Last century, Albert Einstein predicted that if bees disappeared off the face of the Earth, humans would only have four years left to live. The death of these insects on a large scale, seen as apocalyptic at the time, now constitutes a real warning for humanity. Between December 2018 and February 2019, more than 500 […]
Tag: honeybee
The Bees and the Birds
United States, Vermont, 1962, Springtime. Walking through the forests, all seemed to be in order, except for one startling peculiarity: the air was still. No birds flew amongst the trees and without them, their songs were gone as well. This unnerving detail was not localised to Vermont. Birds were vanishing from ecosystems all across North […]
No Plan B for Berlin Bees
Can you think of a species which bakes its own food, dances with mates, fight wars against each other, and offer their queens flowery stuff (to make babies)? You’ve guessed it, bees. Not what you expected? Well, bees have been around for 100,000,000 years. That’s 99,800,000 more years than humans have walked the Earth. Recently […]
POLL: Should the bee-harming pesticide ban be expanded?
Europe should expand a ban on bee-harming pesticides in light of a new report warning of widespread risks to agriculture and the environment, Greenpeace has said. The report by biologists at the University of Sussex and commissioned by Greenpeace, concluded that the threat posed to bees by neonicotinoid pesticides was greater than perceived in 2013 […]
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. […]
Third of all honeybee colonies in England did not survive winter
More than a third of all honeybee colonies in England died over the winter, according to figures from the British Beekeepers Association, the worst losses since its winter survival survey began. On average, 33.8 colonies in every 100 perished over the long winter of 2012-13 compared with 16.2% the previous winter. In the south-west of […]
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
