Apiculture is relating to bees. Over the years I have sought to understand the benefits of bees. What part do they play. Are they beneficial and if so how beneficial. I do know that Americans and British are using Bumblebees in greenhouses but down under in NZ and Australia they are considered an invasive species. Consider carefully what you do with bees and how important they are to mankind and your crops.

ARS Beneficial Insects Research Unit (BIRU) at Weslaco, Texas, have been looking for a disease-causing agent, or pathogen, that can stop Varroa mites. They used a fungal strip which the bees attacked. The fungus spread and the mites died but the bees were not harmed. From Apis-UK Newsletter.

Australian scientist uses X-ray vision on bees-A new method of x-raying bee hives developed at the University of Western Sydney is at the heart of research that could see Australian native bees become the major pollinators of vital greenhouse food crops in the near future.

Bee Conservation-American crop growers and home gardeners are concerned about declining numbers of wild honey bees. There is evidence for this decline from scientific surveys Wild honey bees are dying because of two exotic parasites that were introduced into North America in the 1980sCthe tracheal mite and varroa mite.

Bee Decline May Spell End of Some Fruits, Vegetables-Bees, via pollination, are responsible for 15 to 30 percent of the food U.S. consumers eat. But in the last 50 years the domesticated honeybee population has declined.

Beltsville Freebies-Imagine a docile insect whose sole aim in life seems to be pollinating fruit trees .. . and which does so almost 80 times as efficiently as the common honeybee

Bio-Bee-Natural Pollinators and natural predators of invasive insects.

Building Bumblebee (Bombus) Nests - a Winter Project for Beekeepers-Bumblebees are very efficient pollinators. They work flowers that have no nectar, unlike honeybees. They also grab the anthers of flowers and shake them, which is necessary to free pollen in some blossoms. Bumblebees will work on cool, overcast days while honeybees remain in their hives.

Bumble-bee colonies are now used extensively in greenhouse pollination of crops such as tomatoes and strawberries.

Bumblebees often nest in gardens, under shed floors and under decking being favourite spots. They are docile and unaggressive creatures even near the nest, so no more a threat to children or pets when they nest in your garden than if just visiting the flowers, although curiosity may lead them to inspect you in case you might be a source of food. The commonest reason for stings is self-defence such as when bees are trodden on or squashed by mistake.

Charles Duncan-This late beekeeper has some funny stories about his life.

Chico Hot Spring-The geothermally heated greenhouse, constructed in 1996, produces fresh herbs, flowers, and vegetables on a year-round basis.

Distribution of British Bumble Bees-During the 1970s, considerable effort went into mapping the distributions of British bumblebees.

Garden Web-Bees and bee keeping. I learned that bees are not always needed with some plants. One tomato grower gently shakes the plant so that the pollen spreads out to other blossoms.

Homestead-The Effect of Light Transmission of Various Greenhouse Films on Bumble Bee Pollination.

Honey bees in decline-The number of commercial U.S. bee colonies plummeted from 5.9 million in the late 1940s to 4.3 million in 1985, and 2.7 million in 1995. The loss of one quarter of all managed honey bee colonies since 1990 signals one of the most severe declines U.S. agriculture has ever experienced in such a short period. There are fewer bee hives in the U.S. today than at any time in the last 50 years.

Honey Gardens-About 40% of what you eat depends on pollination by insects, much of this by honey bees. With the decline in bees, gardeners and farmers have been noticing less crops; honey bees are the "canaries in the coal mine", and they have helped us be more aware of changes in our environment.

How to protect our imperiled pollinators-"I couldn't find enough pollinators in my small yard so I used the camel-hair brush to pollinate my tomatoes and peppers," says Shimanuki. As head researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, Shimanuki has charted a 25 percent decline in the United States' population of managed honeybees during the past decade.

Imported Bumblebees from Netherlands-The busy bee's reputation is well deserved and this hive, which houses just 50 bees, is sufficient to pollinate the entire greenhouse.

Management of wild honey bees-The term "wild bee" is used commonly for all bees except honey bees in the genus Apis (hence, apiculture or culturing of honey bees).

Native Pollinators-Gives a list of native bees and how to attract them.

Oklahoma State-Some cool pictures at bottom of places where Africanized honey bees have been found. Places like an old tire, a grill, watering can and so on.

The Orchard Mason Bee, or Blue Orchard Bee (Osmia Lignaria), usually referred to as Mason Bees or Osmia, is native to Douglas County. It is a very good pollinator as it collects much more pollen than nectar. It is smaller than a honey bee, black in color with a dark blue iridescent sheen on its abdomen (or rear end).

Pollinators vital for crop yields are dying out New Scientist 14 Feb 98 A WORLDWIDE decline in bees, bats, butterflies, birds and other pollinators is threatening the yields of major food crops and the biodiversity of wild plants.

Sandia, University of Montana researchers try training bees to find buried landmines-Foraging bees may help counter the 'worst form of pollution on earth'