Honey Bee Conservation

Harvard University is trying to create ‘robotic’ bees.

Harvard researchers have received a $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation to spawn an army of robot bees, reports Network World. The RoboBee project is slated to span 5 years, and, according to the Harvard RoboBee Web site, could not only provide insight about how to mimic the collective behavior and intelligence of a typical bee community, but also lead to further advances in the electrical engineering and construction of micro flying devices.

I’m not sure what to think of this.  It’s interesting research to learn about how natural creatures, like honey bees, do what they do.  It’s also somewhat a scene ripped from some old horror movie. Where some demented scientist or the government secret labs create what is to become a new menace or means to terrorize the population.

Beekeepers raise money for Alzheimer’s research in Scotland

A HEALTH charity in Inverness yesterday benefited to the tune of £805,    (Approx $1316.00) thanks to the generosity of the Inverness-shire Beekeepers Association.

When one of their members, Hugh MacLean, succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease, his daughter Mary Hay offered his vast array of beekeeping equipment for sale to other members on condition that it would benefit Alzheimers Scotland.

On a “Sustainable Prisons Project” blog page,  Graduate Assistant Sarah Clarke posts:

From standing among swarms of bees to hearing first-hand how lives can be changed through education, I can honestly say that there is never a dull day for me at the Sustainable Prisons Project. Indeed, it’s changing my own life.

The blog discusses how the local universtiy and State corrections facilities are teaming up to introduce beekeeping to inmates.

It is suggested that they find beekeeping to be a calming and personal outlook or philosophy changing activity.

It seems to cause the inmates to see beyond themselves and to take others needs and concerns before their own.  This eventually helps them to hopefully change the behaviors and outlooks that got them in trouble to begin with.

Bees can have a deep impact in a persons life, whether you needed one or not.  Good for them.

An ancient form of beekeeping is undergoing something of a revival in Poland’s Spala forest as a small team of enthusiasts aim to attract bees to the area.

“Sideways News” reports recently on the revival of forest, log based beekeeping coming back stronger in Poland.

Kind of a “Back to the Future” for bees, eh?

New bee nutrition study underway.

Researchers are embarking on a three-year study into how food supplies affect honey bees and their resistance to disease.

Beekeepers have reported what they call “alarming” declines in the numbers of colonies that are surviving.

The research at the Rothamsted Institute in Hertfordshire is being co-funded by the government and the bio-tech company Syngenta.

I would also be curious to see a  research into whether a single source diet versus an multi source diet ( ie.. bees used   in pollinating one crop at a time on a large scale or bees in areas where various food sources are available.) plays a more important factor as well.