bee health

Washington State University is out with its latest guides to help pollinators across the region.  The free on-line tools share ideas from WSU Extension on conserving bumble bees as well as protecting honeybees from an emerging pest threat.  ...

The Department of Agriculture recently granted a conditional license for a vaccine to protect the country’s honeybees from foulbrood disease.  The vaccine was developed by Dalan Animal Health, a small biotech company working primarily on bee diseases.   “Ameri...

According to the USDA, during the first three months of the year, bee keepers nationwide lost about 12% of the colonies, and another 10% during the 2nd quarter.  Those losses aren't as bad as the drop we saw during the first half of 2021. ...

The USDA released its report on honeybee colonies earlier this week, and the number were encouraging when it comes to the total number of colonies as well as colony losses. "The January one honeybee colonies is up 2%." That's compared to January 1st of 2020 at just over 2 ...

In an effort to better understand colony health, Washington State University scientists have partnered with beekeepers this spring to inspect honey bees and hives. Postdoctoral researche​r, Rae Olsson, said all of the bees tracked for the project are part of a large or small commercial operations and all of them are migratory in some way, meaning the beekeepers move the bees all around the countr

Researchers at University of California Davis found the combined threats of pesticides and loss of flowering plants led to a 57% drop in blue orchard bee reproduction, as well as few female offspring. UC Davis graduate student, Clara Stuligross, said usually stressors for bees are studied independently, but in this specific case, it was important to understand how stressors interact and work toge

The Washington state Department of Agriculture announced late last week that 25 projects across the state will share in $4.6 million in 2018 USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant funds.  And the projects vary as much as the state’s Ag industry.   P...

Are viruses playing a bigger role than we first thought in causing declines in world bee populations?  That's just one question that's come up after an international team of scientists is reporting this month, finding evidence of 27 previously-unknown viruses in bee species in nine countries.  ...

Young beekeepers have a little extra time to apply for an award by Bayer that recognizes their work.  The Young Beekeeper Award recognizes youth who are working in their community supporting honey bee focused initiatives. This year, three prizes will be awarded to the next generation of beekeepers.  ...

Both bees and beekeepers are feeling the sting, as a new federal survey confirms that keepers lost 28% of their colonies last winter, after losses of 22% a year earlier.  The USDA survey results are in keeping with a larger trend that started a decade ago, when bee numbers began to fall dramatically.  De...