The debate about the environmental safety, or lack there of, for the neonicotinoid insecticides begs us to ask what would be the characteristics of an environmentally safe or benign pesticide? Despite a growing and flourishing organic agriculture movement, industrial agriculture is not going away any time soon. Hence it is important to understand how to [...]
Tag: Colony Collapse
Neonics and Bees — Political Inaction Persists Despite Mounting Evidence
Over the course of the last year, the issue of bees and the neonicotinoid pesticides has finally begun to appear in the popular press in this country. A campaign by Friends of the Earth in the UK resulted in major garden center chains removing the neonics from their shelves in February of last year. Early [...]
Resolving the Imidacloprid Paradox and the CCD Connection
There are quite a number of studies that show imidacloprid and other neonicotinoid insecticides don't do much damage to honeybees at levels expected in field conditions. Yet there is plenty of evidence that "country" bees do better than "farm" bees. The big migratory beekeepers are the one's suffering the most, often with losses over 100% a year, [...]
Colony Collapse Comes Home
It's been a busy summer and fall, with much travel, and less time for my usual gardening, beekeeping and blogging. Finally getting caught up on garden chores, I went to check the bees this weekend since we had a bit of nice weather. Unfortunately, the new was not good. Here is this year's bee story, [...]
Keeping our Bees Alive
UPDATE 1/30/12: Yet another study implicating Neonicotinoid insecticides. This time the study looks at sub lethal levels of imidacloprid fed in spiked pollen substitute patties on the susceptibility of newly emerged bees to nosema infection. There is clear evidence that although the bees themselves have an undetectable level of insecticide present, the ones fed contaminated pollen had higher levels of nosema spore [...]
Vanishing Bees
The warm stretch of weather last week provided an opportunity to look in on the bees. Two of my three hives are doing well, with bees filling at least a full brood super and generally a healthy appearance. The other hive, the one that was strongest last year, is suffering. It appears to have the now all-too-common symptoms of [...]
Squash Practice 