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Are we facing an ‘Insect Apocalypse’ caused by ‘intensive, industrial’ farming and agricultural chemicals? The media say yes; Science says ‘no’
The media call it the “Insect Apocalypse”. In the past few years, the phrase has become an accepted truth of ...
Dissecting claims about Monsanto suing farmers for accidentally planting patented seeds
Much to the dismay of anti-GMO activists, courts around the world including SCOTUS have consistently upheld the rights of companies ...
Analysis: Do neonicotinoid and glyphosate pesticides threaten bees? A reassessment
"The honeybee is in no way endangered. If there’s a top ten list of what’s killing honey bee colonies, I’d ...
How effective and safe are current-generation pesticides?
it is important to balance risks with the benefits that pesticides provide ...
Are neonicotinoid seed treatments critical for protecting crops—or unnecessary, with potential to harm bees?
Neonicotinoids, the world’s most popular class of insecticides, have been making headlines for the last decade due to concerns that ...
Yes, more honeybees die now than 40 years ago — but reasons why are not as clear-cut as politicians and activists claim
“Save the bees,” you will hear, at ice cream shops and farmers markets. A study touting the latest death rates ...
Viewpoint: Is the predicted ‘Silent Earth insect armageddon’ the inevitable result of using farm chemicals — or is it alarmist activist propaganda? Insect scientists challenge the doomsayers
For years, journalists and environmental bloggers have been churning out story after story claiming that insects are vanishing, in the ...
Beepocalypse Myth Handbook: Assessing claims of pollinator collapse
After a decade of debate, the causes of the mid-2000s spike in bee deaths is coming into focus. Culprits are ...
A UK Farmer’s Perspective: What are the Consequences for Sustainability and the Public When Biotechnology Innovations are Withheld?
Jake Freestone, Farm Manager at Overbury Farms, West Midlands, United Kingdom | July 10, 2018Highlights:European politicians bows to activist pressure, ...
Myth busting on pesticides: Despite demonization, organic farmers widely use them
Anti-GMO activists like to point to organic food as free of pesticides. They are not, and some chemicals used are ...
GMO patent controversy 2: Supreme Court cases of farmers Bowman and Schmeiser
Monsanto is accused by its critics of unfairly targeting farmers who 'mistakenly' reuse their patented seeds. Two cases have reached ...
Viewpoint: Challenging the damaging myth that agrochemicals are the biggest threat to bees
Regardless of the plant breeding method, products used to improve modern farming that could potentially harm bees could be used ...
Glyphosate does not kill bumble bees and is unlikely to cause health problems, latest comprehensive study finds
Glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide in the world, and is widely used in agriculture. While glyphosate has been ...
American bumblebee has declined in numbers by more than 90% in 8 states across the northern US
American bumblebees are a vital pollinator for wildflowers and crops, and their decline could have severe consequences for the environment ...
Honeybee losses in Canada hit 10-year low, raising doubts about need for neonicotinoid bans to protect pollinators
The percentage of Ontario honeybee colonies dying over the winter declined for a third straight year, as hive mortality fell ...
Viewpoint: Public Affairs professor advocates for agroecology systems, claiming technology-centric agricultural programs promoted by Gates Foundation has failed in Africa
Agroecology applies ecology and social science to the creation and management of sustainable food systems and involves 10 or more ...
Virus-fighting drugs are difficult to come by. Will COVID help crack the code?
Physician Claudette Poole doesn’t take long to rattle off a list of antiviral medications she prescribes to her patients. “There ...
Viewpoint: ‘Silent Earth’ cynically peddles scientifically unsupported insect apocalypse hysteria to nakedly promote organic agenda
To most people, food production, home ownership, and energy don't have much in common, but in the hands of 'science ...
Part 1: Addressing food security in Nigeria — Seeds of hope for subsistence farmers as insect resistant GM cowpeas finally come to market
Not a lot has improved for Nigeria’s subsistence farmers over the years. Most can’t afford fertilizer and chemicals; there’s no ...
US honeybee boom: ‘Not only are they not in decline or endangered, their increase in numbers may be responsible for declines in other bee populations’
Today, more than 2.98 million honeybee colonies are currently registered in the United States, according to the US Department of ...
How and when did ‘consciousness’ evolve?
[To find a reliable marker for consciousness,] we looked at genes, proteins, anatomical brain regions and neurophysiological processes, but none ...
Managed honeybee and bumble bee colonies in the US are up as much as 85%, a 60 year high, as independent researchers challenge bee apocalypse narrative
The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is amongst the best-monitored insects but the state of other managed pollinators is less well ...
Gene drives to control plant pests show promise but technological and public acceptance hurdles loom
Arthropods crop pests are responsible for 20% of global annual crop losses, a figure predicted to increase in a changing ...
Scorching western drought weakens honeybees, threatening almond and fruit crops
A scorching drought is slashing honey production in North Dakota, the top producing state of the sweet syrup. That means ...
First global index of pollinator population changes: Habitat loss and land management are primary drivers, with pesticides last
The top three global causes of pollinator loss are habitat destruction, followed by land management – primarily the grazing, fertilizers ...
How robots are filling in for bees and helping pollinate Japan’s apple orchards
According to the estimate of the Japanese government, the number of bee swarms in Japan has seen a 40% reduction ...
10% — not 75% — of crop yield is pollinator-dependent: Our World in Data charts raise doubts about claims that global food supply is imminently endangered by ‘disappearing’ insects
It’s unfortunate that the wildlife we care least about provides us with the most functional value. We favor the bears ...
Viewpoint: How proposed legislation billed to ‘save the bees’ will actually harm them — and the economy
The myth about endangered, disappearing honeybees lives on — with potentially dire implications. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, just ...