disappearing bees

16 Stories

Scientists Make 'Critical' Find on Honeybees, Herbicide

Glyphosate, used in Monsanto's Roundup, may kill off insects' essential gut bacteria

(Newser) - Animals don't seem to be harmed by the world's most widely used weedkiller, but bees apparently don't fall under that protective umbrella. "This is really critical," one entomologist tells Science of a new study showing the digestive system of honeybees (and possibly other bees as...

Karen Pence Has Naval Observatory Abuzz

Second lady has installed beehive at the veep's official residence

(Newser) - Second lady Karen Pence has opened their government residence to more than a few new inhabitants: honeybees. At least 15,000 of them. Pence showed off the beehive Tuesday, reports the AP , partly to draw attention to a decline in managed bee colonies that she and other officials say could...

Things Go From 'Horrible to Bad' for Honeybees

Survey finds signs of hope

(Newser) - Things aren't looking quite as bad for America's honeybees as they were a few years ago, but it is far too early to declare the crisis over, according to the annual survey carried out by the Bee Informed Partnership . The survey found that beekeepers lost 21% of their...

US Lists First Bumblebee Species as Endangered

Population of rusty patched bumblebee has dropped 90% since late '90s

(Newser) - If Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov had been prescient, he may have named his famous orchestral piece "Plight of the Bumblebee." The rusty patched bumblebee , or Bombus affinis, is now the first US bumblebee placed on the endangered species list, the Guardian reports. Seven other bees from Hawaii previously made the...

Scientists: We've Been Giving Bees Birth Control

Neonicotinoids come with 'lethal and sub-lethal' side effects

(Newser) - Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse for bees , a new study suggests we've been inadvertently feeding them birth control. Previous research has shown the world's most widely used pesticides, neonicotinoids, have hurt the lifespan and reproduction of honeybee queens and reduced the number of bumblebee...

Bees, Butterflies May Go Way of the Dinosaur

United Nations report says world crops are at risk

(Newser) - Don't care much about birds and bees going extinct? OK, but you may have to forgo popular foods (like blueberries, apples, and coffee) that depend on creatures that pollinate plants, the Christian Science Monitor reports. According to a UN scientific report approved by 124 nations, the coming extinction of...

Pesticides Put World Food Supply at Risk
 Pesticides Put World 
 Food Supply at Risk 
STUDY SAYS
Jun 24, 2014 3:23 AM CDT

Pesticides Put World Food Supply at Risk

Common chemicals as bad as DDT, researchers say

(Newser) - Pesticides aren't just killing off bees , they are threatening to kill a lot of people off as well by putting the world's food security at risk, a new study warns. Researchers say the evidence is now "very clear" that a common class of insecticides called neonicotinoids has...

No. 1 Pesticide Killing Honeybees
 No. 1 Pesticide 
 Killing Honeybees
study says
May 10, 2014 9:40 AM CDT

No. 1 Pesticide Killing Honeybees

Harvard study finds more evidence that chemicals are behind colony collapse disorder

(Newser) - A new Harvard study adds more evidence to the theory that insecticides are the main culprit in the disappearance of honeybees , reports the Christian Science Monitor . Researchers found that bees in Massachusetts exposed to a common class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids suffered significant drops in numbers over the winter...

Bee Die-Offs Tied to Tobacco Plant 'STD'
 Bee Die-Offs Tied to 
 Tobacco Plant 'STD' 
study says
Jan 22, 2014 8:13 AM CST

Bee Die-Offs Tied to Tobacco Plant 'STD'

Tobacco ringspot virus jumped from tobacco to soy to bees: study

(Newser) - Honeybees have been dying in huge numbers since 2006, and a new study finds that a virus may be one cause. The tobacco ringspot virus has mutated quickly and jumped from tobacco plants to soy plants to bees, researchers say, and the annual increase in honeybee deaths between autumn and...

25K Dead Bumblebees Fall From Trees in Oregon

Pesticides likely culprit

(Newser) - A Wilsonville, Oregon, Target parking lot has seen what could be the biggest-recorded mass bumblebee die-off in the Western US. The 25,000 deaths were first noticed on Saturday, as bees tumbled from 55 linden trees in bloom, the Oregonian reports. "They were literally falling out of the trees,...

Honeybee Deaths Spike Again
 Honeybee Deaths Spike Again 
Mar 29, 2013 12:28 PM CDT

Honeybee Deaths Spike Again

Beekeepers say problem got much worse in 2012

(Newser) - Headlines about honeybees dying off may seem to have tapered off, but that doesn't mean the problem has gone away. In fact, it appears to have gotten "drastically" worse in the last year, reports the New York Times . Commercial beekeepers say 40% to 50% of their already diminished...

New Studies Blame Pesticides for Bee Decline

They show 'big effects' in natural environment

(Newser) - Scientists have a new lead in the mystery of the disappearing bees . While pesticides had only a "trivial" effect on honeybee populations in lab experiments, a researcher says studies in natural settings have shown that the chemicals can have "big effects," reports the Guardian . Common pesticides known...

Tiny Fly May Help Explain Honeybee Die-Off

Parasite's eggs prove fatal to the bees

(Newser) - Northern California scientists say they have found a possible explanation for a honeybee die-off that has decimated hives around the world: A parasitic fly that hijacks the bees' bodies and causes them to abandon hives. Scientists say the fly deposits its eggs into the bee's abdomen, causing the infected...

Epidemic Leads to More Bee Trucking, Crashes
 Why Bee Trucks Keep Crashing 
Oct 25, 2011 4:52 PM CDT

Why Bee Trucks Keep Crashing

Bee disease has forced drivers to shuttle the insects around

(Newser) - A truck packed with 25 million bees crashed in Utah today , only a few months after a smashed-up semi released 14 million bees Idaho. And last year, a Minnesota crash saw 17 million bees fly flee. Why so many incidents? LiveScience explains: As a mysterious bee epidemic continues to decimate...

US Bumblebee Populations In Freefall

Half of species studied are in steep decline

(Newser) - The collapse in honeybee populations has been getting all the attention, but bumblebees are also in serious trouble, according to a new study, Populations of four common species of bumblebee in the US have dropped by up to 96% over the last few decades, according to a nationwide census of...

Cell Phones May Be Killing Bees
Cell Phones May Be Killing Bees 
Jul 1, 2010 8:25 AM CDT

Cell Phones May Be Killing Bees

Radiation thought to be disrupting navigation

(Newser) - Cell phone radiation has been implicated in the disastrous decline of bee populations around the world. Add mobile phones to the list of culprits that already includes parasites, pesticides, and climate change, say biologists who've looked at the data from a new study in India. Researchers hooked up hives to...

16 Stories