Ladybugs stop pests from eating our food and destroying crops.
Flickr/Inhabitat
Small animals are the fabric of the world around us. Without them everything would crumble.
Joan Grífols/Flickr
Every new batch of bees needs the equivalent of eight hectares of lavender fields to prosper.
Iida Loukola
They shoot, they score … if there’s a sugary reward at the end of it.
Dr. Eijiro Miyak
Collecting pollen takes a surprising amount of teamwork.
No, I can’t see the supermoon either.
Gary Edstrom/Wikimedia
Planet Earth’s bears have nothing on these critters.
Shutterstock
Insects developed technology long before we did, so perhaps they can show us how to use it without damaging the planet.
Native bees are just some of the wildlife found in your backyard.
MirandaKate/Flickr
Whether you live in an urban apartment or a rural homestead, your outdoor area is more than just a private space. It’s a thriving ecosystem.
OwenMartin12
Hoverflies have evolved to trick predators into thinking they have a sting in the tail – but the predators have fought back.
Honeybees aren’t the only wildlife affected by pesticides – wild bees and butterflies also feel the effect.
Wild bee image from www.shutterstock.com
Two new studies have linked controversial pesticides neonicotinoides to wild bee and butterfly declines.
‘Bee calling hive, come in hive. We got some good stuff here…’
Joseph Woodgate
Tracking the flight of the bumblebee teaches us how they use plants – and how we can help them.
from www.shutterstock.com
New research shows that street lighting changes the activity of moths, and is likely to disrupt nocturnal pollination.
Beekeeper inspecting a frame of honeycomb.
Honey bees are in decline and the current method of keeping them can be disruptive to a colony. But new designs allow beekeepers to monitor a hive remotely, even sniff out disease and pests.
When elephants venture into human settlements, they cause significant damage to crops and property.
Shutterstock
Elephant numbers are increasing in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Their search for food is leading them into conflict with farmers living adjacent to game parks. Bees could prove to be the answer to the problem.
Life hasn’t been sweet for the honeybees lately.
Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters
New study maps the spread of ‘deformed wing virus’ – and it follows patterns of human trade.
These workers are working on behalf of their queen. But why?
Todd Huffman/Flickr
It’s long been a mystery how queen bees stop their workers from laying eggs. The solution comes from understanding a gene we call Anarchy.
A hoverfly on a sunflower.
David Kleijn
Next time you reach for the honey, spare a thought for the other vital insects that pollinate our crops.
Some of the most common painful stingers in the Australian bush are bulldog ants of the genus Myrmecia .
David Remsen/Flickr
Bees, wasps and ants – a group known as Hymenoptera – can claim the title of deadliest insects. How did they evolve to be so painful?
A beekeeper uses smoke to calm bees in a Langstroth hive.
moosicorn/flickr
Bees and humans share a long history. But now bee populations are in a worrying decline. So can beekeeping teach us how to live in harmony with the world’s most famous pollinator?
Lucas Zallio
It’s difficult to individually track tiny insects but researchers think they’ve found a way to harness a bee’s own energy.
Sunflowers contain less protein than aloe plants and bees need more of this.
Chamanti Laing
Nutrition is another factor - in addition to pesticides and bee disease - that has led to the dwindling of the global bee population.