Massive declines in insect biodiversity and biomass are reported from many regions and habitats. In urban areas, creation of native wildflower meadows is one option to support insects and reduce maintenance costs of urban green spaces. However, benefits for insect conservation may depend on previous land use, and the size …
toxic taint: Green Indian seedless grapes have been taken off supermarket shelves in Belgium following the detection of high levels of pesticide residues in the product in the Netherlands recently. The Belgian Food Safety Authority took this decision over fears of high chemical residue levels, leading to stomach cramps in …
intensive, industrial-scale farming may be damaging one of the very natural resources that successful farming requires: bees that help in pollination. A study by scientists at the us-based Princeton University found that native bee populations plummet as agricultural intensity goes up. In farms studied in and around the Sacramento Valley …
It's like killing two birds with a single stone. Researchers have found that African farmers are using bees to save their crops from elephants, and also making a fast buck from the honey. The bees attack anything that threatens their hives. Angry swarms are reputed to have chased herds of …
In the little village of Pubong Fatak, 13 km from Darjeeling in West Bengal, sits Phul Bahadur, 97, weaving baskets to earn his living. He wears thick glasses tied to a rubber band around his head. On his wrinkled wrist is a Seiko watch that stopped functioning 20 years ago. …
The number of wild and domesticated bees in the us has dropped considerably in recent years. In some parts of the country, nearly 90 per cent of the bees are estimated to have disappeared. "The biggest reason behind the decline is a bee-killing parasite, known as the varroa mite, which …
Biologists in Germany have found that bumblebees repel creatures invading their nests with an ultrasonic hiss. Wolfgang Kirchner of the University of Konstanz and Jacqueline Roschard of the University of Wurzburg showed that the insects produce a conspicuous hissing sound when disturbed, with harmonics of up to 60 kilohertz. The …
Researchers of the University of Illinois in Urbana, USA, led by Gene Robinson, say nepotism among bees is governed by a brain chemical that helps them distinguish intruders from fellow hive members. The researchers injected the brains of bees with a chemical that mimics the effects of a neurotransmitter called …
Scientists are using the ability of bees to pick traces of dust and airborne particles to detect landmines. "Bees are like flying dust mops. Wherever they go, they pick up dust, airborne chemicals and other samples on their fuzzy, statically charged bodies,' says J Bromenshenik, bee expert at the University …
BEES may be busy, but are not always the avid shift workers that scientists have long presumed them to be. American entomologists have found that young honeybees work and rest at completely random times, unlike older, foraging bees, who have a distinct internal rhythm. They even get jet-lag if flown …
the European honey bee Apis mellifera was introduced in Australia by European settlers in 1822, prior to which, the Australian continent had no honey bees. Every bee-keeper knows that domesticated honey bees often issue swarms or abscond, establishing wild colonies. Since A mellifera is not native to Australia, there arise …
researchers in France have found that plants that had been genetically engineered to ward off destructive insects could also harm beneficial ones such as bees, shortening their lives and impairing their ability to recognise flower smell. Minh-Ha Pham-Del
new horticultural trends in the uk have spelled bad times for bumble-bees, large insects belonging to the Bombus family. The bumble-bee population is declining; among Britain's 19 species of bumble-bees, only six boast a healthy population. Modern gardening practices with hybridised varieties of flowers have driven the bumble-bee to the …
Like ants and termites, bees too are known to follow a fixed path whenever they are on the move. Entomologists S A Cameron and J B Whitfield studied the Bombus tranversalis species of humble bee in the Amazonian rainforests. Worker bees - in order to obtain material to build a …
Gopal Paliwal had always been intrigued by the complex physiology of wild or rock honeybees. Today, this 28-year old entomologist boasts of a doctorate (from Wardha University) on the neuroendocrine and reproductive sys- tems of the rockbee (Apis dorsata). Unlured by offers from pharmaceutical companies and research laboratories, Paliwal chose …
TRADITIONAL honey hunters in India have so far relied on crude methods for gathering honey which mainly involves lighting a fire under the hives to drive out the bees. The honey is then manually squeezed out of the combs. While this technique serves the main purpose - gathering honey - …
A major programme of beekeeping and sericulture has been launched by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Kenya. The project, it hopes, will alleviate rural poverty through small-scale incomegenerating enterprises. They will market honey, silk and wax to cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. For the first time …
BANI Prasad Yadav, 52, a marginal farmer from Patiasa village, 15 km from Muzaffarpur in Bihar, today literally enjoys the sweet smell of success. Four years ago, he began beekeeping, helped by the Vaishali-based ngo, Bibipur Small Farmers and Resourceless Communities' Association (basfarca). Till then, he had been barely subsisting …
