United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service Cooperating with the California Department of Food and Agriculture California's 2016 almond production is forecast at 2.05 billion meat pounds, up 2.5 percent from May's subjective forecast and up 7.9 percent from last year's crop. The forecast is based on 900 thousand bearing acres. Production for the Nonpareil variety is forecast at 780 million …
(Queensland Government News Release) Varroa mites have been detected in North Queensland at the Port of Townsville, and Biosecurity Queensland is implementing a surveillance program to prevent any spread of the mite. The mites’ most likely entry path into Australia was on a feral swarm of Asian honey bees arriving at the port. The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries has movement restrictions for …
According to an international research group, a genetic variant of the deformed wing virus (DWV) is more dangerous to honeybees than the original virus strain. The consortium of researchers is based at Freie Universität Berlin and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. The emerging variant could represent a threat to honeybees worldwide and is probably already widespread in many parts of Europe. …
Photographers with an interest in honey bees and beekeeping are invited to enter the fifth annual Vita photo competition. Winners’ photographs will appear in the 2017 Vita Calendar and be featured in Vita’s monthly newsletters. All winners will receive a copy of the limited edition calendar and one outright winner will also receive a cash prize plus beekeeping products. The competition …
USDA Estimates Annual Consumption of Nearly One Pound of Honey Per Person (National Honey Board News Release) Firestone, Colorado – According to latest data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), honey consumption continues to rise in the country with an average of nearly one pound (0.9 pound) of honey being consumed per person compared to 0.5 pounds consumed per person …
Hebrew University field study shows for the first time that social time cues override influence of light and darkness in regulating the natural body clock of honey bees, highlighting the complexity of clock regulation in natural habitat The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Circadian rhythms are internal clocks that determine many of an organism's daily rhythms, for example sleep-wake, feeding, urinary …
By Kim Kaplan Agricultural Research Services, USDA BELTSVILLE, Md., June 21, 2016 —The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Bee Research Laboratory and Geezer Ridge Farm apiary have begun an unusual partnership that may help honey bees take another step up the survival ladder. "Usually with science, researchers finish a study and turn the results over to beekeepers to apply; …
Aarhus University A team of researchers has elucidated individual profiles of allergy reactivity in patients that are not protected after treatment with immunotherapy. The aim is to improve medical treatment of people who are allergic to insect stings. Approximately 30 per cent of the European population suffers from allergies and 3-5 per cent are allergic to insect venom. In Denmark alone, …