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Post by clone on Jan 5, 2011 0:38:08 GMT -8
Bee Benefits to Agriculture One mouthful in three of the foods you eat directly or indirectly depends on pollination by honey bees. The value of honey bee pollination to U.S. agriculture is more than $14 billion annually, according to a Cornell University study. Crops from nuts to vegetables and as diverse as alfalfa, apple, cantaloupe, cranberry, pumpkin, and sunflower all require pollinating by honey bees. For fruit and nut crops, pollination can be a grower’s only real chance to increase yield. The extent of pollination dictates the maximum number of fruits. Post-pollination inputs, whether growth regulators, pesticides, water, or fertilizer, are actually designed to prevent losses and preserve quality rather than increase yield. When pollination is this important, farmers can’t depend on feral honey bees that happen to nest near crop fields. That’s why farmers contract with migratory beekeepers, who move millions of bee hives to fields each year just as crops flower. Pollinating California’s 420,000 acres of almond trees alone takes between 900,000 and 1 million honey bee colonies. Agricultural Research/March 2004 www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/mar04/form0304.pdf
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Post by clone on Aug 9, 2011 14:32:21 GMT -8
SWEDEN- AMERICAN FOUL BROOD DISCOVERED IN HALLAND COUNTY Wednesday, 27 July 2011 The discovery of a deadly bee disease among several broods in western Sweden have prompted a warning from agriculture officials concerned about containing the contagious illness. A number of bee broods outside Varberg in Halland County have been affected by American foulbrood (AFB), considered one the most common and damaging diseases affecting bees. www.apinews.com/en/news/item/15426-sweden-american-foul-brood-discovered-in-halland-county
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Post by clone on Dec 23, 2011 14:18:12 GMT -8
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Post by clone on Dec 25, 2011 7:58:42 GMT -8
Pollinator Week- June 20-26, 2011 Pollinator Week has now grown to be an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. pollinator.org/pollinator_week_2011.htmPollinator Fun Facts- More than 200,000 animal species serve as pollinators. Most are insects — only about 1,000 are hummingbirds, bats, or other small mammals.
- Flowers that rely on daytime pollinators are often brightly colored. Flowers that bloom at night are often more pale in color and instead emit sweet perfumes or other strong odors to attract moths, bats, and other nocturnal pollinators.
- Bees come from wasps, evolutionally speaking. Actually, so do ants.
- The flowers of the Saguaro cactus are open both day and night so that they can be pollinated by bees, bats, and birds. Their most efficient pollinator? The Western White-Winged Dove!
- Pollen comes in many colors.
- Most bees like warm areas, but there are bees that live in the Arctic and way up high in the Andes and Himalayas.
- Migrating pollinators follow nectar corridors during their travel. Keep those flyways full of blooming flowers!
- Some bees vibrate their flight muscles in order to knock pollen onto the stigma. Bumblebees do this for tomatoes, blueberries, and cranberries.
- The number of pollinators in an area is a great indicator of the overall health of an ecosystem.
And perhaps most importantly, - All the world’s chocolate depends on midges, tiny two-winged flies, that pollinate the cacao flowers. If you love chocolate, thank a fly!
www.greatstems.com/2011/06/flower-power-welcome-pollinators.html
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Post by golden hair on Jan 1, 2012 6:24:11 GMT -8
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Post by and bats on Jan 20, 2012 16:12:29 GMT -8
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Post by bats on Apr 23, 2012 13:14:20 GMT -8
Up To 6.7 Million Bats Dead From White-Nose Syndrome Bucknell University Professor: White-nose Syndrome is ‘Unprecedented wildlife disaster.’ With 6.7 million bats already dead, scientists believe the fast-spreading disease called White-nose Syndrome could lead to the extinction of some species. Lewisburg, PA (PRWEB) April 10, 2012 “I was recently in a mine where I should’ve seen 10,000 or so bats. There were 150,” Reeder recalled. “We don’t know if the survivors have some immunity, or are lucky. If they’re just lucky, we’re in trouble.” www.prweb.com/releases/2012/4/prweb9383395.htm
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Post by bats on May 6, 2012 12:20:00 GMT -8
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Post by clone on Jun 15, 2013 21:23:38 GMT -8
Robotic Bees to Pollinate Monsanto Crops April 8, 2013 But never worry, those real life pollinators—the birds and the bees, as they say—may soon be irrelevant to the food needs of civilization. Harvard roboticists are developing a solution to the crisis: swarms of tiny robot bees made of titanium and plastic that can pollinate those vast dystopian fields of GMO cash crops. earthfirstnews.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/robotic-bees-to-pollinate-monsanto-crops/
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Post by clone on Jul 18, 2013 20:56:57 GMT -8
Bees Under Threat from Disease-Carrying Bumblebee Imports, Research Reveals July 18, 2013 — Stricter controls over bumblebee imports to the UK are urgently required to prevent diseases spreading to native bumblebees and honeybees, scientists have warned. The call follows the discovery of parasites in over three-quarters of imported bumblebee colonies they tested. The study - the first of its kind in the UK - is published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130717212007.htm
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Post by hoLEE fukk on Jul 29, 2013 17:49:38 GMT -8
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Post by moabiter on Apr 10, 2015 4:22:09 GMT -8
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