Honeybees

A bee sucks nectar from a flower in Berlin, Germany. Bee populations are in decline in industrialized nations across the globe.

The world's insect population is in decline — and that's bad news for humans

1:19pm February 24, 2022

by Dave Davies

Environmental writer Oliver Milman says habitat loss, pesticides and climate change are killing off insects worldwide, which, in turn, threatens humans. His new book is The Insect Crisis.

Using card with black symbols, researchers trained honeybees to understand that sugar water would always be located under a card with the least number of symbols — including when presented with a card that was totally blank.

Science

Math Bee: Honeybees Seem To Understand The Notion Of Zero

3:10pm June 07, 2018

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Research shows that bees possess a mathematical ability once thought to exist only in dolphins, primates, birds and humans who are beyond the preschool years.

Nigel Raine keeps a collection of wild bees in his laboratory at the University of Guelph, in Canada. Farmed honeybees can compete with wild bees for food, making it harder for wild species to survive.

Honeybees Help Farmers, But They Don't Help The Environment

6:13pm January 27, 2018

by Dan Charles

Maybe honeybees get too much attention. They are agricultural animals, like sheep or cattle, and they sometimes make life harder for wild bees. In fact, the bees in true peril are the wild ones.

Queue Listen Now

With an American honeybee queen for a mother and a European honeybee drone for a father, this worker bee has a level of genetic diversity unseen in the U.S. for decades. Researchers at Washington State University hope a deeper gene pool will give a new ge

No Offense, American Bees, But Your Sperm Isn't Cutting It

9:00am July 13, 2017

by Ryan Bell

U.S. bees are in trouble, and one of the major threats is a deadly parasite called varroa mite. So researchers are importing sperm from European bees resistant to mites to toughen up America's stock.

Honeybees are seen inside a colony at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., in 2007. Maryland lawmakers approved a bill this week permitting beekeepers to shoot black bears that threaten their hives.

Maryland Lawmakers Vote To Allow Beekeepers To Shoot Black Bears That Threaten Hives

7:10pm April 11, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

Bears have a taste for honey but are really after the bee "brood": eggs, larvae, and pupae — a source of protein and fat. Bee experts note that after a bear attack, a colony is unlikely to survive.

Beekeepers Glen Andresen and Tim Wessels are trying to breed a honey bee that is more resilient to colder climates.

Crop-Protecting Fungicides May Be Hurting The Honey Bees

9:00am February 16, 2017

by Eilís O'Neill

Bees have been dying in unprecedented numbers. A new study has found that fungi-destroying chemicals may make it harder for bees to metabolize their food. And if they can't get energy, they can't fly.

Many large-scale farms rely heavily on immigrant labor. And many farmers are opposed to Donald Trump's strong stance against illegal immigrant.

Big Battles Over Farm And Food Policies May Be Brewing As Trump Era Begins

3:30pm December 28, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump hasn't said much about food and farm policy or named his choices for top food-related jobs. But the coming years will likely see profound battles over food and nutrition.

The healthy bees managed by Jonathan Garaas are checked every two weeks for signs of a possible mite infestation.

The Colony-Killing Mistake Backyard Beekeepers Are Making

4:38pm August 12, 2016

by Dan Gunderson

Bee experts warn that novices may be inadvertently putting their hives in danger by not keeping the mite population in check.

Cybil Preston, chief apiary inspector for the Maryland Department of Agriculture, does a training run with Mack: She sets up fake beehives and commands him to "find." He sniffs each of them to check for American foulbrood. If he detects the disease, he is

Keeping Bees Safe: It's A Ruff Job, But This Doggy Detective Gets It Done

2:53pm April 28, 2016

by Jodi Helmer

Mack is the newest addition to the Maryland Department of Agriculture's apiary inspection team. He uses his superior sniffer to find hives infected with a contagious disease that kills bee colonies.

A beehive at Frangiosa Farms, in Parker, Colo. The farm introduced an adopt-a-hive program in 2012. The one-time adoption fees per hive range from $45 to $130 (the latter gets you three jars of honey).

Adopt A Beehive — Save A Beekeeper?

7:28pm March 29, 2016

by Jodi Helmer

Many of the foods we eat depend on pollination from honeybees. But bees are in trouble, and so are beekeepers — replacing lost hives is expensive. Some have come up with a new source of funding.