Paper prepared by A.J.J. van den Berg, E. van den Worm, H.C. Quarles van Ufford, S.B.A. Halkes, M.J. Hoekstra and C.J. Beukelman

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The national Food and Drug Admnistration has warned the public not to eat wild honey imported from Nepal, citing its possible role in a recent death. The banned variety contains the toxic substance grayanotoxin, which can cause the so-called 'honey intoxication.' Symptoms include low blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, impaired vision and loss of consciousness.

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Today there are over 600,000 acres (200,670 hectares) of almonds in California, with new acres added every year, 1.2 million colonies needed now and that number?s going to go up to 1.5 million.. Each acre of almonds takes at least two hives of bees to ensure their pollination ( 5 beehives per hectare). It?s become a huge business. Four years ago, beekeepers got about $50-$60 per hive, but with the rise of Colony Collapse Disorder, those hives now fetch $150-$200 each for their short stint in the almond orchard.

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Business is literally buzzing for California's 30 queen bee breeders, filling orders for queens and nucleus starter hives, known in the industry as 'nucs,' for customers across the nation. Shasta County bee breeder Shannon Wooten of Wooten's Golden Queens was busy this week preparing nucs for a customer in North Dakota. A beekeeper since 1966 and a bee breeder for more than 30 years, Wooten said his business has grown 8 percent annually to about 30,000 queens and 5,000 nucs.

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Theresa L. Pitts-Singer, who is entomologist of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), is discovering more about 'signals to nest' that influence the decisions of wild bees in their search for a site. This information could persuade more of pollinators to settle in new structures for living and lists provided by growers and beekeepers.

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The Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries yesterday the launch of the Strategic Plan for the Uruguayan Beekeeping. The objective is to provide incentives to project submissions to accelerate sustainable growth of the sector through a fund of U S $ 500,000. The Plan for Strengthening Competitiveness Apicultural Conglomerate(PRC) was developed based on a process work together with companies in the group, producers, exporters, and the various public and private institutions that are linked to the industry.

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Today already provided information about honey prices paid to producers in drums for export, without taxes. The price is $ 7.20 (US $ 2.28) a 2.8% higher than the last published on March 13, 2008.

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Farmers and beekeepers will meet next Tuesday with officials from Oregon State University?s College of Agricultural Sciences to discuss honey bee hive die-offs ? which reportedly were higher than usual in the Northwest this winter ? and how the university could hire an expert to work on solving the problem. State Sen. Frank Morse, R-Albany, and representatives of the Oregon Farm Bureau, the state?s largest agricultural advocacy group, also are expected to attend. OSU has not had a honey bee expert as a full-time faculty member for several years.

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Beekeepers of Brotas registered a complaint against an industry juice. They claim that the spraying of oranges made from the air resulting in the death of thousands of bees in the municipality. Marcos Tavolaro, Director of the San Pablo Beekeepers Association estimated the damage between R$ 50,000 and R$ 80,000 (US $ 28,600, 45,700) only between 3 beekeepers in the nearby town of Brotas. Blame it on the spraying done from the air Tavolaro said, adding that 'It catastrofic to bees, have no exit'

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The apicultural plan for the year 2008 contemplated aid to restock hives and breeding queens. The Association will give courses and also can be obtained grants to acquire 50% swarms native. The breeding and selection of the native black bee will be one of the topics to be discussed the next day 13 at the Apicultural Fair Rias Baixas, in O Porriño.

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