By Courtney Lindwall A megamerger between two of the world’s biggest agricultural corporations looms on the horizon. The seed and pesticide giant Monsanto is inching closer to uniting with the German pharmaceutical and chemical company Bayer—a consolidation that could spell disaster for farmers, pollinators, and affordable, healthy food. Here’s why the Monsanto-Bayer merger is a […]
By John F. Tooker Planting season for corn and soybeans across the U.S. corn belt is drawing to a close. As they plant, farmers are participating in what is likely to be one of the largest deployments of insecticides in U.S. history. Almost every field corn seed planted this year in the U.S.—approximately 90 million […]
Below is a transcript of the video. Rebecca Riley, senior attorney, NRDC: Right now, we’re in a real crisis when it comes to bees. Every year, about a third of our honeybee colonies collapse. And the 4,000 native bee species in the United States suffer from those same threats that honeybees do. Those are species […]
As summer enters into full bloom, it’s time to celebrate all the birds, bees and bugs that make the fruits and flowers possible. From June 18 to 24, Pollinator Partnership (P2) is celebrating National Pollinator Week, which was designated by the U.S. Senate 11 years ago and has grown into an international event. Pollinators are […]
Bayer, which recently wrapped up its takeover of Monsanto, now owns glyphosate and the liabilities surrounding it. Last Thursday, the same day the $63 billion acquisition closed, a beekeeping cooperative in northern France filed a legal complaint against the German chemical giant after the controversial weedkiller was detected in honey produced by one of its […]
By Sam Schipani “Save the bees” is a rallying cry we’ve been hearing for years now—one that conjures up images of fuzzy black and yellow honeybees, sipping nectar from colorful flowers or swarming with their bee brethren among tessellated combs while human defenders spread the word about dwindling bee populations. But honeybees are at no […]
Scientists are increasingly realizing the importance of biodiversity for sustaining life on earth. The most comprehensive biodiversity study in a decade, published in March by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), warned that the ongoing loss of species and habitats was as great a threat to our and our planet’s wellbeing […]
By Kelsey K. Graham Declines in bee populations around the world have been widely reported over the past several decades. Much attention has focused on honey bees, which commercial beekeepers transport all over the U.S. to pollinate crops. However, while honey bees are a vital part of our agricultural system, they are generally considered the […]
By Brian Barth Many of these so-called “solitary bees,” which include mason bees, leafcutter bees and carder bees, look more like flying ants than fuzzy yellow bees, but they’re valuable pollinators just the same. The traditional hive boxes used to house honeybees do nothing to attract native bees to your garden, but these unsung heroes […]