Redfox8

I think there's an element of media click bait and finger pointing to funding cuts to sell an otherwise mediocre story.

Something I picked up on at uni re commercial beeking practices is that the cell size is dictated by the farmer by providing a framework for the bees to build around and lay their eggs in (as well as store honey). This cell size is larger than the natural mean size. This results in larger adults that can then forage more and produce more honey. Great! Except that the bees spend longer as larvae and if there's varroa mite present in the hive the adults come out weakened as the mites feed on the larvae for longer.

For me colony collapse disorder hinges around this, but I haven't read about this subject in some years so don't know if it has been discounted.

Very much so an economic problem, commercial honey production is a very intensive type of animal husbandry.

It should be noted that honey bees are not native to the US so are a wholly farmed animal.

The method of fully replacing colonies is one of the issues in commercial beekeeping as the genetic diversity is very poor because there aren't enough different suppliers.

Edit - just seen someone else has said much the same

At least a decade. I did a small module at uni about a decade ago on colony collapse disorder and varroa mites were a prime culprit, alongside various viruses. Plenty of research already done then, but no concrete answer at that time.

This is hardly news per se, rather a typical attention grabbing media headline saying that they came to a conclusion what the cause was last year after 6 months, whilst blaming cutbacks.

We love strawberries in the UK. Definitely a good option. Pretty sure there are other crops grown using vertical farming by other companies as well.

Very much so. This is corporate power in action. In terms of Mars buying Pringles (I'm surprised they weren't already owned by one of the mega corps) then no it doesn't really change anything re big brands vs smaller brands and small/local producers. It's just another step towards a monopoly.

Big brands buy up the supermarket shelf space to shut out competition. Other brands just can't get a foot in in the big shops a lot of the time. There's not much, if any, own brand or independent stuff on offer in many aisles. They can make the products easy enough and at competitive prices but can't get them to the customers.

Dun dun, dun dun dun

There's tonnes of blackthorn and a lot of sheep in the UK and I've never heard it to be problematic. Sheep ate pretty dim, but bramble is definitely not thorny/spiney enough to get caught bar the odd occasion. I'm sure I heard about a shrub (African maybe) that sheep can get completely ensnared in and die, but can't find it!

Feeed mee Seymour

Excellent capture!

Many species of butterlies and moths eat honeydew, aka aphid poop, so no nectar needed. Also the larvae do the bulk of the eating. Imagos of lepidoptera only need to survive not grow so food requirements are fairly low.