State Beekeeping Specialist gives strategies for dealing with the devastating varroa mite

Free OSU webinar on varroa and tracheal mites of honey bees offers beekeepers good and bad news, plus strategies to manage mites.

Isabella Rossellini explains bees in whimsical short films with Burt's Bees - UPI.com

Isabella Rossellini plays roles of worker bee, Burt from Burt's Bees:

Research confirms Varroa mite bad news for Aussie bees

While the varroa mite hasn't been found in Australia, the pest would be devastating for the country's bees:

Researchers take novel approach to honey bee plight | Management content from Western Farm Press

Researchers take novel approach to honey bee plight | Management content from Western Farm Press:

"Some hypotheses include landscape changes, viral diseases, nutrition and human impacts, including pesticides."

Busy as a bee: Are bees really busy? - Slate Magazine

Busy or lazy...you decide - Slate Magazine:

UCD worker wins award for rare photo of bee sting in action - Yolo County News - The Sacramento Bee

UCD worker wins award for rare photo of bee sting in action - Yolo County News - The Sacramento Bee:

The Power of Pollinators: PowerPoints and Resources to teach about pollinators.

Why Pollinators Matter

Bee Biology and Identification

Gardening for Pollinators

In celebration of National Pollinator Week (June 17 - 23), materials and resources are now available to teach gardeners and naturalists about pollination, pollinators and every gardener's role in pollinator conservation. 

Three modules were developed by a partnership between The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, The University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, and The Ohio State University Bee Lab and Pollinatarium. Each module contains slides, notes and resources to help educators to spread the word about pollinators:

To Access The Power of Pollinator materials and website :

Visit the eXtension website, campus.extension.org and set up an account using the "Create an account" link on the left side of the page. It's free, easy and secure. Once you have that account created (you will receive an e-mail with confirmation and a password), log into the eXtension site, scroll through the available course categories and select Yard and Garden. Then select "The Power of Pollinators."  

See this short video for more information: 

Power of Pollinators video overview

Please help us to spread the word about The Power of Pollinators!

Denise Ellsworth

ellsworth.2@osu.edu

Program Director, Honey Bee and Native Pollinator Education

OSU Department of Entomology

Flowers adapted to bees, not the other way around, Australian researchers show.

Australian researchers show flower color evolution driven by bee preferences:

Pollinator Habitat Creation/Restoration Project at Massa Ranch in Glenn County, CA.

Full Story Here 

Bringing in the Bees: Waldorf-Astoria in New York City

Posh hotels are buzzing with tiny new guests: bees - WSJ.com:

Britain's on-farm pollinator survey will involve 150,000 people on 300 farms.

Pollinator pull for Open Farm Sunday hosts - 6/3/2012 - Farmers Weekly:

Scientists hope the survey will reveal valuable information on the level of potential pollinator activity on farms and give an insight into the essential work they do. The Pollinator Survey is being funded by Syngenta and supported by scientists from the Centre of Ecology & Hydrology (CEH).

"It'll be the largest national survey of insects visiting flowers that has ever taken place on farms," claimed Helen Roy of CEH.

Honeybee decline linked to killer virus | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Varroa mite on honey bee

Study on honey bees in Hawaii links virus, mite and bee mortality

Read the study, published in the journal Science

Cornell study shows value of insect pollinators

Cornell Chronicle: Insect pollinators contribute $29 billion:

The 10 most painful stings on the planet, by the self-sacrificing man who tried 150 different varieties in the name of science | Mail Online

Sweat bee: number ten in sting intensity

Justin Schmidt of the University of Arizona suffers stings to evaluate intensity:

Study finds hawkmoths use humidity from flower nectar to find flowers

Floral humidity as a reliable sensory cue for profitability assessment by nectar-foraging hawkmoths

Read more here.

Cellular "grips" on flowers help bees hang on in the wind, researchers discover.

Bristol University | News from the University | School of Biological Sciences:

Survey by USDA and Collaborators Reports Fewer Winter Honey Bee Losses / May 31, 2012 / News from the USDA Agricultural Research Service

Fewer Winter Honey Bee Losses / May 31, 2012 / News from the USDA Agricultural Research Service:

The unusually warm winter during 2011/2012 could be one possible contributing factor to the decline in colony losses, although no direct scientific investigation of the weather connection has been conducted. January 2012 ranks as the fourth-warmest in U.S. history.

"A warm winter means less stress on bee colonies and may help them be more resistant to pathogens, parasites and other problems," said Jeff Pettis, co-leader of the survey and research leader of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency.