Category Archives: Bee Biology
What we don’t know
Sometimes I am surprised by what we don’t know about bees. You would think we’d have it all figured out by now. I’m not talking about knowing when to wrap or unwrap hives; start grafting queen cells; split hives; or … Continue reading
Great Reception
Tasmania, respected as the last strong-hold for the Devil and as Australia’s main apple-picking state, has something new to boast about. Scientists are outfitting 5,000 bees with electronic tracking devices. The glued-on sensors are RFIDs (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) which … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Science, Strange, Odd Stuff, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged GPS, RFID tags, Tasmania
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Ground Hog Day
Pork burgers, anyone? Today is Groundhog Day, which makes me think of ground beef, hamburger helper, and ground hog. And the weather. We, of course, are far too sophisticated to depend on a rodent for our long-range forecast, even if … Continue reading
Bees Drink Wine, Live Long, Stay Slim
Bees enjoy a bit of red wine. That’s something you don’t think about everyday. Do insects (specifically bees) enjoy a bit of the grape juice? Researchers in Arizona aren’t telling us that honey bees like wine, but they do say … Continue reading
Can Bees Smell Cancer?
This is an intriguing idea. A Portuguese designer has invented a novel system that might detect various illnesses, including tuberculosis, diabetes, and lung cancer. Susana Soares has built a lovely contraption – a glass bubble inside another bubble which holds … Continue reading
Posted in Apitherapy, Bee Biology, Science, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged bee senses, cancer, odors
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Invasive bee hives
Dutch bee hives in Manhattan? Of course. Four hundred years and counting. New York was known as New Amsterdam by its first settlers, the Dutch from Holland who arrived on lower Manhattan Island in 1614. That’s even before the Pilgrims … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, History
Tagged invasive species, Manhattan bees
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Bud Burst
Enjoying spring?. Soon you may have even more of a good thing. According to a detailed study published by a group of geophysicists associated with the American Geophysical Union, spring will start arriving 17 days earlier in the north, if … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Climate, Honey Plants, Science
Tagged American Geophysical Union, Spring
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A Multi-player Game
How does one get 50 different bee-specialists to work together on a project? Sounds like herding cats, if you ask me. But that’s what agricultural engineer Lucas Garibaldi of Argentina’s National University of Río Negro is doing. The fifty researchers … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Ecology, Pollination
Tagged Argentina, bee species, Lucas Garibaldi
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Expressing Genes
What the heck is Gene Expression? Researchers working at the University of Illinois are tricking honey bees in order to learn about something called Gene Expression. As if the poor bugs don’t have enough to worry about, scientists are fooling … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Genetics, Science
Tagged bee communication, DNA, Gene Robinson
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Out with the Tongue
2012 was not all about colony collapses and neonicotinoidal imidacloprid pesticides. There was some lighter news. In December, we learned that honey bees were being trained to stick their tongues out. Some top-notch scientists at Bielefeld University in Germany are … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Science, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged bee tongues, Bielefeld University, training bees
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Bad Beekeeping Blog 