Bees

Oslo Creates World’s First ‘Highway’ To Protect Endangered Bees

June 29, 2015 Agence France-Presse, www.theguardian.com Create! Animal Rights, Bees, Norway

By Agence France-Presse - From flower-emblazoned cemeteries to rooftop gardens and balconies, Norway’s capital Oslo is creating a “bee highway” to protect endangered pollinators essential to food production. “We are constantly reshaping our environment to meet our needs, forgetting that other species also live in it,” Agnes Lyche Melvaer, head of the Bybi, an environmental group supporting urban bees, which is leading the project. “To correct that we need to return places to them to live and feed,” she explained, sitting on a bench in a lush city centre square bursting with early Nordic summer growth. With its sunflowers, marigolds and other nectar-bearing flowers planted by bee-loving locals and school children, Abel’s Garden was until recently covered only in grass but is now a floral “feeding station” for bees.

US Beekeepers Lost Almost Half Their Honeybees

May 17, 2015 Melissa Breyer, www.treehugger.com Educate! Bees, Food and Agriculture, Food Security

Each year the Bee Informed Partnership in collaboration with the Apiary Inspectors of America conducts a survey among both commercial and backyard beekeepers to track the health and survival rates of their honeybee colonies. What the results reveal for April 2014 to April 2015 are dismal. Beekeepers surveyed lost a total of 42.1 percent of their colonies during the period. And while winter loss rates dipped .6 percent (from 23.7 percent last year to 23.1 percent this year), summer loss rates increased significantly, from 19.8 percent to 27.4 percent, which is troubling. The health of bee colonies isn't getting better. "We traditionally thought of winter losses as a more important indicator of health, because surviving the cold winter months is a crucial test for any bee colony," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp

Government Suppresses Research On Pesticides & Bees

May 11, 2015 Reynard Loki, www.truth-out.org Resist! Bees, Food and Agriculture, Research, Science, USDA

Following reports that scientists at the United States Department of Agriculture are being harassed and their research on bee-killing pesticides is being censored or suppressed, a broad coalition of farmers, environmentalists, fisheries and food-safety organizations urged an investigation in a May 5 letter sent to Phyllis K. Fong, USDA Inspector General. "The possibility that the USDA is prioritizing the interests of the chemical industry over those of the American public is unacceptable," states the letter, which was signed by more than 25 citizens' groups concerned that a forthcoming report by the White House Task Force on Pollinator Health, which is co-chaired by the USDA, will be compromised. The signatories include the American Bird Conservancy, Avaaz, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, Farmworkers Association of Florida, Food and Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, Green America, Organic Consumers Association and Sierra Club.

Earthaleujia, Rev. Billy Given Message For Monsanto

July 16, 2014 Billy Talen, www.youtube.com Resist! Bees, Environment, Fundraising, Monsanto, Religion

Will you make a donation to help Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir go to Monsanto Headquarters in Saint Louis? Our hot show will be so dramatic that people will shout out, "How will the bees get back to their hive?" and "And how will I survive?" http://igg.me/at/revbilly-vs-monsanto... Freakstorm is directed by Laura Newman. http://irREVERENTfilms.com Music by Richard Padron. https://soundcloud.com/richard-padron Reverend Billy Talen is the Earthalujah! preacher, an author, artist and father. He has been jailed more than 50 times for his dramatic advocacy for the Earth, justice and democracy. His work has been featured in the New Yorker, Guardian, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Al Jazeera America, MSNBC, Fox, and many other international media outlets.

Victory For Campaign To Protect The Bees

July 5, 2014 Tom Revell, www.blueandgreentomorrow.com Resist! Bees, Environment, Food and Agriculture, United Kingdom (UK)

The agri-business giant Syngenta has withdrawn its controversial application to use a banned pesticide in the UK, after campaigners warned that the chemical could have a devastating impact on threatened bee populations. The chemical in question is a type of neonicotinoid – a class of pesticides banned across the European Union for two years from December 2013. Though they are prohibited for their impact on essential pollinator species, including shrinking bee populations, the UK can allow the use of neonicotinoids in “emergency circumstances.” Therefore, Syngenta applied for an exemption to use neonicotinoids on oilseed rape across the UK – claiming it was the only way to protect 186,000 hectares of crops. The government – which had opposed the EU ban – had been expected to give its ruling on Tuesday. Though that did not arrive, Syngenta has now decided to withdraw its appeal. The firm said it was now too late to supply the pesticide to British farmers for this year’s crops, but said they would apply for another emergency exemption in 2015. Environmentalists have welcomed the news, after the government came under heavy pressure to reject Syngenta’s appeal.

Activists Swarm Lowe’s Shareholder Meeting, Demand End To Bee-Killing Pesticides

May 29, 2014 SumOfUs, www.SumOfUs.org Resist! Bees, Protest, Shareholder activism

On Friday May 30th, outside of Lowe’s Annual Shareholder Meeting, members of SumOfUs.org, joined by beekeepers from around the country, and a giant inflatable bee, will draw attention to the corporation’s continued sale of neonicotinoids, commonly known as neonics, a type of pesticides that has been linked to the collapse of bee populations worldwide. WHEN: Friday, May 30th. Protest and visuals start at 8:00am ET. Press conference and remarks at 9:00am ET. Lowe’s Shareholder Meeting starts at 10:00am ET. WHERE: 10000 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy, at the intersection of John J. Delaney Dr. Charlotte, NC 28277 Beekeepers outside join Lowe’s shareholders inside asking the corporation to remove bee-killing neonic pesticides from its shelves, and to promote alternative products that are not toxic to bees. More than 730,000 people have signed onto a petition from SumOfUs.org, urging Lowe’s and Home Depot to stop selling the bee-killing pesticides.

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