Once the snow melts, bees will be back in business — pollinating, making honey and keeping busy doing bee things. For at least two urban bee species, that means making nests out of plastic waste. A new study reveals that some bees, including alfalfa leafcutting bees, use bits of plastic bags and plastic building materials … More Urban bees using plastic to build hives
Many beekeepers feed their honey bees sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup when times are lean inside the hive. This practice has come under scrutiny, however, in response to colony collapse disorder, the massive — and as yet not fully explained — annual die-off of honey bees in the U.S. and Europe. Some suspect that inadequate … More Scientists track gene activity when honey bees do and don’t eat honey: Significant differences depending on diet
A research team has found that male European honey bees, or drones, are much more susceptible than female European honey bees, known as workers, to a fungal intestinal parasite called Nosema ceranae. Originally from Asia, Nosema ceranae has rapidly spread throughout the world, and may contribute to the high number of colony deaths now observed … More The weaker sex: Male honey bees more susceptible than females to widespread intestinal parasite
Honeybees create honey in their hive through the topped-out combs, and they keep beebread — their food — in the other combs. Credit: © gudrin / Fotolia Honeybees — employed to pollinate crops during the blooming season — encounter danger due to lingering and wandering pesticides, according to a new Cornell University study that analyzed … More New data unearths pesticide peril in beehives
Bumblebees can be trained to score goals using a mini-ball, revealing unprecedented learning abilities, according to scientists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Their study, published in the journal Science, suggests that species whose lifestyle demands advanced learning abilities could learn entirely new behaviours if there is ecological pressure. Project supervisor and co-author Professor … More Ball-rolling bees reveal complex learning
Researchers from the University of Calgary studying data from 600 fields in 20 countries have found that managed honey bees are not as successful at pollinating crops as wild insects, primarily wild bees, suggesting the continuing loss of wild insects in many agricultural landscapes has negative consequences for crop harvests. Lawrence Harder, University of Calgary … More Loss of wild insects hurts crops around the world
Increasing the diversity of pollinator species can dramatically increase cotton production, according to a new study from the University of Texas at Austin. In South Texas alone, this could boost cotton production by up to 18 percent, yielding an increase in annual revenue of more than $1.1 million. Bee hovers over cotton flower in South … More Supporting pollinators could have big payoff for Texas cotton farmers
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