The latest news about entomology, brought to you by the Entomological Society of America
By Andrew Porterfield Honey bees are crucial for pollination and crop production worldwide. But since episodes of Colony Collapse Disorder began arising in the mid-2000s (and have subsided somewhat), the causes of costly deaths of adult bees have focused on mites, viruses, and a number of pesticides. One group of pesticides, the neonicotinoids, has been […]
In 2006 a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) emerged. Beekeepers and scientists noticed that large numbers of adult honey bees were leaving their hives and failing to return, which had large implications for farmers and growers who use honey bees as pollinators. To this day, scientists are unable to identify any single cause for […]
According to a national survey of honey bee colony losses conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership, the Apiary Inspectors of America, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. beekeepers lost more than one in five honey bee colonies in the winter of 2013-2014 — significantly fewer than the winter before. But tough times continue for […]
By Richard Levine Neonicotinoids (or neonics for short) are a class of pesticide that has been popular with corn, cotton, canola, and soybean farmers for years. Instead of spraying pesticides on plants growing in the field, seeds are treated with neonics before planting. As the crops grow, the pesticide is taken up by the plants, […]
In 2006 a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) emerged. Beekeepers and scientists noticed that large numbers of adult honey bees were leaving their hives and failing to return, which had large implications for farmers and growers who use honey bees as pollinators. Today the exact cause of the CCD is still unknown, but scientists […]
