A sister species of the Varroa destructor mite is developing the ability to parasitize European honeybees, threatening pollinators already hard pressed by pesticides, nutritional deficiencies, and disease.  Researchers found that some populations of Varroa jacobsoni mites are shifting from feeding and reproducing on Asian honeybees, their preferred host, to European honeybees, the primary species used for crop pollination and honey production worldwide. To bee researchers, it’s a grimly familiar story: V. [node:read-more:link]

First came a shocking bit of insight into how EWG racks up some of its revenue. For example, EWG annually evaluates sunscreens, rating them on a 1 to 10, best to worst. I clicked on one of the top-rated sunscreens, which I’m sure is a fine product. It must be, as it not only provides UVA/UVB protection, it’s “gluten-free.” (No, I’m not making that last bit up.) I scrolled down the page and clicked on an Amazon link that would have allowed me to buy the product. What people may not know, said Hayes, is EWG gets a chunk of change when you buy through Amazon. It’s not insignificant either. [node:read-more:link]

A study, published in the October issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, said crop and non-crop uses of imidacloprid in the U.S. are of minimal risk to aquatic invertebrates. The neonicotinoid imidacloprid is one of the most widely-used insecticides. Imidacloprid is a systemic insecticide which acts as an insect neurotoxin which act on the central nervous system of insects.  This ecotoxicological review and risk assessment details the body of research, the careful selection and use of the best available data, and the probabilistic risk assessment. [node:read-more:link]

“We only have one rule: you have to keep your porch light on.” In the Harrington neighborhood in Albion, Michigan, prospective residents are getting a hell of a deal. Albion College is renovating dilapidated homes and selling them to staff and faculty at half price, explains College President Mauri Ditzler. The only stipulation is the porch light. [node:read-more:link]

When it comes to small-town businesses, Lukasiewicz Furniture, Flooring and Appliances has always been the exception.  As the bank, the grocery store and even the gas station closed up shop in this Polish farm town of 122 people, the furniture store thrived and even expanded over the decades.At its peak, the business employed a dozen people and occupied 12 storefronts on both sides of the main street in town. “The Farwell mall,” it was called. Five generations of the Lukasiewicz family drew in customers with the promise of quality merchandise, competitive prices and good service. [node:read-more:link]

A Kansas farmer has filed a federal lawsuit to stop a new wind farm from operating out of concern for the endangered whooping crane. Edwin Petrowsky of Pratt County filed the lawsuit last month seeking injunctions against NextEra Energy Resources, whose Ninnescah Wind Farm is scheduled to start operating next week, The Hutchinson News reported. Petrowsky contends the wind farm is located in the bird’s flyway. At last count, there were an estimated 329 wild cranes in the flock that migrates between Canada and Texas. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer huddled with Canadian officials on Thursday to discuss policies that are said to be harmful to New York milk producers, Schumer’s office said in a release.  Schumer met with new Canadian Consul General Phyllis Yaffe and Canadian Ambassador David McNaughton to urge them to reverse “the protectionist and restrictive trade policies that are currently threatening the upstate New York milk industry.”  Ontario has implemented a new provincial pricing policy said to discourage imports of ultra-filtered milk from the United States. [node:read-more:link]

A troupe of topless female PETA supporters with “Milk Is for Babies—Dump Dairy” written on their chests gathered outside the B.C. Dairy Industry Conference in Vancouver on Wednesday. They pointed out that, just like humans, cows produce milk only to feed their babies and that farmers forcibly impregnate cows over and over again on what the industry calls a “rape rack.” Newborn calves are torn from their mothers within 24 hours, and the males are sold for meat while the females are condemned to endure the same vicious cycle as their mothers until they’re killed at around 5 years of age. [node:read-more:link]

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Western Washington tribes another $25 million for Puget Sound projects, but with stronger instructions to collaborate with others, a response to congressional complaints that one tribe misspent EPA funds to malign farmers.  The new grant to the 20-tribe Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission extends for five years a federal program that financed What’s Upstream, a media campaign directed by the Swinomish Indian tribe portraying farmers as careless and unregulated polluters. [node:read-more:link]

Two meat companies have put in bids to buy financially strapped Mt. McKinley Meat and Sausage, the only USDA-inspected meat plant in southcentral Alaska.  Mike’s quality Meats of Palmer, Alaska, and Mt. McKinely Meat Co-op of Delta Junction, Alaska, responded to the state’s latest request for proposals (RFP) to lease or purchase the long struggling plant. [node:read-more:link]