Honey Bee Heat Warms Up Fellow Pollinators for Early-Season Blooms
An incubator that draws excess heat from a honey bee hive warms up managed Osmia lignaria bees so they can pollinate early-blooming fruit trees such as cherry, apple, and almond. A new study shows the hivetop incubators are effective, with little effect on the honey bee hive temps below.
New and Easy Marking Method Tracks Bees Without Killing Them
A new study published in the Journal of Insect Science outlines a new technique that quickly, simply, and inexpensively marks bees to track their movement—and it's non-lethal, too. It could make for an valuable improvement for mark-and-recapture methods for these pollinators.
Beyond the Honey Bee: How Pesticides Affect Solitary, Cavity-Nesting Bees
Solitary bees face different—and less well-understood—challenges from pesticide exposure than their colony-dwelling honey bee cousins. A pair of entomologists encourage colleagues to dedicate more research to these important pollinators.
Rearranging Nest Boxes Keeps More Blue Orchard Bees Around
Orchard growers looking for alternatives to honey bees for managed pollination services have new reason to be optimistic about the potential of one honey bee cousin, the blue orchard bee. […]