
St. Catharines Standard - St. Catharines,Ontario,Canada
It's normally a beacon for honeybees scavenging for nectar, but Janes has seen maybe two bees this spring. "I've been watching now for over a month or so,"
Honey bees 'crucial to Aust food security'
ABC Online - Australia
The industry is facing biosecurity threats and a shortage of access to native forests for honey production. (AFP: Saul Loeb, file photo) A federal ...
Phyar Pon cyclone victims fear food shortage
Democratic Voice of Burma - Oslo,Norway
Jun 16, 2008 (DVB)–Cyclone survivors in Phyar Pon township in the Irrawaddy Delta will run out of food in a month if they don’t receive sufficient supplies ...
Grain imports cut despite food shortage
Business Daily Africa - Nairobi,Kenya
June 17, 2008: The Government has reduced the amount of grains it will import to forestall an acute supply shortage in the last quarter of the year.
Attack of the poison tomatoes
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
... basil coaxed to aromatic fullness by the sun's heat, a sprinkling of coarse salt, a grind of pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. ...
For love of home land
Deccan Herald - Bangalore,India
Carob honey for sweetening, acorns for coffee, olive oil for light as well as cooking. Some houses shared an oven, charcoal burners provided fuel. ...
Troubled Bee Colonies Go it Alone
The Washington Independent - Washington,DC,USA
California agriculture has a vested interest in honey bees, since its almond crop is the largest in the world. The farm bill’s promise of $15 million ...
Nebraska forests filled with special products
North Platte Bulletin - North Platte,NE,USA
Another forest product with greater than usual importance now is solitary bees. The native bees are found in hollow logs and can take on the role of ...
Royal York's rooftop garden is home sweet home for bees
Toronto Star - Ontario, Canada
... co-op in 2004 because she'd noticed the bee population dropping in her downtown garden, and wanted to get involved in the urban agriculture movement. ...
We need to be busy like bees to help save them
Modesto Bee - Modesto,CA,USA
By BARBARA BOXER According to the US Department of Agriculture, however, between 15 percent and 30 percent of the food we eat in the United States depends ...
East TN recruiting beekeepers to save honeybees, food supply
WBIR-TV - Knoxville,TN,USA
The Clinch Valley Beekeepers Association hopes its youngest new member sticks with his hives, for the bees' sake and ours. "The bees have practically
Vanishing bees bring down crop yields in Kutch
Economic Times - Gurgaon,Haryana,India
AHMEDABAD: The unusual disappearance of honey bees is creating a buzz in Kutch. In the last five years, there has been a dramatic fall in not just wild ...
’Stung by losses, nations beekeepers try to rebuild
Boston Herald - United States
Beekeepers surveyed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service last winter reported a total loss of about 36.1 percent of their bee colonies, a jump of 13.5
Survey shows US honey bee deaths increased over last year
High Plains Journal - Dodge City,KS,USA
On May 6, Pennsylvania's Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff announced that the state would pour an additional $20400 into research at Pennsylvania State ...
Stillwater bees are not Africanized variety
High Plains Journal - Dodge City,KS,USA
"As part of our normal procedure, we send positive samples to the US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Carl Hayden Bee Research ...
Killer bees getting closer to Kansas
KSN-TV - Wichita,KS,USA
That's why the Kansas Department of Agriculture recommends calling a beekeeper anytime you see a swarm. Don't deal with it out on your own.
Beehives falling silent
Scranton Times-Tribune - PA, USA
Bees are dying at unsustainable levels,” said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, the state Department of Agriculture’s acting apiarist. It’s not “Silent Spring,” but the ...
Last flight of the honeybee?
guardian.co.uk - UK
Alison Benjamin reports on a very real threat Dave Hackenberg's bees have been on the road for four days. To reach the almond orchards of California's ...
Pest controller aims to save bees and agriculture
KGET 17 - Bakersfield,CA,USA
That's why one local pest control company said they're working to save the bee's, and in turn, save Kern Counties agricultural future. ...
He Sells Sea Salt by the Seashore
Times Online - UK
It isn’ta smattering of sea or rock salt we should be worrying about, but the hidden salt within processed foods. “The message is clear: it is essential for ...
Fears help drive food shortage
Hattiesburg American - Hattiesburg,MS,USA
Whether or not a shortage of food is imminent, it still makes sense nonetheless to reduce the large amount of food wasted due to spoilage or dumped because ...
Imported rice in stock would alleviate shortage
The Daily Yomiuri - Osaka,Japan
... of rice in its domestic market, is likely to reexport a large stockpile of imported rice amid persistent high rice prices due to a global food shortage. ...
May 2008
North Koreans flee amid food shortage
United Press International - USA
North Koreans have increasingly sought to escape amid poverty and worsening food shortages, the Times said. South Korea's national intelligence agency has
The Healing of the Nations
theTrumpet.com - Edmond,OK,USA
Olive oil is a soothing balm, possessing certain curative benefits, in particular to the skin. How foolish we human beings are! ...
A million olive trees to make Indian desert
Times Online - UK
... Israeli scientists have been credited with “greening” the Negev desert, performing what has been termed an agricultural miracle. Indian olive oil is
Great greens!
Telegraph-Journal - Saint John,New Brunswick,Canada
Between their greenhouses and four acres of fields, they supply heritage tomatoes, beans, garlic, Asian vegetables and salad mixes to a growing number of ...
Berries shrink as bees die
Surrey Leader - BC, Canada
Paul van Westendorp, provincial apiculturist for the ministry of agriculture, said the varroa mites have been a problem for years, but now they come with a ...
The mystery of BC's dying bees
Globe and Mail - Canada
... provincial apiculturist for BC's Ministry of Agriculture. "It is a serious problem that will lead to very serious implications." Without enough bees to ...
Helping the bees get buzzy
Western Telegraph - Haverfordwest,Pembrokeshire,UK
Bees are vital to the health of our agriculture and our countryside. Many colonies across the UK have been wiped out during the winter and this has serious ...
Bee population still drops, but farmers make do
PennLive.com - Harrisburg,PA,USA
by MARY KLAUS, Of The Patriot-News Bees that are sick or have mysteriously abandoned their hives have lowered the population of the little insects who ...
Creating a buzz
Salt Lake Tribune - United States
It's clear agriculture is losing out as the population expands. habitat is one of the reasons the nation's bees are disappearing. Nationwide, bee shortages ...
Green Gardening: 'Megabee' -- it gives honeybees wings
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
... there is evidence that, like so many humans, bees might be suffering from imbalanced diets of poor nutritional quality. The US Department of Agriculture ...
Keepers give bees a chance
Lone Tree Voice - Littleton,CO,USA
Most people know honey is made by bees , but very few are equipped with the knowledge of how it's actually produced. Honeybees draw their load of nectar ...
Researcher Studies Disappearance Of Honeybees
WBZ - Boston,MA,USA
John Burand, an insect pathologist at UMass Amherst, has received the US Department of Agriculture grant to improve the health of bees that are main ...
Woe Bee-gone: Hive Colonies Collapse Across Western States
BYU Newsnet - Provo,UT,USA
Generally, the disease is not affecting the bees that stick with natural modes of transportation. "Man is forcing nature to do something it's not supposed ...
Enough bees survive the Pennsylvania winter
Beaver County Times - Beaver,PA,USA
... need additional bees to pollinate orchards or other commercial crops. “They’re a very important piece in agriculture in the state,” vanEnglesdorp said. ...
Tariffs expected to exacerbate food shortage
Business Edge - Calgary,Alberta,Canada
By Romana King - Business Edge A leading economist is predicting a global food shortage this year will affect all countries, all economies and all budgets. ...
The transformation of Israeli food -- from falafel to fennel
The Jewish Journal of greater L.A - Los Angeles,CA,USA
Fifteen years ago, there was little good local olive oil. Today, Jewish and Arab farmers are pressing extra virgin olive oil in small, rural villages. ...
Olive Oil Yields Soar with NMR
Scientific American - USA
Now, scientists at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University are helping them out with nuclear magnetic resonance, also known as NMR. NMR is usually used medically to ...
'Saint' among bee-keepers
Newindpress - Chennai,Tamil Nadu,India
EVERYBODY loves honey, but not many have a heart for the honey bees. Here is a man who believes that the buzz of the bees is the best music in the world and ...
Disappearing Bees Could Spell Trouble For Humans
KLAS-TV - Las Vegas,NV,USA
The bees are missing. "There's no bees left in the hive. It's that simple," he said. Bees pollinate plants and help them grow larger. They make agriculture ...
Honeybee deaths still on the rise
Milford Daily News - MA, USA
Beekeeper Ryan Williams of Natick holds a frame of Italian bees from his hive at the Natick Community Organic Farm Friday. By Rob Haneisen, Daily News staff ...
Local bees skirt colony collapse
Brattleboro Reformer - VT, United States
Steve Justis, an apple specialist with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture said it is impossible to know why the bees in the Northeast are doing so well, ...
8 Ways to Fix the Global Food Crisis
U.S. News & World Report - Washington,DC,USA
Around the world, panicked governments have responded to high commodity prices by slapping restrictions on exports—thus only worsening the food shortage.
Will giant vegetables help solve world food shortage?
Sunday Mirror - UK
... grown from seeds sent into space, are now being grown in southern China where they are being heralded as a solution to the world's food shortage. ...
ALL ABOUT FOOD
Calcutta Telegraph - Calcutta,India
As in the past, the problem of food shortage will be solved with the help of science. The next Green Revolution for meeting global food demand, ...
The world's crumbling food security
The Daily Star - Dhaka,Bangladesh
While the government has been toppled over the chronic food shortage in Haiti, food riots are reported from Egypt and the Philippines.
$30 million to fight global food shortage
Food Week - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
Australia will give $30 million in emergency aid for people affected by the global food shortage. The money will go to the United Nations' food aid agency ...
Starring... chickpeas!
Jerusalem Post - Israel
Toss the chickpeas with the grilled vegetables and a light dressing of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and fresh herbs, and you already have a tasty ...
CornLust: How the grain-hungry ethanol industry gouges livestock ...
Del Rio Live! - Del Rio,TX,USA
Sollock’s farm works with the existing land, which is fertilized with his cow’s manure. His only expenditures, he says, are lime for the earth (which is ...
Varroa spread 'unforgiveable'
Stuff.co.nz - New Zealand
Nine infestations of the external parasite of honey bees, some heavy, have been confirmed in hives between St Arnaud and Glenhope, south of Nelson, ...
Disease, parasites and bad weather blamed for declining honey bees
Times Online - UK
Bees play an important role in agriculture, with the value of commercial crops that benefit from bee pollination estimated at £100 million to £200 million a ...
Bees Disease: One Step Closer To A Cure
Science Daily (press release) - USA
Therefore, they are indispensable for a sustainable and profitable agriculture but also for the maintenance of the non-agricultural ecosystem. ...
April 2008
Toronto feeling effects of global rice shortage
Globe and Mail - Canada
Food banks across the city have seen a drop in donations from the food industry and braced for increased demand. And at the Philippine Market
North Korea stoic in the face of famine
Asia Times Online - Kowloon,Hong Kong
There are rumors of villagers starving to death even though observers believe the food shortage has not yet developed into a famine. If the shortage of
Fresh stocks of imported olive oil yet to arrive
Hindu - Chennai,India
He said the domestic production of the oil is nil as of now, but there has been a three-way collaboration between Israel, Rajasthan State Government and ...
Mysterious ailment shrinks bee population
abc7news.com - San Francisco,CA,USA
Some empty beehives in western Fresno County should be buzzing with activity, but a mysterious ailment is plaguing these hives; it's called colony collapse ...
Hearty bees coming to boost hives
Daily Mail - Charleston - Charleston,WV,USA
The bees die, you spend money to try and medicate them and then whatever else comes around next gets them anyway." In 2006, agriculture officials warned ...
Where Have All the Honey Bees Gone?
American Agriculturist - PA,USA
Early this month, preliminary findings of a national honey bee loss survey by Apiary Inspectors of American and the US Department of Agriculture's Honey Bee ...
Millions of Bees Released Across the State
WOWK - Huntington,WV,USA
"Very helpful... it's a cost sharing program and bees are expensive," said Beekeeper Danny Plumly. The West Virginia Department of Agriculture Apiary ...
The Big Question: Why are honey bees disappearing, and what can be ...
Independent - London,England,UK
Without the presence of bees, much of agriculture would be impossible, and this is a sobering thought right now, as feeding the world is suddenly becoming ...
Ancient laws rule modern meals
Pioneer Press Online - Glenview,IL,USA
So instead of butter for the fresh, crusty bread he makes daily, Restrepo serves small dishes of high quality olive oil and a savory puree of white beans, ...
Passover's Modern Muse
Washington Post - United States
Guttman's keen interest in cooking was whetted during the middle of Israel's olive-oil reawakening. "Now Israelis are experts at it," she says, ...
Muck farming has its own unique problems from season to season
Times of Wayne County - Macedon,NY,USA
Massive storage cold buildings were erected to store their crops for sale as markets demand. Averaging over 4000 tons of potatoes per season, buyers call on ...
“”Asparagus still the queen of vegetables
FreshPlaza - Netherlands
Over the past ten years there has been a significant growth in the quantity of asparagus offered for sale at the Auction of Mechlin, which is market leader ...
Can the earth provide enough food for 9 billion people?
Christian Science Monitor - Boston,MA,USA
Columnist David Francis discusses the world food shortage with Pat Murphy of CSMonitor.com. The world is an odd place. A tight global food situation with ...
Focus on world food - IMF head warns food shortage could topple ...
Jamaica Gleaner - Kingston,Jamaica
AP People queue up to buy the cheapest rice available in the market, the NFA (National Food Authority) Rice, at a mobile rice-distribution centre at ...
Rising costs hurting Americans
Palestine Herald Press - Palestine,TX,USA
In Haiti the food shortage is so bad the people there are making dirt cookies; and the food shortage has led to the ouster of the Haitian prime minister. ...
W. Wash. beekeepers bemoan new pathogen killing hives
Seattle Times - United States
... to wreak havoc with agriculture in the Northwest." Eight of Washington's 10 most valuable crops per acre in 2006 depend on bees for pollination. ...
Not enough bees
Abbotsford Times - Abbotsford,BC,Canada
In order to help growers meet their pollination needs, the apiculture department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands is trying to help by importing
US losing bees and beekeepers
USA Today - USA
... keeping bees is not as profitable as it once was, according to Jeff Pettis, research leader at the US Department of Agriculture Bee Research Laboratory ...
Florida beekeepers working hard to restore hives
Contra Costa Times - Walnut Creek,CA,USA
Most people equate bees just with honey, and miss the critical role they play in the state's agriculture. Bees are so critical to agriculture, said Florida
Campaign aims to restore honeybee population in Virginia
The Virginian-Pilot - Norfolk,VA,USA
Honeybees were first brought to the region in 1622, according to the Department of Agriculture, by Europeans settling in Jamestown. Today, bees provide ...
Olive oil brings Jews and Arabs together in cooperation
Israel 21C - Cupertino,CA,USA
But as Western awareness surrounding olive oil's health properties grew and political changes in the Mid-East created "new players" in Israel's olive oil ...
CROPS THREATENED BY VANISHING HONEY BEES
Lincolnshire Echo - Lincoln,England,UK
Lincolnshire's crops could suffer if the county's honey bee population was to become extinct, experts have warned. And that could be a reality if deadly ...
Rice shortage bites
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
From Cairo to New Delhi to Shanghai, the run on rice is threatening to disrupt worldwide food supplies as much as the scarcity of confidence on Wall Street ...
S. Dakota beekeepers hopeful about honey
The News Journal - Wilmington,DE,USA
Last fall, he sent 155 semi-trailer trucks to California loaded with hives containing bees fit and ready to pollinate the almond crop. ...
Ore. farmers, agronomists look into bee die-offs
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com - Portland,OR,USA
(AP) — Oregon farmers and beekeepers are discussing with officials from the Oregon State University's College of Agricultural Sciences ways to find a
Bee industry pays court to breeders
Capital Press (subscription) - Salem,OR,USA
... according to the US Department of Agriculture. Brad Pankratz, an Orland bee breeder and president of the California Bee Breeders Association, ...
The Birds and the Bees
Winston-Salem Journal - Winston-Salem,NC,USA
Much of commercial agriculture would be in peril without the honeybees. But those little sweat bees, which would go unnoticed if they didn’t steal sweat ...
Researchers buzzing over what's causing collapses of bee colonies
Palm Beach Post - FL, United States
Ellis, who is collaborating with the US and Florida agriculture departments on about 20 bee-related research projects, said researchers are considering ...
‘’’I thought Id be stung to death
Brazosport Facts (subscription) - Clute,TX,USA
Raynor and his sons took a few of the bees to the Brazoria County Agriculture Extension Office in Angleton on Tuesday night, where they are being tested to ...
Creating Homes that Please America's Wild Bees
Agricultural Research - Beltsville,MD,USA
By Marcia Wood Just like people who are looking for a perfect place to live, some female bees search for the ideal place to build their nests. Agricultural ...
A Greener View: Colony Collapse Disorder in bees affects ...
Bend Weekly - Bend,OR,USA
Bees are very important to American agriculture and our economy. Depending on what you read, they pollinate between 90 and 130 crop types. ...
Bees Pay High Price for Mounting Demand for Almonds
Telluride Watch - Telluride,CO,USA
With about 2 1/4 commercial colonies of honey bees in the US according to the United States Department of Agriculture, “so we need half of the nation’s bees ...
Bats in the Region Are Dying From a Mysterious Ailment
Litchfield County Times - New Milford,CT,USA
Alarm spread among wildlife biologists this week when white nose syndrome (WNS) was found in a second bat population in Connecticut. ...
The Nanak Kheti: Organic Farming with a passion for prosperity
Organiser - New Delhi,India
These farmers also take care of a large variety of birds, earthworms, honey bees, butterflies and fireflies and many more magnificent life forms. ...
Farmers protest budget cut
Asbury Park Press - Asbury Park,NJ,USA
... vegetables, nursery stock, landscaping, horses and bees; there were master gardeners as well as government workers servicing agriculture. ...
Honeybee troubles could sting economy
Reno Gazette Journal - Reno,NV,USA
"My bees stay in one spot. I'm more or less isolated in Fernley." The US Department of Agriculture estimates honeybees pollinate 20 percent of the American ...
Colony Collapse Disorder: What can we expect this growing season?
Beaver County Times - Beaver,PA,USA
But as part of her research, which has focused on examinations of dead bees from CCD colonies, Cox-Foster found that more than 90 percent of those she ...
Dadant & Sons Inc. helping with honey bee mystery
Keokuk Gate City Daily - Keokuk,IA,USA
These problems and more are being examined by scientists to find an explanation for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a condition where worker bees from a bee ...
Farmers fall prey to rice rustlers as price of staple crop rockets
Guardian - UK
Across Asia the suddenly stratospheric rice prices have prompted countries to ban exports amid fears that shortages could provoke food riots.
Helping the bees help us
Hagerstown Morning Herald - Hagerstown,MD,USA
This award came from Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, a USDA affiliate, as part of its partnership with farmers. ..
Strange illness makes beekeeping a challenge
Schenectady Gazette - Schenectady,NY,USA
“Bees were much healthier back then. We didn’t have to worry about these serious health issues. Now, we have to worry about things like mites, ...
AP Centerpiece: SD honeybees _ busy here and on the road
Biloxi Sun Herald - MS, USA
Last fall he sent 155 semitrailer trucks to California loaded with hives containing bees fit and ready to pollinate the almond crop. ...
Another Earthquake Strikes Border Area
KGTV, 10News.com - San Diego,CA,USA
Another moderate earthquake struck the Imperial Valley southeast of Mexicali Saturday, rattling the eastern edge of San Diego County. ..
Beekeepers buzzing with relief; The bees are back
St. Catharines Standard - St. Catharines,Ontario,Canada
The cost of the bee deaths to agriculture in Ontario was $54 million, Guzman noted. That's nearly one-third of the total value of crops directly associated ...
Mysterious bat disease hits Conn.
Danbury News Times - Danbury,CT,USA
By Robert Miller STAFF WRITER White-nosed syndrome -- a mysterious disease that has decimated bat populations in New York state -- has spread to Connecticut ...
Beekeeping course attracts plenty of interest in state
Cherry Hill Courier Post - Cherry Hill,NJ,USA
"Honey bees are vital to New Jersey's fruit and vegetable industry through their pollination of crops," Secretary of Agriculture Charles Kuperus said in ...
Where's the bee buzz?
Palm Beach Post - FL, United States
No bees, no crops. If this isn't an emergency for the Agriculture Department, what would be? We'd like your thoughts on this story. ...
Death of the Bees : GMO Crops and the Decline of Bee Colonies in ...
Collective Bellaciao - Paris,France
Yet when researchers from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, traveled to Oakdale, California, ...
What's the BUZZ?
GoErie.com - Erie,PA,USA
The US Department of Agriculture estimates that between 500000 and 1 million bee colonies out of 2.4 million known to exist in the United States died ...
Punjab, the land of honey!
Thaindian.com - Bangkok,Bangkok,Thailand
It was at the Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, the seed of bee farming was sown. Today, it has become a movement.
Beware of Bee Season
KLAS-TV - Las Vegas,NV,USA
UNLV life-sciences professor, Michelle Elekonich spends a great deal of time studying bees. She says their pollination of agriculture is essential.
Decline of bees stings growers
Bangor Daily News - Bangor,ME,USA
The year before, he lost 1 million bees. "It’s still horrible," he said. But Hackenberg is most concerned about a US Department of Agriculture survey ...
Death of the Bees: GMO Crops and the Decline of Bee Colonies in ...
Center for Research on Globalization - Montreal,Quebec,Canada
Does it not seem obvious that the digestion of foreign genetic agriculture directly affects the digestive process of the bees. Could it also be that there ...
Season of hope
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
The almond industry, which has emerged over the last decade as one of the biggest and most profitable in California agriculture, depends on bees for ...
March 2008
Raw Honey: Exploring the Benefits of This Ancient Superfood
Natural News.com - Phoenix,AZ,USA
He keeps his hives as a paying hobby and "to be nice to the bees." Luckily, CCD has not hit this area as yet, and Delmar attributes this disease to an
Colony Collapse Disorder, Then What?
Daily Green - USA
What do you do with a hive when the bees died of CCD? The not-very-old rule of thumb here has been, "Once Infected, Always Infected," so putting more bees
Focus narrows on what is killing colonies
The Times and Democrat - Orangeburg,SC,USA
"Surveys of the beekeepers reporting CCD are ongoing and researchers will be following some of these operations closely to monitor bee health," Hood said. ...
Bee plague worsening, anxious keepers say
Palm Beach Post - FL, United States
"We are concerned that USDA has not adequately funded critical work as outlined by the CCD Action Plan to identify the cause of CCD," the letter said. ...
Philippines worried about possible rice supply shortage
Xinhua - China
The message was clearly delivered last week by Agricultural Secretary Arthur Yap, who suggested that fast food stores and other eating places in the country ...
Rats run riot in CHT
The New Nation - Bangladesh
No detail on official efforts to combat the rat-plague and food shortage could be available in Dhaka from Yangoon till filing of this last night
Food shortage stalks Kenyans
Daily Nation - Nairobi,Kenya
Costly farm inputs and insecurity in Kenya’s key food production regions are threatening the country with starvation, agricultural experts warn. ...
Ripe for Research
Modesto Bee - Modesto,CA,USA
By JOHN HOLLAND AP DAVIS -- The state's olive oil industry, a trickle compared with Mediterranean producers, could flourish with help from a new research ...
Bees' survival rate higher this winter
Columbus Dispatch - Columbus,OH,USA
John Grafton, apiary-program supervisor for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, said there should be enough bees to pollinate crops this year. ...
NJ is all abuzz about bees
6abc.com - Philadelphia,PA,USA
Next month, through Rutgers University, the Agriculture Department is offering what they call a bee-ginners beekeeping class in Burlington County.
South Carolina beekeepers keep the faith despite decline in bee ...
Anderson Independent Mail (subscription) - Anderson,SC,USA
The cost of a package has soared to $60 or more because of demand due to bee loss from various causes,” Mr. Hood said. The Clemson College of Agriculture is ...
Bee colony collapse dilemma still a mystery
Meadville Tribune - Meadville,PA,USA
The take-home message there, said Vorisek, is that “pesticides are not all agriculture-related. There are a lot of lawn treatments and backyard treatments ...
Breeding better bees
California Farm Bureau - Sacramento,CA,USA
"We weren't specifically looking for causes of CCD; that wasn't our goal. Our goal was to work with the bee breeders to help them breed healthy bees
Greenwich High student wins science competition
Greenwich Post - Greenwich,CT,USA
... have implications in the search for a cause of the mysterious syndrome known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in which worker bees abruptly disappear. ...
Beekeepers brush off worries
Daily Post - Llandudno Junction,UK
He said interest in beekeeping was high despite fears that colony collapse disorder (CCD) – a mysterious disorder which has wiped out 80% of bee populations
Surging Grain Prices May Spark Unrest in N.Korea
Chosun Ilbo - Seoul,South Korea
A think-tank believes that surging international grain prices may worsen North Korea's food shortage and lead to other serious problems in the country. ...
Research to create bees without stings in Tamil Nadu
Thaindian.com - Bangkok,Bangkok,Thailand
Coimbatore, March 16 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) here will be researching on a project to create bees without stings. ...
Vanishing Honeybees Continue to Trouble Virginia
Newswise (press release) - USA
... front of the hive,” said Rick Fell, Extension bee specialist and professor of entomology in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. ...
’Mysterious bee disorder still on experts minds despite 25 percent ...
Daily Republic - Mitchell,SD,USA
A mysterious bee disorder is still a concern for South Dakota beekeepers, the state’s apiarist said Monday, even though newly reported statistics show a ...
Where are the bees going?
Elk Grove Citizen - Elk Grove,CA,USA
What is causing the disappearance of bees? Agricultural experts are largely mystified. During winter many bees usually die. However, that is not necessarily ...
Olive oil is voted best in Australia
Northampton Chronicle & Echo - Northampton,England,UK
His olive oil was chosen ahead of more than 3000 other entries from all over Australia. He said: "There has been lots of press coverage and we have our
Loss of hives worries scientists, beekeepers
Connecticut Post - Bridgeport,CT,USA
MILFORD — The heck with the flowers, Ralph Harrison would like to know where have all the bees gone? It's a mystery with huge implications for the country's ...
Scientists work to protect vulnerable bees
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
The orchards are bursting into bloom and the almond trees, their canopies ablaze in white and pink, are all abuzz with millions upon millions of honey bees ...
Honeybee population threatened by disorder
Red and Black - Athens,GA,USA
... about the threats facing honeybee colonies around the country in a lecture entitled "The Continuing Saga of the Honey Bee - CCD and other Maladies. ...
More Bee Colonies Crashing Than Ever Before
Daily Green - USA
... any bees does no pollination since the remaining bees, and the queen, are needed to stay home and take care of the young that remain after a CCD crash
Cash denied for bees' survival battle
Guardian - UK
The cause of CCD is unknown, but it has already spread to most American states and there have been reports of cases in France, Germany and Italy in the past ...
Lounge Review | Guhantara
Livemint - Delhi,Delhi,India
... there is no need for artificial lights This has got to be a first—a cave resort (built entirely underground), just 28km from Bangalore. ...
Honey holds promise
Fiji Times - Suva,Fiji
"Hive manipulation technique speeds up the activities of the bees in putting honey into the frames which has proved good over the years and farmers have ...
Wanted: Bee-ginners
phillyBurbs.com - Philadelphia,PA,USA
Tim Schuler, state apiarist for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, said the bees have been attacked by mites and mysteriously died from a syndrome
Bees and blooms go nuts in valley
Capital Press (subscription) - Salem,OR,USA
According to statistics from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, cash receipts for almonds were $2.04 billion in 2006, which was one-fifth of ...
Immense bee swarm stings man, kills beagle
SunHerald.com - Biloxi,MS,USA
Fulton said agriculture officials took samples from the bees, which were sprayed and killed by a local pesticide operation and are trying to determine their ...
What's Killing The Honeybees?
CBS News - New York,NY,USA
US Department of Agriculture researcher Jeff Pettis has been tracking the bee die off. "Certainly if the bees are not in almonds they're not going to be ...
Wild Things
Southwest News-Herald - Chicago,IL,USA
This bee is widely used for pollination by alfalfa seed growers. ARS scientists in Logan, Utah, are always on the lookout for wild bees that can be ...
Bee Pollen - A Budget Friendly Food for Health and Healing
Natural News.com - Phoenix,AZ,USA
All the varieties of flowers in the universe put forth a dusting of pollen, including the many fruiting agricultural crops. One teaspoon of pollen contains ...
Beekeepers get stung by hive heists as California nut trees bloom
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
Florida agriculture crime officials say 200 hives were stolen last year as the bees fed on Brazilian pepper weeds near LaBelle and West Palm, ...
Wisconsin's bee season raises an optimistic buzz
Wisconsin State Journal - Madison,WI,USA
Wisconsin beekeepers are optimistic about this season despite continuing national concern about a mysterious plague killing large numbers of bees elsewhere. ...
Not =to bee?: Insects face possible extinction
Beacon Newspaper (subscription) - Miami,FL,USA
According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, "during the months of October, November and December of 2006, an alarming number of honey bee colonies
Disappearing honeybees threaten food security, biofuels
Creamer Media's Engineering News - Garden View,South Africa
This means that many bees do not return to the spring pollination areas. The occurrence has been termed colony collapse disorder (CCD). "With CCD, bees ...
Choosing the right olive oil
Allentown Morning Call - Allentown,PA,USA
By Carole Kotkin | McClatchy News Service February 27, 2008 People around the world have enjoyed olive oil's rich flavor and aroma for at least 6000 years
Be choosy about your olive oil
Belleville News Democrat - IL, USA
A drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil is over a plate of Pappa Col Pomodoro (Tomato Bread Soup). By Carole Kotkin People around the world have enjoyed olive ...
Tomato-enriched oil could lead to elaborate functional foods
FoodNavigator.com - Montpellier,France
Benakmoum and co-workers extracted carotenoids from tomato by-products (peel and purée) and added them to refined olive oil (so-called low quality edible ...
How To "Bee" Active Helping Hives Survive
North American Press Syndicate - New York,NY,USA
Without the help of honey bees in crop pollination, an estimated $15 billion in US agriculture is in jeopardy affecting both US and international food ...
Baltimore Observed: Sustainable City
Urbanite Baltimore - Baltimore,MD,USA
... the workhorses of modern American agriculture. And as the fuzzy, black-and-yellow mainstay faltered, an array of native species, from bees to ...
Better late than never
Red Bluff Daily News - Red Bluff,CA,USA
... for the two- to three-week delay, Tehama County Agricultural Commissioner Rick Gurrola said. Now that the blooming has begun, it is up to the bees to ...
Bee die-off has northwest Wisconsin beekeepers worried
New Richmond News - New Richmond,WI,USA
“It’s not good news for agriculture at all. As you know Wisconsin depends on bees for pollination of all types of fields and crops and the low population of ...
Bee Mystery Remains Unsolved
WXIA-TV - Atlanta,GA,USA
Beekeepers are hoping the US Department of Agriculture will generously fund research into the cause of colony collapse disorder. Bees contributed a little ...
Growers Hope Bees Will Do It
Modesto Bee - Modesto,CA,USA
These efforts could educate consumers about the importance of bees to agriculture, said Richard Waycott, president and chief executive officer of the Almond ...
February 2008
Researchers Closer to Solving Disappearing Bee Mystery
The Heartland Institute - Chicago,IL,USA
Scientists from Penn State University, Columbia University, the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, and the University of Arizona ...
Bee decline drives concern for ingredient supply
FoodNavigator-USA - Montpellier,France
Honey bees are responsible for pollinating more than 130 different crops, and are a key factor in the agricultural industry's ability to provide food ...
Czech bee population decimated by parasite
Radio Prague - Prague,Czech Republic
Definitely the fall in the number of bees will have a real effect on Czech agriculture.” On Wednesday afternoon, Mr Smied and other beekeepers are set to ...
Red Tape Is Made Of Tougher Stuff Than Bees
Daily Green - USA
... The California Bee Breeders, The California Beekeepers, The California Almond Board, The Montana Beekeepers and the Montana Department of Agriculture,
North Coast bees disapearing
Santa Rosa Press Democrat - Santa Rosa,CA,USA
Managed bee colonies, estimated at 5 million in the 1940s, have been cut to about 2.5 million, according to the Department of Agriculture. ...
Bumblebees help pollinate plants
Carlisle Sentinel - Carlisle,PA,USA
... for poor agricultural yields. But in the past decade the honeybee population declined 25 percent, mainly due to the bees’ exposure to pesticides, ...
It's time to get ready for birds, bees
Santa Rosa Press Democrat - Santa Rosa,CA,USA
We heard last year that honeybees were imported across state and national boundaries to pollinate several commercial crops after the mysterious deaths of
Olive and olive oil producers and exporters seek compromise
Turkish Daily News (subscription) - Ankara,Turkey
An “Olive and Olive Oil Sector fact-finding" conference bringing together the sector's 42 leading names was held to brainstorm ideas on producer premiums
Centre asked to cut import duty on olive oil
Commodity Online - Kochi,Kerala,India
CHENAI: India Olive Association (IOA) has asked the Centre to cut the 45 percent customs duty on olive oil which makes the olive oil prohibitively expensive ...
Chew on this
South Bend Tribune - South Bend,IN,USA
Olive oil has been around for thousands of years. This amazing liquid gold has no cholesterol and works as well as or better than butter for just about ...
Honey bee invaders exploit the genetic resources of their predecessors
PhysOrg.com - Evergreen,VA,USA
According to the US Department of Agriculture, the first Africanized honey bees appeared in Texas in 1990. In less than a decade they had also spread to ...
Local beekeepers could boost bee population
News-Leader.com - Springfield,MO,USA
... according to the US Department of Agriculture. A recent surge in diseases and pests, from parasitic mites to Colony Collapse Disorder, which leads bees ...
Honey-Do List at Bee Facility Now Shorter, Thanks to $100000 ...
UC Davis - Davis,CA,USA
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is characterized by bees unexpectedly abandoning their hives, said apiculturist and Cooperative Extension specialist Eric ...
Haagen-Dazs(R) Ice Cream Pledges to Help Save Nature's Unsung Heroes
SunHerald.com - Biloxi,MS,USA
Everything from poor nutrition to invasive mites to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) -- a phenomenon where bees from a colony abruptly desert the hive and die ...
Bees and the Scientific Method
Wired News - USA
In Australia, bees that get Israeli acute paralytic virus don't get sick, and the country has had no reports of CCD. And in places where honeybee colonies ...
Ice cream in crisis as bees buzz off
Guardian Unlimited - UK
The mysterious and unique aspect of CCD is that the bees are not being found dead near their colonies. They are flying off; just abandoning their life's ...
How to Sun-Dry Anything (Almost) That's Edible
Mother Earth News - Topeka,KS,USA
Sheltered air-drying is recommended for herbs and in areas of low humidity, most edibles can be dehydrated in the shade with superior retention of color and ...
Expert Sees Solitary Bees as Good Alternative to Depleting ...
Lancaster Farming - Ephrata,PA,USA
... later known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), that led to the dissapearance of millions of bees from their hives around the country. ...
Disappearing bees threaten ice cream sellers
CNNMoney.com - USA
... $250000 to both Pennsylvania State University and the University of California, Davis to fund research into the bee colony collapse disorder (CCD). ...
As one hive closes, another opens . . .
Gisborne Herald - Gisborne,New Zealand
Bumblebees (Bombus genera), along with native bees and flies, are not affected by the varroa mite or other honeybee diseases. ...
Beekeepers cross fingers for better season
MLive.com - MI,USA
"Whether there will be an ample supply of bees to pollinate Michigan's fruits and vegetables this year is as much a guess as it was last year at this time," ...
Interesting facts relating to food
Chatham Daily News - Chatham,Ontario,Canada
A hive of bees flies over 55000 miles to bring you one pound of honey. A honey bee can fly 15 miles per hour. Honey bees must tap two million flowers to
Hobbyist mourns the flight of his honeybees
Weston Forum - Georgetown,CT,USA
The Campbells are going to report the deaths of the first hive to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, the state agency that regulates bee ...
Colony Collapse Disorder: Researchers Work To Control Varroa Mites ...
Science Daily (press release) - USA
16, 2008) — In response to a fast-spreading syndrome called colony collapse disorder (CCD) that's striking honey bees nationwide, scientists at Agricultural ..
Corning buzzes about vanishing bees
Elmira Star-Gazette - Elmira,NY,USA
Nicholas W. Calderone, associate professor of entomology at the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the director of the Dyce ...
MegaBee Nourishes Beleaguered Honey Bees
Agricultural Research - Beltsville,MD,USA
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologist Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman created the research and development agreement that led to this new,
Bees busy during winter
Auburn Citizen - Auburn,NY,USA
There are no crickets chirping, mosquitoes humming or bees buzzing around my yard. Often times I wonder where the activity has disappeared too,
CCD and theft cut bee supply
California Farm Bureau - Sacramento,CA,USA
The US Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service also reports the preliminary estimation for bearing acreage for 2007 is 615000. ...
Just opened: Roka Akor in Scottsdale
By Jess Harter
Roka Akor’s stylish, modern décor features natural materials, such as stone tile floors, a rammed-earth wall, bar tops made from rough-hewn slabs of wood and earthenware dishes handmade in Japan. roka4 The restaurant dedicates 3000 of ...
Buzzing with Activity
Fort Collins Now - Fort Collins,CO,USA
CCD is characterized by the sudden inexplicable disappearance of working/field bees. You have a hive that looked fine for all practical purposes, ...
Combing Wales for heroes of honey
Daily Post - Llandudno Junction,UK
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society is recognising the value of honey bees, which pollinate some 40% of the world’s food production. ...
A "Berry" Good Bee for Pollinating Blackberries and Raspberries
Agricultural Research - Beltsville,MD,USA
That's according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologist James H. Cane, who—in outdoor experiments in Oregon and Utah—has studied the ...
Threats to bees cause a real buzz
Norfolk Eastern Daily Press - Norwich,England,UK
Bees contribute £165m annually to agricultural output through pollinating crops, which provide more than 30pc of our food - but the government currently ...
Honeybee Deaths Resume in US Hives, USDA Reports (Update1)
Bloomberg - USA
... of bees since 2006, threatening about $15 billion in pollinated crops, is devastating hives again, according to the US Department of Agriculture's top ...
American bees mysteriously dying off
Helium - Andover,MA,USA
This is not a small agricultural sector that is being impacted either. In the US bees pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops each year. ...
£Beekeepers seek 8m to fight hive plagues
Guardian Unlimited - UK
Bees contribute £165m annually to agriculture in the UK through pollinating crops which provide more than 30% of our food. Worldwide, fruits, nuts and ...
Greenhouse going 'green'
MLive.com - MI,USA
by Emily Monacelli | Special to the Gazette KALAMAZOO -- A local greenhouse powered by renewable energy -- said to be the first of its kind in the Midwest ...
Why long-haul food may be greener than local food with low air-miles
Times Online - UK
Tomatoes grown in the natural heat of Spain have less “global warming potential” (GWP) than out-of-season British tomatoes grown in heated greenhouses. ...
Group hopes plan to build big egg farm won't hatch
Columbus Dispatch - Columbus,OH,USA
Charles Hall, another commissioner, said he has concerns about manure, odor, road use, water supply and discharge. Other farms affiliated with the Hi-Q ...
Bees Provide More Than Honey
WTAP-TV - Parkersburg,WV,USA
If you're interested in learning more about beekeeping you can also call George Clutter with the WV Department of Agriculture at 304-257-0251.
Coordinated Research Aims To Improve Honey Bee Health
Agricultural Research - Beltsville,MD,USA
... striking honey bees nationwide, scientists at Agricultural Research Service (ARS) bee laboratories across the country are pooling their expertise.
Agriculture remains big part of Flagler's economy
Daytona Beach News-Journal - Daytona Beach,FL,USA
There are nearly 100 different agricultural enterprises in Flagler County, some of which include forestry, bees, poultry, goats, horses, sod, ...
How to tell when a bee has become a picky eater
Ha'aretz - Tel Aviv,Israel
Ohad Afik, a pollenization expert in the Agriculture Department at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, researched the bee dance for a practical reason: ...
Getting to the Root of Why Bees are Dying Off Becomes Even More ...
Daily Green - USA
So far, CCD has been more of a media sensation than a grower or consumer problem (it’s always been a real beekeeper problem)...the press (including me) has
January 2008
Bumblebee ID Simplified With Wallet Card
Agricultural Research - Beltsville,MD,USA
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) bee expert James Cane has helped make the differences among these plump, fuzzy pollinators a little simpler to detect. ...
Vanishing bees threaten Italian farmers
RIA Novosti - Moscow,Russia
Experts consider that the losses to the Italian agriculture sector could reach estimates of 250 million euros ($370 million). The cause of the deaths is not ...
French beekeepers abuzz with worry over dying bees
AFP -
The apiculture industry in the United States -- and dozens of agricultural crops, from almonds to apples to avocados, that depend of bees for pollination ...
Editorial: Hits and misses
Enterprise-Record - Chico,CA,USA
Some grow table olives, others olives for oil. There are at least a dozen olive oil producers in this region. Long an olive-growing haven, the north state's ...
Bees take spotlight in global warming display at Rosicrucian
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
27 as part of the "Vanishing Pollinators'' display that he took for a Smithsonian Institution show. The photographs illustrate the crucial relationship ...
How GM Crops Endanger Environment and Agriculture
Mainstream - New Delhi,New Delhi,India
In a field trial of Bt-cotton in Thailand, 30 per cent of the bees around the test-fields died. • Unilever used tissue culture techniques to regenerate oil ...
New Bees on the Block
Plenty Magazine - New York,NY,USA
Researchers on the farm are trying to boost dwindling native bee populations by providing habitat for them to live in. Traditionally, agriculture has relied ...
The numerous benefits of bees and beekeeping
Richmond Times Dispatch - Richmond,VA,USA
However, says Keith Tignor, state apiarist with the Virginia Department of Agriculture, beekeeping is not only safe and easily managed when proper equipment ...
‘’Discover real food
Idaho Mountain Express and Guide - Ketchum,ID,USA
It matters that birds and bees are disappearing because they contribute to the food chain in many more ways than any other animal species.
Growers should educate themselves about honeybees
American Farm - Easton,MD,USA
... and apiary inspector for the Maryland Department of Agriculture, gave tips to growers to maximize pollination. “You need to be ‘bee smart,’” Troup said. ...
The secret life of bees
Lincoln Journal - Concord,MA,USA
Reault said Lincoln’s open fields, organic agriculture and abundance of flora create an excellent habitat for honeybees — an insect, he said, ...
The Truth About Honeybees Provide Clues to Their Disappearance
Newstarget.com - Taichung,Taiwan
Third Assumption: Then that means bees, with their tireless work ethic, are our insect allies in food production. Without them agriculture is doomed! ...
Malnutrition may have helped wipe out 750K bee hives
Tucson Citizen - Tucson,AZ,USA
"Something like poor nutrition will set up many things," said Gloria Degrandi-Hoffman, director of the US Department of Agriculture's Carl Hayden Bee ...
Beekeepers seek ways to protect fragile industry from new and ...
The Canadian Press -
"Both of our countries experienced unprecedented losses in the last two years, and beekeepers and scientists who study bees are certainly gravely concerned ...
Taking olive oil production to new heights
Stockton Record - Stockton,CA,USA
By Reed Fujii As president of Corto Olive, Brady Whitlow is among the leaders of a pioneering effort to develop commercial-scale olive-oil production in ..
Italica Imports Unveils a New Extra Virgin Olive Oil Enriched with ...
PR-USA.net (press release) - Varna,Bulgaria
Today, Italica Imports (www.italicaoliveoil.com) is introducing the country to an extra virgin olive oil from Spain that is enriched with fat-soluble ...
Family Health: Healthy, balanced diet needs to contain some fats
commercialappeal.com (subscription) - Memphis,TN,USA
Palm and coconut oil are very saturated compared with soybean, corn and olive oil. Some liquid oils are artificially hardened through a process called ...
Honeybees may be wiped out in 10 years
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
No bees means a huge cost to agriculture, without touching on the ecological and environmental issues. We're facing calamitous results. ...
Bee disorder still puzzles scientists
Traverse City Record Eagle - Traverse City,MI,USA
By Bill O'Brien ACME -- There's still plenty of buzz in the agriculture industry about a mysterious malady that's killed swarms of honeybees, ...
Bihar girl's inspiring story in NCERT textbook
Indian Muslims - San Diego,CA,USA
Last year, she received the "Best Bee-Farming" award from Rajendra Agriculture University (RAU), Pusa, in Samastipur. She is currently studying for her ..
Winter Life in the Polytunnel
By The Hillman
They are ideal for a small urban garden because they climb upright and so take up minimal space. Children love to get involved with this too. Five or six plants of each and you have a very impressive crop on your hands, its even worth ..
The lion in winter is the garden
Toronto Town Crier Newspapers - Ontario, Canada
By Lorraine Flanigan An avid gardener, who I know, makes it a point of getting out into the garden at least once a week; all winter long. “What’s to see? ...
What do you do with a 9-1/2-pound turnip?
The Virginian-Pilot - Norfolk,VA,USA
Richard Erdt has grown some amazing turnips in his winter garden in Suffolk. This one weights in at 8 1/2 pounds. (John H. Sheally II | The Virginian-Pilot) ...
Coexistence in Agriculture
GMO Compass - Darmstadt,Germany
Even though bees visit the tassels to collect pollen, they have no interest in the female flowers, and therefore do not play a role in pollination. ...
An insider's look at hive society
Boston Globe - United States
Repercussions have already been felt in American agriculture. Almond growers in California last year had to import bees from Canada, because American ...
Bringing Lotusland weirdness to Northwest gardens
Seattle Times - United States
... esculenta) as annuals, or bring them indoors to winter over. To create a touch of Lotusland's otherworldly atmosphere, drape your garden in vines. ...
Keep the veggies growing with a winter cold frame
Seattle Times - United States
A cold frame is set up over a convenient section of garden soil during cooler seasons. In winter, a cold frame can help your overwintering vegetables thrive ...
Beekeepers abuzz about mystery ailment that kills entire colonies
Contra Costa Times - Walnut Creek,CA,USA
But if the situation worsens, agriculture could be severely affected, he said. The US Department of Agriculture credits bee pollination with $15 billion in ...
First-time meeting creates a buzz in nation's bee sector
California Farm Bureau - Sacramento,CA,USA
"If we can't keep our bees alive, American agriculture is threatened. The pollinating activity of the bee is necessary for the production of over $15 ...
Olives fit in healthful diet
News & Observer - Raleigh,NC,USA
"If olive oil is supposed to be healthy for you," one reader asked me, "how come there is no nutritional value listed on the label of a jar of olives, ...
New Food Enhances Honeybee Health, Expert Says
Reuters - USA
As owner of SAFE R & D, LLC, Tucson, Ariz., Wardell developed MegaBee(TM) in collaboration with the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Carl Hayden Bee ...
Worry over species -- Bees: Steep population loss hits agriculture ...
Sacramento Bee - CA, USA
According to the US Department of Agriculture, about $15 billion in crops are pollinated by honeybees. Bee researchers are looking to breed stronger, ...
Kitchen garden: mushrooms
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
In what is now referred to as the "John Wyndham Winter", I got a little carried away sowing tomatoes, aubergines and peppers in the bathroom in early ...
’a new years buzz
Watauga Democrat - Boone,NC,USA
... of the state beekeepers association, heads up the largest NCBSA in the nation and will give a presentation on the bee’s role in state agriculture. ...
Environmental destruction and Biotechnology: Could genetically ...
Canadian National Newspaper - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
... agriculture within foraging range of honeybees. I chose the date of placement to avoid any possible exposure of the bees to Centre County corn pollen.
USDA begins alfalfa analysis
Jackson Hole Star-Tribune - Casper,WY,USA
A perennial plant, alfalfa is cross-pollinated by bees and wind. Miller said a 900-foot buffer zone is needed between Roundup and non-Roundup crops. ...
Kwali to train farmers on bee-keeping
The Tide - Port Harcourt,Niger Delta,Nigeria
He said that agricultural experts had confirmed that Kwali had a good weather for rearing honey bees which could generate millions of naira for farming ...
Spaghetti and meatballs
Boston Globe - United States
She writes that the combination of olive and vegetable oils gives you a higher smoking point for frying, but you'll still get the flavor of the olive oil. ...
Food myths should be taken with a grain of salt
La Vista Sun - Papillion,Ne,USA
Olive oil is the healthiest oil for cooking. No, but it's not the worst, either. This is another one that has a pinch of truth, Keizer said, because it is ...
At start of pollination season, beekeepers worry about colonies
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
But if the situation worsens, agriculture generally could be severely affected, he said. The US Department of Agriculture credits bee pollination with $15 ...
Healthy foods gain popularity
Powell River Peak - Powell River,BC,Canada
Olives and olive oil: One of the oldest foods known to humanity, olives and their oil are getting new respect. Rich in antioxidants, they also promote good ...
Colony collapse creates buzz at bee conference
Capital Press (subscription) - Salem,OR,USA
"When agriculture is through with our bees for a particular pollination job, we're supposed to get out of Dodge and disappear into the woodwork," Brandi ...
Organic farm a bee heaven
West Linn Tidings - OR,USA
... Farm is a shining example of what agriculture could be,” Vaughan said. “There’s crazy stuff there. Weeds grow all over, which is great stuff for bees. ...
Bees in Crisis
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (press release) - Washington,DC,USA
By Penn State Staff Researchers in the College of Agricultural Sciences are at the forefront of solving a mysterious ailment affecting honey bees,
The plight of the bumblebee
Central Valley Business Times - Stockton,CA,USA
... such as the blue orchard bee, could reduce the overdependence on the honeybee and relieve concerns about food security and agricultural sustainability.
Beekeeping series will teach beginners how to start a colony
Lafayette Online News - Lafayette,IN,USA
"From an agricultural standpoint, beekeeping is crucial because of the many fruits and vegetables bees help pollinate," Ballard said. .
Our Favorite Stories of 2007 - Beekeepers | KXNet.com North Dakota ...
KXMC - Minot,ND,USA
(Will Nissen, Minot BeeKeeper) "The bees are leaving but they're not coming back. Colonies start out good, good cluster but they just dwindle down to
Old country link to the new year
San Mateo County Times - San Mateo,CA,USA
A perfect balance to the garlic/anchovy/ olive oil concoction, the vegetable demands physical labor and hours of preparation before it's even edible
Weather among top stories in metro area [9 hrs ago]
NewsOK.com (subscription) - Oklahoma City,OK,USA
There was a battle over bees in Bethany. After hearing residents' complaints about black clouds of hostile bees and painful stings, Bethany council members
•Ohio lost more bees to cold winter than to Colony Collapse Disorder
The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com - Cleveland,OH,USA
How are honeybees doing after a full season of coping with Colony Collapse Disorder, which caused about half of the bees to abandon their hives and never
Agriculture's top stories in 2007
Zanesville Times Recorder - Zanesville,OH,USA
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) -Beekeepers noticed a massive loss of bees in early 2007 across the country. Some estimate the losses at 60-80 percent of the
Government to enhance olive oil production processing zones in 12 ...
Unique Pakistan - Karachi,Sindh,Pakistan
The government has planned to enhance olive oil production and processing areas in 12 districts of Balochistan to bring 6000 acres land for cultivation of ...
Toasting new year in olive oil, ice
Independent Online - Cape Town,South Africa
For two South Africans, the starter will be olive oil straight-up and, well, on ice. Sibusiso Vilane and Alex Harris have been guzzling the oil for nearly
Miracle tricks to burning calories
The South African Star (subscription) - Johannesburg,South Africa
"Studies suggest that because MCT oil has a different chemical structure to safflower, canola, corn or olive oil, it's more likely to be burned off," she
Breakthrough on mystery of vanishing bees
The New Nation - Bangladesh
Climate change could also be a factor in weakening the bees and has affected the pollination of crops in many agricultural areas in North America.
SAVE THE BEES!
Film Threat - Los Angeles,CA,USA
Our relationship with bees also denotes the most ancient form of agriculture. Today, however a mysterious phenomenon, known as “Colony Collapse Disorder,”
Epicurean import
Wisconsin State Journal - Madison,WI,USA
For most Americans, olive oil was, until recently, synonymous with the cheap yellow bottles of Pompeii at supermarkets. Vinegar was on the bottom shelf for ...
Harvests of hope in the Middle East
Guardian Unlimited - UK
What Peace Oil has done is hugely raise the profile of the olive oils of Israel and Palestine, including the olive oil produced by the Zaytoun initiative
I can't do without these items in my pantry
Sun-Sentinel.com - Fort Lauderdale,FL,USA
Olive oil: I always have at least two varieties of olive oil: extra-virgin and refined. Canola oil: I use canola when I want to saute and not impart a ...
Both Sides Cite Science to Address Altered Corn
BlueRidgeNow.com - Hendersonville,NC,USA
Most pollens “are highly nutritious, as they are designed to attract,” Ms. Hilbeck said, wondering how a toxic pollen would affect bees, for example.
—””ZatounPalestine in a Bottle
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs - Washington,DC,USA
He’d like to see a bottle of Palestinian olive oil in every kitchen cupboard in North America. A marketing consultant based in Montreal, Massoud decided in ...
A passion for Sardinia
Houston Chronicle - United States
The Dallas restaurants introduced that city's diners to radicchio, pasta as its own course and olive oil on the table, in place of butter. ..
Polenta With Sausage and Tomato Sauce
Houston Chronicle - United States
In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and sauté until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the sliced sausages, ...
Where are the bees? Experts hunt for clues
Green Bay Press Gazette - Green Bay,WI,USA
"The way agriculture is done now, we have to move colonies of bees because farmers plant huge quantities of crops that need to be pollinated and the native
A Tempest in a Champagne Flute
New York Times - United States
It is here, in a troglodyte limestone cave, that Mr. Mousseaux, 66, keeps hundreds of bottles of the fizzy wine he makes from his grapes. ...
Bees Wellbeing
KFYR-TV - Bismarck,ND,USA
Beekeepers in North Dakota and other honey states are being asked about how their bees are getting along. The state Agriculture Department has sent ...
Super bees to fight deadly mite
Auckland stuff.co.nz - Auckland,New Zealand
By LUCY VICKERS - Norwest News | Thursday, 20 December 2007 A breeding experiment resulting in varroa-resistant bees is good news for Waimauku honey centre
Earmarks Fund Birds, Bees, Birth, Death
The Associated Press -
They will steer $7.4 billion in taxpayer money to birds and bees, locks and dams, parks and ponds, and scores of other projects throughout the nation. ...
Bees on agistment as drought lingers
ABC Online - Australia
The drought and a honey shortage is forcing apiarists to move their bee hives from central Victoria to Gippsland, in the state's east. ...
Catastrophic Bee de-populations: Genetically Engineered crops ...
Canadian National Newspaper - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
by David Stein An apparently mysterious decimation of bee populations is gradually assuming catastrophic populations. The decimation of bee populations ...
Tucsonan takes on problem of 'underperforming' bees
Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA
By Jack Gillum In a world obsessed with performance enhancement, underperforming bees can now get some zing in their sting. One Tucson entomologist is
Food for thought
Toronto Sun - Ontario, Canada
From apples to fish to olive oil and milk, Schwarcz examines the results of studies that claim benefit or harm. He investigates artificial sweeteners, ...
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Due to the potential extinction of the bee I am focussing on the bee crisis. The bee is responsible for much of the food we have on our table and without it we would simply die.
CCD and theft cut bee supply
Issue Date: February 13, 2008
By Christine Souza
Assistant Editor
Beekeeper Roscoe Hall, above left, reports the theft of beehives to Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Deputy Kirk Gilles. Having no hives to return to, dead bees, below right, remain scattered near where Hall's bees were being stored.
Beekeepers have begun placing the first white boxes full of buzzing honeybees in California almond orchards and hope to have all of the more than 1.2 million bee colonies needed for pollination in place by the end of February. However, the health of bees this year is being described as "spotty" due to the loss of bees from colony collapse disorder (CCD), mites and dry weather conditions.
"There will be boxes with some bees in them, but I don't think there will be enough good-quality hives this year," said Chico almond grower Dan Cummings, who is also co-owner of a full-service beekeeping operation and chairman of the Almond Board of California's bee task force.
"Certainly there have been some losses that are associated with the symptoms of CCD, but there's a school of thought that CCD is highly correlated with cumulative stress," Cummings said. "If you have high mite loads, viruses and malnourished bees, you are a lot more likely to get CCD or the bees to succumb to whatever the causal agent of CCD is."
CCD, which has baffled beekeepers and researchers since the fall of 2006, is a phenomenon where the bees vanish from the hive, leaving it basically empty except for the queen and a few attendants. Some beekeepers have lost a good percentage of their hives and others have not. While this is plaguing beekeepers, they still have almonds to pollinate and contracts to fill. A few beekeepers are also coping with the theft of their hives, which is being attributed to a shortage of bees.
Roscoe Hall is one such victim. In Elk Grove, a community south of Sacramento, there are imprints left in the dirt showing where 100 of Hall's hives were once located. With only days to go before placing bees in the almond orchard locations, he and his son, Michael, went to check on the bees to find them completely gone. A few days later, 80 more of his hives were stolen from another location.
"The hives were located in relatively easy-access areas, but I've never had bees stolen from there before and I've been storing them there for years," said Hall, who had contracted those bees to a local almond grower. "At $200 a hive, for the total loss of 180 hives you are talking about a loss of $36,000. I hope that I can come up with enough hives to supply the contract."
Beekeeper Jackie Park-Burris, president of the California State Beekeepers Association, has been in contact with beekeepers from California and out of state who are looking for bees to supplement their current supplies so that contracts with almond growers can be filled.
"It appears that the supply is quickly drying up as we get closer and closer to bloom," Park-Burris said. "I know of a bee broker who reports receiving 30 phone calls a day from fellow beekeepers asking if he's got extra bees."
Bee broker Lyle Johnston is a beekeeper who owns Johnston Honey Farms that operates out of Madera and Colorado. He brokers hives that are brought to California each year for almond bloom from all over the country including Wisconsin, Texas and North Dakota. This year, he brought 55,000 hives for the almond bloom.
"Everybody started out with plenty of bees. The bee supply looked good early this fall and into probably as late as the first week of January and now supplies have really shrunk down. A lot of guys have lost more bees than they anticipated," Johnston said. "I firmly believe the reason that we are in this mess today is because the Australian packages of bees have brought in Nosema ceranae and then CCD. Mites are a problem, but most of the beekeepers that I deal with have no high levels of mites, so it has got to be something else."
Nosema ceranae is a parasite that may cause nosemosis, also called nosema, the most widespread of the adult honeybee diseases. A few years ago when beekeepers were suffering high amounts of losses due to the varroa mite, many beekeepers purchased packages of bees from Australia to supplement their supplies. Some in the apiary sector like Johnston believe that the packages did more damage than good.
Even though he knows of beekeepers who lost 30 to 40 percent of their hives due to CCD or other problems, he says some hives are incredibly strong this year.
"A big part of our group has bees to the strength that I haven't seen in 30 years, just tremendous, really strong hives so there is a glimmer of hope. It is not all doom and gloom," Johnston said.
What will make a difference for almond growers is a few days of nice weather that allows the bees to have some flying time to get out of the hives and pollinate the crops. Johnston tells his growers that the bees need about four nice days to fly during bloom.
The annual pollination ritual between honeybee and almond tree results in the production of more than 1 billion pounds of almonds annually, a value of more than $2 million for the state's growers who maintain approximately 585,000 bearing acres of almonds. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service also reports the preliminary estimation for bearing acreage for 2007 is 615,000.
Almond growers typically rent two or more hives per acre to adequately pollinate the 75 to 120 trees on each acre. California beekeepers provide more than 500,000 beehive colonies and the remainder of the hives needed for pollination come from out of state.
"In each of the last few years as our almond acreage has increased, there have been more people coming greater distances for almond pollination," Cummings said. "Inevitably those people doing it for the first time learn a lot of lessons, some of them difficult ones. Some of the bees arrive and they are not the best quality so they get sent home and the person that sent them has a huge trucking bill."
Most almond growers typically have contacts with beekeepers, many of whom are the same families they've been working with for years. For those growers who wait until the last minute, it may be difficult to find bees at this point.
"There are no extra bees out here. If they are available, they are probably very low quality at this point," Johnston said. "There is nobody calling me and saying, 'Hey, I've got 1,000 bees, can you use them?' The supply is going to be really short, but we are probably about a week away from knowing just how short it really is."
If growers and beekeepers do not have bees secured now, it is only going to become more difficult trying to find them closer to bloom.
"All of a sudden right before bloom some beekeepers will become aware that they are short and then there is a mad scramble to find the last-minute bees. There will not be extra bees this year," Johnston said.
(Christine Souza is a reporter for Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)
Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top
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