Blue Sky Bee Supply Blog
MORE ACRES, MORE ALMONDS, MORE BUSINESS FOR BEEKEEPERS. RECORD-BREAKING ALMOND CROP PREDICTED FOR 2018.
In spite of concerns about freezing weather during almond bloom, the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is predicting a record crop in 2018.MODESTO, Calif. – According to the NASS 2018 Almond Subjective Forecast issued today, California almond orchards are expected to produce 2.30 billion pounds of nuts this year, up 1.3% from last year’s 2.27 billion-pound crop.[1]“Almond farmers used a variety of techniques to manage freezing nighttime temperatures i
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31st May 2018
FARMERS, SCIENTISTS AND BEEKEEPERS ARE WORKING TO RAISE BLUE ORCHARD MASON BEES TO POLLINATE VALUABLE ORCHARD CROPS.
Blue Orchard Bee (Osmia)Image Credits:USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab via Flickr (Homepage Image Credit: Suzi Rosenberg via Flickr)Colony collapse disorder has devastated honeybee populations over the past decade and brought a major push from beekeepers and scientists to commercialize a native pollinator for orchards in California and beyond. The most promising pollinator for the job is the blue orchard mason bee (Osmia lignaria). The challenge: figuring out how to produce enough of the fi
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29th May 2018
The Colony-Killing Mistake Backyard Beekeepers Are Making
The healthy bees managed by Jonathan Garaas are checked every two weeks for signs of a possible mite infestation. -Dan Gunderson/MPR NewsJonathan Garaas has learned a few things in three seasons of backyard
beekeeping: Bees are fascinating. They're complicated. And keeping them
alive is not easy.Every two weeks, the Fargo, N.D., attorney
opens the hives to check the bees and search for var
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13th Aug 2016
Seeing the Beauty in Pollinators
“I see the world through a viewfinder. The work that I do is
about the diversity of pollinators, their importance in our food supply
and ecosystem, the beauty and the awe, and how we can protect them. Bees
are responsible for pollinating one-third of the food we eat. They are
crucial to our ecosystem.” – Kathy Keatley Garvey
Teresa O’Connor, assistant editor of UC Food ObserverOn most days, you’ll find Kathy Keatley Garvey outside finding, photographing and documenting insects, especia
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30th Apr 2016