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Tag Archives pollinators — page 2

An Asian giant hornet, trapped at Birch Bay, Wash. on July 14, 2020 by Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) researchers, is seen at Olympia, Wash. on July 29, 2020. (Photo: WSDA/Chris Looney/handout via Reuters)
Livestock

Washington state eradicates first ‘murder hornet’ nest of the year

Nest found in northwestern county near B.C. border

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Reuters — Washington state eradicated its first Asian giant hornet nest of the year by vacuuming out 113 worker hornets and removing bark and decayed wood near the nest, Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) officials said Thursday. The so-called stinging “murder hornets,” the world’s largest hornets, can grow to five centimetres in length and […] Read more
Marc Bercier with his ALUS award at his farm.
News

Award-winner values relationships in land preservation

La Ferme Agribec recognized by ALUS Canada for work creating natural areas on farms

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Improving the environment or building farming’s reputation among consumers might be possible incentives for getting involved with farmland conservation efforts, but for St-Isidore’s Marc Bercier it’s relationships. Bercier was the winner of this year’s $10,000 Dave Reid Award from Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) Canada. He’s been involved in ALUS projects for eight years. Why […] Read more
Pollinators are an area of interest for companies looking to make an environmental impact.
News

How green products are spreading around the world

From protecting pollinating insects to cutting the hoofprint of cashmere-producing goats, companies are aiming greener

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Thomson Reuters Foundation – From helping Mongolia’s goat herders produce cashmere more efficiently to counting insects on “biodiversity plots” planted on farms, some of the world’s biggest brands are blazing a trail with innovative efforts to nurture nature. Sustainability researchers say businesses have shown a surge of interest in limiting the harm their operations do […] Read more
Treated corn seed. (Syngenta.com)
Crops

Two neonics set for three-year extensions on registration

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Health Canada’s pesticide regulator proposes to allow continued registration for two members of the neonicotinoid family of pesticides, both of which are under heavy scrutiny for their effects on bees and other pollinators. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency on Tuesday issued proposed decisions on clothianidin and thiamethoxam that would extend the products’ existing conditional registrations […] Read more
Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim.
Crops

U.S. bee numbers growing

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CNS Canada – Honeybee populations are rising in the United States, turning around a recent trend of declines attributed to a set of factors know as colony collapse disorder. It’s estimated that 84,430 hives were lost to the disorder in the first quarter this year. That’s down 27 per cent from a year earlier. Year-over-year […] Read more
ALUS Canada has launched its first program in Quebec, with support from a regional arm of UPA. (CNW Group/ALUS Canada)
Livestock

ALUS program expands to Quebec

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The Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) program has made its move into a sixth province with a new project in Quebec’s Monteregie. ALUS Canada, working with the Monteregie branch of Quebec’s Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), formally launched the program Wednesday at its first Quebec location, a farm near St-Jean-Baptiste, south of St-Hyacinthe. ALUS, in […] Read more
(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)
Crops

Regulatory reviews show slim risk to bees from imidacloprid

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Label directions and rules for foliar and on-seed use of imidacloprid pesticides should either prevent or limit the risks to honeybees and other pollinators from the chemical, Canadian and U.S. regulators say in a new early-stage risk assessment. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday released […] Read more
(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)
Livestock

Wild bees seen dwindling in main U.S. crop regions

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Washington | Reuters — Wild bees, crucial pollinators for many crops, are on the decline in some of the main agricultural regions of the U.S., according to scientists who produced the first national map of bee populations and identified numerous trouble spots. The researchers on Monday cited 139 counties as especially worrisome, with wild bee […] Read more
Treated corn seed. (Syngenta.com)
Crops

Quebec heading toward neonic limits on crops

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The Quebec government is preparing consultations ahead of a wide legislative swath through the province’s pesticide sector, to limit farmers’ use of neonicotinoid insecticide seed treatments and certain other pesticides. Environment Minister David Heurtel on Sunday released the province’s pesticide strategy for 2015 to 2018, mapping out the Couillard government’s plans in those years to […] Read more
The red-belted bumblebee, shown here visiting a lupine, is among the species shown to be “responding very badly” to climate changes across continents. (Jeremy Kerr photo)
Livestock

Study of bumblebee decline points to climate ‘vise’

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A study of the shrinking range of bumblebee habitat suggests farmers relying on those species to pollinate crops may soon have to look elsewhere, barring a reversal of climate change — or, perhaps, an “assisted migration.” An international study of specimens from 31 species of bumblebees in North America and 36 such species in Europe, as […] Read more

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