bees

For the first time since 2017, the USDA has tracked the business of pollinators.   In 2022, paid pollinated acres increased by 5.4% for cherries, but decreased for apple (10.3%), peaches (48.3%) and pears (3.4%).  The price per acre increased 35.6% for apples ...

There’s a celebration of all things dirt, this weekend, in central Oregon's Crook County.  Sun-Life Farm and Ranch will host their first official “Dirt Day Soilebration” on Saturday, August 13th, through a partnership with NRCS.  Grass, Lavender and ...

BASF Agricultural Solutions North America will donate $50,000 to The Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund's Seed A Legacy pollinator habitat program.  The donation is part of BASF's annual Living Acres #MonarchChallenge initiative. The Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund will use BASF's donation to expand its Seed A Legacy pollinator habitat program with the goal of restoring high-quality pollinator habitat

Oregon’s FFA Reporter Kylie Baldwin talks the important role bees play in farming, and why she wants to study them. If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia.com

You may not think of turf grass as a home for pollinators. Yet sweat bees, for example,  can be flying around even tunneling in yards and golf courses. And a significant finding of pollinators, whether bees, wasps, or butterflies in a home lawn or golf course is an indicator, "of the general health or general balance in terms of insect populations within the system." ...

In case the Asian Giant hornet wasn't enough, the Washington state Department of Agriculture is warning that pollinators in the state face another risk, with spring fast approaching.  This week, WSDA issued a warning of the Houdini fly, which targets the native mason bee.  ...

The University of Idaho will hold a Pollinator Summit February 26th-27th in Moscow.  The two day event will focus the status and history of pollinators, as well as their habitats, and even efforts to sustain them.   Organized by UI Extension, the summit will address issues facing pollinators and the screening of pollinator films at 6 p.m. Wednes...

A national survey says commercial bee keepers reported losing 41% of their colonies last year.  But, experts are quick to point out that the number of wild bees are also declining.  Partly, according to Gary Crawford, because we humans don’t provide enough food for our bee friends.       ...

Bees are not only important for their ability to pollinate.  They are also responsible for the production of honey.  And as the National Honey Board’s Margaret Lombard told Rod Bain, that more and more Americans are turning to honey in a variety of ways.       ...

According to the USDA, elevated winter colony losses have not resulted in enduring declines in colony numbers.  Instead, the number of U.S. honey bee colonies is either stable or growing depending on the dataset being considered.   USDA said at the state level, loss rates are uncorrelated with year-to-year changes in the number of colonies, suggesting that beekeepers are able to replace lost colon