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WASHINGTON (AP) — Forty-one youngsters are competing for the title of national spelling champion. The semifinals of the 82nd Scripps Nationals Spelling Bee began Thursday morning. The semifinalists are those remaining from a record 293 participants who arrived in the nation's capital this week.

NEW YORK Thousands of bees have swarmed outside a New York City game store, trapping employees inside for hours. Worried employees looked out the window of the Manhattan store while talking on the phone as the bees clustered Saturday afternoon. A sign in the window warned: "Look! ... closed due to bee infestation." Most passers-by avoided the GameStop store near Union Square, one of the city's busiest shopping areas. But Edward Albers tried to help. Dressed in regular clothes, he lured many bees into a box without getting stung.

For the first time, scientists have isolated the parasite Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) from professional apiaries suffering from honey bee colony depopulation syndrome. They then went on to treat the infection with complete success. In a study published in the new journal from the Society for Applied Microbiology: Environmental Microbiology Reports, scientists from Spain analysed two apiaries and found evidence of honey bee colony depopulation syndrome (also known as colony collapse disorder in the USA)...

For the first time, scientists have isolated the parasite Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) from professional apiaries suffering from honey bee colony depopulation syndrome. They then went on to treat the infection with complete success.

BARGAINING BULLETIN March 3, 2009 The Fresno Bee bargaining committee met Tuesday morning with Fresno Bee management to be briefed on layoff plans and a company proposal for fewer layoffs combined with pay cuts and other measures outlined below. Basically, we have two options: 1. Layoff of 21 full-time and five part-time employees in the bargaining unit. Under our contract, the company can do this without our consent. . 2. Layoff of 16 full-time and five part-time employees in the bargaining unit, plus all of the following. This option requires approval by our membership: a. Pay cuts, effective April 13,...

A couple years back, I was visiting a local gardener who has a very green thumb. Now he had dozens of wooden blocks and cans around, so I asked him, and he said they were Mason bees, and he just handed me a can! So I took it home and hung it on a nail on my porch. The can looks like this, although this is just a sample: Well, last March, towards the end of the month, I noticed a bee coming out! Didn't take very long before I had bees up my butt (so to speak!) What they...

Twelve million honey bees were released along Canada's largest highway in northwest New Brunswick, yesterday after a crashed and flipped over. Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the lorry had 330 crates of bees on board when the driver tried to negotiate a ramp. The load apparently shifted inside the trailer, sending the entire vehicle off balance and causing it to overturn. At least 12 million bees escaped as the lorry's container burst open and the crates were tossed around, but police said a downpour Police said a downpour of rain has helped to contain the bees in and around the...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A man in Florida died after being stung more than 100 times by bees that officials think were Africanized honey bees. The man had a fatal reaction to the bee stings, medical officials said. Local 6 reported that it will likely be reported as the first death in Florida caused by the aggressive bees. The victim's name wasn't released. Africanized bee stings are no more potent than an ordinary bee stings, but the bees are far more aggressive and attack in swarms. Experts say they have been in Florida since 2002, and there have been a few...

Mouctika Paluri walked into The Dallas Morning News' 50th annual regional spelling bee knowing more than the two-time defending champion's name. The Carrollton girl had studied Amy's work like a walking Wikipedia. And the only thing sweeter than meeting your role model is beating her.

Forget those canned presidential candidate visits. A different kind of political visit will occur next week, as his Royal Highness Prince Andrew touches down on Arizona soil Tuesday. The details are sketchy, but Notebook hears the prince will be touring Honeywell's facility in Phoenix as well as the offices of Godaddy.com, a Web site where you can register domain names. Prince Andrew — fourth in line for the British throne — is actually best known for his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. You might know her as the redhead in those Weight Watchers commercials. On hand for...

Feb 7 A malady that's killed billions of bees since 2006, threatening about $15 billion in pollinated crops, has been detected again, according to the US Department of Agriculture's top honeybee researcher.

Honeybees will die out in Britain within a decade as virulent diseases and parasites spread through the nation's hives, experts have warned. Whole colonies of bees are already being wiped out, with current methods of pest control unable to stop the problem. The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) said that if the crisis continued, honeybees would disappear completely from Britain by 2018, causing "calamitous" economic and environmental problems. It called on the Government to restart shelved research programmes and to fund new ones to try to save the insects. Tim Lovett, the association's president, said: "The situation has become insupportable and...

 Dec. 3, 2007... based on the following news stories: "it is aeronautically impossible for the bumblebee to fly. However, the bumblebee, being unaware of these scientific facts, goes ahead and flies anyway." -Mike Huckabee/bumblebee   Huckabee on taking wing high-flying Mike Huckabee likens his political ascension to the flight of a bumblebee   'Bumblebee' Baptist defies political gravity Huckabee coverage in the UK Times...     This cartoon/graphic is free for noncommercial use in emails, blogs, and forums.  iowapresidentialwatch.com

Alright, I am at a loss and am posting my first real vanity post. Stupid I know so try to go easy. I am trying to identify a giant hornet or bee. This thing has been hanging out on our outside light for at least 2 evenings. Tonight I had my better half take photos. In looking at forums, I haven't really been able to identify this other than the frightening Asian Giant Hornet. I really don't want this to be that as it would have a tendency to really freak me out. Whatever this is is about 2 inches...

With calm determination, 14-year-old Caitlin Snaring snared a title on Wednesday that only one other girl in geographic history has held: She won the National Geographic Bee.

As the saga continues, we've got yet another flip-flopped story rolling through in regard to the toxicity (or not) of cellphones to our environment. Just under a fortnight ago, a report based on an (admittedly lacking) research study claimed that Colony Collapse Disorder within bees was being encouraged by cellphone radiation. As expected, the researchers began living a life filled with Q&A sessions about the data, and now the "truth" is coming out. Essentially, the scientists are claiming that their data was "misinterpreted," and that the study actually looked at DECT phones and base stations, which transmit a "different frequency...

Scientists Identify Pathogens That May Be Causing Global Honey-Bee Deaths Scientists Identify Pathogens That May Be Causing Global Honey-Bee Deaths Science Daily — Researchers have identified potential culprits behind the wide-spread catastrophic death of honey bees around North America and Europe. A team of scientists from Edgewood Chemical Biological Center and University of California San Francisco identified both a virus and a parasite that are likely behind the recent sudden die-off of honey-bee colonies. ECBC researchers have identified potential culprits behind the wide-spread catastrophic death of honey bees around North America and Europe. (Credit: Scott Bauer, USDA/ARS) Using a...

More than a quarter of the country’s 2.4 million bee colonies have been lost — tens of billions of bees, according to an estimate from the Apiary Inspectors of America, a national group that tracks beekeeping. So far, no one can say what is causing the bees to become disoriented and fail to return to their hives. As with any great mystery, a number of theories have been posed, and many seem to researchers to be more science fiction than science. People have blamed genetically modified crops, cellular phone towers and high-voltage transmission lines for the disappearances. Or was it...

The Honey Bee Crisis of 2007 Escalating Honey Bee Decline Baffles Scientists Sally Morton Feb 17, 2007 The honey bee crisis in the United States has been escalating for several years, rising to "unprecedented" levels of honey bee losses between Oct 2006 and Feb 2007. The honey bee crisis of 2005, which was blamed on the Varoa mite, decimated as much as 50% of honey bee populations in the US, but was weathered, overcome, and quickly passed out of most people’s vocabulary. I wrote an article about it for Suite 101, which you can read here. In it, I gave...