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 …
The first study conducted in a natural environment has shown that systemic pesticides damage bees' ability to navigate. Common crop pesticides have been shown for the first time to seriously harm bees by damaging their renowned ability to navigate home. The new research strongly links the pesticides to the serious …
Promotion and growth of the pollination enterprise can help improve livelihoods for several mountain farming families by generating employment and income as well as boosting the production and quality of crop. Managed pollination of apples as practiced in Himachal Pradesh, India is an excellent example of enhancing income and food …
Initiatives and innovations promoted by Keystone Foundation have helped promote bee keeping amongst farmers and tribal communities around the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The impacts are visible in terms of better yields in coffee, mango and vegetable crops.
India started exporting a small amount of honey in 1991-1992 and has now established itself as an important honey exporter to the world market. The quantity exported has increased substantially, and today India exports honey to 62 countries, including Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. This …
Pollination is a concern for cardamom farmers as it is difficult to maintain pollinator populations in plantations between years. The innovative solution that is gaining popularity for ensuring quality pollination services to cardamom in South West India, is the use of managed forestry to create "sequential blooms" in mixed coffee …
Populations of honey bees and other pollinators have declined worldwide in recent years. A variety of stressors have been implicated as potential causes, including agricultural pesticides. Neonicotinoid insecticides, which are widely used and highly toxic to honey bees, have been found in previous analyses of honey bee pollen and comb …
Agricultural universities across the country are trying to study the impact of radiation from mobile phone towers on honeybees. Sixteen of the State agriculture universities have initiated studies to assess the impact of the radiation from the towers on honeybees as part of an all-India co-ordinated research project on honeybees …
To maximize the potential of agricultural scale up, NGOs need to act as facilitators of multi-stakeholder processes that establish new types of farmer organizations, alliances to influence policy and investment, new business models, and innovative ways of delivery market services. Small Farmers, Big Change will help NGOs to build their …
European foulbrood disease is a broad disease in honey bees caused by a bacterium, Melissococcus plutonius. By now, various herbal and chemical drugs have been tried to control it. In the present study, the effects of different organic extracts of three different bryophytes and a standard drug (positive control) have …
Global warming has led to many plants blooming ever earlier and also before honey bees emerge from hibernation, leading to fears of a long-term decline in pollination. A combined research group centred at Munich's Technical University (TU) has carried out a study into how bees are dealing with the change …
Beekeeping and breeding animals such as cane rats for food are needed to help tackle the unsustainable trade in bush meat in central Africa, conservation experts said on Friday. Local populations rely on birds, reptiles and mammals including apes in the vast Congo Basin for food, but overhunting for so-called …
Why are bees important to humans? The 20,000 or so species of bees are the principal pollinators of plants, both in gardens and in the wild. If you like having flowering plants around, for the most part you need to have bees around. There is a need to create awareness …
This new UNEP report shows that bee colonies worldwide are under threat, with serious consequences for biodiversity and food security. It analyses possible answers to why the bee group, the most important pollinator worldwide, is declining and what are the possible mitigating measures and recommendations to avert such decline. The …
Numerous surveys reveal high levels of pesticide residue contamination in honey bee comb. We conducted studies to examine possible direct and indirect effects of pesticide exposure from contaminated brood comb on developing worker bees and adult worker lifespan.
KOHIMA, Jan 4: With an annual production of over 200 metric tons, beekeeping in Nagaland has become a lucrative business. Traditional beekeepers, with help and support from the Nagaland Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM), have developed beekeeping into a mini industry, producing one of the finest quality honey in the …
Apiculture has developed in to an important industry in India as honey and beewax have become common products. Recently a sharp decline in population of honey bees has been observed in Kerala. Although the bees are susceptible to diseases and attacked by natural enemies like wasps, ants and wax moth, …
Cell phone technology has revolutionized the telecommunication scenario in India. Due to its several advantages, cell phone technology has grown exponentially in the last decade. Currently, there are more than 50 crore cell phone users and nearly 4.4 lakh cell phone towers to meet the communication demand. The numbers of …
The union health ministry is finalising the national antibiotics policy to check indiscriminate use of drugs. The move comes close on the heels of the detection of multi-drug resistant bacteria, dubbed superbug, in foreign patients who underwent treatment in India and Pakistan; it was reported in The Lancet Infectious Diseases …
In 2010 Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), again devastated honey bee colonies in the USA, indicating that the problem is neither diminishing nor has it been resolved. Many CCD investigations, using sensitive genome-based methods, have found small RNA bee viruses and the microsporidia, Nosema apis and N. ceranae in healthy and …
Universally, honey is believed to be a natural product. Regulations across the world say as much. The Codex Alimentarius Commission is a global body set up jointly by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop food standards for international trade; it defines …