In a new study published today in the journal Scientific Reports, a duo of researchers at the University of Maryland found that the median lifespan of caged worker honeybees has been declining in the United States since the 1970s, from an average of 34.3 days to 17.7 days. Colony turnover is an accepted factor in […]
Tag: beekeeping
The bears and the bees: How honey is helping to save the spectacled bear
A bear cub with distinctive yellow circling about the eyes is caught on camera, deep in the dry forests of the Andes mountain range in Bolivia. Beside it, a glimpse of the shaggy black fur of its mother. For six months, researchers had laid camera traps across a 600-square-kilometer area, trying to catch sight of […]
Can we save the bees? Absolutely. Let’s start with the native species (commentary)
My name is Krystle Hickman. I’m a photographer, community scientist and public speaker based in Los Angeles, California. My photography revolves around three things: bees, the plants they visit and their ecosystems. As a community scientist I note behavior, times, dates and weather when out photographing bees and their flowers. Over many years, my notations […]
Breaking News: Alarm over deaths of bees from rapidly spreading viral disease
A viral disease that causes honey bees to suffer severe trembling, flightlessness and death within a week is spreading exponentially in Britain. Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) was only recorded in Lincolnshire in 2007. A decade later, it was found in 39 of 47 English counties and six of eight Welsh counties, according to data […]
POLL: Should genetically-modified bees with pesticide resistance be created?
The spring of 2008 was brutal for Europe’s honeybees. In late April and early May, during the corn-planting season, dismayed beekeepers in Germany’s upper Rhine valley looked on as whole colonies perished. Millions of bees died. France, the Netherlands and Italy reported big losses, but in Germany the incident took on the urgency of a […]
The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees | Book Review
Every year, somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of all worker honeybees disappear from their hives, never to be seen again, leaving their developing young to die and their queens untended. This disturbing phenomenon, known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), was first identified in the United States, but it is happening all around the world. […]
Bee on Fire
This bee is on fire, making one last attempt to change a breeze’s direction, castaway seeds struggling to keep up. • Honey bee | Apis mellifera
Memories of Summer
The pull of a daisy strands a honey bee in orbit, wings reflecting memories of summer. Honey bee | Apis mellifera