What's bugging our bees?
There are approximately 20,000 bee species in the world and 1,600 species in California. Despite this diversity, honey bees are still arguably the most important managed pollinator, and this brief overview willfocus on issues plaguing this charismatic insect. However, many of the same stressors are certainly affecting other pollinator populations. In agriculture, honey bees are used for pollinating numerous food plants that make our diets more exciting and nutritious, including many fruits, vegetables and nuts, and they are a crucial contributor to healthy ecosystems.
However, beekeepers in the past decade have been reporting annual honey bee colony losses that have reached 45%, which is more than double the acceptable loss deemed by beekeepers.
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Effects of oxalic acid on honey bee larval development
CATCH THE BUZZ : Sick Bees Eat Healthier.
In the study, published recently in the journal Microbial Ecology, the researchers first gave groups of bees different kinds of pollen. They found that sick bees, and not healthy bees, lived longer when they had access to the pollen that was more nutritious, even though it also increased the number of parasites found in their gut.
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Food stressed larvae make poor adults
Inadequate access to pollen during larval development has lifelong consequences for honey bees, leading not only to smaller workers and shorter lifespans, but also to impaired performance and productivity later in life.
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EAS 2018 August 13-17, 2018
Eastern Apiculture Society will deliver another amazing Honey Bee Conference in the summer of 2018. This year we will be at a conference center with plenty of space and all under one roof.
CATCH THE BUZZ : Study Finds Parallels between Unresponsive Honey Bees and Human Autism
Honey bees that consistently fail to respond to obvious social cues share something fundamental with autistic humans, researchers report in a new study. Genes most closely associated with autism spectrum disorders in humans are regulated differently in unresponsive honey bees than in their more responsive nest mates, the study found.
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