New research has linked springtime die-offs of honeybees critical for pollinating food crops — part of the mysterious malady called colony collapse disorder (CCD) — with technology for planting corn coated with insecticides. The study, published in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology, appears on the eve of spring planting seasons in some parts of Europe where farmers use the technology and widespread deaths of honeybees have occurred in the past.
Tag Archives: CCD
Bee honey naturally rich in lactic acid bacteria, perhaps our first probiotic food – CCD implications?
The stomachs of wild honey bees are full of healthy lactic acid bacteria that can fight bacterial infections in both bees and humans.
A collaboration between researchers at three universities in Sweden – Lund University, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Karolinska Institutet – has produced findings that could be a step towards solving the problems of both bee deaths and antibiotic resistance.
Bees manage to keep up with early springs
If we are to believe the world’s number one pollinators, spring currently starts about 10 days earlier than it did 130 years ago. Since 1880 bees have been keeping pace with rising temperatures by coming out of hibernation and starting … Continue reading
Diesel nanoparticles may disturb bee’s homing device, contribute to CCD
Air pollution from diesel engine fumes may end up in a honeybee’s brain. And for our flower-powered little friends that could be about as bad as it sounds, say a group of researchers from the University of Southampton – led … Continue reading
Closing in on CCD: a cocktail of cocktails is killing the bees
Although that would of course be much more convenient when trying to solve the problem, research shows Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, that sudden die-off of bee populations in Europe, North America and Asia, cannot be attributed to one single … Continue reading
CCD not only pollination disturbance – intensive agriculture may lure bees away from rare wild plants
Researchers of Oxford University and Earthwatch UK find farmland rich in pollen distracts pollinating insects from nearby nature reserves.
In case of CCD the pest could be worse than the pesticide: P450 enzymes help bees survive chemicals that kill parasite
Usually when we want to get rid of an insect or other arthropod we spray it with something nasty. And that is indeed what beekeepers do to kill varroa destructor, a mite that infects beehives and contributes to Colony Collapse … Continue reading
CCD threatens supply of healthy foods more than staple and fast foods
‘Some 35 percent’ of the foods we eat [and two-thirds to three-quarters of the crop foods] are derived from flowering plants and trees that depend on pollination by insects. This often-cited percentage is used to stress the importance of bees … Continue reading