honeybees

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How Bee Venom Might Fight Cancer

Researchers use synthetic form to safely attack tumors

(Newser) - Locked within the honeybee’s painful sting is a toxin that could fight cancer, CNN reports. Though in its early stages, research shows that venom from bees, snakes, and scorpions can stop the growth of cancer cells. University of Illinois scientist Dipanjan Pan has taken the research one step further...

Guy Gets 1K Bee Stings
 Guy Gets 1K Bee Stings 

Guy Gets 1K Bee Stings

2 co-workers also attacked in Texas

(Newser) - A North Texas street department worker has been stung about 1,000 times by aggressive bees that also attacked two co-workers who tried to help him. Wichita Falls officials blamed yesterday's attack on Africanized honey bees, a swarm of which attacked a worker mowing grass along culverts near the...

Truck Flips, Dumps 20M Angry Bees on Highway

Delaware beekeepers rush to the rescue

(Newser) - It might seem that if you were hauling around, say, 20 million or so passengers who could sting the hell out of you, you might proceed with an abundance of caution. Such was not the fate of a Florida-to-Maine driver this week, who failed to negotiate an on-ramp in Delaware,...

'Zombie Bees' Spread to East Coast

Fly causes brain damage, erratic behavior

(Newser) - Vermont beekeepers face mite infestations, extreme temperature swings, the possibility of colony collapse, and now a new threat: "zombie bees." A beekeeper in Burlington discovered zombie bees in his hive last fall, the first time they'd been found in the eastern United States. A professor from San...

Bee Die-Offs Tied to Tobacco Plant &#39;STD&#39;
 Bee Die-Offs Tied to 
 Tobacco Plant 'STD' 
study says

Bee Die-Offs Tied to Tobacco Plant 'STD'

Tobacco ringspot virus jumped from tobacco to soy to bees: study

(Newser) - Honeybees have been dying in huge numbers since 2006, and a new study finds that a virus may be one cause. The tobacco ringspot virus has mutated quickly and jumped from tobacco plants to soy plants to bees, researchers say, and the annual increase in honeybee deaths between autumn and...

Honeybees Trained to Find Land Mines

Move over, dogs and rats

(Newser) - Honeybees are better known for producing delicious condiments than saving lives, but all that could change thanks to a team of Croatian researchers, who are training them to find unexploded land mines. Bees have an excellent sense of smell, which they use to find food, so the researchers are reprogramming...

60K Bees Found in Utah Cabin
 60K Bees Found in Utah Cabin 

60K Bees Found in Utah Cabin

Beekeeper locates massive hive in the eaves

(Newser) - It was quite a buzz for Utah beekeeper Vic Bachman: Called to an A-frame in Eden last month, he found a massive beehive containing some 60,000 honeybees packed in the cabin's eaves. "We got 15 pounds of bees out of there," says Bachman, who used smoke...

Honeybee Deaths Spike Again
 Honeybee Deaths Spike Again 

Honeybee Deaths Spike Again

Beekeepers say problem got much worse in 2012

(Newser) - Headlines about honeybees dying off may seem to have tapered off, but that doesn't mean the problem has gone away. In fact, it appears to have gotten "drastically" worse in the last year, reports the New York Times . Commercial beekeepers say 40% to 50% of their already diminished...

Bumblebees Scarce in Midwest
 Bumblebees Scarce in Midwest 

Bumblebees Scarce in Midwest

Studies suggest they're also in trouble, just like honeybees

(Newser) - It is not just honeybees that are in trouble. The fuzzy American bumblebee seems to be disappearing in the Midwest. Two new studies in today's journal Science conclude that wild bees, including the American bumblebee, are increasingly important in pollinating flowers and crops that provide us with food. And,...

'Zombie Bees' Turn Up in Washington State

Parasite makes them fly at night before dying

(Newser) - Maybe the only positive thing in this story from the Seattle Times is that the name "zombie bees" is sure to draw attention to the problem. A local beekeeper has found Washington state's first documented case of the "zombie bees," which refers to a deadly parasite...

New Studies Blame Pesticides for Bee Decline

They show 'big effects' in natural environment

(Newser) - Scientists have a new lead in the mystery of the disappearing bees . While pesticides had only a "trivial" effect on honeybee populations in lab experiments, a researcher says studies in natural settings have shown that the chemicals can have "big effects," reports the Guardian . Common pesticides known...

Bees Might Have Personalities

Some are more adventurous than others: Study

(Newser) - Bees are not merely mindless, mechanical insects with rigid behavior patterns. They may actually exhibit personalities and feelings. A new study from the University of Illinois reveals that some bees display a higher willingness to head off on adventures than others, which can be interpreted as a personality trait, reports...

Tiny Fly May Help Explain Honeybee Die-Off

Parasite's eggs prove fatal to the bees

(Newser) - Northern California scientists say they have found a possible explanation for a honeybee die-off that has decimated hives around the world: A parasitic fly that hijacks the bees' bodies and causes them to abandon hives. Scientists say the fly deposits its eggs into the bee's abdomen, causing the infected...

Epidemic Leads to More Bee Trucking, Crashes
 Why Bee Trucks Keep Crashing 

Why Bee Trucks Keep Crashing

Bee disease has forced drivers to shuttle the insects around

(Newser) - A truck packed with 25 million bees crashed in Utah today , only a few months after a smashed-up semi released 14 million bees Idaho. And last year, a Minnesota crash saw 17 million bees fly flee. Why so many incidents? LiveScience explains: As a mysterious bee epidemic continues to decimate...

Angry Bees Send 4 to Calif. Hospital

Man in wheelchair stung 60 times

(Newser) - Bees are on the warpath again. Thousands of the angry stingers swarmed four men in a Southern California storage yard yesterday, sending them all to the hospital. The attack began when a man in a wheelchair somehow disrupted a hive. He was stung more than 60 times and had tumbled...

Honeybee Killer Finally Found
 Honeybee Killer Finally Found 

Honeybee Killer Finally Found

Colonies collapsing due to fungus-virus combination

(Newser) - For years, experts have been trying to figure out what is killing all the honeybees—and they may finally have an answer. Since 2006, 20% to 40% of US bee colonies have collapsed, and suspected causes have included genetically modified corn , pesticides , and bad weather . New research, however, points to...

Honeybees Stung by Bad Winter, Pesticides

4-year run of dropping numbers just got worse

(Newser) - Beleaguered honeybees are having a harder time than ever before after an especially harsh winter and heavy pesticides discovered in their hives and pollen. A massive die-off of the valuable creatures is topping off 4 years of troubling population declines. Scientists are trying to nail down the exact mechanism causing...

Bees Can Count, Scientists Claim—Up to 4, That Is

But they cannot go beyond 4

(Newser) - Honey bees can count up to four, Australian researchers have found, but no higher. In a University of Queensland study, bees repeatedly flew to the same marked spot in a tunnel, even when it did not hold food, Reuters reports. "We find that if you train them to the...

Bayer Knew Pesticide Killed Bees, Critics Charge

(Newser) - A German prosecutor is investigating allegations that chemical giant Bayer CropScience knowingly sold a pesticide that kills honeybees, the Raleigh News & Observer reports. The investigation follows complaints from German beekeepers and environmentalists that the company covered up incriminating data on chlothianidine. In the US, meanwhile, an environmental group sued...

Vegans: To Bee or Not to Bee?
 Vegans: To Bee or Not to Bee?
Opinion

Vegans: To Bee or Not to Bee?

Debate over bee explotation risks deluting animal rights message

(Newser) - Although many vegans view buttered toast and milk as sacrilegious snack fare, a growing “flexitarian” attitude could loosen up the menu to include honey, writes Daniel Engber for Slate. Vegan hardliners argue consumption of the beekeeping byproduct amounts to supporting forced labor, while nectarous proponents counter that such logic...

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