California’s almond bloom requires truckloads of bees to help pollinate around 1 million acres of trees. However, when keepers went to prepare the shipments, they got a devastating surprise.
“So as the beekeepers are starting to look, they open up the colonies, and this year they found a lot lower survival than they expected. In addition to that, the colonies that were surviving were small and dwindling, and it was not at all what they predicted,” said Danielle Downey.
Downey runs a group called Project Apis M, or “PAM.” She says they immediately began to investigate what went wrong.
“They called scientists, and right now they’re looking for viruses. They’ve sent the wax and pollen off for pesticide analysis. So all of that’s underway. And PAm’s role was to gather information from the industry from beekeepers.”
Commercial bee colonies lost around 60 percent of their populations between last June and this month. Officials say that number is well above historical averages and they still do not know what caused the kill off.
Let’s meet Rylee Smith from the Oolaga FFA chapter in Oklahoma, one of this year’s Star finalists in agriscience placement.
October 24, 2024 12:47 PM
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Let’s meet Wylie Schwebach from the Moriarty FFA chapter in New Mexico, one of this year’s Star finalists in agricultural placement.
October 24, 2024 12:31 PM
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National FFA Secretary Grant Northfleet shares his motivation behind a year of service, highlighting the organization’s role in providing students with real success through hard work.
October 24, 2024 12:12 PM
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October 23–26, 2024
October 23, 2024 11:29 AM
The German company Constellr is part of the John Deere Start-Up Collaborator Program in 2024. It plans to launch a geothermal satellite next year that will give farmers and ranchers better tools to monitor surface temperature from space.
October 21, 2024 11:51 AM
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In an interview with RFD-TV’s own Suzanne Alexander, RanchHER Pilar Martinez talked about the upcoming RanchHER episodes on the way, including one that features her operation, Centennial Ranch in Dillion, Montana.
October 18, 2024 07:20 PM
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