Bee decline linked to falling biodiversity

[Cirsium]

The decline of honeybees seen in many countries may be caused by reduced plant diversity, research suggests.

"We found that bees fed with a mix of five different pollens had higher levels of glucose oxidase compared to bees fed with pollen from one single type of flower, even if that single flower had a higher protein content," he told BBC News.

BBC News - Bee decline linked to falling biodiversity

[Gloria]

Interesting reasoning.
Here in the U. S. organic hives suffered the least through the honey bee decline. Organic farms would have a more diverse range of plants growing at most times of the year than huge mono-cultures like the almond orchards,etc.

As a consequence, he said, bees often do better in urban areas than in the countryside,
because city parks and gardens contain a higher diversity of plant life.

The honey bee hives I know ,(On the roof of city hall and Garfield Park Conservatory and a Chicago Company that raises honey bees and sells the honey at local fairs) the hives have been very healthy.

The French government has just announced a project to sow nectar-bearing flowers by roadsides in an attempt to stem honeybee decline

A welcome change that will benefit even more than the honey bees...gloria

[Hedgerowe]

There is very little in the western European landscape that is native any longer.

[erictjohnson]

We have all sorts of bees in our yard every summer, including honeybees and bumblebees. We also have a garden, a raspberry patch, and an area with flowering native plants. I count on the bumblebees to show up and pollinate the blueberry shrubs in April/May, and so far, they have been reliable. We live in the city of Madison, and we have neighbors who maintain lawns without using herbicide, and also we have neighbors who use herbicides in the lawn. I think that the number of people who decline to use herbicides is gradually increasing, a good sign for the bees.