Murder Hornets a Threat to Honey Bees
Asian giant hornets, sometimes called murder hornets, are the latest in a long line of recent threats to honey bees in North America.
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Urban Gardens a Haven for Pollinators
Insect-friendly urban gardens show great promise to be havens for bees and other pollinators, securing their future and allowing them to thrive.
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Do Wandering Bees Help Spread Disease?
By Emily Rhode @riseandsci Given the continued growth of the human population, it’s no surprise that our behaviors impact plants and animals. But what might be alarming are the ways we harm these species. Habitat loss and pesticide use have been shown to have devastating effects on pollinator populations worldwide, but researchers from the University of Toronto have found a new and unexpected way that humans are killing off bumblebees. And according to their study, the potential for bee deaths will only get worse as our demand for pollinated crops…
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Chemicals Used on Almond Trees Linked to Bee Deaths
By Emily Rhode @riseandsci Americans have a serious obsession with almonds. In 2016, 1.2 million metric tons were grown worldwide, and 80% of that was grown in California alone. As our taste grows for the protein-packed nut, a looming crisis threatens not only the almond crop, but the global food industry as a whole. Over the last decade, honeybee populations, which are necessary for sustaining a healthy almond industry, have been steadily declining. The reasons for the decrease are not fully clear. What if our rabid consumption of this tasty…
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Urban Life of Bees: A Pollination-Parasite Trade-Off
By Jonathan Trinastic @jptrinastic Few people would consider cities the ideal home for bees, but what if these dense population centers could provide the means for healthy cohabitation? Scientists from Europe recently examined how bumblebees visit and pollinate flowers across urban and agricultural regions and found that urban areas can have a surprisingly beneficial effect on pollination rates. The reasons behind these results not only provide insight into how cities could be designed to better care for bees but also signal yet another danger of farming monocultures. Urban sanctuary…
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Tips for a Bee-Friendly Garden
By Steven Spence @TheStevenSpence More Diverse Than Honeybees When we hear about bees most of us think of honeybees (Apis mellifera) but there are many more bees around us. In fact, there are approximately 4000 native bee species in North America. Some of the most familiar types are bumblebees, mason bees, carpenter bees, and leaf cutter bees. These bee species also are important as pollinators. Fortunately, there are many ways we can help bees flourish whether we have farms, garden plots, backyards, or live in an urban environment with a…
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Flower Power: The Physics of Pollination
By Marie Davey @biophilesblog Pollination. The word brings to mind the droning buzz of fat yellow and black bumblebees bouncing from blossom to blossom in flower-decked meadows. But up close and in person, pollination is often anything but idyllic. The physical forces involved in pollination can be impressive, and both plants and insects must be well adapted to withstand them. The flowers of bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) generate impressive physical forces, acting as tiny pollen catapults. Bunchberry flower buds have petals that are fused to one another and completely enclose the…
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The Brainy Life of Bees
By Jonathan Trinastic @jptrinastic The thought of worker bees buzzing about their colonies in service of the queen may not suggest a rich mental life at first. However, two experiments run by separate teams at Queen Mary University of London reveal a surprising potential for bumblebees to learn novel tasks as well as experience mental states similar to human optimism. The findings suggest that bees can transfer learned skills across generations—one of the primary requirements for primitive culture. I’m just pulling your string Crows, apes, and dolphins get plenty of…
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Parasitic Bees: Natural-Born Robbers
By Steven Spence Photography by John Kimbler When we think of bees, most of us picture honeybees or possibly bumblebees. In fact, there are over 20,000 species of bees. Some are social, such as honeybees and bumblebees, while others are solitary. Bees typically build nests, collect pollen and nectar, and care for their offspring. Some bees, though, do not busy themselves with these things; instead, they move in as parasites, taking over other bees’ nests. Estimates based on surveys of North American bees indicate that as many as 15 percent…
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Bumblebee Hairs Detect Floral Electric Fields
It is well known that bees dance to tell each other where to find the best flowers, but have you ever wondered how bees find the flowers in the first place? A new study suggests that each bumblebee has tiny hairs that vibrate in response to electrical signals transmitted by flowers. It’s been known for a while that flowers communicate with pollinators, such as bumblebees, by sending out electric signals. However, scientists have been wondering how the bees detect those floral messages. The Hair of the Bumblebee Researchers at the University…
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