The Bee Report / January 2018
Recent news, research and interesting stuff about bees and pollination networks.
New Species and More Bees Mark Michigan's First Full Bee Census
The Michigan survey confirmed a new species of cuckoo bee: Triepeolus eliseae. / Photo: Kim Phillips - Michigan State University
The first complete bee census, led by Michigan State University scientists, confirmed a new species and revealed that the actual number of bee species in Michigan exceeded earlier estimates. Continue reading >
By the Numbers: The Bees of Grand Staircase-Escalante
What will happen to this diverse community of bees now that the Trump administration has redrawn and reduced the boundaries of this national monument?
Continue reading>
Editorial: E.P.A. considering expanded use of neonic insecticide
Public comments must be received by January 16, 2018. Continue reading >
Cognition
The Cognitive Lives Of Bees (KUNR) (listen to the 7 minute audio)
Digestion
ASU scientists discover gut bacteria in bees spread antibiotic-resistant genes to each other (ASU Now)
How honey bee gut bacteria help to digest their pollen-rich diet (EurekAlert!)
Economics
Putting a price on a bee (Handelsblatt Global)
Flight
This myth people keep quoting about how bees shouldn't be able to fly is scientifically incorrect — here's why (Business Insider)
Flowers
Bees use invisible heat patterns to choose flowers (EurekAlert!)
Cover Crops Help Bees and Soil (California Ag Today)
Habitat
Severe Wildfires Bring A Welcome Landscape For Native Bees (KUOW)
Honey Bees
Bigger honeybee colonies have quieter combs (Cornell Chronicle)
Beekeepers feel the sting of California wildfire (WBIR)
Penn State involved in bee study (Republican Herald)
Legislation
Bills protecting bees from pesticides going before state Assembly (New Jersey Herald)
Neonicotinoids
EPA Might Let Bee-Killing Pesticide Be Sprayed On 165M Acres of Farmland (Newsweek)
Pesticides even more harmful to bees than previously thought, according to new study (Independent)
Thiamethoxam honey bee colony feeding study: Linking effects at the level of the individual to those at the colony level (Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry)
Neonicotinoid pesticides and nutritional stress synergistically reduce survival in honey bees (Proceedings of the Royal Society B)
New limits, but no all-out ban on pesticides that harm bee population (CBC)
Bee-killing pesticides dangerous even when used in greenhouses, new research (Greenpeace)
Parasites and Pathogens
Bee in greenhouse offers horticultural mystery (The Post and Courier)
Source of bacterial disease in Peace region bees a mystery (The Western Producer)
Populations
UNH Researchers Find Drastic Decline in N.H.’s Bumblebees (UNH Today)
Technology
Bee buzzes critical to calculating crop pollination (The Western Producer)
Acoustic control of bee families. One more step forward. (CORDIS)
Unexpected
Lost species of bee-mimicking moth rediscovered after 130 years (The Guardian)
Bees for trees: testing a potential tool for reducing human-elephant conflict (Mongabay)
Bees may be serving up humanity’s next big food … and it isn’t honey (The Western Producer)