ARS News Service By Jan Suszkiw MADISON, WISCONSIN, August 20, 2019—Bees only feast on nectar and pollen, right? Wrong. Turns out, Nature's famously busy insect isn't strictly vegan, after all. Reporting online in this month's American Naturalist, a team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and university scientists has shown that bee larvae (brood) have a taste for "microbial meat." ARS entomologist Shawn Steffan and his …
Guide includes how to test and treat American and European Foulbrood, new Veterinary Feed Directive rules for using antibiotics, and the importance of being vigilant The Honey Bee Health Coalition unveiled a new resource for beekeepers today — an information sheet for hive management decisions related to American Foulbrood (AFB) and European Foulbrood (EFB). An expert team of beekeepers, entomologists, apiary …
by Kim Kaplan FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, April 18, 2019—Cold temperatures inside honey bee colonies may cause colony losses during and after long-distance hauling, according to a preliminary study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists. Every year almost 2 million honey bee colonies—nearly two-thirds of the managed colonies in the United States—are loaded aboard semi-trailers and shipped across the country multiple times to …
EPA is updating its Residual Time to 25% Bee Mortality (RT25) Data table with information the agency has collected since the table was first published in 2014. EPA published the RT25 data as one of many actions we have taken since 2006 to protect pollinators. RT25 data help farmers and beekeepers know about how long a specific pesticide may remain toxic …
National Corn Growers Association, U.S. Canola Association partner with Coalition to develop best practices growers can use to reduce risk to honey bees, other pollinators Two Honey Bee Health Coalition member organizations — the National Corn Growers Association and the U.S. Canola Association — recently unveiled best management practices for growers to help protect bees in and around corn and canola …
We’ve all heard of Deformed Wing Virus and most of you can probably list another 3 or 4 honey bee viruses. But what other viruses still lurk undiscovered? An international team of researchers uncovered evidence of 27 previously unknown viruses in bees. The finding could help scientists design strategies to prevent the spread of viral pathogens among these important pollinators. "Populations …
Honey bees can produce vast amounts of honey off canola, known as oilseed rape in Europe. It’s an early flow that can crystallize in the comb if the weather turns cool. Some beekeepers lately have become hesitant about placing their colonies near canola, worried that the pollen from treated fields is negatively impacting honey bee health. New research shows that …
Scientists have discovered bees linger on a flower, emptying it of nectar, because they have sugar-sensing taste neurons which work together to prolong the pleasure of the sweetness. Newcastle University researchers report that the bees' taste neurons found on their proboscis - their mouthparts - fire intense signals for up to 10 seconds - much longer than the taste neurons found …