British beekeepers have expressed fears over the future of the honey bee as numbers have dwindled this year.

As well as a shortage of honey (English stocks are likely to have run out by Christmas), a lack of bees would have a knock-on effect on some of Britain’s other crops – such as apples, pears and raspberries – because the bees are responsible for 90% of the pollination.

The number of bees has dropped elsewhere – America, France and Greece have all announced heavy losses – and researchers are at a loss as to how to best combat the problem. Hundreds of British beekeepers signed a petition that was delivered to parliament earlier this month demanding more funding for research in a effort to come up with a solution. There is currently £200,000 ($309,000) set aside for bee health research, but the beekeepers are pressing for a figure closer to £1.6million.

A wet summer has contributed to the dwindling numbers, making it hard for bees to store food for the winter months, but more important has been the changes in agriculture.

Wheat prices have increased which has led to a 13% rise in British plantings and this is a problem for bees as wheat produces no nectar. The concurrent drop in oilseed rape (by around 12% according to figures released by Britain’s farm ministry) has further hindered the honey bee as this is one of their favourite feeding places.

One proposal put forward by the EU is for farmers to start planting bee-friendly flowers near wheat crops to help feed the honey bee in the hope that the bees will have a bigger presence in years to come.

Picture from Insect Identification

This week is Global Entrepreneurship week, an entire week to promote the entrepreneurial spirit and celebrate the achievements of start-ups and their owners across the world. A major focus of this week has been ‘Clean and Green day‘, a day taken to focus on the environmental impacts of new businesses and what can be done to improve ‘greener’ business activities.

To coincide with green day, a major survey was undertaken by 48 of Ernst and Young’s entrepreneur of the year candidates asking them specific questions on their business approach to environmental issues.

More than 60% of those surveyed saw climate change as a vital strategic concern. Nearly half of them had budgeted at least US$1 million for investments to the company’s green activities and climate change investments over the next five years, with 6% of those surveyed expecting to spend close to $20 million during the same five year period.

So what are the reasons for companies taking such a stronger stance towards climate change and green business activities? Not all of this is down to a moral conscience with 67% seeing ‘green’ as an opportunity to enhance their company’s competitive position. Other reasons included brand enhancement, gaining new customers and enhancing efficiency.

For businesses that don’t see this as a priority, Lord Chris Smith, chairman on the UK’s environmental watchdog has some green advice. Last year the Environmental Agency fined 284 companies for not complying with government regulations and this year they are on the lookout for more rule-breakers.

Keen to promote positive reasons for greener business, Smith showed that shares of the top environmental performers in the oil and gas industry beat less environmentally conscience competitors by 12%.

It seems there is no choice for businesses now other than to go green. In order to meet government regulations and avoid hefty fines as well as compete with their eco-conscience competitors, companies must brand themselves as green making changes to their technology and daily business activities.

Picture from HubPages

Hybrids may typically be associated with celebs and tree-huggers, but it looks like they’re going to become part of six million journeys made every workday in London. This is of course Transport for London’s plans to completely transform its mighty bus fleet into an eco-friendly system by 2012.

The plans to introduce eco-friendly public transport buses have been in the pipeline for years. Originally a driving force of Ken Livingston’s transport campaign, the idea was put under trial in 2006. Unfortunately the engines overheated, and the trials were temporarily put on hold.

Earlier this year the trials were revived with six hybrid buses taking to the streets of London. After a successful trial, the six buses were formally introduced into the fleet and plans are now being made to add an additional 8000 in time for the Olympic Games.

According to the transport for London website the hybrid buses “reduce emissions of local pollutants and carbon dioxide by at least 30 per cent compared to a conventional diesel bus.” Built around a typical London driving experience, the batteries are deigned to charge each time the bus brakes.

London is just one of many world cities introducing green buses. New York, San Francisco and Toronto have already introduced green buses with plans to revamp their entire systems. The move will highlight the UK’s position as an eco-conscious country; the capital’s iconic red buses now a symbol of change.

Picture from All About Buses

When the temperature turns cold in the winter months inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere often look south to enjoy warmer climes; however, come 1 December, 3.6million hectares of Australia will be closed off to tourists for the first time because it’s just too hot for them.

The Simpson Desert – which covers parts of Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland – will be off limit from 1 December to 15 March after a risk assessment showed how dangerous it would be for people attempting to cross. Temperatures are expected to reach 58C (139 Fahrenheit) with the sand heating up to around 95C (203 Fahrenheit) – hot enough to burn through the soles of most shoes.

The popularity of the desert has grown recently, but a lot of tourists are ill prepared for the journey. Many hire a vehicle but the desert, which has no defined roads, is not the place for people without any off-road experience to begin learning.

Environment Department regional operations director in South Australia, Trevor Naismith, said: “Most People that cross the desert during summer are from overseas, and many do not have the driving experience for such a crossing, or a properly equipped vehicle with radio communications and recovery gear in case of an emergency.”

“At a time when there are very few vehicles in the desert to provide assistance in a timely manner, this is potentially a fatal situation, especially for the inexperienced, ill-prepared visitor.”

People unaccustomed to the heat need to drink around 15 litres of water a day to cope with the sweltering heat and with no shade or shelter can perish within hours of becoming stranded.

Anyone caught crossing the desert by park rangers will be fined up to AU$1000 (around £433).

Picture from ABC News