Between 2019 and 2021, swarms of desert locusts̨ swept across the Horn of Africa and East Africa. In response, the worst-affected countries, Kenya and Ethiopia, sprayed millions of hectares of cropland and pastures with chemical pesticides. A new study now finds the chemical spraying coincided with a steep decline in honey production in Ethiopia. Co-author […]
Tag: pollinators
Pesticides Drifting to Unintended Flowers Could Harm Pollinators, Study Finds
Bees need a balanced diet of nectar, which gives them carbohydrates in the form of sugars, and pollen, which provides fat and protein, from a wide variety of plant sources. Different bee species have their own nutritional needs, but no healthy bee diet includes pesticides. According to new findings by scientists from Trinity College Dublin […]
Australia is Exterminating Tens of Millions of Bees After Being Hit by Varroa Mite Plague
Australia is exterminating tens of millions of bees after a varroa mite plague hit the major honey-producing nation. Australia is just the latest honey-producing nation to have a mite plague issue causing significant declines in honey bee populations. According to authorities, an eradication zone has been set up within a six-mile radius of a sighting. […]
One of Australia’s tiniest mammals is heading for extinction, but you can help
They weigh around 15 grams, the same as a 50 cent coin. They devour vast quantities of insects. And they’re in real trouble. Our new research has found the critically endangered southern bent-wing bat is continuing to decline. Its populations are centered on just three “maternity” caves in southeast South Australia and southwest Victoria, where […]
The weedkiller glyphosate destroys wild bees’ capability to reproduce the next generation
The weedkiller glyphosate, according to recent research, has affected wild bumblebees’ ability to keep their hives at the right temperature. Glyphosate is the most widely used insecticide on the planet, and it’s just meant to kill plants. Bumblebees, which are vital pollinators, were left out of regulatory risk assessments, which focus solely on whether a […]
World heading towards a devastating insect apocalypse according to new study
Land overuse, resource depletion, and global warming have all had disastrous implications for the world. According to a new study, portions of the planet are now on the verge of an insect apocalypse. The study, which was published in the journal Nature, discovered a link between high-intensity agriculture and the ever-present climate emergency. They discovered […]
Birds, bats, bees and butterflies are essential for pollination in your garden
Pollinators include birds, bats, bees, butterflies, and a variety of other insects. We’d be in a lot of trouble if they didn’t exist. Pollinators are involved in one out of every three bites of food humans consume, and they are critical to the ecosystem’s balance. According to estimates, between 75 and 95 percent of all […]
Insects are vanishing from our planet at an alarming rate. But there are ways to help them
Insects have been around for more than 400m years, their ancestors crawling from the oceans to colonise the land long before dinosaurs appeared. They have been enormously successful, evolving into a staggering diversity of more than 1m known species, with perhaps as many as another 4m yet to be described by science. There are more […]