Every Monday, I'm going to do a round-up of the interesting bee items that I found over the past week. If you find any interesting bee news (or write a bee article), please send me a link and I'll include it and credit (and follow) you. My company, D161T4L W15D0M, will be attempting to start up a #bee/#bees community on Steemit shortly -- please let me know in the comments if you wish to be included (or, better yet, create a post deserving and using one of those tags).

If you're in the United States, hopefully you enjoyed National Honey Bee Day on Saturday (I'll try to warn you before the fact next time -- August 19, 2017)

How to Distinguish Real Honey from Fake One? Few Signs of Differences.

21 August 2016 - Good day amigos. Today i want to tell you about how to distinguish real #honey from fake.I'm sure every fan of honey interested in this. How to distinguish real honey? It's very easy. And now I'll tell you!

Q&A with Honey Bee Researcher Michelle Flenniken

19 August 2016 - On the eve of National Honey Bee Day, PLOS’s Jose Mendez interviews researcher Dr. Michelle Flenniken, Ph.D of Montana State University to discuss the role of viruses on honey bee health and the importance of honey bee colony losses in her new PLOS Pathogens Pearls Article, The Buzz About Honey Bee Viruses.

Beauty and the bees! How your makeup can help save honeybees

19 August 2016 - By now you've probably heard of the plight of honeybees — too many pesticides, not enough wildflowers and bee colonies across the world dying off at alarming and unprecedented rates. It makes sense that beauty brands, given how many of them rely on honey or beeswax in their potions and balms, have started to get involved. And the best part? Helping bees can now be as simple as buying a face cream. (But you should also support local beekeepers and maybe plant some flowers, too, if you want to make an even bigger impact.) In celebration of National Honeybee Day on Aug. 20, here are a few brands dedicated to the cause.

Flow Hive: Honey on Tap Directly From Your Beehive (& Awesome Bee T-Shirts)

19 August 2016 - As a traditional beekeeper, I find this very intriguing but I have my doubts that it's as easy as they say . . . . but their Indiegogo pitch page has got tons of bee pictures and bee videos and good bee advice (and ends August 22nd).

Neonicotinoids May Harm Wild Bees

16 August 2016 - Exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides is correlated with population declines of a large number of wild bee species, according to a field study conducted in the U.K.

Treatment of oilseed rape, a major flowering crop grown in England, with neonicotinoid pesticides is correlated with population declines of wild bees, according to a study published today (August 16) in Nature Communications, in which researchers examined links between the area of chemical-treated crops and populations of 62 wild bee species across parts of the U.K. for 18 years.

SIX SEXY HAIRY LEGS and I fell in LOVE!

Who would have thought it? Seven years have passed and what began as my opportunity to finally peek inside a box has become my passion. My solitude. Therapy in a sense. You’ve seen them. The boxes. Wooden boxes stacked to different heights, hiding in backyards or sometimes clustered on the edge of a field. Often disguised in white, these wooden structures are home to the most incredible life-giving creatures we have on the planet. The HONEYBEE. The beauty of these bugs never stops amazing me. Something so small but so incredibly important to each of our everyday lives.

Nation’s Beekeepers Lost 44 Percent of Bees in 2015-16

10 May 2016 - Summer losses rival winter losses for the second year running

Beekeepers across the United States lost 44 percent of their honey bee colonies during the year spanning April 2015 to April 2016, according to the latest preliminary results of an annual nationwide survey. Rates of both winter loss and summer loss—and consequently, total annual losses—worsened compared with last year. This marks the second consecutive survey year that summer loss rates rivaled winter loss rates.

Soil Association scientific briefing reveals new data on the impact of neonicotinoids on pollinators

28 April 2016 - New data revealed today shows bees can be exposed to more pesticides from contaminated wildflowers than from crops on farms. The research, discussed at a scientific briefing in London on 28 April 2016 organised by the Soil Association, showed a staggering 97% of the neonicotinoids brought back to honeybee hives in pollen could come from wildflowers - not oilseed rape. (1)