Bees

Along with things like drought and habitat loss, the widespread use of pesticides is a huge driving force behind dwindling bee numbers, and a new study has shone further light on the effects of the most common one of all.

Beekeeping can be an arduous task, as keepers have to repeatedly bend over and lift wax/honey-laden honeycomb panels out of each hive. The Hive Controller is designed to help, by robotically lifting and collecting the honeycombs.

With colony collapse disorder continuing to decimate honeybee populations, it's more important than ever for beekeepers to monitor hive conditions. The ApisProtect system is made to automate the process, potentially catching problems earlier.

A new understanding of the way bumblebees change their body orientation to squeeze through tight spaces has a team from Australia's University of New South Wales imagining how flying robots could be made to do the same thing.

As factors such as habitat loss decrease the number of flowering plants in the environment, beekeepers are starting to augment their insects' diet with artificial feeds. It now turns out that microalgae may be a particularly good form of "bee chow."

Scientists investigating the genetics underlying a peculiar behavior in South Africa’s Cape honey bee have made a groundbreaking discovery, pinpointing the single gene that enables them to reproduce without having sex.

Pesticide contamination may be triggering abnormal brain development in baby bumblebees, according to the results of a newly published scientific paper during which researchers scanned the brains of 92 worker bees using micro-CT technology.

A striking new study has identified a link between warming temperatures and local declines in bumblebee populations. The research suggests bumblebees are disappearing in both North America and Europe at a pace, “consistent with a mass extinction.”

To better understand the behaviour of bumblebees, scientists have used high-speed cameras to observe them in flight, finding that they can enter a type of “economy mode” when carrying particularly hefty cargo.

Honeybee numbers are falling to colony collapse disorder (CCD), which has devastating implications for global ecosystems and agriculture. But now, researchers have engineered bacteria that can help bees fend off two of the main causes of CCD.

Beekeepers frequently open up their hives to check on them, but doing so adds to their workload, and it stresses out the bees. A team of Dutch entrepreneurs set out to develop an alternative, resulting in the BEEP base hive-monitoring system.

To raise awareness of the plight of bees – and, no doubt, to nab some positive PR buzz and shift a few more Big Macs – McDonald's in Sweden has created what it calls "the world's smallest McDonald's." But there's a twist, would you bee-lieve it – it's not a McDonald's. It's a beehive.