First, an apology. Eagle-eyed RealAgriculture readers will note that this column was absent last week. After three days at FarmTech ’14 there was more than enough to share, but no time to do it, so I’ll work some of last week into this, if you don’t mind. It’s no secret I like trains. Furthermore, I… Read More
Search Results for: bees
The University of Guelph has named Nigel Raine the inaugural holder of Canada’s first research chair in pollinator conservation following a year-long international search. Raine, a leader in pollination conservation and ecology from Britain, will join U of G in May 2014 as the Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation, according to a U of… Read More
Public breeding (for plants, that is) is not something you’d imagine the public yelling into a telephone about, telling their elected officials support for public plant breeding must absolutely be part of the next federal or provincial budget, or else. But stranger things have happened. For example, who would have thought people would get so… Read More
Agriculture is getting better at not ignoring or dismissing smear campaigns, just because it doesn’t like them (i.e. A&W, Panera bread). So in that light, it also shouldn’t roll its eyes at Friends of the Earth and its new survey that, according to the organization, shows Ontarians want “honey bee carnage” stopped. There are good… Read More
Reports of increased bee deaths in the spring of 2012 in areas of Ontario and Quebec were alarming, but, at the time, attributed at least in part to the unseasonably cool and wet spring. This past spring, however, had more average temperatures but also had a higher than average reported bee kills. What’s troublesome about… Read More
Bees, as pollinators, are essential to food production worldwide. So when solid evidence of a link between corn planting and bee deaths in Ontario and Quebec was found, farmers and industry recognized the need to look into how to manage the risk of bee exposure to a particular insecticide class called neonicotinoids. As Steve Denys,… Read More
With the public eye increasingly fixed on agriculture, twitchy farm policy makers may be inclined to act first and ask questions later. And that has farmers worried. For example, last spring in Ontario, more than 200 bee kill incidents were reported. No question about it, that’s a problem. Thousands of hives were affected. What’s the… Read More