Honey Bees – TheMinotVoice.com

North Dakota honey producer weighs in on nationwide spike in bee deaths

by: MinotVoice | April 5, 2025

North Dakota leads the nation in honey production, but the buzz is growing quieter. A recent report shows commercial beekeepers lost over 60% of their colonies between June and February—a staggering hit, even in an industry familiar with hard winters and tough cycles. Will Nissen of Five Star Honey Farms isn’t shocked, but he is

Read & Share sourced from: KMOT

Pollinators in Peril: One-Fifth of North American Species at Risk

by: MinotVoice | March 31, 2025

Pollinators — the tiny workers behind much of our food and thriving ecosystems — are in serious trouble. A comprehensive new study reveals that over 20% of pollinator species in North America face the risk of extinction. Bees are the hardest hit, with nearly 35% of species teetering toward disappearance. Habitat loss, pesticides, and climate

Read & Share sourced from: The Canadian Press

Beekeepers say catastrophic honeybee losses are cause for alarm

by: MinotVoice | February 24, 2025

The honeybee crisis has taken a devastating turn. Beekeepers across the country are reporting staggering losses—millions of colonies gone in just months. While bee die-offs aren’t new, this year’s numbers are unprecedented, with some losing nearly all their hives. The fallout is already hitting California’s almond orchards, which rely on these pollinators. Researchers are scrambling

Read & Share sourced from: MPR

Fargo researchers working on first-ever genetic bank for bees

by: Josh Wolsky | February 16, 2016

Researchers in Fargo are working to make sure current honey bee genetics are preserved until the end of time — in case we need them then. The goal: make sure that if there is a future shock to the population we can wind back the clock.

Read & Share sourced from: InForum

Honey Bees & Monarch Butterflies Get Habitat Boost from Federal Project

by: Josh Wolsky | February 13, 2016

A public-private partnership program announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture hopes to incentivize building habitat that’s good for honey bees and monarch butterflies. The program will provide seed for putting land into habitat friendly plants and flowers as well as land rental.

Read & Share sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

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Williston Farmers Educate EPA Officials on Honey Bees and ND Farming

by: Josh Wolsky | June 28, 2015

Tours organized by the North Dakota Grain Growers Association and introducing EPA officials the challenges of North Dakota Farming. The tours are happening all over the state including Minot, but at the tour near Williston the focus turned toward honey bees.

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Norway’s Capital City is Building a Highway for Bees

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2015

Norway’s capitol city Oslo is taking losses in honey bee colonies seriously; or, they’re using it as an excuse to brighten up the place with flowering insect rest stops. Either way, it sounds like an environmentally aesthetic two-for-one.

Read & Share sourced from: The Verge

Feds Propose Multi-Pronged Plan to Bolster Decline in Bees

by: Josh Wolsky | May 19, 2015

Reports last week that 2014 was a particularly bad year for honey bees have federal officials calling all hands and activating resources in an attempt to reverse the trend.

Read & Share sourced from: Associated Press

U.S. Honeybee Losses Soar Over Last Year, USDA Report Finds

by: Josh Wolsky | May 14, 2015

The cause of dying the honey bee colonies used for pollination in the agriculture industry and honey production remains unknown. What is certain — the problem appears to be getting worse. Get the story from Reuters.

Read & Share sourced from: Reuters

Another Perplexing Detail Emerges in the Beepocalypse Mystery

by: Josh Wolsky | April 3, 2015

When it comes to honey bees colony collapse disorder, there’s a lot more of what we don’t know than what we do, but the mystery is becoming clearer. This article from Quartz highlights some new information that’s coming to light.

Read & Share sourced from: Quartz

Pesticides and Bees: It’s Complex

by: Josh Wolsky | March 21, 2015

There’s been growing coverage of honey bees in recent years, specifically of a phenomenon being called colony collapse disorder. And as scientists have worked to find the cause, what they seem to be finding is not a single smoking gun, but a whole bunch of them.

Read & Share sourced from: WIRED

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Science Finding Answers to Honey Bee Declines

by: Josh Wolsky | February 7, 2015

Scientists have found a link between commonly used insecticides known as neonicotinoids and impaired brain activity in bees. The research provides a promising direction of inquiry in the search for the cause of the little-understood colony collapse disorder facing the bee industry.

Read & Share sourced from: Science Alert

Why Bees Build Perfect Hexagons

by: Josh Wolsky | January 15, 2015

It’s a good thing honey bees haven’t asked for a wage, we can’t afford to pay them, and we can’t afford to let them off the job. It turns out they’re pretty good engineers too.

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Honey Bee Producers get Boost from USDA Incentives

by: Josh Wolsky | October 30, 2014

The federal dollars, $7 million in total, will be distributed in conjunction with the CRP program to farmers and ranchers who plant flowering cover crops that provide foraging grounds for honey bees.

Read & Share sourced from: Bismarck Tribune