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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/bees/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2026 20:27:55 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Bees</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/bees/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>The women keeping Uttarakhand’s native bees alive</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-women-keeping-uttarakhands-native-bees-alive/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-women-keeping-uttarakhands-native-bees-alive/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Oct 2026 17:58:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Swati Thapa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/19172030/Indian-Honey-Bee-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333126</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Culture, Environment, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Insects, Natural Resources, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PITHORAGARH, Uttarakhand, India — The world comes alive during summers in Himalayan states like Uttarakhand. The forests are budding with new green leaves, and almost every trail is lined on both sides with flowers of many shapes, sizes and colors. With the flora, fauna comes to life as well. Saraswati Devi, 80, sits in her [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[PITHORAGARH, Uttarakhand, India — The world comes alive during summers in Himalayan states like Uttarakhand. The forests are budding with new green leaves, and almost every trail is lined on both sides with flowers of many shapes, sizes and colors. With the flora, fauna comes to life as well. Saraswati Devi, 80, sits in her courtyard with bees buzzing in and out of the wall hive where the colony lives in her home. “Bees are considered so sacred and an important part of people’s lives that we have faag songs about them,” Saraswati says. Faag are traditional songs sung at joyous and auspicious occasions like weddings and festivals in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. She and her fellow women hum a melody that Saraswati sang at weddings. Bees come to those homes where children play; But at homes with no children, the bees won’t stay. For centuries here, people’s lives have been intertwined with the bees, creating a unique interdependence. In rural Uttarakhand, many households share their homes with an indigenous species, Apis cerana indica, commonly known as the Indian honey bee or Himalayan honey bee. However, factors like climate change, introduction of new bee species for more honey production, habitat fragmentation and inadequate nutrition are among the reasons for a decline in their population. As rearing bees is a natural part of household duties, women’s role becomes central in the conservation of this species. Saraswati Devi, along with her family, standing beneath the opening of the wall hive, with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-women-keeping-uttarakhands-native-bees-alive/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333126</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Heat, fires and agribusiness squeeze traditional Amazon açaí harvesters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/heat-fires-and-agribusiness-squeeze-traditional-amazon-acai-harvesters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/heat-fires-and-agribusiness-squeeze-traditional-amazon-acai-harvesters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Apr 2026 07:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carla Ruas]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/23204151/e.-GP0STPODX_Low-res-800px-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318072</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Bioeconomy, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Crops, Drought, El Nino, Environment, Farming, Fires, Food, Forests, Heatwave, Indigenous Peoples, Monocultures, Rainforests, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The global craze for açaí is driving a plantation boom that leaves the forest’s original harvesters behind.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ACARÁ, Brazil — “I’ve spent my whole life working with açaí,” said Eliseu Carvalho, 57, who cultivates the berry in a floodplain area next to his home in the municipality of Acará, in the Brazilian state of Pará. “I’ve always made a living from it.” But after a devastating wildfire near his community, Carvalho is now considering abandoning açaí harvesting altogether. Acará is one of the most productive açaí regions in the state of Pará, with thousands of small-scale producers working in forest patches and along riverbanks. In 2024, the municipality was severely affected by an intense wildfire season. More than 18 million hectares (44.5 million acres) — an area the size of Cambodia — burned in the Amazon that year, according to the Brazilian collaborative research network MapBiomas. Most of the burning occurred in forest areas, threatening frontline communities. Carvalho said he watched the flames burn for more than 20 days and consume almost 30 hectares (74 acres) of forestland. Prolonged drought conditions had left the humid vegetation unusually dry, leaving it much more susceptible to fire. “The flames spread through roots and organic matter,” he told Mongabay in Acará. “We would put them out on the surface, but they kept burning underground.” Açaí farmer Eliseu Carvalho shows his land in Acará, where a devastating wildfire burned down their açaí production in 2024. Image by Carla Ruas. When firefighters and volunteers finally managed to control the fire, about 2 hectares (5 acres) of açaí palms had burned to the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/heat-fires-and-agribusiness-squeeze-traditional-amazon-acai-harvesters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318072</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘I’m proud to be the first published Asháninka researcher’: Richar Antonio Demetrio on bees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/im-proud-to-be-the-first-published-ashaninka-researcher-richar-antonio-demetrio-on-bees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/im-proud-to-be-the-first-published-ashaninka-researcher-richar-antonio-demetrio-on-bees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jan 2026 20:42:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Xilena Pinedo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/02202653/Richar-Demetrio-4-e1767386534375-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312570</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Culture, Earth Science, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Rainforests, Science, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Indigenous Asháninka belief, bees were once spirits in human form. Stories tell of a woman who enjoyed making masato, a traditional Amazonian fermented beverage. Every day, she would boil and mash the yuca, patiently fermenting it and offering the drink to whoever stopped by. Whole families would go and sit to drink it. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Indigenous Asháninka belief, bees were once spirits in human form. Stories tell of a woman who enjoyed making masato, a traditional Amazonian fermented beverage. Every day, she would boil and mash the yuca, patiently fermenting it and offering the drink to whoever stopped by. Whole families would go and sit to drink it. The woman made more and the masato never ran out. Word spread throughout the forest until it reached Avireri, the god of creation, who went to the community to see the woman with his own eyes. He tried the masato and waited for it to run out, but it never did. Intrigued, the god looked at her and asked, “Why does your masato never run out? I’d better turn you into a bee.” Thus, the legend goes, stingless bees were born, destined from that moment on to make the sweetest honey in the Peruvian Amazon. Richar Antonio Demetrio had to leave his community in search of better formal educational opportunities, but he returned to study their knowledge using scientific methods. Image courtesy of Richar Antonio Demetrio. This story, which has been passed down from generation to generation among the more than 50,000 Asháninka who currently live in Peru, is now enshrined in a scientific paper. Published in the journal Ethnobiology and Conservation in March 2025, the study documents, for the first time, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) about stingless bees in two communities of the central Peruvian rainforest, Marontoari and Pichiquia. The study reveals that Asháninka communities&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/im-proud-to-be-the-first-published-ashaninka-researcher-richar-antonio-demetrio-on-bees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312570</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon&#8217;s stingless bee propolis shows potent healing power, studies show</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/amazons-stingless-bee-propolis-shows-potent-healing-power-studies-show/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/amazons-stingless-bee-propolis-shows-potent-healing-power-studies-show/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Dec 2025 07:30:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lucas Berti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/12142842/153800040o-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309389</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Biodiversity, Bioeconomy, Business, Conservation, Environment, Pollinators, Rainforests, Reforestation, Sustainability, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Fueled by açaí flowers, a bee's resin once used for war wounds is now evolving as a new ingredient for cosmetics.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Açaí’s deep purple pulp is widely considered a “superfood” for its antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. The berry grows naturally in the Amazon and has become a star for the rainforest’s bioeconomy, reaping more than $1 billion worldwide. Now, a growing body of research is showing that its antioxidant properties are not exclusive to the berry and are also present in its neighbors. A study by scientists from Brazil’s agricultural research company, Embrapa, in partnership with the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), has shed light on the pharmaceutical potential of a cream formulated with propolis produced by native Amazonian stingless honeybees, known as meliponines. The experts identified healing and anti-inflammatory properties of substances sourced from the propolis (a resinous substance collected by honeybees from tree buds, used by them to fill crevices and to seal and varnish honeycombs) of the species Scaptotrigona aff. postica, popularly known in the northern Brazilian region and nearby areas as abelha-canudo. According to the findings, dermatological tests showed results comparable to those of healing ointments available in average cosmetic markets, giving positive perspectives for the creation of by-products. “The propolis-based cream directly influenced the lesion maturation process and exhibited a milder inflammatory response,” according to the study, published in October 2024, while describing that “biopharmaceuticals such as propolis-based creams offer advantages such as minimal side effects, low chemical residues, and negligible preservatives.” Despite being far less numerous and well-known than their more famous stinging “cousins” — particularly for not producing honey in the same quantity and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/amazons-stingless-bee-propolis-shows-potent-healing-power-studies-show/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309389</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sheila Colla, advocate for bees, died on July 6th, aged 43</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/sheila-colla-advocate-for-bees-died-on-july-6th-2025-aged-43/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/sheila-colla-advocate-for-bees-died-on-july-6th-2025-aged-43/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2025 14:56:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/15144541/Ontario_Nature_Education_Award_2023_Dr_Sheila_Colla-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302525</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, Insects, Invertebrates, Obituary, and Pollinators]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Most people would have walked past the flower. Even fewer would have recognized the insect on it. But in 2009, Sheila Colla did both. As her car left Ontario’s Pinery Provincial Park, she called for it to stop. There, small and inconspicuous, was Canada’s last known rusty-patched bumblebee. A fuzzy blur of wings and urgency, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Most people would have walked past the flower. Even fewer would have recognized the insect on it. But in 2009, Sheila Colla did both. As her car left Ontario’s Pinery Provincial Park, she called for it to stop. There, small and inconspicuous, was Canada’s last known rusty-patched bumblebee. A fuzzy blur of wings and urgency, it had once been common. Now it was vanishing. So, too, was the world it helped sustain. Colla had been looking for this bee for years. She was not a nostalgic naturalist pining for lost meadows. She was a scientist of rare clarity, trained at the University of Toronto and York University, where she later became a professor. Long before pollinators became fashionable mascots for corporate “sustainability,” she sounded the alarm about their disappearance. Her research identified the culprits—disease spillover from managed bees, climate change, invasive species—and she translated these findings for policymakers, citizens, and children alike. She did not just publish in peer-reviewed journals; she taught entire cities to plant differently, think differently, live differently. At a time when honeybees stole the spotlight, she reminded the public that the vast majority of North America’s 4,000 wild bee species do not make honey. They do not live in hives. They are solitary, vulnerable, essential. Rusty patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis). Photo by Jill Utrup/USFWS With her field guide Bumble Bees of North America, and the bestseller A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee, she made complex ecological science accessible. More than 20,000 people bought her guidebook; tens&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/sheila-colla-advocate-for-bees-died-on-july-6th-2025-aged-43/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302525</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How a young beekeeper’s initiative brought hope and profit to Sierra Leone communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/how-a-young-beekeepers-initiative-brought-hope-and-profit-to-sierra-leone-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/how-a-young-beekeepers-initiative-brought-hope-and-profit-to-sierra-leone-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Mar 2025 14:04:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/31134112/K-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296749</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Sierra Leone, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Deforestation, Economics, Environment, Protected Areas, Supply Chain, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2022, little did Aruna Bangura know that observing the changing environment and land use practices around his community would make him start beekeeping. The area just outside Tiwai Island, a protected wildlife sanctuary spread across 1,200 hectares (2,900 acres) in Sierra Leone, had a dearth of bees, he found. “I observed that the bee [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2022, little did Aruna Bangura know that observing the changing environment and land use practices around his community would make him start beekeeping. The area just outside Tiwai Island, a protected wildlife sanctuary spread across 1,200 hectares (2,900 acres) in Sierra Leone, had a dearth of bees, he found. “I observed that the bee population was declining, and starting a beekeeping initiative was the only alternative in sight,” says Bangura, a 24-year-old from the Boma community. He founded Bangs Circular, a local organization for sustainable beekeeping practices across eight communities surrounding the island in the Eastern and Southern provinces. They began the Tiwai Honey Project, which builds hand-made beehives for the native Western African honey bee (Apis mellifera adansonii). These hives that closely monitor bees and their behavior help attract more bees compared to the traditional method, generating more honey and profit for locals so they can reduce their dependence on logging to make and sell charcoal. The effort also engages community people in restoring natural habitats through reforestation around the wildlife sanctuary. The aim is to then reduce deforestation and degradation in order to increase the bee population, which could also increase honey harvesting. Aruna and the Tiwai Honey Initiative beekeepers. Image © Ezekiel Kargbo for The Iris Project. The impacts of the project are yet to be independently assessed, but so far it won the Iris Project&#8217;s Stem Prize — awarded for innovations by youth — in 2024, which gave them $10,000 to kick off the project&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/how-a-young-beekeepers-initiative-brought-hope-and-profit-to-sierra-leone-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296749</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indiscriminate pesticide use threatens Bangladesh honey bees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indiscriminate-pesticide-use-threatens-bangladesh-honeybees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indiscriminate-pesticide-use-threatens-bangladesh-honeybees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Mar 2025 07:11:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/27064423/beekeepers-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296568</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Farming, Food Industry, Insects, Pesticides, Poisoning, Pollinators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In February, during the flowering time of black cumin (Nigella sativa), beekeeper Pavel Hossen set up an apiary on leased barren land adjacent to farmer Abdul Hakim’s crop field in Kazirhat of Shariatpur, a district under Dhaka division and an emerging hub of spices, including the black cumin seeds. Pavel deployed Apis mellifera honey bees [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In February, during the flowering time of black cumin (Nigella sativa), beekeeper Pavel Hossen set up an apiary on leased barren land adjacent to farmer Abdul Hakim’s crop field in Kazirhat of Shariatpur, a district under Dhaka division and an emerging hub of spices, including the black cumin seeds. Pavel deployed Apis mellifera honey bees to collect nectar from the blooming cumin flowers. However, the hive boxes didn’t yield as much honey as expected. “Bees cannot forage freely across insecticide-treated crop fields. Their population growth is also slowing down,” Pavel recently told Mongabay. During a visit to Kazirhat in late February, the village’s agricultural landscape appeared fragmented by plots of different crops, including rice, wheat, coriander, black cumin, garlic, mustard and other vegetables. The use of agricultural chemicals like neonicotinoids as insecticides is popular with the cultivation of most of the mentioned crops. However, very few farmers know the permissible doses or potential effects of excessive use of insect killers on bees. Most of the farmers, like Abdul Hakim, said, “I spray the amount of chemicals that the sellers advise.” In a village market, agricultural chemical sellers with expertise in conservation of biodiversity is a rare thing. Entomologists and apiculturists have observed that rampant use of agricultural chemicals like neonicotinoids, present in different doses in nearly 600 brand products in Bangladesh, poses serious threats to bee colonies and other pollinators. “Because of food shortages, limited foraging grounds and frequent poisoning from insecticides, the population of honey bees is decreasing alarmingly,” said&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indiscriminate-pesticide-use-threatens-bangladesh-honeybees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296568</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Adjusting to temperature and providing water can help save Kenya farmers’ bees, study says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/adjusting-to-temperature-and-providing-water-can-help-save-kenya-farmers-bees-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/adjusting-to-temperature-and-providing-water-can-help-save-kenya-farmers-bees-study-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Feb 2025 12:01:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Wilson Odhiambo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ochieng' Ogodo]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/24113245/Apis_mellifera_flying-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294887</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bees, Biodiversity, Climate, Conservation, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather, Insects, Temperatures, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI ― Temperature can increase bee colony loss in dry, hot and wet seasons, but a study has found that beekeepers practicing water provision to the bees experience up to 10% less decrease. The yearlong research conducted among bee farmers in Kenya revealed that between October 2021 and September 2022, the farmers lost an average [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI ― Temperature can increase bee colony loss in dry, hot and wet seasons, but a study has found that beekeepers practicing water provision to the bees experience up to 10% less decrease. The yearlong research conducted among bee farmers in Kenya revealed that between October 2021 and September 2022, the farmers lost an average of 36% of their honeybee colonies due to climate change effects. Bees play a vital role in the pollination of plants, with honeybees offering additional benefits to farmers through the production of valuable commodities such as honey, beeswax, royal jelly and propolis. Among the various species of bees, honeybees are particularly significant for agricultural producers due to their substantial economic contributions. The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) is the most preferred species among beekeepers globally. The study used face-to-face interviews as its method of data collection to estimate honeybee decrease and to explore environmental (temperature and precipitation) and water provision effects on colonies decrease. It found that the colony losses were greater during the hot and dry periods (up to 31.9%) compared with the wet and cold periods (up to 20.2%). The study was done on a total of 589 beekeepers from different areas including coastal areas, semiarid regions, and tropical forests in Kenya, ensuring a representative sample of climate variations and beekeeping practices. Bees at their beehive in Kenya. Image © Tom Vandenbosch via Wikimedia Commons. Despite worldwide programs committed to addressing concerns about the health of managed honey bees, this study found&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/adjusting-to-temperature-and-providing-water-can-help-save-kenya-farmers-bees-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294887</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Decline of Cambodia’s native bees spells trouble for country’s farming future</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/decline-of-cambodias-native-bees-spells-trouble-for-countrys-farming-future/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/decline-of-cambodias-native-bees-spells-trouble-for-countrys-farming-future/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Feb 2025 23:47:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anton L. Delgado]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/25233426/A-Red-dwarf-honeybee-Apis-florea-worker-bee-one-of-Cambodia_s-four-native-bee-species.-Image-courtesy-of-Eric-Guerin_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295018</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Insects, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As natural pollinators, Cambodia’s native honey bees are key to the survival of the country’s forests and farms. But these species are at a conservation crossroads, warns a recent study that foreshadows the risks of leaving growing threats unaddressed. Based on field research across Cambodia, as well as dozens of interviews with honey hunters, farmers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As natural pollinators, Cambodia’s native honey bees are key to the survival of the country’s forests and farms. But these species are at a conservation crossroads, warns a recent study that foreshadows the risks of leaving growing threats unaddressed. Based on field research across Cambodia, as well as dozens of interviews with honey hunters, farmers and beekeepers, Eric Guerin, lead author of the study, told Mongabay he has no doubt native bee populations are declining. Thankfully, he said, species are not yet at risk of extinction. “If we continue in the same way, we may lose local populations of our native species. Though there is still time to change that. The bees are still here and the population could for sure recover,” said Guerin, a bee conservation and sustainable beekeeping specialist. “But that depends on us.” An Asian giant honeybee (Apis dorsata) worker bee, one of four native honey bee species in Cambodia, where global threats like climate change are compounded by local factors like the consumption of bee brood. Image courtesy of Eric Guerin. While a nationwide bee population survey hasn’t been conducted in Cambodia, the study underlines how the kingdom’s four native honey bee species are increasingly at risk. Threats like climate change, insecticides and parasites that are decimating bee populations globally are compounded locally by habitat loss, agricultural intensification, unsustainable wild honey gathering, and the consumption of bee brood (eggs, larvae and pupae), a protein-rich delicacy in high demand in Cambodia. As most of the world’s honey&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/decline-of-cambodias-native-bees-spells-trouble-for-countrys-farming-future/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/decline-of-cambodias-native-bees-spells-trouble-for-countrys-farming-future/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295018</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Scratching the surface’ of Nepal butterfly research: Interview with Sanej Suwal</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/scratching-the-surface-of-nepal-butterfly-research-interview-with-sanej-suwal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/scratching-the-surface-of-nepal-butterfly-research-interview-with-sanej-suwal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Nov 2024 02:48:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/20013208/1_Alpine-Mountan-Blue-Albulina-orbitulus-lobbichleri_Mustang_susceptibleNRDB1995_%C2%A9sanejprasadsuwal-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290343</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Butterflies, Conservation, Flowers, Funding, Insects, Mountains, Pollinators, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal is home to a diversity of butterfly species, with 692 identified. More than two dozen species and subspecies have been found to be endemic to Nepal. Despite this, research on butterflies in Nepal is still in its nascent stage, mainly due to insufficient funding, limited public interest and the absence of documented [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal is home to a diversity of butterfly species, with 692 identified. More than two dozen species and subspecies have been found to be endemic to Nepal. Despite this, research on butterflies in Nepal is still in its nascent stage, mainly due to insufficient funding, limited public interest and the absence of documented cultural practices or traditions that emphasize their significance. This hasn’t prevented a handful of researchers driven by their passion from venturing into butterfly research and public awareness. Among them is Sanej Suwal, a young conservationist from Bhaktapur, a town in the Kathmandu Valley, who has dedicated his career to studying butterflies. Suwal’s passion drives his commitment to both research and public awareness, despite facing significant challenges such as a lack of financial support and minimal recognition from government bodies. “Butterflies, as key pollinators, play a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance, but they are often overlooked,” Suwal says. Suwal and his team recently organized Nepal’s Big Butterfly Count. The event, held during Nepal’s festive season in October, saw active participation from people around the country, highlighting growing interest in butterfly conservation. This initiative aimed not only to count butterfly species but also to raise public awareness about their ecological importance. Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi spoke by phone with Suwal about his work, including the Big Butterfly Count, and the past and present of butterfly research in Nepal. The following interview has been translated from Nepali and edited for clarity. A Krishna peacock (Papilio krishna) photographed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/scratching-the-surface-of-nepal-butterfly-research-interview-with-sanej-suwal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290343</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Prospect of mining is a bitter pill for Afro-Brazilian community known for its honey</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/prospect-of-mining-is-a-bitter-pill-for-afro-brazilian-community-known-for-its-honey/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/prospect-of-mining-is-a-bitter-pill-for-afro-brazilian-community-known-for-its-honey/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Oct 2024 10:58:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rafael Martins]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/08105212/%C2%A9RafaelMartins_Julio-manejando-seu-apiario-na-regiao-da-comunidade-de-Sao-Vitor-Quilombo-Lagoas-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=288354</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil and Caatinga]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Mining, Threats To Rainforests, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Júlio de Castro began beekeeping in 1986, he never imagined he and his family would one day own the 500 hives they maintain today, producing up to 10 metric tons of honey per year. Castro lives in the rural Afro-Brazilian community, or quilombo, of Lagoas and is a member of Mel do Sertão, a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Júlio de Castro began beekeeping in 1986, he never imagined he and his family would one day own the 500 hives they maintain today, producing up to 10 metric tons of honey per year. Castro lives in the rural Afro-Brazilian community, or quilombo, of Lagoas and is a member of Mel do Sertão, a beekeeping cooperative located in Brazil’s Serra da Capivara mountains, the main honey-producing region of this part of the country’s northeast. “I started keeping bees because the payback was extraordinary. I don’t even farm my own land anymore,” Castro says, adding his harvest in 2021 earned him 100,000 reais, or about $18,500 at the exchange rate at the time. “This place is excellent, I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” he goes on. “In the winter everything is green, it’s healthy work, we take care of the bees, there’s plenty of water in the springs — life is great breathing the clean air out here.” Lagoas is home to more than 140 associated beekeeping families, making it the Serra de Capivara’s strongest honey-producing community, with an annual average production of up to 500 metric tons. Lagoas is also the largest quilombo territory in the semiarid Caatinga biome, made up of 119 communities spread across 62,375 hectares (154,132 acres) straddling six municipalities in the state of Piauí. “The bees are our year-end bonus here in the bush,” says Cláudio Tenório, the head of the quilombo. “They produce a great deal of honey and the entire world needs honey&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/prospect-of-mining-is-a-bitter-pill-for-afro-brazilian-community-known-for-its-honey/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-288354</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change could threaten newly described ‘shiny’ North American bees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/climate-change-could-threaten-newly-described-shiny-north-american-bees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/climate-change-could-threaten-newly-described-shiny-north-american-bees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2024 03:55:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/18035156/3.-The-genus-Lasioglossum-records-the-largest-number-of-wild-bees-image-shows-Lasioglossum-Dialictus-sp.3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287525</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Impact Of Climate Change, Insects, New Discovery, Research, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka, an Indian Ocean island, lies far away from the United States and is just one-sixth the size of California. But interestingly, one of the three newly identified wild bee species described in California has been bestowed with a Sinhala name, a language exclusive to Sri Lanka. All three bees look alike [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka, an Indian Ocean island, lies far away from the United States and is just one-sixth the size of California. But interestingly, one of the three newly identified wild bee species described in California has been bestowed with a Sinhala name, a language exclusive to Sri Lanka. All three bees look alike and display an unusual metallic sheen on their body, so one of them was named Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) dilisena, as the word dilisena means “shining” in the Sinhala language. Thilina Hettiarachchi, a PhD student at the University of Manitoba in Canada and the first author of the study, suggested the inclusion. &#8220;Given that Thilina hails from Sri Lanka, it seemed apt to have a Sinhala word incorporated into one of the names, as scientific names are typically in Latin or Latinized Greek, which most people in North America may not speak. Then there’s no particular reason why Sinhala would be any less understandable,&#8221; said Jason Gibbs, associate professor of entomology at Manitoba University who is Hettiarachchi’s supervisor and a study co-author. &#8220;We strive to find names for new species that are descriptive, easy to pronounce and celebrate diversity, and the word ‘dilisena’ embodies all these features,&#8221; Gibbs told Mongabay. Part Sinhala name Given the metallic sheen that gives the bee&#8217;s body its iridescence, the team has aptly named the second bee as Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) iridescens, highlighting its iridescent nature and the color reflected by its metallic sheen. The third bee has been named Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) silveirai,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/climate-change-could-threaten-newly-described-shiny-north-american-bees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287525</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study finds best plants for bee health and conservation in North America</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/its-the-bees-needs-study-finds-best-plants-for-bee-health-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/its-the-bees-needs-study-finds-best-plants-for-bee-health-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jul 2024 16:48:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/10134637/bee-in-tokyo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=284102</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Crops, Diseases, Drones, Environment, Food, Food Industry, Green, Habitat Degradation, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Insects, Monocultures, Pesticides, Pollinators, Trees, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[What&#8217;s on the menu for a healthy bee? A team of researchers has delved into the world of bee nutrition, analyzing pollen to identify the best food sources for these vital pollinators. Their findings could have implications for bee conservation efforts and pollinator-friendly landscaping. The research, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, analyzed the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[What&#8217;s on the menu for a healthy bee? A team of researchers has delved into the world of bee nutrition, analyzing pollen to identify the best food sources for these vital pollinators. Their findings could have implications for bee conservation efforts and pollinator-friendly landscaping. The research, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, analyzed the nutritional content of pollen collected from 57 plant species native to North America. The study team, led by Sandra Rehan of York University in Canada, examined levels of essential fatty acids, amino acids and other key nutrients in the pollen samples. &#8220;Despite public interest and a rise in pollinator plantings, little is known about which plant species are best suited for bee health,&#8221; Rehan said. &#8220;This study aimed to better understand the nutritional value of plant species.&#8221; Based on their findings, the researchers recommend emphasizing roses (Rosa sp.), clovers (Trifolium sp.), red raspberry (Rubus idaeus), tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris), and Tara vine (Actinidia arguta) in wildflower restoration projects, citing their ideal protein-to-lipid ratios in pollen for wild bee nutrition. They found that tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris) was the most aligned with honey bee dietary requirements, closely followed by hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguta), bird&#8217;s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea), multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), red raspberry (Rubus idaeus), Virginia rose (Rosa virginiana), rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina), and European cranberrybush (Viburnum opulus). When comparing native and introduced plant species, the study found no significant differences in the overall nutritional content of their&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/its-the-bees-needs-study-finds-best-plants-for-bee-health-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-284102</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Beekeeping helps villagers tend coastal forests in Thai mangrove hotspot</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/beekeeping-helps-villagers-tend-coastal-forests-in-thai-mangrove-hotspot/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/beekeeping-helps-villagers-tend-coastal-forests-in-thai-mangrove-hotspot/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2024 23:29:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/13144638/Banner_01-copy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283237</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Bees, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Forests, Green, Invertebrates, Mangroves, Marine, Nature-based climate solutions, Pollinators, Restoration, Solutions, Sustainability, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BAN NAI NANG, Thailand — Carefully prying open the lid of a wooden bee box, Ali Madwang gazes intently into the cavity as sunlight illuminates the scene within. A hubbub of tiny bustling black bees hover and crawl over scores of thumb-sized, bulbous cells, each glistening with dark treacle-like honey.  “I have seen how bees [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BAN NAI NANG, Thailand — Carefully prying open the lid of a wooden bee box, Ali Madwang gazes intently into the cavity as sunlight illuminates the scene within. A hubbub of tiny bustling black bees hover and crawl over scores of thumb-sized, bulbous cells, each glistening with dark treacle-like honey.  “I have seen how bees collaborate as a unified group, helping each other take care of the hive,” Ali tells Mongabay during a visit to the village of Ban Nai Nang in southern Thailand’s Krabi province. As the secretary of the Ban Nai Nang community enterprise group, Ali helps to manage bee hives in the village of 1,700 inhabitants nestled on a mangrove-lined backwater at the edge of the Andaman Sea’s picturesque Phang Nga Bay. The village fishing pier overlooks dense mangrove forests that sustain local fish and shellfish harvesting, and provide habitat for threatened species, including otters, marine turtles, dugongs and sharks, not to mention their vital carbon storage capacity. Artisanal fishing boats putter up and down the sun-dappled waterway, while white egrets stalk brown-camouflaged mudskippers that slip and slide across the mangrove flats. For Ali, growing up in the coastal village meant mangroves were always part of his life. But he says he truly began to appreciate the interconnected relationship between village life and the surrounding natural ecosystems when his community developed a close relationship with bees as a way of galvanizing support for mangrove conservation. “Mangrove forests and bees are the way of life of the Ban&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/beekeeping-helps-villagers-tend-coastal-forests-in-thai-mangrove-hotspot/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283237</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon deforestation threatens one of Brazil’s key pollinators, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/amazon-deforestation-threatens-one-of-brazils-key-pollinators-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/amazon-deforestation-threatens-one-of-brazils-key-pollinators-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2024 16:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Molly Herring]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/05102142/1024px-Orchid_Bee_hovering-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282974</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Orchids, Plantations, Pollinators, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With their metallic-blue-and-green bodies and iridescent wings, orchid bees aren’t just charismatic bugs. They’re specialist pollinators in tropical rainforests from Mexico to Brazil and are primarily responsible for the spread of the iconic Brazilian nut. But orchid bees might also provide a window into how deforestation and land-use change affect ecosystems and biodiversity, a recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With their metallic-blue-and-green bodies and iridescent wings, orchid bees aren’t just charismatic bugs. They’re specialist pollinators in tropical rainforests from Mexico to Brazil and are primarily responsible for the spread of the iconic Brazilian nut. But orchid bees might also provide a window into how deforestation and land-use change affect ecosystems and biodiversity, a recent study in Brazil’s state of Rondônia suggests. Although not the only pollinators affected by habitat loss, orchid bees, from the tribe Euglossini, are “among the most spectacular, peculiar, well-known, and economically important pollinators around, and they have the potential to attract the attention of the public and policymakers,” said study lead author J. Christopher Brown, professor of geography and atmospheric science at the University of Kansas, adding the bees might be the “perfect poster child” for conservation in the Amazon. The research, recently published in Biological Conservation, looks at how land-use change affects orchid bee abundance, richness and composition over time in various sites across the Amazonian state of Rondônia. Map of study area, collection zones sampled (1−12), and location of 130 sample locations in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. Image courtesy of study authors. The region is marked by its neotropical forests, cattle ranches, and production of coffee, cacao, beans, maize and Brazil nuts. When an area is settled for human use, whether cattle grazing or agriculture, it’s first deforested. This opens up the canopy cover, leaving many of the species that rely on resource diversity unable to find what they need. In the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/amazon-deforestation-threatens-one-of-brazils-key-pollinators-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/amazon-deforestation-threatens-one-of-brazils-key-pollinators-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282974</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mini radio tags help track ‘murder hornets’ and other invasive insects</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/mini-radio-tags-help-track-murder-hornets-and-other-invasive-insects/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/mini-radio-tags-help-track-murder-hornets-and-other-invasive-insects/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Mar 2024 17:30:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/13091929/hornet-and-bees-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279687</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Europe, Global, South Asia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, GPS, Insects, Invasive Species, Pollinators, Research, Restoration, Science, Technology, Tracking, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The yellow-legged hornet is a predator: after it sets up a nest in a new neighborhood, its workers head out in search of smaller wasps, flies and bees to feed the hive’s growing brood. One of its favorite snacks is honey bees. Lingering outside a hive, these hornets, Vespa velutina, capture flying honey bees mid-air, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The yellow-legged hornet is a predator: after it sets up a nest in a new neighborhood, its workers head out in search of smaller wasps, flies and bees to feed the hive’s growing brood. One of its favorite snacks is honey bees. Lingering outside a hive, these hornets, Vespa velutina, capture flying honey bees mid-air, stopping on their way home only to chew the bee up into pellets to feed their young. In the hornets’ native range across Southeast Asia, local bee species have evolved defenses against the yellow-legged hornet’s attacks. But in Europe and the United States, native bees and agricultural honey bees are defenseless. “As invasives, these hornets are released from any kind of control agents, whereas in southern Asia there are things that prey on them,” says Lynn S. Kimsey, an entomologist at the University of California, Davis. “The threat is that they would expand their population to take up all resources available without any effective control, except maybe us humans.” In the face of this new threat, scientists are turning to an old technology: radio tracking, which has been used to follow wildlife since the 1950s. Thanks to recent advancements, radio tracking tags can now be made small enough to attach to the hornets’ tiny bodies, and in doing so lead scientists back to their nests. These miniature tags are also being tested on other species, such as the northern giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), better known as the “murder hornet.” With global shipping allowing insects to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/mini-radio-tags-help-track-murder-hornets-and-other-invasive-insects/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/mini-radio-tags-help-track-murder-hornets-and-other-invasive-insects/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279687</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bees bring honey and hope to a forest reserve in Nigeria</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/bees-bring-honey-and-hope-to-a-forest-reserve-in-nigeria/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/bees-bring-honey-and-hope-to-a-forest-reserve-in-nigeria/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Feb 2024 00:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Orji Sunday]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/24002253/Apis_mellifera_su_foglia_di_alloro-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279149</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Regenerative landscapes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Bees, Cattle, Chimpanzees, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Great Apes, Green, Habitat Loss, Primates, Protected Areas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[YELWA, Nigeria — Nightfall at the Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve field station is clad in the whispers, chirps and trills of insect song. Flames from the burning wood in the fire pit pierce the darkness as flashlights held by field assistants and patrollers reveal a river of fog flowing over the surrounding grassland and tree [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[YELWA, Nigeria — Nightfall at the Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve field station is clad in the whispers, chirps and trills of insect song. Flames from the burning wood in the fire pit pierce the darkness as flashlights held by field assistants and patrollers reveal a river of fog flowing over the surrounding grassland and tree canopies. As night recedes, the early hours of dawn vanquishes the fog, revealing distant mountains, valleys and forest. Bees, butterflies and birds of all colors flit from flower to fruit, hive to nest. Gazetted on April 24, 1969, the reserve comprises some 40 square kilometers of land. However, only about 7.2 sq km of that land was forested as of 2011, according to researchers.  Ngel Nyaki boasts a high level of biodiversity, including species threatened with extinction. Among the reserve’s denizens are the putty nose monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans), bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona), civet (Civettictis civetta), tantalus monkey (Chlorocebus tantalus), olive baboon (Papio anubis), Demidoff&#8217;s galago (Galagoides demidovii), duiker (Cephalophus silvicultor), red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus), African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), and colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza occidentalis). Researchers believe a small population of Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti), the most endangered chimpanzee subspecies, may still inhabit Ngel Nyaki’s forests. Using nest counts, researchers estimated there were around 16 adult individuals living in the reserve as of 2012. Researchers believe Ngel Nyaki&#8217;s forests still harbor endangered Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti). Image by Orji Sunday for Mongabay. Much like the rest of the region, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/bees-bring-honey-and-hope-to-a-forest-reserve-in-nigeria/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/bees-bring-honey-and-hope-to-a-forest-reserve-in-nigeria/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279149</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The man who made a pact with wild bees in Colombia’s Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-man-who-made-a-pact-with-wild-bees-from-colombias-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-man-who-made-a-pact-with-wild-bees-from-colombias-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Dec 2023 00:49:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jose Guarnizo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/30212815/DSC_2668-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=276150</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous-led conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Pollinators, Rainforests, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LA CEIBA, Colombia — Nine years ago, Delio de Jesús Suárez Gómez made a pact with wild bees. The arrangement didn’t come easy, given that neither party knew each other well. The relationship was tense. When they crossed paths on the unspoiled trails of the forest in Guainía in eastern Colombia, the bees stood their [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LA CEIBA, Colombia — Nine years ago, Delio de Jesús Suárez Gómez made a pact with wild bees. The arrangement didn’t come easy, given that neither party knew each other well. The relationship was tense. When they crossed paths on the unspoiled trails of the forest in Guainía in eastern Colombia, the bees stood their ground, poised at the back of the hive, adopting a defensive position, ready to attack. Meanwhile, Delio Suárez kept moving, trying not to disturb the elusive calm of the forest that sheltered them. Then, in an astonishing twist, the man offered the bees the kind of alliance that city dwellers visiting Guainía find difficult to understand. He promised to defend them from their rainforest opponents, such as ants and nomadic bees, which often invade their hives at night. In return, they would provide honey, an added purpose for the community, and a boost to their food and fruit supply. Since bees began to be kept in the village of La Ceiba, the trees remain in bloom for long periods of the year. This is due to pollination by the bees’, a critical process for plants to produce seeds and fruit. Image by Jose Guarnizo. The fact that their arrangement has, so far, worked perfectly does not mean it has always been a bed of roses — although it has been full of pollen-rich flowers. In order to attract bees to the area, Delio Suárez had to plant wild trees that would produce buds for them&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-man-who-made-a-pact-with-wild-bees-from-colombias-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-man-who-made-a-pact-with-wild-bees-from-colombias-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-276150</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil’s Indigenous communities turn to native beekeeping to recover nature</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/brazils-indigenous-communities-turn-to-native-beekeeping-to-recover-nature/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/brazils-indigenous-communities-turn-to-native-beekeeping-to-recover-nature/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2023 09:50:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Oliveira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/16093815/Criacao-de-abelhas-nativas-sem-ferrao-na-Terra-Indigena-Mae-Maria-credito-Rayda-Lima-scaled-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274302</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Regenerative landscapes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Insects, and Restoration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ana Rosa de Lima is a Brazilian materials engineer living in Germany. She had no idea that a 2019 crowdfunding campaign for a beekeeping project in the Indigenous Kayapó village of Mojkàràkô village, in the Brazilian Amazon, would inspire a community-based native beekeeping movement. Four years later, the project that began in Pará state has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ana Rosa de Lima is a Brazilian materials engineer living in Germany. She had no idea that a 2019 crowdfunding campaign for a beekeeping project in the Indigenous Kayapó village of Mojkàràkô village, in the Brazilian Amazon, would inspire a community-based native beekeeping movement. Four years later, the project that began in Pará state has expanded to all biomes across the country, and is now a network of solutions designed and managed by communities themselves. Today, the Meli Network Brazil brings together 53 communities — Indigenous, Quilombola (descendants of formerly enslaved Afro-Brazilians), extractivist (communities making a living from the sustainable extraction of natural resources), and campesino — who combine beekeeping with forest recovery to generate an income, reverse environmental degradation caused by encroachers, and strengthen food security through agroforestry. Ten community projects resulting from this movement were selected by the Pollinating Regeneration program. Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, the initiative was submitted by the socioenvironmental organization Meli Bees, created by Lima in Germany in 2020 in response to growing demand for incentives for beekeeping after an experience with the Kayapó. Around $50,000 will be allocated directly to selected community efforts. Besides international fundraising, which enabled them to support microprojects in Brazil, Lima says a growing WhatsApp group worked to spread the seeds for the Meli Network. Forest recovery and agroecological farms in southern Bahia. Image courtesy of the Okara Kaapora Association. “Brazilian community leaders interested in beekeeping joined the movement spontaneously,” she says. “In 2021, we had a year of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/brazils-indigenous-communities-turn-to-native-beekeeping-to-recover-nature/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274302</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal, Chepang take up the challenge to revive their cultural keystone tree</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/in-nepal-chepang-take-up-the-challenge-to-revive-their-cultural-keystone-tree/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/in-nepal-chepang-take-up-the-challenge-to-revive-their-cultural-keystone-tree/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 May 2023 23:00:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/31164159/dhanikram-praja-chepang-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269264</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bats, Bees, Biodiversity, Bushmeat, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Environmental Heroes, Erosion, Flowers, Indigenous Peoples, Meat, Traditional Knowledge, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SILINGE, Nepal — On a sunny afternoon, 70-year-old Dhanikram Praja squats on top of a hillock overlooking the lush green rows of trees dotting his farm, distinct from his other trees, which have already shed their leaves. The chiuri (Diploknema butyracea or Indian butter tree) saplings he planted three decades ago on his farm in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SILINGE, Nepal — On a sunny afternoon, 70-year-old Dhanikram Praja squats on top of a hillock overlooking the lush green rows of trees dotting his farm, distinct from his other trees, which have already shed their leaves. The chiuri (Diploknema butyracea or Indian butter tree) saplings he planted three decades ago on his farm in Silinge, central Nepal, are now in their full glory. “For Chepangs like us, the chiuri plant is everything,” said Nita Praja, Dhanikram’s grandaughter-in-law. Like Dhanikram, Nita is a member of the Chepang tribe, which has been living in Nepal’s hills in Chitwan, Makwanpur, Dhading and Gorkha for centuries. “We often talk about Chepang chiuri and chamero [bats], and the way they work together.” According to folklore, each member of the trio is necessary for the survival of the other two. The Chepang people are needed to look after the chiuri trees; the trees give the Chepang tribe butter, timber and fuelwood that they can sell or use; the bats pollinate the chiuri flowers to produce fruit and are also a traditional delicacy for the people. Prajwol and Nita Praja from the Chepang community with their chirui trees. Image by Abhaya Raj Joshi/ Mongabay However, despite the role the trees play in their culture, growing chirui trees has fallen out of popularity and the community has seen a militarized conservation model restrict their access to protected areas, farmlands and resources. The community finds itself in dire need of additional livelihoods outside of protected areas and subsistence&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/in-nepal-chepang-take-up-the-challenge-to-revive-their-cultural-keystone-tree/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-269264</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A Guarani community brings native bees back in the shadow of São Paulo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/a-guarani-community-brings-native-bees-back-in-the-shadow-of-sao-paulo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/a-guarani-community-brings-native-bees-back-in-the-shadow-of-sao-paulo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 May 2023 11:57:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lais Modelli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/18115419/Abelha_jatai-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268744</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroforestry, Bees, Conservation, Culture, Endangered Species, Indigenous Peoples, Insects, Traditional People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Márcio Werá Mirim, chief of the village of Tekoá Yvy Porã, shares his people’s sacred story in a mix of Portuguese and Guarani as he walks along a path in the rainforest. “The name we use for sacred, untouched forest is Ka’agüy poru ey. These are places where people should never interfere,” says the Indigenous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Márcio Werá Mirim, chief of the village of Tekoá Yvy Porã, shares his people’s sacred story in a mix of Portuguese and Guarani as he walks along a path in the rainforest. “The name we use for sacred, untouched forest is Ka’agüy poru ey. These are places where people should never interfere,” says the Indigenous Guarani leader as he moves deeper into the forest until the sound of cars, just 2 kilometers, or a little more than a mile away in the city, can no longer be heard. But the Jaraguá Indigenous Territory, where we’re talking, is anything but untouched. Located just 16 km (10 mi) from downtown in the northwestern corner of São Paulo, the most populous city in the Western Hemisphere, this place has been the stage for land ownership disputes and invasions since the first Europeans arrived here in the 16th century: it was one of the first sites where gold was mined in Brazil, was later used for coffee farming, and in recent decades has been subject to invasions and real estate speculation. Surrounded by polluted rivers, noise, traffic jams and deforested land, not to mention the constant struggle with one of the world’s largest cities for every square centimeter of land, the 125 Indigenous families living in the six villages inside Jaraguá decided in 2017 to join forces in planting native Atlantic Rainforest seedlings and bringing back indigenous bees, which are important pollinators. After six years of work, the Jaraguá Guarani proudly sustain a meliponário,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/a-guarani-community-brings-native-bees-back-in-the-shadow-of-sao-paulo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268744</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Honey production sweetens snow leopard conservation in Kyrgyzstan</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/honey-production-sweetens-snow-leopard-conservation-in-kyrgyzstan/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/honey-production-sweetens-snow-leopard-conservation-in-kyrgyzstan/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 May 2023 22:34:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monica Pelliccia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/08/23175248/Snow-leopard-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268478</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Asia, and Kyrgyzstan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Animals, Bees, Big Cats, Carnivores, Cats, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Development, Ecotourism, Endangered Species, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Mountains, Predators, Snow Leopards, Solutions, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Technology, Top Predators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SHAMSHY, Kyrgyzstan — “I was only 9 when I first saw a snow leopard with my father. He was a ranger bringing injured animals found in the mountains to the veterinarian,” says Asanbek Sasukilov, 62, a beekeeper and herder. “I was sitting close to the cage. Suddenly, the snow leopard started to roar, and I [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SHAMSHY, Kyrgyzstan — “I was only 9 when I first saw a snow leopard with my father. He was a ranger bringing injured animals found in the mountains to the veterinarian,” says Asanbek Sasukilov, 62, a beekeeper and herder. “I was sitting close to the cage. Suddenly, the snow leopard started to roar, and I ran away.” For Sasukilov, snow leopards (Panthera uncia) have always been a part of his life. The same is true for those in other communities living in the area surrounding the Ala-Too mountains, in northern Kyrgyzstan. The difference is that they’re now involved in big cat conservation programs being implemented by the Snow Leopard Trust (SLT) and the Snow Leopard Foundation in Kyrgyzstan (SLFK) that promote beekeeping, agroecology and ecotourism as alternative livelihoods to herding, in an effort to avoid conflict with wildlife like the rare big cats. Here, locals have always seen snow leopards on mountaintops while herding cows or sheep. The big cats are also part of popular stories like farmer Beisheukaz Balasy&#8217;s memory of a snow leopard that was filmed for a movie during the Soviet era. Beekeeper and conservationist Asanbek Sasykilov (r)  with his wife (l) and granddaughter in their home, Shamshy, Kyrgyzstan, December 2022. Image by Monica Pelliccia for Mongabay. Both Sasukilov and Balasy now keep bees in Shamshy, a village of 1,000 inhabitants that’s a 90-minute drive from the capital, Bishkek. Once outside the city, the gray cityscape disappears, melting into blue skies and snowy mountains. Flocks of sheep,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/honey-production-sweetens-snow-leopard-conservation-in-kyrgyzstan/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/honey-production-sweetens-snow-leopard-conservation-in-kyrgyzstan/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268478</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ethiopia used chemicals to kill locusts. Billions of honeybees disappeared</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/ethiopia-used-chemicals-to-kill-locusts-billions-of-honeybees-disappeared/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/ethiopia-used-chemicals-to-kill-locusts-billions-of-honeybees-disappeared/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 May 2023 12:19:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/01120334/locusts-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268110</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Ethiopia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Bees, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Food, Food Industry, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Human-wildlife Conflict, Insects, Pesticides, Poisoning, Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Between 2019 and 2021, swarms of desert locusts̨ swept across the Horn of Africa and East Africa. In response, the worst-affected countries, Kenya and Ethiopia, sprayed millions of hectares of cropland and pastures with chemical pesticides. A new study now finds the chemical spraying coincided with a steep decline in honey production in Ethiopia. Co-author [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Between 2019 and 2021, swarms of desert locusts̨ swept across the Horn of Africa and East Africa. In response, the worst-affected countries, Kenya and Ethiopia, sprayed millions of hectares of cropland and pastures with chemical pesticides. A new study now finds the chemical spraying coincided with a steep decline in honey production in Ethiopia. Co-author Elena Lazutkaite a specialist in sustainability and pest control, and her colleagues at the Berlin think tank TMG estimate that in Ethiopia, billions of honeybees died or abandoned their hives during this period. In their study in the journal Agronomy, they argue that use of synthetic pesticides was most likely to blame. TMG is the nonprofit research arm of a consultancy co-founded by former top officials at the Food and Agriculture Organization and the U.N. Environment Programme. Chemical control may work faster against pests, but it comes with a greater cost, Lazutkaite said. “If we consider the impact of wild pollinators and other non-target animals, the true costs of insecticide use could be in the realm of billions of U.S. dollars,” she said. The FAO calls locusts a “dangerous migratory pest” because, in such colossal numbers, they can prove extremely destructive. An adult desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) consumes as much as its own body weight in a day. The 2019-2021 infestations made food scarcer for 20 million people in the region. Desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) climbing a tree to fledge. Image by ChriKo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). S. gregaria isn’t always disruptive to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/ethiopia-used-chemicals-to-kill-locusts-billions-of-honeybees-disappeared/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/ethiopia-used-chemicals-to-kill-locusts-billions-of-honeybees-disappeared/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268110</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous women record age-old knowledge of bees in Colombia’s Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/indigenous-women-record-age-old-knowledge-of-bees-in-colombias-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/indigenous-women-record-age-old-knowledge-of-bees-in-colombias-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Feb 2023 15:46:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Astrid Arellano]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/08152320/Mujer-exponiendo-trabajo-de-investigacion-4.-Cred-Conservacion-Internacional-Colombia-scaled-e1660239052103-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265356</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and Indigenous-led conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Bees, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Insects, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Je’chu, a god, first created bees so that their wax would cure the world. So goes the spiritual testament of the Yucuna Indigenous peoples of Colombia. “He is our god and creator — our grandfather,” narrates Carmenza Yucuna Rivas, leader of the Miriti-Parana Indigenous Reserve in Colombia, located in the Amazon Rainforest. “And he created [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Je’chu, a god, first created bees so that their wax would cure the world. So goes the spiritual testament of the Yucuna Indigenous peoples of Colombia. “He is our god and creator — our grandfather,” narrates Carmenza Yucuna Rivas, leader of the Miriti-Parana Indigenous Reserve in Colombia, located in the Amazon Rainforest. “And he created bees because there had to be a species protecting life.” A Melipona stingless bee. Image courtesy of Conservation International Colombia. Therefore, during rituals, elders take a small piece of the beehive and, with the permission of its tiny inhabitants, they conjure an invocation over it. They then light it on fire so the emerging smoke blowing in the wind covers humanity, protecting us and helping us live well. This smoke is a sign of the harmony and peace that keeps nature balanced, according to their religious beliefs. “Wind is the biggest connection between the beehive and nature, as it helps expand this knowledge and wisdom,” says Carmenza. “Beehives also help regulate the climate, drive sickness away, give us the opportunity to create chakras [food gardens typically using an agroforestry model with diverse plant species] and make them productive. They let us have something to cultivate or extract from nature in the first place.” To rescue and document the remaining oral knowledge of the origin of bees in their culture and their importance to their ecosystems and territory, Carmenza is leading research about these species with 36 women from the 12 communities part of the Indigenous&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/indigenous-women-record-age-old-knowledge-of-bees-in-colombias-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/indigenous-women-record-age-old-knowledge-of-bees-in-colombias-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265356</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pollinator declines linked to half million early human deaths annually: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollinator-declines-linked-to-half-million-early-human-deaths-annually-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollinator-declines-linked-to-half-million-early-human-deaths-annually-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Feb 2023 16:14:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/02160452/bees-and-flowers-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265214</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crops, Diseases, Environment, Flowers, Food, Food Prices, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Loss, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Insects, Planetary Health, Pollinators, Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Insect pollinator loss is already resulting in an estimated half million early deaths yearly due to reduced healthy food availability and higher prices. Researchers say action to overhaul global agriculture is urgently needed.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Do you know the butterfly effect? It’s a metaphor, often used in the discussion of chaos theory, for how tiny, almost imperceptible changes may lead to massive outcomes: a butterfly flaps its wings in Asia and three months later there’s a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Well, it turns out butterflies, and other pollinators, can cause massive outcomes not just by their presence, but also by their absence. A new modeling study in Environmental Health Perspectives estimates that half a million people are currently dying prematurely every year due to global insect pollinator decline, because of its impact on availability and price of healthy foods such as nuts, legumes, fruits and vegetables. And the researchers say their estimate is “conservative.” “Today’s estimated health impacts of insufficient pollination would be comparable to other major global risk factors: those attributable to substance use disorders, interpersonal violence, or prostate cancer,” the researchers write. The researchers arrived at their estimate by first turning to work published in Science in 2016 that estimated how much of the agricultural production yield gap — i.e. the gap between average farms and those bringing in the most crops — was due to insufficient pollination. That study tracked 344 fields of crops depending on 33 insect pollinators around the world, finding that around one-quarter of the yield gap was likely linked to lost pollinators. A butterfly in Sikkim, India. The new study estimates that half a million people are currently dying prematurely every year due to global insect&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollinator-declines-linked-to-half-million-early-human-deaths-annually-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/pollinator-declines-linked-to-half-million-early-human-deaths-annually-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265214</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For Tanzania’s traditional beekeepers, modern hives just don’t buzz</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-tanzanias-traditional-beekeepers-modern-hives-just-dont-buzz/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-tanzanias-traditional-beekeepers-modern-hives-just-dont-buzz/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jan 2023 16:30:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/23161026/BeekeeperBambooLadder_UmalilaTanzania_PaulLathamFlickrBYBNC2.0-CROP-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264827</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Community Development, Conservation, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources, Technology, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tanzania is Africa&#8217;s second-biggest producer of honey, and to get it to the next level, the country’s government and aid agencies want beekeepers to adopt hanging-frame beehive designs to increase their production and income. But beekeepers have been reluctant to abandon their traditional hives made from hollow logs. What do they know that the technical [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tanzania is Africa&#8217;s second-biggest producer of honey, and to get it to the next level, the country’s government and aid agencies want beekeepers to adopt hanging-frame beehive designs to increase their production and income. But beekeepers have been reluctant to abandon their traditional hives made from hollow logs. What do they know that the technical experts don&#8217;t? The latter are promoting hanging frame beehives, a design originating in Europe in the 1800s. These are rectangular hives made out of fast-growing commercial timber species like cypress and pine, into which removable wood frames are slotted that hold the honeycombs. Traditional hives across East Africa are made from hollowed-out logs or bark peeled from living trees to maintain a cylindrical shape. For a study published recently in Tropical Conservation Science, researchers from the University of Dar es Salaam&#8217;s Institute of Resource Assessment interviewed 74 beekeepers from four villages in the semiarid Chemba district of Dodoma, in central Tanzania, about their use of hives. Just six of them used modern hives exclusively. Twenty-four used a combination of modern and traditional hives, and 44 respondents relied entirely on traditional log hives. Log hives in Chemba are mostly made from acacia trees cut down outside of community forest protected areas, putting additional pressure on woodlands that are already highly degraded from charcoal production, the study says. A log hive in Umalila, in Tanzania&#8217;s Southern Highlands. Image by Paul Latham via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0) In the semiarid Chemba district of Dodoma, researchers interviewed beekeepers from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/for-tanzanias-traditional-beekeepers-modern-hives-just-dont-buzz/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264827</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Poisoned by pesticides: Health crisis deepens in Brazil’s Indigenous communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/poisoned-by-pesticides-health-crisis-deepens-in-brazils-indigenous-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/poisoned-by-pesticides-health-crisis-deepens-in-brazils-indigenous-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jan 2023 20:57:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/16203216/pexels-gilmer-diaz-estela-6345502-scaled-e1673901240276-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264619</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Commodities]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Air Pollution, Bees, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Controversial, Corn, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Food, Food Industry, Green, Health, Indigenous Peoples, Industrial Agriculture, Insects, Law, Law Enforcement, Pesticides, Planetary Health, Plantations, Poisoning, Pollution, Public Health, Regulations, Soy, Sugar, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s use of pesticides has spiked in recent years, growing by over 300,000 tonnes since 2010, according to experts. A recent report, published by the NGO Operação Amazônia Nativa (OPAN) in partnership with the Federal University of Mato Grosso’s institute of public health, reveals the harmful effects of these chemicals on Indigenous populations living in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s use of pesticides has spiked in recent years, growing by over 300,000 tonnes since 2010, according to experts. A recent report, published by the NGO Operação Amazônia Nativa (OPAN) in partnership with the Federal University of Mato Grosso’s institute of public health, reveals the harmful effects of these chemicals on Indigenous populations living in Mato Grosso, the region with the highest pesticide concentrations in the country. According to its findings, each inhabitant of Mato Grosso is estimated to have been exposed to 65.8 liters of pesticides—some of these substances banned—in 2018. The situation is worse for people living in the state’s rural cities where exposure is estimated to exceed 300 liters per inhabitant each year. A machine sprays pesticides on soybean crops in Mato Grosso, a state in the Brazilian Amazon. Supporters of the Safer Food Bill say it will reduce food prices for consumers, provide food security for the country, and boost Brazil’s economy. Image © Bruno Kelly/Greenpeace. Mato Grosso is a high-producing agricultural region in the country and the leading producer of cotton among all Brazilian states. Cotton is the crop that uses the most pesticides in the state and is the second-largest pesticide-using crop in the country. Mato Grosso lies at the intersection of the Amazon rainforest, the Cerrado tropical savannah and the Pantanal wetlands—areas of great importance for global climate stabilization. To assess the impact of the agriculture sector in the region, samples were taken from plants, trees and water on Indigenous lands for laboratory&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/poisoned-by-pesticides-health-crisis-deepens-in-brazils-indigenous-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264619</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Newcomer farmers in Brazil embrace bees, agroforestry and find success</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/photos-newcomer-farmers-in-brazil-embrace-bees-agroforestry-and-find-success/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/photos-newcomer-farmers-in-brazil-embrace-bees-agroforestry-and-find-success/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Dec 2022 19:22:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Inaê Guion]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/02184908/Inae-Guion_Mongabay_Special-Reporting-Project_Agroecology-and-Beekeeping-11-scaled-e1670007606421-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263207</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Farming, Fertilizers, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Land Conflict, Pesticides, Social Justice, Subsistence Agriculture, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PARAÍBA VALLEY, Brazil — Under the frigid morning air of the Mantiqueira Mountains in southeastern Brazil, honeybees begin leaving the hive. “When day breaks they are calmer,” says Mara Galvão, a smallholder farmer and beekeeper who is part of the rural agrarian reform settlement Nova Esperança in the Paraíba Valley. Nestled between mountains connecting the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PARAÍBA VALLEY, Brazil — Under the frigid morning air of the Mantiqueira Mountains in southeastern Brazil, honeybees begin leaving the hive. “When day breaks they are calmer,” says Mara Galvão, a smallholder farmer and beekeeper who is part of the rural agrarian reform settlement Nova Esperança in the Paraíba Valley. Beekeepers Mara, Ana, Cristiane and Yessica manage a box of bees that survived the fires that affected the region during the dry season of 2020. Part of Ana&#8217;s plot was consumed by the fire, but the hives resisted. Sítio LaCuna, Egídio Brunetto Agroecological Settlement, Lagoinha, Paraíba Valley, Brazil. Image by Inaê Guion. Nestled between mountains connecting the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, Paraíba Valley is home to half a dozen of the more than 500 agrarian reform settlements of the Landless Workers&#8217; Movement (MST) spread across Brazil. One of the largest social movements in the world, MST has generated controversy among politicians and public opinion for its ideological structure inspired by Marxism and methods promoting land occupations. The movement seeks to help landless families occupy, settle and farm throughout the country based on Brazil’s 1988 Constitutional promise that land should “serve a social purpose.” In the South American nation, persistent land inequality has further spurred the movement — about 10% of the largest farms occupy nearly three-quarters of agricultural land. The movement embraces food sovereignty and environmentalism. So far, the movement has led more than 2,500 land occupations, with about 370,000 families settled on 7.5&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/photos-newcomer-farmers-in-brazil-embrace-bees-agroforestry-and-find-success/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-263207</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Beenome’ project aims to boost bee conservation with genetic mapping</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/beenome-project-aims-to-boost-bee-conservation-with-genetic-mapping/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/beenome-project-aims-to-boost-bee-conservation-with-genetic-mapping/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2022 16:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/30152526/Screen-Shot-2022-06-30-at-8.25.01-AM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257801</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Governance, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Insects, and Pollinators]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From tiny, jewel-toned metallic bees to cartoonish and lumbering bumblebees, the United States is home to more than 4,000 native and 55 non-native bee species. Now, scientists have announced a plan to map the genomes of at least 100 of these species, representing each of the major bee taxonomic groups in the U.S. The project [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From tiny, jewel-toned metallic bees to cartoonish and lumbering bumblebees, the United States is home to more than 4,000 native and 55 non-native bee species. Now, scientists have announced a plan to map the genomes of at least 100 of these species, representing each of the major bee taxonomic groups in the U.S. The project “will help researchers answer the big questions like what genetic differences make some bee species more vulnerable to climate change or whether a bee species is likely to be more susceptible to a pesticide,&#8221; entomologist Jay Evans with the ARS Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, and co-lead of the project, said in a statement. A metallic bee (Augochloropsis fulgida) collected in West Virginia. The United States has more than 4,000 native bee species. Photo byUSGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab via Flickr. Public Domain. The &#8220;Beenome100&#8221; project, a first-of-its-kind library of genetic information led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), will create a digital repository of the complete set of genes present in 100 bee species. With this genetic map in hand, scientists can link specific genes to bee functions. &#8220;We don&#8217;t know much about [bees] even though they are lovely in their many forms, and very diverse. Just the sizes and shapes and colors are awe-inspiring,&#8221; Sam Droege, head of the U.S. Geological Survey&#8217;s Bee Inventory and Monitoring program, told Wired. Catching and identifying bees in the field is tough, especially when they can be as small as the 2-millimeter (0.08-inch) solitary Perdita minima bee.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/beenome-project-aims-to-boost-bee-conservation-with-genetic-mapping/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/beenome-project-aims-to-boost-bee-conservation-with-genetic-mapping/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257801</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘GPS’ bird points to the sweet spot: Q&#038;A with honey hunter Eliupendo Laltaika</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/gps-bird-points-to-the-sweet-spot-qa-with-honey-hunter-eliupendo-laltaika/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/gps-bird-points-to-the-sweet-spot-qa-with-honey-hunter-eliupendo-laltaika/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jun 2022 10:17:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/13085128/1-ELaltiakaInterviewingSonjo_EliupundoLaltaika-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257133</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Interviews With Young Scientists, Mutualism, Natural Resources, Protected Areas, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Eliupendo Laltaika spent much of his childhood in the village of Nainokanoka, in the northern part of Tanzania&#8217;s Ngorongoro Conservation Area, herding cattle with his older brother. Sometimes they would enlist the services of the greater honeyguide (Indicator indicator), a bird that would lead them to honey-filled bees’ nests. Cooperating with honeyguides in this way [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Eliupendo Laltaika spent much of his childhood in the village of Nainokanoka, in the northern part of Tanzania&#8217;s Ngorongoro Conservation Area, herding cattle with his older brother. Sometimes they would enlist the services of the greater honeyguide (Indicator indicator), a bird that would lead them to honey-filled bees’ nests. Cooperating with honeyguides in this way is an increasingly rare example of human-wildlife cooperation that persists among a dwindling number of communities in East, Central and Southern Africa. Now a qualified conservation biologist and director of the Ngorongoro Biodiversity Conservation Project, the 33-year-old Laltaika is studying human-honeyguide mutualism. He sees a decline in honey hunting by his Maasai community, as people turn to refined sugar or domesticated bees, and as trees favored by wild bees are cut down in areas near settlements. Wild bees and honeyguides are now harder to find outside of protected areas. A male greater honeyguide (Indicator indicator). Some communities in East, Central and Southern Africa enlist the services of the bird to find honey-filled bees’ nests. Image by Peter Steward via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). Laltaika says he’s determined to preserve this cooperation between people and wild animals in a region that is undergoing social and environmental changes that might extinguish the relationship. He spoke to Mongabay from his base in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity. Mongabay: How old were you when you first learned the skill of honey hunting, and who did you learn it from? Eliupendo Laltaika: I&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/gps-bird-points-to-the-sweet-spot-qa-with-honey-hunter-eliupendo-laltaika/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257133</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>California court ruling opens door for protection of insects as endangered species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/california-court-ruling-opens-door-for-protection-of-insects-as-endangered-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/california-court-ruling-opens-door-for-protection-of-insects-as-endangered-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jun 2022 19:14:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/02190726/Bcrotchii_20180622_213903_XS-SMcK_0-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256776</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Governance, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Insects, and Pollinators]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A California court has ruled that state legislation on endangered species can apply to invertebrates. The decision this week by the Third District Court of Appeal means insects, including four endangered native Californian bumblebee species and the monarch butterfly, will receive much-needed protection under the California Endangered Species Act. “We are celebrating today’s decision that insects and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A California court has ruled that state legislation on endangered species can apply to invertebrates. The decision this week by the Third District Court of Appeal means insects, including four endangered native Californian bumblebee species and the monarch butterfly, will receive much-needed protection under the California Endangered Species Act. “We are celebrating today’s decision that insects and other invertebrates are eligible for protection under CESA,” Sarina Jepsen, director of endangered species at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, said in a press release. “The Court’s decision allows California to protect some of its most endangered pollinators, a step which will contribute to the resilience of the state’s native ecosystems and farms.” In 2018, the Xerces Society, the Center for Food Safety (CFS), and Defenders of Wildlife petitioned the state of California to list four species of native bumblebees as endangered under CESA. The California Fish and Game Commission voted to begin the process of listing these bees as endangered in 2019, but were then sued by a “consortium of California&#8217;s large scale industrial agricultural interests,” according to a Xerces Society press release. The trial court sided with the agricultural consortium, and the conservation groups appealed that decision in 2021. The decision this week marks a win for the conservation groups. The four species are the western bumblebee (Bombus occidentalis), whose relative abundance has declined by 84%; the Suckley cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus suckleyi) which is considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List and whose range has shrunk by 58%; the Crotch&#8217;s bumblebee (Bombus crotchii), now&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/california-court-ruling-opens-door-for-protection-of-insects-as-endangered-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/california-court-ruling-opens-door-for-protection-of-insects-as-endangered-species/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256776</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A whiz and a buzz: Bee attacks at Sri Lanka rock fortress point to need for toilets</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/a-whiz-and-a-buzz-bee-attacks-at-sri-lanka-rock-fortress-point-to-need-for-toilets/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/a-whiz-and-a-buzz-bee-attacks-at-sri-lanka-rock-fortress-point-to-need-for-toilets/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 May 2022 10:07:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/05/20093352/1.-Bee-hive-hanging-on-the-Sigiriya-rock2jpg-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256114</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Biodiversity, Environment, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — They’ve been called, erroneously, wasps and hornets, but the aggression is undeniable. The giant honeybees (Apis dorsata) of Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress in central Sri Lanka that’s popular with tourists, have become notorious for dive-bombing visitors in large swarms. For years, researchers have put forward possible explanations for why this was, but [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — They’ve been called, erroneously, wasps and hornets, but the aggression is undeniable. The giant honeybees (Apis dorsata) of Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress in central Sri Lanka that’s popular with tourists, have become notorious for dive-bombing visitors in large swarms. For years, researchers have put forward possible explanations for why this was, but none of them seemed to fit. The prevailing theory is that the sound of visitors to Sigiriya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, disturbs the bees. Signs are posted around the site asking visitors to keep quiet so as not to disturb the “wasps” that build their colonies on the rock walls. But for Wasantha Punchihewa, a leading Sri Lankan bee expert and consultant to the government on bee conservation and beekeeping, this reason doesn’t add up. “I have seen places where there are bee colonies located in close proximity to very noisy places, but the bees don’t show signs of being disturbed,” he tells Mongabay. Visitors to Sigiriya are warned not to make noise, or risk an attack by “hornets.” Image by Malaka Rodrigo. Another theory is that the bees get riled up during raids on their colonies by oriental honey buzzards (Pernis ptilorhynchus), and subsequently attack anything in sight. But Punchihewa, who visits Sigiriya frequently to study the bee colonies, says he’s never witnessed a buzzard swooping on the colonies, nor have victims of the bee attacks. Then there’s the theory that the bees’ flight path from their colonies to the flowers at the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/a-whiz-and-a-buzz-bee-attacks-at-sri-lanka-rock-fortress-point-to-need-for-toilets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256114</doi>				</item>
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