Winter hit U.S. honeybees hard with the highest loss rate yet, an annual survey of beekeepers showed. The annual nationwide survey by the Bee Informed Partnership found 37.7% of honeybee colonies died this past winter, nearly 9 percentage points higher than the average winter loss. The survey of nearly 4,700 beekeepers managing more than 300,000 …
Continue reading "Annual Survey Shows Biggest U.S. Honeybee Winter Die-Off Yet — KTLA"
And it’s Pollinator Week in Virginia, too! June 17-23, 2019 via It’s National Pollinator Week! — Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
The sight of large numbers of dead or dying bumblebees on the ground may be alarming, but the phenomenon is fairly common and usually not related to human actions, and as Athayde Tonhasca reveals, there are several natural causes of bumblebee mass mortality. Normal life cycle. Worker bumblebees have relatively short lives — four weeks […] …
Continue reading "Finding dead bumblebees — Scottish pollinators"
It was around this time of year, back in 1986, that Creag Meagaidh was declared a National Nature Reserve. Many people will know it as a reserve in which mountain terrain features heavily. And whilst that’s true, this can at times overshadow the merits of the lower stretches of the reserve where fabulous tracts of […] …
Continue reading "Creag Meagaidh – thinking big for pollinators — Scottish pollinators"
A wild bee swarm settled in a Wilden Marsh hawthorn bush today, not the first time this has happened. Seven years ago, too late in the season for the bees to survive, a swarm chose this particular hawthorn bush to build a nest; I arranged for a local beekeeper to rescue and overwinter the colony.… via …
As I’m writing this blog, with the windows open, I can hear lawn mowers up and down the street cutting away. We have decided to join ‘Say No to the Mow‘ during May, although we haven’t actually cut the lawn this year. I’ve already noticed a few differences in the garden. I hadn’t seen a […] …
Continue reading "Say No to the Mow in May — Appleton Wildlife Diary by Alex White"
https://videopress.com/embed/M8VNM1eV?hd=0&autoPlay=0&permalink=0&loop=0 The fabulous weather over the Easter weekend brought the blossom out in full force on our apple tree and with it a flurry of bees all around the garden. The tree is of the Discovery variety so produces early blossom for early apples and the bees certainly seemed to appreciate it. I have two …
To capture your attention I could do a lot worse, it seems, than encourage you to “Make space for dandelions.” Rarely has one single plant raised the ire of so many, but let me explain whilst I make a plea for this very special flower. Now, I will concede from the outset that dandelions have […] …
Continue reading "Take the dandelion dare — Scottish pollinators"
What do you do about pollination if you are an early flowering mountain plant such as the Purple Saxifrage which comes into flower on the high slopes of Ben Lawers just as the snows are melting in March or April? Iain MacGowan has the answer and it’s quite a surprise. The answer is that you […] …
Continue reading "Pollination in the cold — Scottish pollinators"
Honey bees deal with many stressors: chemicals, climate change and viruses. But this year, a tiny mite has wiped out colonies, causing worry over whether there are enough bees left to do their jobs.(Image credit: Greta Mart/KCBX) via Massive Loss Of Thousands Of Hives Afflicts Orchard Growers And Beekeepers — News : NPR
The Northern Herper 
You must be logged in to post a comment.