News — Pollinators

Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability. 1. New Jersey Enacts Groundbreaking Neonic Legislation (NRDC) New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law A2070 (Calabrese)/S1016 (Smith), which prohibits most outdoor non-agricultural uses of harmful neonicotinoid pesticides. An outpouring of scientific evidence points to neonics as a leading cause of bee losses; a threat to birds, other wildlife, and human health; and a cause of widespread water contamination. Continue reading...     2. Air Pollution Makes It Harder for Bees to Sniff Out Flower, Study Says (Yale Environment 360)...

Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability. 1. Bees Exposed to Pesticide Could Take Multiple Generations to Recover - Modern Farmer Calculating exactly what sort of damage certain pesticides pose to pollinators might be trickier than previously thought. New research from scientists at the University of California, Davis finds that repeated exposure to some pesticides could have an additive effect, getting worse with multiple exposures. That could, they write, require multiple generations to recover. Continue reading...     2. Western Honey Bees Most Likely Originated in Asia, Researchers Find -...

Each month our Bee Informed Blog highlights current news, science, and research related to solitary bee conservation, food insecurity, and sustainability. 1. Do you have a glossy green front lawn? What is this, the 1950s? Are our conceptions of gardening outdated and harming the planet? It turns out, yes, they are! So what should we do? Check out this article in The Guardian to learn how the "perfect lawn" is harming our pollinators and guidance on how you can create and maintain a pollinator-friendly garden. 2. Feds’ Plan To Save Endangered Rusty Patched Bumble Bee Misses Mark, Critics Say Four years after...

1. Biodiversity protects bee communities from disease The University of Michigan - A new analysis of thousands of native and nonnative Michigan bees shows that the most diverse bee communities have the lowest levels of three common viral pathogens.  "This result is exciting because it suggests that promoting diverse bee communities may be a win-win strategy to simultaneously reduce viral infections in managed honeybee colonies while helping to maintain native bee biodiversity," said study lead author Michelle Fearon. Click here to read the full news release or read the abstract in the journal Ecology.   2. New OSU volunteer program tackles statewide native bee...