The Xerces Society » Bees Bees are undoubtedly the most abundant pollinators of flowering plants in our environment. The service that bees and other pollinators provide allows nearly 70 percent of all flowering plants to reproduce; the fruits and seeds from insect pollinated plants account for over 30 percent of the foods and beverages that we consume. Beyond agriculture, pollinators are keystone species in most terrestrial ecosystems. The Xerces Society advocates on behalf of bees. Learn more about our Pollinator Conservation program. I'm Vegan Bees: pictures, information, classification and more Bee Photo by:Dorling Kindersley Bee, common name for a winged, flower-feeding insect with branched body hairs. CharacteristicsBees are dependent on pollen as a protein source and on flower nectar or oils as an energy source. Most bees have specialized branched or feathery body hairs that help in the collection of pollen. There are about 20,000 species of bees worldwide. Social Structure and Nesting HabitsBees have diverse nesting and social habits. Solitary BeesThe primitive bees, like their relatives the wasps, are solitary. More about Bees...
10 Top Documentary Food Films Since Food, Inc. is up for an Oscar on Sunday, it seems as good a time as any to compile a list of documentary food films worth watching. A recent post on favorite feature films that focus on food garnered a lot of comments — and sparked a movie mystery that remains unsolved. For cinematic sleuths, check out the comments by “can’t remember,” and see if you can put your finger on the name of the mystery flick. Thanks to regular readers Susan Rubin and Margaret Phillips for input for this post. In alpha order, a list of ten real food films worth viewing while noshing on a modest-sized serving of organic, non-GMO popcorn. 1. A funny, thoughtful, and, um grounded look at the fundamental ingredient vital to everything that feeds us. 2. An amusing account of modern American ag policy and food culture that sprouted a counter-revolution among veggie-obsessed Californians. 3. 4. 5. 6. Two friends head to the heartland to learn a thing or two about how food is farmed and where food comes from. 7. 8.
The Honeybee Conservancy Queen of the Sun: What are the bees telling us? | A New Documentary Film on Bee Colony Collapse Disorder Beekeeping in cities It's about keeping bees in an urban setting. This may mean a small garden, roof terrace, or an allotment. Beekeeping doesn't need to be the reserve of the country folk and you don't need a huge amount of space to keep them. It is possible to have bees in the city and you know what... the honey is gorgeous because our urban honeybees have such a variety of plants and flowers to choose from. Each of the city gardens are as unique as their owners and the bees just love the variety. Skip to top Honeybees have been having a hard time. Bees seem to do well in an urban environment where there is a rich diversity of plants, flowers and trees in our gardens, railway sidings, roads and disused pieces of land. They are also a great way to reconnect urban dwellers with nature. We need more green spaces in our cities and becoming a beekeeper is part of a growing movement to green our cities. Although not scientifically proven, local honey is also said to cure hay fever. Bees are not like a dog.
Urban Bees Hive Talking Is there a beekeeper near me? We have been asked many times from aspiring beekeepers if we know of beekeepers in their area. This has led us to create a way of mapping the locations of existing and aspiring beekeepers. The 'Hive Talking' map has different coloured markers identifying people who want to offer their land and for people who want to learn - wannabees. If you are already a beekeeper and are willing to show new comers what a colony looks like you could mark the location of your hive and include contact details. Or if you want to be a beekeeper and are looking for a someone near you to team up with place a marker in the map with your contact details. There are two maps one for entering your location and one for viewing the map with all the locations. We are grateful to the Co-operative's Plan-Bee who helped us with 'Hive Talking'.
Home :: National Wildflower Centre BBC Nature - Honeybee virus: Varroa mite spreads lethal disease 7 June 2012Last updated at 22:20 By Victoria Gill BBC Nature The BBC's Victoria Gill:"The new study has pinned down exactly which virus is the honeybee killer" A parasitic mite has helped a virus wipe out billions of honeybees throughout the globe, say scientists. A team studying honeybees in Hawaii found that the Varroa mite helped spread a particularly nasty strain of a disease called deformed wing virus. The mites act as tiny incubators of one deadly form of the disease, and inject it directly into the bees' blood. This has led to "one of the most widely-distributed and contagious insect viruses on the planet". The findings are reported in the journal Science. The team, led by Dr Stephen Martin from the University of Sheffield, studied the honeybees in Hawaii, where Varroa was accidentally brought from California just five years ago. Crucially some Hawaiian islands have honeybee colonies that are still Varroa-free. But the mite, he explained, "shifts something".
Bee Genes May Drive Them To Adventure That honeybee lazily probing a flower may actually be a stealth explorer, genetically destined to seek adventure from birth. ADVENTUROUS BEES Honeybees that scout out new food sources (such as this tagged bee above) have biochemical signatures in their brains that suggest scouts are more adventurous than hive mates who aren’t scouts. Courtesy of Zachary Huang Bees who consistently explore new environments for food have different genetic activity in their brains than their less-adventurous hive mates, scientists report in the March 9 Science. This genetic activity relates to making particular chemical signals, some of which are linked to behaviors such as thrill-seeking in people. “This is an exciting paper that raises a lot of interesting questions,” says neurobiologist Alison Mercer of the University of Otago in New Zealand.
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