Reacting to sagging populations of bees and other pollinators, members of Gov. Tom Corbett's staff recently sought and received Penn State Extension certification for the gardens at the Governor's Residence as "pollinator friendly." (more)
Penn State's efforts to address Colony Collapse Disorder, a nationwide phenomenon in which the adult honeybees of a hive disappear, often spelling death for the colony, will benefit from a gift of $100,000 to aid pollinator research. Honey distributor Dutch Gold Honey and William and Kitty Gamber, of Lancaster, Pa., have each contributed $50,000 to endow a fund that will support undergraduates studying entomology. (more)
Top researchers, government officials and representatives of organizations from around the world will be presenting their latest findings on honeybees and other pollinators at the inaugural International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy being held by the Penn State Center for Pollinator Research, July 24-28 at the University Park campus. (more)
Across the country, pollinators such as honeybees and hummingbirds are declining due to habitat loss, diseases such as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), pests and excessive pesticide use. Penn State researchers and educators are hoping to help combat these issues by promoting ways home gardeners can help pollinator populations thrive. (more)
Penn State research on honeybee health and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) will receive a boost as a result of a $100,000 gift from the E.B. O'Keeffe Foundation. The award will fund a competitive graduate fellowship that will pair a student's area of study with a leading researcher already working on that problem. (more)
Whether you are a seasoned gardener or a novice green thumb, you can join the fight to save the honeybees by planting your own pollinator-friendly garden this spring, according to a horticulture specialist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. (more)
The nation's largest grower of wild blueberries -- a crop that relies on honeybees for pollination -- has thrown its support behind Penn State research aimed at finding solutions to the health crisis facing the nation's honeybee colonies. Ed Flanagan, president of Wyman's of Maine, visited Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences Thursday (March 26) to present a check for $50,000 to support research on Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, a mysterious ailment that has led to the disappearance of up to one-third of U.S. commercial honeybee hives since late 2006. (more)
"Bees are good at collecting everything in their environment, and they've gathered a lot of pesticides--on average, we've found six pesticides per pollen sample." -Maryann Frazier, senior extension associate in the Department of Entomology (more)
Lewisburg beekeeper Dave Hackenberg and others in the trenches have their own opinions about what is going on with regard to colony collapse disorder (CCD) and recent, dramatic losses of honeybees. Hackenberg doesn't mince words. "Our scientists are working their heads off on a little bit of nothing. All we're doing here is slowly reinventing the wheel of what Europe has already figured out." Find out what France and Germany have done to combat CCD in this final segment of Research Penn State's three-part, in-depth look at Penn State's efforts toward understanding the complex and alarming loss of honeybees. (more)
To solve a murder mystery with millions of victims and no smoking gun requires CSI-style teamwork, or as Dennis vanEngelsdorp likes to say "a coordinated effort that takes a page from the beehive, where all the individuals play a role to make the hive successful." Penn State's entomology department, long recognized for its strengths in disease research and chemical analysis, has emerged as a leader in honeybee and colony collapse disorder research nationwide. Research Penn State takes an in-depth look into the department's efforts toward understanding the complex and alarming loss of honeybees. This is part two of a three-part series. (more)
