Organic farming and annual flower strips reduce parasite prevalence in honeybees and boost colony growth in agricultural landscapes
In Journal of Applied Ecology – Despite the major role that insect pollinators play in crop production, agricultural intensification drives them into decline. Various conservation measures have been developed to mitigate the negative effects of agriculture on insect pollinators. In a novel comparison of the efficacy of three conservation measures on honeybee colony growth, we […]
SOS Api: con BeeGuards apicoltura resiliente ai cambiamenti climatici
BeeGuards: è partito un entusiasmante progetto di ricerca europeo. Dopo un competitivo processo di valutazione in due fasi, il progetto BeeGuards è stato selezionato come uno dei due progetti di ricerca per il bando “Apicoltura resiliente” finanziato dal programma Horizon Europe (HORIZON-CL6-2022-BIODIV-02). Il consorzio BeeGuards, coordinato dalla dott.ssa Cecilia Costa del Consiglio per la ricerca […]
Use of mason bees for pollination in covered organic orchards (BIOFRUITNET Practice Abstract)
Good pollination is essential for fruit yield and quality. However, the population of bees (honeybees, wild bees), the primary pollinators, is decreasing. Pollinators are often present in too few numbers in intensive fruit orchards, also organic ones. Mason bees, which fly at lower temperatures (4°C on) compared to honeybees, are placed into the orchards just […]
Scale-dependent effectiveness of on-field vs. off-field agri-environmental measures for wild bees
The effectiveness of agri-environment schemes depends on scheme type, taxon and landscape. Here, we show how spatial scale, i.e. studied transect, field or farm level, and controlling for yield loss, can drastically change the evaluation of biodiversity benefits of on-field (organic farming) vs. off-field (flower strips) schemes. We selected ten agricultural landscapes in Central Germany, […]
Parlamento europeo: approvata la strategia Ue sulla biodiversità per il 2030
Il Parlamento europeo ha approvato la risoluzione sulla “Strategia dell’UE sulla biodiversità per il 2030 – Riportare la natura nella nostra vita”, che tratta dell’attuale crisi della biodiversità in Europa e nel resto del mondo, con 515 voti favorevoli, 90 contrari e 86 astensioni. La natura è in declino su scala globale a un ritmo […]
Organically managed honeybees have healthier gene activity than conventional honey bees
The study is published in the journal Insects. The Honey bees are of great economic importance, not only for honey production but also for crop pollination. However, honey bee populations continue to decline mainly due to exposure to pesticides, pathogens and beekeeping practices. In this study, total soluble protein was measured, total RNA was extracted […]
