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A Varroa mite (indicated with red circle) can be seen under the wing of this bee from Miller Honey Farms in Gackle, N.D. Beekeepers say the mites cause many problems for them. Researchers from the University of Minnesota say that poor nutrition resulting from habitat loss may be making the mite situation worse. Photo by Lindsay Anderson/Tri-County News

Bee losses that threaten industry partly related to change in Dakota landscape

What is causing the significant increase in bee die-offs in the past decade?

Recent research suggests there’s no single cause, instead pointing to several factors that combine or interact to weaken or kill bees. But according to an ongoing study in Stutsman County, N.D., at least one of those causes is tied to changes in the Dakota land where those bees buzz away their summers: The conversion of grassland to cropland is affecting bees’ diets, which makes them less healthy.

Bees in a hive at Miller Honey Farm in Gackle, N.D. Photo by Melody Owen/Tri-County News

Dakota bees that pollinate crops nationwide are struggling

Area beekeepers are suffering from bee die-offs in numbers they call unsustainable, which threatens not only their livelihood but could also affect hundreds of crops that depend on pollination by bees. The first in a two-part series.

Addressing a growing physician shortage may not be as simple as adding more doctors

If the physician shortage is the result of too much demand (for health care services) and too little supply (physicians to provide health care services), the marketplace answer would be to either lessen demand or increase supply. Policymakers are trying to adjust both sides of this equation to make sure that people get the care they need when they need it.

Young Investor Helps Langford’s Efforts

Another 8-year-old might have spent his birthday money on toys or games for his iPod. Not Trey Jensen. Instead, the Langford boy invested his $100 in his community.

INFOGRAPHIC: How does Obamacare affect your pocketbook?

Two Dakotas follow different paths on Medicaid expansion

The two Dakotas are similar in many respects, but at least for now have fallen on two different sides of this issue. With North Dakota enacting the Medicaid expansion, how will the two states fare differently if South Dakota does not expand Medicaid? Check out two infographics to see how Obamacare would affect you and your state.

electronic health records

Electronic health records show promise, but work remains

Area hospitals transitioning to electronic health records (EHRs) are making progress, and their administrators say they are confident that they are providing or will eventually provide better care with EHRs, but the process hasn’t been without significant headaches—and there’s still a ways to go before EHRs reach the comfort level of those corner-worn manila files.

Delores and Nelson Bloomquist have been participating in the local farmers market since 1997 selling everything from flower bouquets, shown above, to tomatoes, potatoes, decorative corn and pumpkins and every vegetable that can be grown in South Dakota as well as raspberries and apples. Photo by Kimberly Harrington/Clark County Courier

Farmers markets sprout, take root

Communities across the nation, including dozens in the Dakotas, are joining in a growing nationwide trend of forming markets with a very short farmer-to-consumer transportation system: goods go straight from the farmer’s hands to the consumer’s.