The fifth edition of The State Energy Efficiency Index (SEEI), initiated by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), in association with Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), to evaluate the annual progress of energy efficiency implementation in the states. The State Energy Efficiency Index (SEEI) identifies and addresses gaps concerning …
Nectar robbing – foraging nectar illegitimately – has negative, neutral, or positive efects on maternal function of plant reproduction and/or on pollinators. It has been suggested that nectar robbing has a non-negative efect on maternal function of plant reproduction in autogamous and mixed breeding plants; however this hypothesis requires deeper …
The assignment of a symbolic representation to a specific numerosity is a fundamental requirement for humans solving complex mathematical calculations used in diverse applications such as algebra, accounting, physics and everyday commerce. Here we show that honeybees are able to learn to match a sign to a numerosity, or a …
Results from a new study suggest that bees might be exposed to pesticides in more ways than we thought, and it could impact their development significantly. The study, published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, looks at the non-target effects of pesticides on ground-nesting bees, a group that actually makes up the …
This paper presents a case study of the Honey Bee Network’s decentralized model for collecting, verifying and disseminating grassroots innovations and provides a roadmap for its replication in Africa. The Honey Bee Network brings together governmental and non‐governmental institutions, members of academia, scholars and a large number of volunteers. Through …
The world’s most used weedkiller damages the beneficial bacteria in the guts of honeybees and makes them more prone to deadly infections, new research has found. Previous studies have shown that pesticides such as neonicotinoids cause harm to bees, whose pollination is vital to about three-quarters of all food crops. …
Microbial communities, associated with almost all metazoans, can be inherited from the environment. Although the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) gut microbiome is well documented, studies of the gut focus on just a small component of the bee microbiome. Other key areas such as the comb, propolis, honey, and stored pollen …
Wild bees and honeybees are put at risk by three pesticides from a group known as neonicotinoids, Europe’s food safety watchdog said on Wednesday, confirming previous concerns that prompted an EU-wide ban on use of the chemicals. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report, which covered wild bees and honeybees …
A new study has found traces of neonicotinoid chemicals in 75% of honey samples from across the world. The scientists say that the levels of the widely used pesticide are far below the maximum permitted levels in food for humans. In one third of the honey, the amount of the …
Gut microbiomes play crucial roles in animal health, and shifts in the gut microbial community structure can have detrimental impacts on hosts. Studies with vertebrate models and human subjects suggest that antibiotic treatments greatly perturb the native gut community, thereby facilitating proliferation of pathogens. In fact, persistent infections following antibiotic …
The Boni people who live in Lamu are counting losses following the collapse of bee keeping which is their main economic activity. Residents of Bar'goni, Pandanguo, Milimani, Basuba, Mangai, Mararani and Kiangwe have said that bee keeping has completely collapsed following the migration of bees due to the ravaging drought. …
The health of honey bee colonies cannot be understood apart from the landscapes in which they live. Urban and agricultural developments are two of the most dramatic and widespread forms of human land use, but their respective effects on honey bees remain poorly understood. Here, we evaluate the relative attractiveness …
Honey bees are highly valued for their pollination services in agricultural settings, and recent declines in managed populations have caused concern. Colony losses following a major pollination event in the United States, almond pollination, have been characterized by brood mortality with specific symptoms, followed by eventual colony loss weeks later. …
Unpublished field trials by pesticide manufacturers show their products cause serious harm to honeybees at high levels, leading to calls from senior scientists for the companies to end the secrecy which cloaks much of their research. The research, conducted by Syngenta and Bayer on their neonicotinoid insecticides, were submitted to …
This study measured part of the in-hive pesticide exposome by analyzing residues from live in-hive bees, stored pollen, and wax in migratory colonies over time and compared exposure to colony health. We summarized the pesticide burden using three different additive methods: (1) the hazard quotient (HQ), an estimate of pesticide …
Huddled around their hives, beekeepers around the south-eastern US fear a new threat to their livelihood: a fine mist beaded with neurotoxin, sprayed from the sky by officials at war with mosquitos that carry the Zika virus. Earlier this week, South Carolina beekeepers found millions of dead honey bees carpeting …
New research has added to the growing list of challenges facing the nation’s pollinators. A study, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that agricultural changes in the Northern Great Plains — particularly the expansion of corn and soybean cropland — could be putting a …
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Divas Matinyadze’s 47 beehives are hidden away in a dense patch of forest, along a narrow dirt path beside a small river in Mpudzi Resettlement Scheme. “If you cut a tree anywhere near my beehives, you are assured of trouble from me,” chuckled Matinyadze. …
According to scientists, the kind of pesticide, neonicotinoids, used in farms may actually harm the honeybee population. The researchers from Mainz University Medical Center and Goethe University Frankfurt discovered that the use of active systemic insecticides called neonicotinoids causes the alarming bee mortality. The study was published in the journal …
The formal launch of the honey bee census by schoolchildren in the city will occur on Tuesday at the Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls' School. This census is part of an effort by conservationists to assess the status of bees and their impact on local landscape. As part of the census, …
A method for the determination of 200 pesticides and pesticide metabolites in honeybee samples has been developed and validated. Almost 98% of compounds included in this method are approved to use within European Union, as active substances of plant protection products or veterinary medicinal products used by beekeepers to control …
