KILLER HORNETS FROM CHINA ARE DEVOURING EUROPEAN BEES - THEY HAVE ALREADY STUNG AND KILLED PEOPLE IN FRANCE

Originally from China, the insects have already spread as far as France, where six people have died from anaphylactic shock after being stung. 

 

Killer hornets that can eat up to 50 honey bees each a day are the latest threats to European hives.  UK government scientists are drawing up a rapid response plan to combat the arrival of the deadly Asian hornet in Britain.

BEAUTIFUL CLOSE-UP PICTURES OF BEES

Bees are beautiful and they are our friends.  Unfortunately we are treating them badly, by spraying products on agricultural fields and gardens that are toxic for bees.  Bees are disappearing, and with them many plants and trees that depend on them for pollination will also disappear.

 

Please fight against the use of bee-killing products.

The pictures, taken by the U.S. Geological Survey's Bee Inventory and Monitoring programme, show that bees' colours range from blue to green, that some have no stripes and that their shapes range from large bumblebees to those as small as a grain of rice.

 

Bees are found everywhere - in the middle of fields, urban areas, gardens and even in marshes where they forage on blooming wetland plants.

 

Most people are completely oblivious to the existence of the many species of small solitary bees nesting in their lawns because they do not sting and don't match our mind picture of what a bee should look like.

See beautiful pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2404086/Bee-photographs-reveal-hidden-beauty-alien-like-shapes-colours-patterns-insects.html

More on endangered bees on this blog - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Bees

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Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/08/beautiful-close-up-pictures-of-bees.html

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BEWARE OF TOXIC "BEE FRIENDLY" GARDEN PLANTS

THEY ARE LYING TO YOU.  MANY ARE TOXIC TO BEES

A pilot study conducted by Friends of the Earth-US and Pesticide Research Institute found that garden plants sold at top retailers contained neonicotinoid pesticides toxic to bees.

Findings include:

• Neonicotinoid residues were detected in seven out of thirteen samples (54 percent) of commercial nursery plants. In the samples with detections, concentrations raged from 11 to 1,500 micrograms per kilogram (ug/kg or parts per billion) of plant material.

• The percentage of contaminated plants and their neonicotinoid concentrations suggest that this problem is widespread, and that many home gardens have likely become a source of exposure for bees.

• For the samples with positive detections, adverse effects on bees and other pollinators are possible, ranging from sublethal effects on navigation, fertility, and immune function to bee death.

Read more:  http://www.pesticideresearch.com/site/?p=7657

More on bees on this blog - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Bees


Link to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/08/beware-of-toxic-bee-friendly-garden.html


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GMO CROPS FAILURE LEADS TO MORE PESTICIDE USE

As insects grow resistant to GMO Bt corn, farmers douse their fields in ever greater amounts of chemicals.

Variations of this corn strain - peddled across the world by large multinationals including Monstanto and Syngenta - are giving rise to Bt resistant insects and worms, studies show. 

 

NPR reports that resistant 'pests' are decimating entire cornfields across Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.  Yet, now that the targeted insect killings are not working, big agribusiness is simply throwing pesticides at the problem instead of moving away from GMOs. This is despite warnings last year from the Environmental Protection Agency that unrestrained use of Bt corn will off-set the balance of the ecosystem. 

 

Environmental groups have long warned that Bt corn is a danger to non-'pest' insects. In a 2004 briefing, Greenpeace showed that the effects of non-targeted insect killings ripple throughout the ecosystem. Critics charge that the modified corn—which is spread by big agribusiness, pushed to small farmers, and crossbred with non GMO strains—undermines food diversity and security and devastates small-scale, sustainable farmers and peasants.

 

The revelation comes after scientists recently warned that pollution runoff from Midwestern farms, carried to the ocean by the Mississippi, is slated to create the largest ocean dead zone recorded in the Gulf of Mexico, choking marine life that crosses its path

Read more: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/07/09-6

NPR audio and transcript on corn crop failure due to Bt resistant pests - http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/07/09/198051447/as-biotech-seed-falters-insecticide-use-surges-in-corn-belt

RELATED: 

Forty million bees killed by agricultural chemicals in Canada (with additional links)
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/bee-news-forty-million-bees-killed-in.html

More bee news on this blog - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Bees

BEE NEWS - INSECTICIDE CHANGES THEIR GENES

ANOTHER STUDY CONFIRMS IT  - IT'S FARM CHEMICALS THAT ARE KILLING BEES

 

New research at the University of Nottingham has shown that exposure to a neonicotinoid insecticide causes changes to the genes of the honeybee.

 

The study supports the recent decision taken by the European Commission to temporarily ban three neonicotinoids amid concerns that they could be linked to bee deaths.

 

There is growing evidence connecting the decline in the honeybee population that pollinates one-third of the food that we eat, and insecticides, but this is the first comprehensive study to look at changes in the activity of honeybee genes linked to one of the recently banned neonicotinoids, imidacloprid.

 

The study, led by Dr Reinhard Stöger, was conducted under field realistic conditions and showed that a very low exposure of just two parts per billion has an impact on the activity of some of the honeybee genes.

 

The researchers identified that cells of honeybee larvae had to work harder and increase the activity of genes involved in breaking down toxins, most likely to cope with the insecticide. Genes involved in regulating energy to run cells were also affected. Such changes are known to reduce the lifespan of the most widely studied insect, the common fruit fly, and lower a larva's probability of surviving to adulthood.

 

Dr Stöger said: "Although larvae can still grow and develop in the presence of imidacloprid, the stability of the developmental process appears to be compromised. Should the bees be exposed to additional stresses such as pests, disease and bad weather then it is likely to increase the rate of development failure."

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130702100600.htm

More bee news on this blog - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Bees

Link to this post:  http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/bee-news-insecticide-changes-their-genes.html

BEE NEWS - FORTY MILLION BEES KILLED IN CANADIAN FARM

BEEKEPER SAYS STUDIES POINT TO CHEMICALS USED IN NEARBY GMO CORN FARM AS CAUSE OF 40 MILLION BEES DEMISE

 

David Schuit runs Schuit's Saugeen Honey near Elmwood, Ottawa, Canada and witnessed a devastating loss of 600 hives totaling nearly 40 million bees. What happened around the same time? A nearby corn field was planted.

 

The group of chemical pesticides called neonicotinoids is used in treating seeds - especially genetically modified corn - before planting. These chemicals have been found in soil, plants, pollen, even in the end product of high fructose corn syrup which is often fed to bees as cheap food to replace the honey they would have survived on. Bees get thirsty too; and there is footage that proves when they drink water droplets from treated plants they can die of neurotoxicity within 25 minutes.

 

It's not just Schuit, though, experiencing the loss. Nearby, growers Nathan Carey and Gary Kenny lost bees this spring and point to insecticides. Kenny lost 8 of his 10 hives after corn planting in adjacent fields. Carey feels like everyone has something at stake with this growing problem.

 

Schuit says the government is sitting on results that prove the direct connection between those chemicals and the destruction of bees, and doing nothing.

 

other species such as "sweat bees, squash bees, leafcutter bees (which pollinate alfalfa) bumblebees, some moths, and many others" are dying from pesticides as well as the use of all heavily doused genetically modified crops. Butterflies, fish, birds, and frogs also top the list for lost habitat likely caused by pesticides.

 

Recently 25-50,000 bees in Oregon dropped dead with strong evidence pointing to a toxic spray used in trees. The UK just witnessed their biggest bee loss yet, and it's been suggested that the U.S. lost 50% of its bee population in the last year - affecting both crops and prices.
 

Read more:  http://www.activistpost.com/2013/07/nearly-40-million-bee-holocaust-in.html

CBC radio program AS IT HAPPENS - interview with beekeeper Schuit, where he describes the agony with which these bees die, paralyzed and vomiting the venom, after ingesting those chemicals.
http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/features/2013/07/03/post-6/

More bee news on this blog - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Bees

Links to this post - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/bee-news-forty-million-bees-killed-in.html

BEE NEWS -

 

BEE SPERM BANK BEING DEVELOPED

 

 THE BEE DIE OFF SITUATION IS DESPERATE

 

Washington State University scientists are developing a sperm bank to capture the biodiversity of honey bees. The hope is to breed stronger pollinators, since populations keep declining.

 

Researchers are preparing to use liquid nitrogen to create a frozen semen bank. They’re also trying to come up with a new super-bee subspecies that could thwart the phenomenon called colony collapse disorder.

 

The project is financed by agribusiness, and will be collecting bees in the European Alps and the United States.

Read more:  http://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-wsu-researchers-to-create-sperm-bank-for-honey-bees/

The desperate situation resulting from a world-wide bee die off is already resulting in failed harvests, such as the case with California almond trees.  Bees are top pollinators, and many food items we consume daily would disappear from supermarkets without bee pollination.

 

Although bees are displaying health problems causing their demise, pesticides and GMOs are believed to be the main culprits for fatal damage done to the bees organs and immune system. 

Pesticides and government inaction behind bees disappearance -
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/06/bees-issues-pesticides-and-government.html

Colony Collapse Disorder on the rise as researchers point to Pesticides -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/bee-deaths-colony-collapse_n_2979959.html

See pictures of what your supermarket would look like with gaps for missing items due to bees disappearance:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2342069/What-supermarket-look-like-bees-die-Empty-shelves-scant-produce-options.html

Government ilegally seizes Monsanto-resistant bees from bee researcher Terrence Ingram.
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/05/government-control-news-monsanto.html

BEES ISSUES -
 

PESTICIDES AND GOVERNMENT INACTION BEHIND BEES DISAPPEARANCE

 

 FOOD SCARCITY AHEAD

 

The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, acknowledges that “pesticide poisoning” may be one factor leading to colony collapse disorder, yet they have been slow to act to protect bees from this threat.

 

Almonds are the main agricultural product of California, and they depend on bee pollination for the success of their crops. 

 

This year, however, the unthinkable happened. Many of the 6,000 orchard owners simply could not find enough bees to pollinate their almond trees, at any price.  Many of the bees delivered to California almond growers turned out to be dead when the packages were opened up.

FACTS:

-  Bees contribute $15 billion in annual agriculture revenue to the US economy alone.

 

-  One-third of the American food supply depends on bees pollinating crops.  Just about every fruit and vegetable you can imagine is dependent on the pollinating services of bees.

 

-   Bee colonies across the world are disappearing - a phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD).

 

-  One main cause of bee die-off is poisoning by pesticides.

The toxicity connection

Forager bees bring pesticide-laden pollen back to the hive, where it's consumed by all of the bees. Six months later, their immune systems fail, and they fall prey to secondary, seemingly "natural" bee infections, such as parasites, mites, viruses, fungi and bacteria.

CONNECT THE DOTS - The disappearance of bee colonies began accelerating in the United States shortly after the EPA allowed these new insecticides on the market in the mid-2000s.

 

Last month, beekeepers and environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the EPA over its failure to protect bees from these toxic pesticides.

Meanwhile, France has banned Imidacloprid for use on corn and sunflowers after reporting large losses of bees after exposure to it. They also rejected Bayer´s application for Clothianidin, and other countries, such as Italy, have banned certain neonicotinoids as well. 

 

A general consensus among beekeepers is that the bee die-offs are most definitely related to toxic chemicals. Neonicotinoids, present in pesticides, is being blamed for bee die-offs. 

 

Pesticides containing Neonicotinoids are applied to seeds before planting, allowing it to be taken up through the plant’s vascular system as it grows. As a result, the chemical contaminates the pollen and nectar of the plant.

 

These insecticides are highly toxic to bees because they are systemic, water-soluble, and pervasive. They get into the soil and groundwater where they can accumulate and remain for many years and present long-term toxicity to the hive.

 

Neonicotinoids affect insects' central nervous systems in ways that are cumulative and irreversible. Even minute amounts can have profound effects over time. They weaken the bee's immune system.

 

Read more: 
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/08/bees-dying-off.aspx?e_cid=20130608_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20130608


RELATED:

GOVERNMENT ILEGALLY SEIZES MONSANTO-RESISTANT BEES FROM OREGON FARMER AND BEE RESEARCHER TERRENCE INGRAM.

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/05/government-control-news-monsanto.html

COLONY COLLAPSE SYNDROME A FRAUD -- PESTICIDES CAUSE BEE DIE OFFS

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/05/colony-collapse-disorder-is-fraud.html

STUDY LINKS BEE DIE OFFS TO PESTICIDES, BUT GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO BAN SUCH PESTICIDES.

A major study by the U.S. government’s environment and agriculture agencies has suggested a strong link between the use of certain pesticides and the widespread deaths that have afflicted honey bee populations around the world in recent years.  Still, the joint report does not suggest limiting the use of these pesticides, nor does it recommend immediate action to impose a temporary ban, as was announced this week in a landmark decision by the European Union. Rather, the report offers technical tweaks while urging additional research on the issue.

https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/03-0

EUROPE BANS SOME PESTICIDES - US KEEPS SPRAYING

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/05/eu-ban-bee-harming-pesticides-puts-pressure-us-epa

GOVERNMENT CONTROL NEWS - 

MONSANTO RESISTANT BEES ILEGALLY SEIZED

Years of research on bees destroyed

The Illinois Agriculture Department illegally seized privately owned bees from renowned naturalist, Terrence Ingram, without providing him with a search warrant and before the court hearing on the matter, reports Prairie Advocate News. 

Behind the obvious violations of his Constitutional rights is Monsanto. Ingram was researching Roundup’s effects on bees, which he’s raised for 58 years. "They ruined 15 years of my research," he told Prairie Advocate, by stealing most of his stock.

Inspectors claim that the colonies were infected by bacterial disease.  Ingram wanted to prove that his bees did not have such infection, and planned to do so at a hearing set in April, but the state seized his bees at the end of March. They have not returned them and no one at the Agriculture Department seems to know where his bees are.

The bees may have been destroyed, but there is speculation that they may have been turned over to Monsanto to find out why they are resistant to Roundup.  Without the bees as evidence, Ingram cannot prove his colonies were healthy.

Worse, all his queens died after his property was inspected outside of his presence and without a warrant.

Of note, Illinois beekeepers are going underground after Ingram’s experience and refuse to register their hives, in case the state tries to steal their private property on phony claims.

Read more:  http://www.pakalertpress.com/2013/05/26/illinois-illegally-seizes-bees-resistant-to-monsantos-roundup-kills-remaining-queens/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pakalert+%28Pak+Alert+Press%29

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Natural News reports:

Of particular interest was Ingram's extensive research on Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, which began several years ago when hundreds of Ingram's hives had died.

He later determined that Roundup sprayings near his property were to blame, which prompted him to actively research the subject and closely monitor his hives in conjunction with this research from that point onward.

What he gathered, and subsequently taught to others, was concrete evidence that Roundup kills bees. 

He also used this information and his many years of experience to develop and refine ways of growing strong, chemical-free bees in spite of Roundup sprayings, a move that apparently upset the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Read more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035920_beekeeper_Illinois_raid.html

In interview with the Prairie Advocate, Ingram asked, "Is Illinois becoming a police state, where citizens do not have rights?"  (See below.)

SOURCE WITH EXTENDED REPORT AND INTERVIEW HERE on the Prairie Advocate:  http://www.pacc-news.com/5-2-12/heart_ingram5_2_12.html

RELATED ARTICLES:  http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Bees

GIANT BEE CITY

ANIMAL NEWS -

GIANT BEE CITY

 

See pictures of a 22ft-high man-made bee hive that is the equivalent of a very tall bee skyscraper. 
 

It's designed so that human visitors can watch bees at work without fear of getting stung.

The stainless steel tower is located in Buffalo, and was created by State University of New York students.

See pictures here:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2327613/Welcome-Hive-City-Inside-22ft-steel-tower-thats-home-5-000-bees.html

ANIMAL NEWS -

A BEE THAT FEEDS ON TURTLE TEARS, A TRAVELLING CAT, AND A SOLDIER BEAR

 

 

Bee that survives by sucking up a turtle's tears - The endangered yellow-spotted river turtle cannot easily brush the salty liquid away, while the solitary bee needs sodium in is diet.  Photographed for the first time.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2320122/Incredible-photo-captures-bee-survives-sucking-turtle-s-tears-time-ever.html

Cat makes his way home from refuge away from Hurricane Sandy.  Porsche the Cat travels eight miles through all kinds of weather and traffic for six months. Arrives home looking good and in perfect health.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2319904/Cat-makes-8-mile-trek-home-lost-family-displaced-Hurricane-Sandy-months-ago.html

The incredible story of Wojtek, the soldier bear.  An Iranian boy found a Syrian brown bear cub in 1942, and sold it to the 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Polish II Corps for canned meat. That's how the story of the most famous military animal started.

http://io9.com/the-incredible-story-of-wojtek-the-soldier-bear-472850278

ANIMAL NEWS -

 

Bomb Bees can detect landmines

 

Croatian scientists have been training bees with a solution of sugar and the smell of explosives. Once the bees are hooked on this kind of food, they will automatically head for areas with hidden landmines, a remnant of Croatia's war during the 1990s

Information, maps and pictures - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2315198/The-bomb-bees-sniff-landmines-THREE-MILES-away.html