EPA and FDA Consider Change in Pest Management Product Oversight On Wednesday, members of the IR-4 team joined a public meeting exploring potential changes to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) current oversight of pest management products. These changes could impact IR-4’s ability to serve the beekeeping industry with pest management products that help keep honey bees healthy. While IR-4 is best known for its work supporting pest management in food and environmental horticulture crops, our efforts gaining product registrations for honey b ..read more

Pollination of macadamia plantations can be enhanced by improving plantation design. by British Ecological Society Left: Honeybee collects nectar on the flowers. Right: Mina Anders counts the pollinators on the flowers. Credit: Mina Anders A new collaborative study from the Universities of Gottingen, Hohenheim and Venda in Germany and South Africa, explores how improving plantation design can enhance pollination on macadamia plantations. The reduction of biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes calls for an increase in sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural ..read more

NEWS FLASH EPA RULES ON OXALIC ACID AND GLYCERIN Below is an overview of the EPA’s response to Vermont’s approval of the use of Oxalic Acid and Glycerin for the treatment of Varroa. To read the entire response, see the download link. The use described (Oxalic and Glycerin) does not fall within the scope of exemptions from the term “to use any registered pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling” “It shall be unlawful for any person to use any registered pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling” as stated in Section 12 (a)(2)(G) of FIFRA The existing label ..read more

For a best friend to Florida bees, each rescue is personal Coral Gables (United States) (AFP) – Melissa Sorokin sees herself as “a bee advocate,” deeply passionate about helping to rescue the at-risk creatures that play such a critical role in biodiversty Often called in by spooked or concerned residents, she acts as emergency responder for the vital pollinators, spending the substantial time it takes to move threatening or threatened hives to safer locations. Sorokin, who lives in Florida, says rescuing hives is infinitely better than homeowners or businesses allowing pest control servi ..read more

Why Farmers in Zimbabwe Are Shifting to Bees By Andrew Mambondiyani, originally published by YES! magazine Smallholder farmers in Village M—a farming community south of the eastern border city of Mutare in Zimbabwe—have, for years, enjoyed bumper harvests of maize and other crops. However, the abundant yields in Village M and surrounding communities have diminished considerably over the past 20 years. Large swathes of previously productive farmland now lie neglected, overrun by rough thickets of sickle bushes. Several areas across Zimbabwe have been ravaged by severe climat ..read more

When Considering the Purchase of Nucs By: B. Worthy Healthy nuc overflowing with bees. Beekeepers have many options when deciding how to enlarge their apiary or add new genetics to their beekeeping records. One popular choice is to purchase nucs or nucleus colonies. You can buy a nuc from local beekeepers or other states; in fact, some serious beekeepers purchase queens from other states then sell nucs from those queens’ progeny. A common definition of a nucleus colony is a colony, or nuc, in a smaller hive, consisting of bees in all stages of development, as well as food, a laying queen and ..read more

Beekeeping Today Podcast (S5, E39) The podcast for the latest beekeeping news, information and entertainment for today’s beekeeper. Hosts Jeff Ott and Kim Flottum bring you interviews and commentary helping you become a more informed and knowledgeable beekeeper. This time with Jennifer Berry and Scott Griffith! Visit their website for more episodes: beekeepingtodaypodcast.com ..read more

Bee Informed Partnership (BIP), a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on honey bee health, is looking for a talented individual to assist our Technical Transfer Team as a Honey Bee Health Field Specialist to work with commercial beekeepers in the South Central and North Central regions. The Field Specialist will serve beekeepers primarily in Texas, and travel frequently to North Dakota, South Dakota and California, following colony migration through the seasons. This is a remote, contract position with no benefits with potential opportunity to evolve into permanent employment for ..read more

AI can track bees on camera. Here’s how that will help farmers Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a new way to track the insect pollinators essential to farming. In a new study, we installed miniature digital cameras and computers inside a greenhouse at a strawberry farm in Victoria, Australia, to track bees and other insects as they flew from plant to plant pollinating flowers. Using custom AI software, we analysed several days’ video footage from our system to build a picture of pollination behaviour over a wide area. In the same way that monitoring roads can help traff ..read more

A California Teen’s Research on Bees’ Memory Is Helping Avert Colony Collapse Disorder By The 74 With the help of a local beekeeper, San Jose’s Rory Hu launched an experiment where artificial flowers helped boost learning within bee colonies. When Rory Hu came across a news article about the global decline in honey bee populations, she was inspired to do something about it. Known as Colony Collapse Disorder, it puts the global food supply at serious risk. The teen from San Jose, California, dug deeper, discovering in her research that harmful pesticides can damage the honey bees’ learning ..read more