Is it really that bad?
Popular pesticides are killing of bumblebees by preventing them from laying eggs
It’s time to face it: our pesticides are killing off bees — and bumblebees.
Bees prefer rural flowers to urban ones, new study indicates
Bees are more of the rural type, it seems.
Football-playing bees exhibit complex learning
Researchers have trained bumblebees to score goals using a mini-ball.
Bumblebee becomes the first endangered bee in continental US
For the first time in history, a bee in continental US has been listed as endangered.
Scientists find a new way through which neonicotinoids are killing off bees
Bee populations are going down dramatically, and our insecticides are largely at blame.
Flying quarter-sized RoboBee perches to save energy
Harvard roboticists made an insect-like flying robot that perches on ceilings to save energy, like bats, birds or butterflies.
Bees get much needed win as US court rules against neonicotinoid pesticide
Bee numbers have been dropping at alarming rates, and the growing consensus seem to be that only limiting pesticide use (especially for some pesticides) can save them. Now, a US court overturned federal approval for a new formulation called sulfoxaflor, basically banning the pesticide.
Bees use natural vaccines for their youth
When it comes to vaccines, the young bees don’t really have a choice – they’re naturally immunized against specific diseases commonly found in their environment. For the first time, researchers have figured out just how they do it.
Pollinating Bees are Worth Billions, and We’re Still Not Protecting Them
Wild bees provide environmental services worth $3,250 (€2,880) per hectare per year – accounting for billions, globally. Writing in Nature Communications, study authors quantify how much bees are doing for us, and stress that despite all their immense value, we still don’t have a concrete plan to stop their numbers from dwindling.
Watch: The first 21 days of a bee’s life in stunning timelapse
As part of a recent TED Talk (presented at the bottom of this article) photographer Anand Varma captured the incredible 21 day transformation from bee egg to larvae to pupae to adult, all in a breathtaking one-minute time-lapse video: In order to construct this time-lapse, Varma raised bees in his backyard, in front of a camera. His effort is part
Pesticide limit may be the last resort to save the bees, White House says
With bee numbers dropping dramatically in the last years, it’s time to take some drastic measures, and a White House task force including participation from more than a dozen federal agencies has concluded that limiting pesticide use may be the last resort we have to maintain bee numbers.
Bee numbers dropping at incredible rates
Something is killing off the bees; it’s likely us, and we’ll all have to pay the price. In fact, in many areas of the world, we already are.
Bees have false memories too – this might help explain how our own form
Memories aren’t infallible – even for those with photographic memory – so, more often than not, they’ll seem fuzzy. And the older these get, the fuzzier they’re recalled. Mixing names, faces and events in your head can sometimes be embarrassing, but at least we’re not alone. Seems like bees have false memories too, according to a study made by British researchers at Queen Mary University of London. Previously, false memories had been induced in other animals, like mice, but this is the first time natural false memories have been shown to happen. Research like this might help us, in time, understand how false memories are formed and, in a more general sense, how we recall events.
Watch: The Inside of a Huge Wasp Colony
Some wasps decided to build their colony next to the window of Youtube user Vang Tsal. Naturally, he was spooked – wasps are mean, and can be quite difficult to deal with. But instead of panicking and attempting to destroy the hive, he filmed it – and the results are spectacular: The colony now offers a perfect perspective of wasp
Pesticides threaten bees, birds and worms alike
A new study has shown that neurotoxic pesticides blamed for the huge drop in bee numbers are also equally affecting butterflies, worms, fish and birds. Killing the Bees Analyzing two decades of research on the topic, they found out that two classes of pesticides – neonicotinoids and fipronil – show “clear evidence of harm”. “We are witnessing a threat to the productivity
Bees build mental maps to get home
When I was a kid, I asked, like many others, how do bees know how to make their way back to the hive – and I was told they use the Sun for guidance. But I was lied! A new study has now finally solved my childhoold dilemma: while they do use the Sun as a compass, bees also make
Bees make blue honey after eating M&Ms
It’s a tough period to be a bee – even though it’s fairly clear by now that the massive bee wipe-out is caused by pesticides and fungicides, and even though places where such pesticides have been banned report huge increase in bee health, the world is still not taking steps to save the little insects. To put it bluntly, bee
Not just honeybees – wildbees, butterflies and moths are also in trouble
By now, you really should be aware of the honeybee problems that are plaguing populations throughout the world – their numbers are dwindling, and this poses a huge threat not just for the bees themselves, but for humans as well. Now, a new study has shown that it’s not just bees who are in trouble, but also other pollinators, like
Dino impact also wiped bees
A group of paleontologists believe that the same event that killed off the dinosaurs some 66 million years ago also caused a widespread extinction in bee populations. Currently, the widely accepted theory is that an asteroid or comet struck our planet 66 million years ago (the Cretaceous-Paleogene event, or K-Pg event), the impact and its effects basically wiping out dinosaur