Wild heirs of lost British honey bee found. Airport says roadway can’t be redesigned to avoid prairie. Rising temperatures overcook bumble bees’ diet. How honey bees alert hive about murder hornets.
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Conservation
‘No one knew they existed’: Wild heirs of lost British honey bee found at Blenheim
(The Guardian) Thousands of rare forest honey bees that appear to be the last wild descendants of Britain’s native honey bee population have been discovered in the ancient woodlands of Blenheim Palace. The newly discovered subspecies, or ecotype, of honey bee is smaller, furrier and darker than the honey bees found in managed beehives, and is believed to be related to the indigenous wild honey bees that foraged the English countryside for centuries. Until now, it was presumed all these bees had been completely wiped out by disease and competition from imported species.
(Twitter, Prof. Jeff Ollerton @JeffOllerton) “Not sure what to make of this story about supposedly wild honey #bees. Blenheim is hardly isolated or cut off from the rest of the country! Would like to see the data published”
(Oxfordshire Natural Beekeeping Group) “This piece in the Observer has caused a bit of a stir. Clearly aimed at engaging the general public, I can see why it has been annoying in some circles. Prof. Jeff Ollerton – @jeffollerton on Twitter – is right to say that ‘extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof’ but, in fact, what is being seen at Blenheim is not, IMHO, extraordinary: it is pretty much what you would expect to see given the circumstances: the pristine nature and extent of the woodland and the absence of modern bee management from the entire estate.”
Neglected Egyptian nature reserve home to last pharaonic honey bees
(Al-Monitor) Stretching over 8,000 acres, the Wadi Al-Assiut protectorate is home to a diversity of rare plants, animals and birds, making it a favorite destination for wildlife lovers and scientists. The protectorate, about 50 km away from the city of Assiut, is the breeding ground of endangered species of wild animals and wild plants, most notably the last breed of Pharaonic bees whose honey has multiple therapeutic and nutritional benefits.
Rockford airport says roadway can’t be redesigned to avoid Bell Bowl Prairie
(Rock River Current) Airport officials said this week that a proposed roadway that would cut through Bell Bowl Prairie is critical to its expansion plans and can’t be redesigned to spare the land. The airport previously said it would redesign a portion of its expansion to remove a detention basin that was originally planned in the prairie. That land could still be developed in the future, Oakley said, but no work would happen without future environmental assessment. “It’s still airport land. It’s still there for development, but it is not happening in this cycle.”
Energy cooperative expands bee-friendly prairie near Minneapolis
(Star News) More than 12 acres have been planted with habitat friendly to bees, butterflies and birds on Great River Energy’s Elk River campus. Recently, approximately 3.4 new acres were planted with a similar mix of butterfly milkweed, black-eyed Susans, little bluestems and other pollinator-friendly species. Following the demolition of Elk River Station, Great River Energy – an electric transmission and generation cooperative – worked on a new landscaping plan for the site. In 2016, Great River Energy planted 9 acres of pollinator-friendly prairie next to the facility.
How two California property owners are restoring their land for monarch butterflies
(San Luis Obispo Tribune) San Luis Obispo County farmer Lisen Bonnier of Vintage Organics has a stretch of her farmland that has never grown crops well. It floods and has always been generally “problematic,” she said. So when an opportunity arose for her to re-think how the area could be used and she was able to obtain 170 native plants attractive to pollinators such as monarch butterflies and bumblebees, Bonnier jumped at it. Bonnier is one of several grantees across San Luis Obispo County and California who have received free native pollinator-friendly plants from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. The nonprofit organization recently distributed more than 34,000 free native, drought-resistant plants to landowners around California.
Economics
Climatic drivers of honey bee disease revealed
(Phys.org, Newcastle University) Honey bee colonies worldwide have suffered from a range of damaging diseases. A new study has provided clues on how changing weather patterns might be driving disease in UK colonies. Researchers found that the most severe disease of honey bees, caused by the Varroa mite, increased as climate temperatures increased but were reduced during heavy rainfall and wind.
(Twitter, Rich Hatfield @rghatfield) “Well this sounds like a win/win for everyone except pesticide companies. Chances that practices will change?” Original paper
Policy/Law
Biden says final passage of $1 trillion infrastructure plan is a big step forward
(NPR) After months of tense negotiations, the House of Representatives has passed a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. Biden said that the vote was a “monumental” step forward and that he would sign the bill into law. Included in the infrastructure bill is a program and funding to create and maintain roadside pollinator habitat across the nation.
Science
Rising temperatures overcook bumble bees’ diet
(UC Riverside) Bumble bees pollinate many of our favorite foods, but their own diet is being upset by climate change, according to a new study. There’s a sweet spot where floral nectar that bees eat has just the right balance of microbes like bacteria and yeast in it. With even a small increase in temperature, the microbes’ metabolism speeds up, causing them to reproduce more and eat up a higher percentage of the sugars in the nectar. “Less sugar means the nectar could be less palatable for our pollinators.”
How honey bees alert their hive to attacks by giant ‘murder’ hornets
(ScienceDaily, Wellesley College) An international team of researchers observed that Asian honey bees sound the alarm to their fellow bees to defend themselves against attacks by giant hornets, which can wipe out whole colonies. Bees make sounds, and antipredator pipes in particular, at a frenetic pace when giant hornets are directly outside their hive. It’s a distress signal so distinctive that it gave the lead researcher the chills when she heard it. “The pipes share traits in common with a lot of mammalian alarm signals, so as a mammal hearing them, there’s something that is instantly recognizable as communicating danger. It feels like a universal experience.”
Co-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees
(Twitter, Ed Straw @EdStrawBio) “Minor ingredient in one of the worlds most used pesticides causes considerable damage to bumblebees! Why this is important (Hint: Co-Formulants) and what it means for pesticides, a thread:” Original paper
Size matters for honey bee ‘superorganism’ colonies
(UC San Diego) Like neurological systems and human social groups, new research on bees offers clues to how biological collectives make choices under dynamic conditions. For honey bees, colony size is a key factor.
NMSU embarks on a quest to capture bee diversity in New Mexico
(Las Cruces Sun News) There are more than 4,000 bee species in the United States and about 1,000 bee species in New Mexico due to the state’s diverse landscapes. But native bees aren’t the subject of much research in New Mexico compared to the more well-known honeybee. Adrienne Rosenberg of New Mexico State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Science Center at Alcalde is working on research to change that. Currently, Rosenberg is studying the state’s native bee populations by comparing a native wildflower field to an alfalfa field, a more traditional ground-cover and cash crop in New Mexico. By studying the native bee populations in both areas, Rosenberg is measuring the diversity of the bees.
Endangered Hawaiian bees, snails and birds get $1M for research
(University of Hawai'i) Of the more than 500 species of yellow-faced bees worldwide, many are found only in Hawaiʻi, such as Hylaeus akoko (only on Hawaiʻi Island), or Hylaeus anomalus (only on Oʻahu). With extremely narrow ranges and sparse numbers, as well as human development, it’s no wonder they’re endangered. But with $1 million in new funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Competitive State Wildlife Grant program, Hawaiʻi is among 16 states that can continue its efforts in protecting key wildlife species: Hawaiian yellow-faced bees, land snails and ʻelepaio birds.
Where do wild bees go in winter?
(Tufts Pollinator Initiative) In mid-October, gardens are abuzz with wild bees – eastern carpenter bees, bicolored striped-sweat bees, and common eastern bumble bee queens, to name a few. After mating, those bees have one goal: fatten up before winter. They are getting ready to hibernate for the next six months, and every flower counts. Cueing into dropping temperatures and shorter days, the bees tuck away in quiet, secluded spots. Think: under leaves, rotting logs, long forgotten debris piles, or even back in their natal nests. Once in their resting place, they enter diapause – a state of lower metabolic activity – and cross their antennae. They will need enough energy to survive the next six months before spring.
Society/Culture
Buy a frisbee, support a bumble bee
(Twitter, OTB Discs @OTBdiscs) “Huge thanks to @_JohnMola and @monotomidae for the inspiration behind this stamp. The Rusty Patched Bumble Bee is an endangered species living in North America and can even be found on disc golf courses in parts of the U.S. A portion of the proceeds of these 100 discs will go towards Rusty Patched Bumble Bee conservation efforts.”
(Twitter, John M. Mola @_JohnMola) “SOLD OUT. The rusty patched bumble bees are saved. You’re welcome.”
Professor Lars Chittka elected to Germany’s National Academy of Sciences
(Queen Mary University of London) On their decision to elect Professor Chittka as a member of the Leopoldina, the society said that Professor Chittka’s discoveries “have far-reaching implications for the general understanding of animal cognition, its evolution, and its neural basis”. Chittka is known for his work on the evolutionary ecology of sensory systems and cognition in the context of insect-plant interactions. His discoveries have had a significant influence on the understanding of animal intelligence and its neural basis, using the miniature nervous system of bees as a model.
(Atlas Obscura) You’ve heard of bookworms, but this small sculpture at a university library may be the world’s first bookbee.
Technology
Five ways scientists are using robotics to study animal behavior
(Knowable Magazine) Honeybees dance to direct hive mates to new food sources. Guppies negotiate leadership with their schoolmates. Flocks of homing pigeons take evasive action when a falcon attacks. Since the dawn of animal behavior research, scientists have studied social interactions like these. But now there’s a new twist to their research: Here, one of the actors is not a real animal, but a robot. Under the control of researchers, these bots socialize with flesh and blood creatures in experiments that scientists hope will yield fresh insights into what it means to be a socially competent guppy, how bees educate their hive mates and other features of animal social life.
One More Thing…
“Priorities!” From Insect News & ID @InsectNews via Twitter.