Beekeepers try to keep bees — and livelihoods — from going extinct

    An interesting piece from the Washington Post about the lengths that some beeks are having to go to help their colonies. Obsessing over bee health was unheard of 50 years ago, said Marla Spivak, a University of Minnesota professor of entomology. “In the past, it was very easy to keep bees. Throw them in a box, and they …

FUD from the Grain Farmers of Ontario

FUD /fəd/, noun fear, uncertainty and doubt, usually evoked intentionally in order to put a competitor at a disadvantage. The Grain Farmers of Ontario have been very vocal opponents of Ontario’s recently approved and soon to be implemented restrictions on the neonicotinoid pesticide seed treatments. If you listen to their argument, it’s going to mean the end of grain farming …

Chemical Weapon or Bee Poop?

It sounds like two extreme ends of a continuum, but that’s really the debate: In 1981 the Vietnam War was over, for the United States, but it looked to the world like the Cold War was still being fought in Southeast Asia, and it had a nasty new wrinkle. The Soviets were spraying Vietnam and Laos with something that left odd …

Video source missing

The Beekeeper Stands Between Humans And Extinction

I’d never heard of an online magazine called The Plaid Zebra before today, but it’s looking like an interesting place to spend some time. On December 1st, they published an article and released a 7-minute documentary about the honeybee and a beekeeper in Colorado who very much does things the same way we do: It’s a very thoughtful piece, even …

This just in: pesticides are good for honeybees!

I’ll just let that sink in for a moment. That’s right: everything that we think we know about honeybees and pesticides are wrong. Believe it. No, I haven’t lost my mind. A journalist tried to feed me that line this morning. Bear with me, it will take a minute to explain. I was perusing the Beekeepers of Eastern Ontario and Western …

CAPA releases Annual Winter Loss Report

The Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists has been tallying winter losses across Canada since 2007. Their 2013 Statement on Winter Losses (covering the winter of 2012/2013) has been released and it’s ugly out there: Province Number of Colonies Wintered Fall 2012 Number of Dead or Unproductive Colonies Spring 2013 Percent Wintering Loss (%) British Columbia 46,746 8,414 18.0 Alberta 282,000 …