Genome B.C., has launched a $2.8 million dollar research project. The announcement was made today at a special conference on bees underway in Prince George. The three year project hopes to identify stronger strains of bees that are resistant to a couple of strains of infections that have decimated the bee population. The decline in bee populations could have an impact on food production as farmers rely on bees to pollinate certain crops. The main culprit is a mite called the Varroa destructor. It attaches to bee larvae and sucks the blood. When the bee matures, the blood loss leaves it weak and unable to ward off any viruses the mite may be carrying.

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Honeybees use their waggle-dance to tell nest-mates the distance and direction of a food source. But bumblebees can't communicate geographical information in this way; instead, they release a recruitment pheromone in the nest to encourage their colleagues to venture out in search of food. But where should they look? Mathieu Molet, Lars Chittka and Nigel Raine from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences wanted to discover if this recruitment pheromone helped bees to learn which specific flowers were most rewarding at that time. They exposed bumblebee colonies to an anise scent mixed with recruitment pheromone and monitored their foraging patterns. Bees learned that anise-scented flowers were the most rewarding. They learned this best when the flower smell was brought back to the nest by another 'demonstrator' bee, but they could also learn it when the anise odour entered the nest as either scented nectar or simply scent in the air.

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The government will demand the inclusion of the bee as a UNESCO world heritage site, for their crucial work in the world as a conservative of ecosystems, of which he said are priorities for daily living conditions of more than two thirds of humanity and for the 40 percent of the global economy, which depends directly on preservative. In fact, the performance of bees as pollinators of crops worldwide is estimated at 153,000 million euros. Demonstrated its importance, the Ministry of Ecology and Agriculture of France will collaborate on a plan of action against the weakening and death of bees

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To support the economy of the horticulturist, beekeepers in the state agreed to maintain the same price per rental hive, which is used for pollination of crops of cucumber, eggplant and zucchini. In assembly, beekeepers agreed to rent at 450 pesos (U.S. $ 33.50) the hive in the open sky, and over 50 pesos (U.S. $ 3.71), mesh shade, the same price being offered in the previous season. Julian Garcia Hernandez, president of the State Union of Beekeepers, pointed out that in each year, renters between 18 thousand and 20 thousand hives for pollination of vegetable crops. He mentioned that they will not have many gains in income.

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The number of hives in the province increased from 8 thousand to nearly 35 thousand in the last five years, with greater concentration in the area of Saltine, Mburucuyá, Tabay, Santa Rosa and Tatacuá.

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Milton Serrano, owner of the La Casita de la Miel in Veraguas, said he agreed with the consumers who make complaints are necessary, 'because there are people who are given the task to falsify the labels of brands that good sell honey as ours. ' 'This situation has happened I am not alone in Penonomé, but in other places.' He said that counterfeiters take a label and get him back, a situation that we have also recorded in provinces such as Colon, Panama and the area of La Chorrera. He explained that for that reason it withdrew from the area Penonomé, and since June this year does not sell on the spot. He warned that the irregularities occur when there is a shortage of honey, in that time the irresponsible glucose added to honey, or better known as honey, corn.

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A large contingent composed of technicians and apicultural producers from different regions of Brazil, nucleated by the SEBRAE, visited Maciá with the intention of knowing the productive chain of beekeeping.

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Howland's Honey had a bumper crop from 500 colonies. Owner Wink Howland plans to expand production next year based on the expectation that honey prices will continue to rise.

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Beekeeping practices must change to ensure that honeybees survive and thrive, says Dr Max Watkins of Vita Europe Ltd (company developing and manufacturing health products for honeybees) following one of the worst honey harvests in the UK and Northern Europe for many years. Although poor weather conditions may have badly affected the harvest an array of unexplained research findings indicates a more sinister and long-term challenge

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The largest beekeeping enterprise Arataki Honey, are moving 18,000 hives in two of the country's major growing regions - Bay of Plenty and Hawke's Bay. Arataki is New Zealand's favourite honey brand and the top seller of manuka honey which contributes over 40% of sales to the company's $7 million honey business. Arataki's commercial manager Rhys Flack said manuka has superseded all expectations. 'Twenty years ago manuka honey was a winter bee feed, we couldn't give it away. Today, with its proven health benefits, people are prepared to pay up to three times more for a pot of it, compared to traditional clover varieties.

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