tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/bees-531/articlesBees – The Conversation2024-03-20T01:25:27Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2262062024-03-20T01:25:27Z2024-03-20T01:25:27ZNZ’s summer insects are packing up for autumn – here’s how our gardens can help them through the cold months<p>Chillier mornings and higher heating bills aren’t the only signs of the changing seasons. Common insects, too, are having to adapt. One day we see them in our gardens and parks, the next they appear to have disappeared. </p>
<p>But most are still here – they’re just harder to find.</p>
<p>Overwintering is an adaptation that many plants, insects and other invertebrates undergo in temperate climates. It’s how they survive cold times of the year when food sources are scarce. </p>
<p>It’s similar to the way some mammals, such as bears, hibernate. But while hibernation involves an extended and deep dormancy akin to sleep, overwintering organisms are still active, just to a lesser extent. </p>
<p>Some alpine insects, such as wētapunga, can even tolerate being <a href="https://predatorfreenz.org/stories/mountain-stone-weta/">frozen solid</a> for days at a time, slowing down their metabolism until conditions become favourable again.</p>
<h2>The stay-at-home monarch</h2>
<p>New Zealand’s monarch butterflies demonstrate how insects can adapt to new environments. In North America, they disappear for the northern winter, <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/migration/index.shtml">migrating up to 5,000 kilometres</a> from around the Great Lakes to the central Mexican volcanic mountains. </p>
<p>They arrive in huge swarms, with population estimates one year of around <a href="https://monarchconservation.org/monarch-status/monarch-population-status">380 million butterflies</a>, clustering together to conserve energy. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/insects-and-spiders-make-up-more-than-half-nzs-animal-biodiversity-time-to-celebrate-these-spineless-creatures-195450">Insects and spiders make up more than half NZ's animal biodiversity – time to celebrate these spineless creatures</a>
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<p>In New Zealand, however, the monarch has adapted to island life and does not migrate. We know this because, for 15 years, the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust tagged monarch butterflies in autumn and winter to track where they were overwintering. </p>
<p>The data collected showed <a href="https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/project/tagging-monarchs/">no pattern of migration</a> or any common destination. Most recovered tags were still within the general area in which the butterflies were released. </p>
<p>New Zealand monarchs do show some similar behaviours to their North American counterparts, though. You might be fortunate to see a tree with a swarm of monarchs, usually on the tree’s northern side. </p>
<p>The butterflies stay active during winter, as temperatures allow. On a sunny day you will see them flying around, looking for nectar from flowers to top up their energy.</p>
<h2>Leave the leaf litter</h2>
<p>Overwintering in large numbers, however, is not typical of the way most insects survive the winter. Aotearoa’s <a href="https://jandtlab.com/how-can-i-help-save-the-bees/">native bees</a> are active only in the summer, when females forage to collect a nutritious “pollen ball” to sustain their dozen or so offspring underground during development. </p>
<p>Bee larvae will remain underground during winter, long after their parents have perished. They will emerge the following summer as the new generation of adults, never having met their caregivers.</p>
<p>While flowers rich in nectar and pollen are crucial for insects to forage when they emerge from overwintering, dead and decaying plant matter is the <a href="https://xerces.org/blog/leave-leaves-to-benefit-wildlife">lifeblood of the invertebrate world</a> during autumn and winter. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nz-votes-the-red-admiral-butterfly-bug-of-the-year-how-to-make-your-garden-its-home-223083">NZ votes the red admiral butterfly ‘bug of the year’ – how to make your garden its home</a>
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<p>Leaf litter provides cover and nutrition for millions of insects and other microorganisms that cycle nutrients and soil, pollinate ecosystems and sustain larger organisms such as birds and fish.</p>
<p>You can help butterflies and other invertebrates survive winter by raking dead leaves onto the garden, rather than into the rubbish, and leaving seed heads on plants. Not only will this give these amazing ecosystem engineers somewhere to shelter, it will also help them return precious nutrients to the soil. </p>
<p>Plants such as <a href="https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/List-of-some-nectar-species.pdf">Leucanthemum and Alyssum</a>, which produce nectar-filled flowers in autumn and winter, can provide a top-up feed for butterflies and other pollinators during warm spells. </p>
<p>Native winter-flowering whauwhau, or five-finger (<em>Pseudopanax arboreus</em>), provides vital overwintering energy for insects. And kotukutuku (<em>Fuchsia excorticata</em>), though mainly bird-pollinated, is also <a href="https://thisnzlife.co.nz/top-17-trees-feed-bees-new-zealand-year-round/">popular with bees</a>.</p>
<h2>Flight of the bumble bee</h2>
<p>Not all insects overwinter. Colony and social insects such as bumble bees and honey bees follow <a href="https://www.nzbct.org.nz/bee-informed/">characteristic phenological cycles</a>, intricately and inseparably linked to floral blooming seasons. </p>
<p>Bumble bee queens initiate a colony underground and begin to produce workers that typically live for an average of 28 days. </p>
<p>As the colony deteriorates with age at the end of summer, the queen will shift from producing sterile workers to producing reproductive individuals. These male <a href="https://www.perfectbee.com/beekeeping-articles/role-of-the-drone-bee">drones</a> and female <a href="https://www.amentsoc.org/insects/glossary/terms/gyne/">gynes</a> will leave the nest to mate, while workers consume the remaining resources.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-bees-have-queens-2-biologists-explain-this-insects-social-structure-and-why-some-bees-dont-have-a-queen-at-all-213208">Why do bees have queens? 2 biologists explain this insect's social structure – and why some bees don't have a queen at all</a>
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<p>Around March and April you may see many <a href="https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/bee-faqs/finding-dead-bees/">dead bumble bees</a> on the ground. This isn’t necessarily cause for alarm – they have simply worked hard pollinating and have reached their natural life expectancy. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, newly mated queen bumble bees will now seek out new spots in which to begin colonies, such as vacant rodent and rabbit burrows. The queens benefit from the retained heat provided by undisturbed leaf litter, which also protects them from predators.</p>
<p>Eventually, our overwintering insects will emerge, often coinciding with the start of flowering and pollen production. But a changing climate can <a href="https://www.beeculture.com/pollination-its-all-about-timing/">disrupt key plant-animal interactions</a> such as pollination. In the meantime, they will appreciate all the help we can give them as temperatures drop and the cycle of life turns again.</p>
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<p><em>The authors gratefully acknowledge the help of the <a href="https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/">Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust</a> in the preparation of this article.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janice Lord has received funding for invertebrate-related research from the Miss E.L. Hellaby Indigenous Grasslands Research Trust, Royal Society of New Zealand, Department of Conservation, and University of Otago. She is a member of the Entomological Society of New Zealand and an honorary associate of Plant and Food Research Ltd.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Connal McLean is a member of The Entomological Society of New Zealand and The Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust.</span></em></p>Many common insects seem to disappear during autumn and winter – but they are still around. Making your garden a good winter habitat can help these vital pollinators survive and thrive.Janice Lord, Associate Professor in Botany, University of OtagoConnal McLean, Natural History Technician – Invertebrates, Te Papa TongarewaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2132082024-03-04T13:35:40Z2024-03-04T13:35:40ZWhy do bees have queens? 2 biologists explain this insect’s social structure – and why some bees don’t have a queen at all<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578405/original/file-20240227-30-jjne39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C0%2C3019%2C1971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The queen, on the right with a larger, darker body, is bigger than the worker bees in the colony and lives several times longer.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/bees-from-a-bee-colony-with-a-queen-are-seen-on-a-honeycomb-news-photo/1233050929">Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
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<p><strong>Why do bees have queens? – Rhylie, age 8, Rosburg, Washington</strong></p>
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<p>When you think “bee,” you likely picture one species that lives all over the world: the <a href="https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/animals/insects/honey-bees/">honey bee</a>. And honey bees have queens, a female who lays essentially all of the eggs for the colony.</p>
<p>But most bees don’t have queens. With about <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-many-species-native-bees-are-united-states#:%7E">20,000 species of bees worldwide</a> – that’s about 2 trillion bees – the majority of them don’t even live in groups. They do just fine <a href="https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/nongame/native-pollinators/solitary-social.phtml#:%7E">without queens or colonies</a>. </p>
<p>Instead, a single female lays eggs in a simple nest, either inside a plant stem or an underground tunnel. She provides each egg with a ball of pollen mixed with nectar that she collected from flowers, and she leaves the eggs to hatch and develop on their own. She doesn’t have anyone to help with this process. </p>
<p>These bee species, often spectacularly beautiful, are <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/animals/bees.shtml">important pollinators of many crops and plants</a>, though most people aren’t even aware of them. </p>
<p>Since lots of bees successfully live without a queen, what is it that queens provide for the bee species that do have them? <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KF4sBDIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">We are behavioral ecologists</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=r9Wuv18AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">who study social insects</a>, and this question is at the heart of our research. </p>
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<span class="caption">A bee colony may have many thousands of workers who support the single queen.</span>
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<h2>A queen, workers and drones</h2>
<p>Along with honey bees, two other kinds of bees also have queens: <a href="https://www.treehugger.com/bumblebee-facts-5119379">bumble bees</a>, which are found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica, and <a href="https://beeswiki.com/stingless-bees/">stingless bees</a>, which are found primarily in tropical areas. </p>
<p>One honey bee colony – also called a hive – may have <a href="https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/honey-bee-facts.html">more than 50,000 bees</a>, while bumble bee colonies usually have just a few hundred bees. Stingless bee colonies are often small, but some are as large as the biggest honey bee hives. </p>
<p>These bees’ social structures have two more things in common besides the egg-laying queen: the female workers who care for the colony, and the males, <a href="https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/dronebee.html">sometimes called “drones</a>.” </p>
<p>Notice the males are not included in the “worker” group. Males generally don’t help collect nectar or pollen, protect and maintain the hive, or care for the young larvae. The females do all of those jobs. </p>
<p>Instead, the males have one task: to find and then mate with a female who may become a future queen. After building their strength, males leave the hive to join thousands of other drones to wait for new queens that are also looking for mates. If males are lucky enough to mate, they die soon afterward. In contrast, females typically mate with many different males before starting their lives as egg-laying queens. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Female worker bees do pretty much all the work.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The isolated queen</h2>
<p>Maybe you imagine a queen as the one in charge, ordering everyone around. But that’s a case of language being misleading. Unlike human queens who lead their people, bee queens don’t rule over their workers. </p>
<p>Instead, particularly for honey bees, the queen is rather isolated from what’s happening in the hive. Remember, she just lays eggs, up to 2,000 in a day. The workers surround and take care of her while managing the colony. The queen bee might <a href="https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/how-long-do-bees-live.html">live for a few years</a>, much longer than female worker bees and drones.</p>
<p>Other animals also live in social groups with a division of labor between those who reproduce and those who maintain the colony. <a href="https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/animals/insects/ant-facts/">Ants</a>, <a href="https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/termite/353849#:%7E">termites</a> and <a href="https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/wasp/353914#:%7E">some wasps</a> – like yellow jackets and hornets – have a similar kind of colony structure. So does the <a href="https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/naked-mole-rat">naked mole rat</a>. Why did these groups evolve to have queens? </p>
<h2>Family ties</h2>
<p>One way for an organism to pass on genes is by having offspring. </p>
<p>Another way is to help close relatives, who are likely to share many of your same genes, to produce more offspring than they would if they were on their own. </p>
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<span class="caption">Honey bee eggs and larvae develop one to a cell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/honey-bee-eggs-and-larva-in-comb-with-black-royalty-free-image/1455295651">Megan Kobe/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
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<p>This option is pretty much what happens in a bee colony. Those thousands of female worker bees may not themselves reproduce, but the queen is their mother. They help her produce another generation of siblings who will one day be their sisters. In this way, the female worker bees are passing their genes on to the next generation, just not directly. </p>
<p>Something else to consider: A honey bee hive is a <a href="https://www.beebasket.in/stories/nature/hive-architecture-the-engineering-marvel-of-beehives/#:%7E">wonderfully complex structure</a>. The layers of wax combs built to store honey and raise offspring are a marvel of architecture and require a large workforce for construction, ongoing repairs and protection from intruders or predators. </p>
<p>So you might ask: Which came first? Social groups with queens and workers producing large numbers of related offspring that required more elaborate nest structures? Or did the complex nest arise first, which led to greater success for groups that evolved to divide tasks among queens and workers? </p>
<p>These are fascinating questions that biologists have been exploring for decades. But both of these factors – the division of labor and the complex hive structures – help explain why there are bees with queens. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A queen’s main job in the hive is to lay eggs and pass genes on to offspring. But many bee species do just fine without queens or big colonies.Phil Starks, Associate Professor of Biology, Tufts UniversityAviva Liebert, Professor of Biology, Framingham State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2223112024-03-01T17:24:50Z2024-03-01T17:24:50ZWild solitary bees offer a vital pollination service – but their nutritional needs aren’t understood<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576508/original/file-20240219-20-4ra04s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Solitary bees, including this Nomada goodeniana, often feed on nectar from specific flowers - in this case, white hawthorn. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/soft-closeup-on-male-goodens-nomad-2151214787">HWall/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As I walk around the supermarket, I pick up vegetables for tomorrow’s dinner, eggs and bread for tonight and some sweet treats for the week. By choosing a range of different food types, I’ll eat a wide variety of nutrients. But what if bread was the only option available? And another shop just sold a different type of loaf? Or only oranges?</p>
<p>This may sound far-fetched, but for bees – insects that depend on pollen and nectar for their nutrition – that’s the equivalent of feeding from a large field of just one type of plant. Some bees feed on a wide range of plants. Others, including some of the UK’s <a href="https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/other-bees/">200 wild solitary bee species</a> are specialists, like the <a href="https://bwars.com/bee/melittidae/melitta-dimidiata">sainfoin bee</a> that only visits one type of flower for pollen. </p>
<p>While some UK bee species are thriving, many have declined as a result of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12667472/">changes in the abundance and variety</a> of flowers across our landscapes.</p>
<p>Much less is known about the biology of solitary bees compared to that of domesticated honeybees or bumblebees, which have been extensively studied in large numbers under lab conditions. By comparison, solitary bees don’t form colonies or have a queen-worker system. The nutritional needs of each solitary bee species varies so it’s difficult to know what diet they would need in order to thrive during experimental conditions. </p>
<p>Yet, they provide a vital pollination service for some of our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880921001511?casa_token=tdHy6f7VJfQAAAAA:iPS3yu_jmGdEgHMQV_tUgvZr9F3cyK52y9T1fuBxMjl2ZaOLh715KiVECzE8EL_RjvgvUl5A">flowering crops</a> and help maintain our wildflower populations. So understanding their nutrition in greater detail could help us make sure the right flower foods are available to them.</p>
<h2>The bees’ needs</h2>
<p>For my PhD, I’m studying the different fats that are available in pollen from UK wildflowers and the fats found in the bodies of different bee species. Fats are essential to healthy growth and development in bees, however there’s huge variation in the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/2/132">quantity and quality</a> of food that different flowers provide. Cataloguing that information is complicated.</p>
<p>I’m specifically researching why solitary bees, many of which have specialised relationships with their food plants, visit certain flowers.</p>
<p>Nutrition is complex. Huge monocultures, (growing one crop species in a field at a time), provide a homogenous nutritional offering. Areas with a wider diversity of flowers can provide more nutritional diversity, but extracting enough pollen or nectar to analyse is challenging. </p>
<p>Just because one food source has high protein levels, it might not contain the essential ones or may have a poor fat content. If I recommend that you eat nothing but oranges because they’re rich in vitamin C, you’d miss out on other key nutrients such as protein. Similarly, with pollen and nectar, we need to understand the content of what bees are eating. </p>
<p>Nectar is a sugary liquid which provides lots of carbohydrates. Bees drink it using their tongues. Pollen provides the protein and fat content bees need and is collected on their bodies for transport back to their nests. The nutritional content of both pollen and nectar varies widely between flowers. To understand what food is available to them over <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16532">large areas</a>, we need to have nutritional information for a lot of different plants. </p>
<h2>How to feed wild bees</h2>
<p>Despite our lack of knowledge about the precise nutritional needs of bees, there are ways we can help feed them. Solitary bees can be found in your <a href="https://www.mygardenofathousandbees.com/the-film">garden</a> or local park. To learn more about them, start by trying to recognise them. Some don’t look like bees because they can be very small or hairless and some can easily be mistaken for wasps in the case of <a href="https://bwars.com/category/taxonomic-hierarchy/bee-4"><em>Nomada</em></a> species, with their black and yellow banding and hairless bodies. </p>
<p>Entomologist and ecologist Steven Falk maintains <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/collections/72157631518508520/">an excellent stock of photos online</a> and has published a comprehensive <a href="https://www.nhbs.com/field-guide-to-the-bees-of-great-britain-and-ireland-book">ID guide</a>. </p>
<p>Letting a green space go wild or choosing <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10841-019-00180-8">seed mixes with diverse flowers</a> can encourage a variety of wild bees. Even small patches of wildflowers can make a difference, especially at times of year when few other flowers are out, as has been shown in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0769-y">urban areas</a>. </p>
<p>Avoid plants bred to have little or no pollen or nectar. Ensuring food is available throughout their active period is key. The first bees emerge in March and the last ones feed until October. So while it’s good to have plenty of flowers available in peak summer when lots of bees are active, bees emerging from over-wintering need food in spring and those stocking up before winter need flowers to forage from. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close up of colourful wildflowers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A colourful mix of wildflowers provides more diverse nutrition for wild pollinators such as solitary bees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/wildflower-meadow?image_type=photo">Tohuwabohu 1976/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Useful resources for selecting plants to bring bees into your garden include the RHS <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators">plants for pollinators</a> list, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s <a href="https://beekind.bumblebeeconservation.org/">Bee Kind garden-scoring tool</a>, plus planting recommendations from <a href="https://friendsoftheearth.uk/nature/beefriendly-plants-every-season">Friends of the Earth</a> and <a href="https://www.buglife.org.uk/get-involved/gardening-for-bugs/planting-for-bugs-2/#:%7E:text=Open%2C%20daisy%2Dtype%20flowers%20and,such%20as%20Jasmine%20and%20Honeysuckle.">Buglife</a>. </p>
<p>Our wild solitary bees are an ecologically important and fascinating group of insects. Steps we take to support them in our gardens and at the landscape scale are key to maintaining the diversity of insects that pollinate so many of our flowers and crops. Even the smallest patches of wildflowers can provide much needed food for hungry bees and, above all, a varied menu.</p>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ellen Baker receives funding from NERC and is a member of the British Ecological Society. </span></em></p>The nutritional needs of bees are complex and monoculture crops aren’t providing a diverse diet. Introducing more diverse wildflower meadows and green spaces could benefit wild pollinators.Ellen Baker, PhD Candidate, Nutritional Ecology, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2232042024-02-26T23:23:17Z2024-02-26T23:23:17ZAs Varroa spreads, now is the time to fight for Australia’s honey bees – and you can help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577517/original/file-20240223-26-eqvxkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=855%2C409%2C3693%2C2687&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nic Vevers/ANU</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A tiny foe threatens Australian beekeepers’ livelihood, our food supply and the national economy. First detected in New South Wales in 2022, <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response">the Varroa mite is now established in Australia</a>.</p>
<p>The parasitic mite, which feeds on honey bees and transmits bee viruses, has since spread across New South Wales.</p>
<p>It is expected to kill virtually all unmanaged honey bees living in the bush (also known as “feral” honey bees), which provide ecosystem-wide pollination. Honey bees managed by beekeepers will survive only with constant and costly use of pesticides.</p>
<p>As the last holdout against Varroa, Australia has a key advantage – we can still take action that was impossible elsewhere. We know <a href="https://agrifutures.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/23-226-Resilient-Beekeeping-In-The-Face-Of-Varroa.pdf">Varroa-resistant bees would be the silver bullet</a>.
Despite decades of research, no fully resistant strains exist, largely because the genetics of Varroa resistance are complex and remain poorly understood.</p>
<p>A recently released national <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-13/plan-slow-varroa-mite-spread-australia-focuses-beekeepers/103458434">management plan places a heavy focus on beekeeper education</a>, aiming to transition the industry to self-management in two years. This leaves research gaps that need to be urgently filled – and we can all work together to help tackle these.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-officially-given-up-on-eradicating-the-varroa-mite-now-what-214002">Australia has officially given up on eradicating the Varroa mite. Now what?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Unlocking the genetic key to resistance</h2>
<p>Without human intervention, Varroa <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=191987">kills around 95% of the honey bees</a> it infects, but the survivors can evolve resistance. However, losing almost all bees would decimate Australia’s agriculture.</p>
<p>Our feral honey bees will have no choice but to evolve resistance, <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2021.1375">as they have in other countries</a>. However, feral honey bees are not suited for beekeeping as they are too aggressive, don’t stay with the hive and don’t produce enough honey.</p>
<p>In principle, we could breed for a combination of feral resistance and domestic docility. But figuring out the genetics of how feral bees resist Varroa has been a challenge. As most bees exposed to the parasite will die, the <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/08/some-honeybee-colonies-adapt-wake-deadly-mites">survivors will be genetically different</a>. </p>
<p>Some of these differences will be due to natural selection, but most will be due to chance. Identifying the genes responsible for resistance in this scenario is difficult. The best way to find them is to measure genetic changes before and after Varroa infestation. But to do that, we need bee populations largely unaffected by Varroa.</p>
<p>This is where our unique Australian opportunity comes in. We have a small and vanishing window to collect bees before the inevitable rapid spread of the mites, and the mass die-offs, occur.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577521/original/file-20240223-30-q12r27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close-up of the octagonal cells of a beehive with a small red-brown speck visible" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577521/original/file-20240223-30-q12r27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577521/original/file-20240223-30-q12r27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577521/original/file-20240223-30-q12r27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577521/original/file-20240223-30-q12r27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577521/original/file-20240223-30-q12r27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577521/original/file-20240223-30-q12r27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577521/original/file-20240223-30-q12r27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Varroa mite visible in a beehive – they mainly reproduce on bee larvae.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mite-beehive-638331532">Igor Chus/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>We are collecting information… and bees</h2>
<p>My lab at the Australian National University’s <a href="https://biology.anu.edu.au/research/research-groups/mikheyev-group-evolutionary-genomics#acton-tabs-link--tabs-group_tabs_biology-middle-1">Research School of Biology</a> has started collecting data on feral bee populations around New South Wales to identify pre-Varroa genetic diversity.</p>
<p>We will also monitor changes in bee population size and the spread of viruses and mites.</p>
<p>The most efficient way to collect bees is to go to a local clearing, such as a sports oval surrounded by forest. Unbeknownst to the cricket players, honey bee males (that is, drones) congregate at these sites by the thousands on sunny afternoons looking for mates.</p>
<p>You can lure them with some queen pheromone suspended from a balloon, and sweep them up with a butterfly net. Bee drones have no stinger and only come out for a couple of hours when the weather is fantastic, making collecting them literally a walk in the park, suitable for nature enthusiasts of all ages.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577519/original/file-20240223-26-kqtlgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man with a beard and glasses holding a small honey bee on his fingertips" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577519/original/file-20240223-26-kqtlgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577519/original/file-20240223-26-kqtlgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577519/original/file-20240223-26-kqtlgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577519/original/file-20240223-26-kqtlgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577519/original/file-20240223-26-kqtlgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577519/original/file-20240223-26-kqtlgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577519/original/file-20240223-26-kqtlgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author pictured with a stingless male honey bee (a drone) collected for genetic research into Varroa resistance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nic Vevers/ANU</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Anyone can help</h2>
<p>You can help this effort by collecting some drones in your local area – this would save us time and carbon emissions from driving all over the country. We will provide pheromone lures, instructions, and materials for sending the bees back via mail. By sacrificing a few drones for the research now, we might save millions of bees in the future. </p>
<p>If you can spare just a couple of summer afternoons, this would give two timepoints at your location, and we can monitor any changes as the Varroa infestation progresses. More information can be <a href="https://science.anu.edu.au/australian-bee-observation-network">found on our website</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ho94e_SFAFE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Apart from our project, there are also other urgent research questions. For example, how will native forests respond to the loss of their dominant pollinators? Will honey bee viruses spread into other insects?</p>
<p>Work on these and other projects also requires pre-Varroa data. Unfortunately, Varroa falls through our research infrastructure net. Most of Australia’s agricultural funding is industry-led, however, the beekeeping industry is small and lacks the resources to tackle Varroa research while also reeling from its impacts.</p>
<p>Other industries that rely on honey bees for pollination, <a href="https://agrifutures.com.au/product/pollination-aware-the-real-value-of-pollination-in-australia-fact-sheet/">including most fruit, nut and berry growers</a>, have diverse research needs and are one step removed from the actual problem.</p>
<p>Together, we can take action to save Australia’s honey bees and assure security for our key pollinators.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hear-me-out-we-could-use-the-varroa-mite-to-wipe-out-feral-honey-bees-and-help-australias-environment-185959">Hear me out – we could use the varroa mite to wipe out feral honey bees, and help Australia's environment</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223204/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Mikheyev receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Australia could still take action in the fight against Varroa that wasn’t possible elsewhere. But to do so, we need to fill urgent gaps in bee research.Alexander Mikheyev, Professor, ANU Bee lab, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2225992024-02-26T05:03:51Z2024-02-26T05:03:51ZSecrets in the canopy: scientists discover 8 striking new bee species in the Pacific<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577494/original/file-20240222-16-pcdtt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After a decade searching for new species of bees in forests of the Pacific Islands, all we had to do was look up. </p>
<p>We soon found <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2024.1339446/full">eight new species</a> of masked bees in the forest canopy: six in Fiji, one in French Polynesia and another in Micronesia. Now we expect to find many more. </p>
<p>Forest-dwelling bees evolved for thousands of years alongside native plants, and play unique and important roles in nature. Studying these species can help us better understand bee evolution, diversity and conservation.</p>
<p>Almost <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-023-02626-w">21,000 bee species are known to science</a>. Many more remain undiscovered. But it’s a race against time, as the twin challenges of habitat loss and climate change threaten bee survival. We need to identify and protect bee species before they disappear forever.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of research students using stepping stones to cross a creek in the rainforest while carrying sampling nets on short poles" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Searching for bees in the rainforest on Vanua Levu, formerly known as Sandalwood Island, the second largest island of Fiji.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Introducing the new masked bees</h2>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/brv.12947">Pollinators abound in forests</a>. But scientific research has tended to focus on bees living closer to the ground.</p>
<p>We believe this sampling bias is replicated across much of the world. For example, another related Oceanic masked bee, <em>Pharohylaeus lactiferus</em> (a cloaked bee), was recently found in the canopy <a href="https://theconversation.com/phantom-of-the-forest-after-100-years-in-hiding-i-rediscovered-the-rare-cloaked-bee-in-australia-156026">after 100 years in hiding</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Closeup of one of the new masked bees showing the yellow markings on its face" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">This masked bee was collected from a canopy-flowering mistletoe near Mount Nadarivatu on Viti Levu, Fiji.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span>
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<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4674.1.1">first decade of bee sampling</a> in Fiji turned up only one bee from the genus <em>Hylaeus</em>. This bee probably belonged in the canopy so we were very lucky to catch it near the ground. Targeted attempts over the next few years, using our standard short insect nets, failed to find any more. </p>
<p>But this changed when we turned our attention to searching the forest canopy. </p>
<p>Sampling in the canopy is physically challenging. Strength and skill are required to sweep a long, heavy net and pole through the treetops. It’s quite a workout. We limit our efforts to the edges of forests, where branches won’t tangle the whole contraption.</p>
<p>By lifting our gaze in this way, we discovered eight new bee species, all in the genus <em>Hylaeus</em>. They are mostly black with stunning yellow or white highlights, especially on their faces – hence the name, masked bees. </p>
<p>They appear to rely exclusively on the forest canopy. This behaviour is striking and has rarely been identified in bees before (perhaps because few scientists have been looking for bees up there). </p>
<p>Because the new species live in forests and native tree tops, they’re likely to be vulnerable to land clearing, cyclones and climate change. </p>
<p>More work is needed to uncover the secrets hidden in these dense tropical treetops. It may require engineering solutions such as canopy cranes and drones, as well as skilful tree-climbing using ropes, pulleys and harnesses.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/move-over-honeybees-aussie-native-bees-steal-the-show-with-unique-social-and-foraging-behaviours-200536">Move over, honeybees: Aussie native bees steal the show with unique social and foraging behaviours</a>
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<h2>Michener’s missing links</h2>
<p>The journey of bees across the Pacific region is a tale of great dispersals and isolation.</p>
<p>Almost 60 years ago, world-renowned bee expert <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/787658">Charles Michener described</a> what was probably the most isolated masked bee around, <em>Hylaeus tuamotuensis</em>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Searching for bees on Fiji’s highest peak, Mount Tomanivi, here two researchers are picking a path through dense undergrowth while carrying nets on short poles" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Fiji’s highest peak, Mount Tomanivi, is home to unique bee species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span>
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<p>The specimen was found in French Polynesia. At the time, Michener said that was “entirely unexpected”, because the nearest relatives were, as the bee flies, 4,000km north in Hawaii, 5,000km southwest in New Zealand, and 6,000km west in Australia. </p>
<p>So how did it get there and where did it come from?</p>
<p>Our research helps to answer these questions. We found eight new <em>Hylaeus</em> species including one from French Polynesia. Using genetic analysis and other methods, we found strong links between these species and <em>H. tuamotuensis</em>. </p>
<p>So Michener’s bee was probably an ancient immigrant from Fiji, 3,000km away. A journey of that magnitude is no mean feat for bees smaller than a grain of rice.</p>
<p>Of course, there are <a href="https://geoscienceletters.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40562-016-0041-8">more than 1,700 islands in the Pacific</a>, which can serve as stepping stones for bees on their long journeys. </p>
<p>We don’t yet know how many new <em>Hylaeus</em> species might exist in the South Pacific, or the routes they took to get to their island homes. But we suspect there are many more to be found.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/phantom-of-the-forest-after-100-years-in-hiding-i-rediscovered-the-rare-cloaked-bee-in-australia-156026">Phantom of the forest: after 100 years in hiding, I rediscovered the rare cloaked bee in Australia</a>
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<h2>Our Pacific emissaries</h2>
<p>The early origins of Fijian bees – both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03721426.2020.1740957">ground-dwelling <em>Homalictus</em></a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2012.10.018">forest-loving <em>Hylaeus</em></a> – can be traced to the ancient past when Australia and New Guinea were part of one land mass, known as Sahul. The ancestors of both groups then undertook epic oceanic journeys to travel from Sahul to the furthest reaches of the Pacific, where they diversified. But the <em>Hylaeus</em> travelled furthest, by thousands of kilometres.</p>
<p>These little emissaries have similarly brought together researchers across the region. We resolved difficulties sampling and gathering knowledge by working with people across the Pacific, including Fiji, French Polynesia, and Hawaii. It shows what can be accomplished with international collaboration. </p>
<p>Together we are making great strides towards understanding our shared bee biodiversity. Such collaborations are our best chance of discovering and conserving species while we can.</p>
<p><em>We would like to thank Ben Parslow and Karl Magnacca for their contribution to this article. We would further like to thank our collaborators and their home institutions, the Hawiian Department of Land and Natural Resources, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, University of the South Pacific, the South Australian Museum and Adelaide University.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222599/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James B. Dorey has received funding for this work from The Playford Trust as a PhD and Honours scholarship recipient, Flinders University through the AJ and IM Naylon PhD Scholarship, and the Australian Government through the New Colombo Plan . He is affiliated with both Flinders University and the University of Wollongong.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy-Marie Gilpin is affiliated with the School of Science and Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University. Funding to publish this work was in part provided by Western Sydney University. Amy-Marie is also a member of the IUCN Wild Bee Specialist Group Oceania. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Olivia Davies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>By lifting their gaze to the treetops rather than poking around on the ground, researchers discovered eight new species of masked bees.James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of WollongongAmy-Marie Gilpin, Lecturer in Invertebrate Ecology, Western Sydney UniversityOlivia Davies, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2230832024-02-14T00:50:26Z2024-02-14T00:50:26ZNZ votes the red admiral butterfly ‘bug of the year’ – how to make your garden its home<p>New Zealanders traditionally show their love for a special other on Valentine’s Day, so what better time to reveal which insect they feel the most affection for?</p>
<p>The second annual <a href="https://bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/">Bug of the Year</a> contest has been won by the red admiral butterfly. It received a total of 2,275 votes from the nearly 17,000 votes cast by New Zealanders at home and abroad.</p>
<p>One of our most spectacular butterflies, the red admiral inherits the crown from last year’s inaugural winner, the native bee, or ngaro huruhuru (<em>Leioproctus fulvescens</em>). </p>
<p>While a butterfly beat the other bugs, the <a href="https://bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/2024-bug-of-the-year-nominees/mt-arthur-giant-weta/">Mt Arthur giant wētā</a>, the ngāokeoke (velvet worm) and the titiwai (glowworm) were close behind, with thousands of votes each.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://ento.org.nz/">Entomological Society of New Zealand</a> began the competition to shed light on the underrepresented and stunningly unique bugs of Aotearoa New Zealand. As interest grows, it is hoped more people will be inspired to create and maintain habitats for these often-endangered species.</p>
<p>Aotearoa is home to over 20,000 different species of bugs – more correctly known as terrestrial invertebrates. They range from vibrant butterflies and iconic wētā to secretive velvet worms and carnivorous land snails. And those are just the species described so far.</p>
<p>There are ten times as many bug species in New Zealand than there are native plants, and over a hundred times more than native bird species. Yet most people don’t know much about them.</p>
<h2>Moths and butterflies aren’t so different</h2>
<p>The red admiral is easily recognisable by its vibrant red and black wings. Its Māori name, kahukura, translates directly as “red cloak or garment”, but can also refer to the atua (deity) represented by the top bow of a double rainbow.</p>
<p>The closely related kahukōwhai, or yellow admiral, has similar colouring, except the underside of its upper wings is creamy yellow. Red admirals are endemic – only found in New Zealand – whereas yellow admirals are also native to Australia.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/unveiling-the-enigmatic-world-of-moths-from-ancient-pollinators-to-whistling-wonders-209590">Unveiling the enigmatic world of moths: from ancient pollinators to whistling wonders</a>
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<p>Aotearoa has over 2,000 species of lepidoptera – butterflies and moths – and roughly 90% of these are endemic. You might be surprised to know there are no clear differences between what are commonly called butterflies and those called moths.</p>
<p>Only 17 of our lepidoptera species are popularly referred to as butterflies. But many of the other 98% – so-called moths – are active during the day and can also be beautifully patterned and coloured.</p>
<p>Because they feed from floral nectar sources and transfer pollen in the process, moths and butterflies are important pollinators. They are also staples in the food chain, forming a large portion of native bird diets.</p>
<h2>Gardens as butterfly habitats</h2>
<p>Like many butterflies worldwide, red admirals are less common than they used to be. While <a href="https://tuigarden.co.nz/inspiration-hub/ideas-and-inspiration/bee-aware-and-bee-friendly/">recent gardening advice</a> has begun to include bee-friendly planting, it is also important to think of other invertebrates, like butterflies, when we plan and cultivate our backyards.</p>
<p>In general, a diversity of simple nectar-rich flowers is <a href="https://nodglobal.com/pollinators-biodiversity-and-healthy-ecosystems/">positively related to pollinator health</a>. And resilient and diverse pollinator populations benefit both natural and created ecosystems like gardens. In turn, they support <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468265922000166">biodiversity and overall environmental health</a> – which all benefits human welfare.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-butterflies-conquered-the-world-a-new-family-tree-traces-their-100-million-year-journey-across-the-globe-205487">How butterflies conquered the world: a new 'family tree' traces their 100-million-year journey across the globe</a>
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<p>The Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust conducts an <a href="https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/project/habitat-creation/">online course</a> on how to assess, create and maintain butterfly habitats.</p>
<p>Lepidoptera differ from some other invertebrates in that females prefer to (or exclusively) lay their eggs on specific host plants. If preferred host plants are not available, caterpillar survival can be low. </p>
<p>So, while having a variety of flowering plants for adults to feed from is important, providing host plants for caterpillars to develop on is crucial.</p>
<p>It is well known that monarch butterfly caterpillars need to feed on milkweed (swan plant). Similarly, <a href="https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/muehlenbeckia-astonii/"><em>Muehlenbeckia</em> species</a> such as climbing pohuehue and shrubby tororaro are important host plants for many native butterflies, as well as many native moths. </p>
<p>Lack of suitable hosts may be one reason red admirals are becoming increasingly uncommon. <a href="https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/15709">Recent research</a> has shown the females prefer laying eggs on native nettles, and larvae raised on native nettles outperform those raised on introduced nettles.</p>
<p>Experiments show that the tree nettle ongaonga (<em>Urtica ferox</em>) is an ideal host for red admiral caterpillars. But ongaonga is often removed due to its extremely painful stinging hairs.</p>
<h2>Pollinator protection</h2>
<p>Besides planting with butterflies and moths in mind, there are many other actions you can take in the garden to help make it suitable for thriving pollinator populations.</p>
<p>Some of the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2023989118">biggest threats</a> to insect populations in Aotearoa and the world are related to urbanisation, deforestation and agricultural intensification: loss of habitat and food sources, and pesticide use. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/next-time-you-see-a-butterfly-treasure-the-memory-scientists-raise-alarm-on-these-26-species-159798">Next time you see a butterfly, treasure the memory: scientists raise alarm on these 26 species</a>
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<p>Introduced predators also threaten our unique bugs. Invasive <a href="https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/discover-our-research/biodiversity-biosecurity/invasive-invertebrates/vespula-wasps/wasp-impacts-on-biodiversity/">vespula wasps</a> and rodents are a menace to native butterflies and moths. But <a href="https://predatorfreenz.org/get-involved/backyards-and-neighbourhoods/backyard-trapping/">predator control systems</a> such as backyard trapping can make a difference.</p>
<p>Future articles will offer seasonal advice on gardening and lifestyle practices to help bugs in your backyard. This will include the best times to spot native and introduced bugs, and other ways to promote invertebrate conservation and biodiversity.</p>
<p>Whether you’re already a bug lover or still a bit bug-tentative, it’s important we all help invertebrate populations in Aotearoa survive and thrive.</p>
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<p><em>The authors gratefully acknowledge the help of the <a href="https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/">Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust</a> in the preparation of this article.</em> </p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223083/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janice Lord is a member of the Entomological Society of New Zealand.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Connal McLean is a volunteer with The Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust. </span></em></p>The native red admiral is less common than it used to be, but we can all help threatened bug species by ensuring they have the right habitats to thrive in.Janice Lord, Associate Professor in Botany, University of OtagoConnal McLean, Natural History Technician – Invertebrates, Te Papa TongarewaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2212182024-01-25T20:46:04Z2024-01-25T20:46:04ZThe first flowers evolved before bees – so how did they become so dazzling?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571111/original/file-20240124-17-j4irzv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C25%2C5596%2C3802&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/red-pink-and-yellow-flowering-plants-v-3NQ3pmWkY">Nature Uninterrupted Photography/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Colourful flowers, and the insects and birds that fly among their dazzling displays, are a joy of nature. But how did early relationships between flower colour and animal pollinators emerge?</p>
<p>In a study published in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2023.2018">Proceedings of the Royal Society</a>, we have unravelled this mystery by analysing the visual environments in which the ancestors of today’s bees foraged from flowers.</p>
<p>We measured and analysed the light reflected from today’s flowers, as well as the rocks, soil, sticks, bark and leaves that form their natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>From this data we built computer simulations that recreate the ancient visual environment when the first flowers emerged.</p>
<h2>Insect colour vision came before flowers</h2>
<p>Today, bees are prolific pollinators of flowering plants, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-bee-eye-camera-helps-us-support-bees-grow-food-and-protect-the-environment-110022">food crops</a>. Bees use <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2010.2412">colour vision</a> based on ultraviolet, blue and green sensitive photoreceptors (light-sensing cells) to detect and discriminate the most rewarding flowers. In comparison, most humans perceive colour using blue, green and red sensitive photoreceptors.</p>
<p>When the first flowers evolved during the Mesozoic era, between 252 million and 66 million years ago, the ancestors of bees had to orientate themselves, maintain stable flight, avoid collisions, and find food among natural backgrounds. We suspect their visual systems may have been influenced by evolution to efficiently operate in that environment.</p>
<p>By the time the first flowering plants appeared, bees’ ancestors had already evolved colour vision – and we know it <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01142181">has stuck around throughout the evolutionary history of bees</a>.</p>
<p>So, while bees weren’t initially around, their ancestors were. Flower colours likely evolved the vivid colours we see today to suit this ancient visual system. At the same time, the first bees emerged as the most efficient pollinators. </p>
<h2>What colour were flower backgrounds on the ancient Earth?</h2>
<p>Australia is an ideal place to collect data on natural background materials that early insects would have seen, as it is a <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/bt/BT00023">geologically ancient continent</a>.</p>
<p>We collected background samples from across Australia and measured their reflective properties using a tool called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrophotometry">spectrophotometer</a>.</p>
<p>We used this data to create a database of materials that would have been present in the visual environment of flying insects more than 100 million years ago – when the first flowers appeared.</p>
<h2>Flower colour evolved in response to bee colour vision</h2>
<p>For our collection of natural backgrounds, insect and bird pollinated flowers, we calculated <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215016120300479">marker points</a> – rapid changes in the intensity of light reflected from a surface, within a small wavelength band.</p>
<p>These marker points identify the key visual features of coloured surfaces, and we can use them for statistical testing of the evolutionary process. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-electromagnetic-spectrum-8046">Explainer: what is the electromagnetic spectrum?</a>
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<p>We then wrote computer simulations to generate possible flower backgrounds. By analysing their marker points, we tested the visibility of today’s flowers against the simulated backgrounds.</p>
<p>Interestingly, we showed that the distribution of marker points on petals from plants pollinated by bees clearly indicates these flowers are “salient” – that is, they stand out as stronger signals from natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>This finding matches with previous studies suggesting that in the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00188925">Northern Hemisphere</a> and <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2012.0827">Australia</a>, flowering plants evolved colour signals to facilitate colour perception by bees.</p>
<p>The very first flowers were likely a <a href="https://theconversation.com/flies-like-yellow-bees-like-blue-how-flower-colours-cater-to-the-taste-of-pollinating-insects-167111">dull greenish-yellow colour and initially pollinated by flies</a>. However, as the first bees – with their tuned vision systems – started pollinating flowers, the flowers likely evolved new colours to match the bees’ visual capabilities.</p>
<p>The process of natural selection seems to have driven flower colours to stand out from their backgrounds in the eyes of pollinators.</p>
<h2>Birds were involved, too</h2>
<p>Birds became established as flower visitors <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.17822">millions of years after insect pollination evolved</a>. Bird vision uses <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/510141">four types of colour photoreceptors</a>, and they can see long-wavelength red colours that bees cannot easily process against natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>Our analysis confirmed that bird-pollinated flowers evolved marker points towards <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.12135">longer wavelengths than bee-pollinated flowers</a>. Our new discovery also showed that these flowers systematically differ from natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>As Earth’s climate changes, it is important to consider what might happen to ecosystems and our food production systems <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/RS/RS23003">in a world without bees</a>. It is vital that we understand how pollination and plant reproduction may be altered.</p>
<p>Our research shows that bees are a major driver of floral evolution. Unless we protect these insects and their habitat, we will lose fundamental and beautiful aspects of life we all enjoy and need.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-do-so-much-more-than-you-think-from-dancing-to-being-little-art-critics-204039">Bees can do so much more than you think – from dancing to being little art critics</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221218/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Dyer receives funding from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Dorin receives or has received funding and/or support from the Australian Research Council, Microsoft, National Geographic Society, AgriFutures Australia, Costa Group, Australian Blueberry Grower's Association, Sunny Ridge Berries.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mani Shrestha worked under the German Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) funded project, Professor Anke Jentsch, Disturbance Ecology Lab, University of Bayreuth, Germany and also wok in the Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jair Garcia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Flowers tend to stand out against a natural background. A new study shows this contrast evolved in a key relationship with their most famous pollinators – bees.Adrian Dyer, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Monash UniversityAlan Dorin, Associate Professor, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash UniversityJair Garcia, Researcher and analyst, Monash UniversityMani Shrestha, Senior Researcher and International Fellow, Disturbance Ecology, University of Bayreuth, Germany, Bayreuth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2195772024-01-14T19:05:59Z2024-01-14T19:05:59ZDo they see what we see? Bees and wasps join humans in being tricked by illusions of quantity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565690/original/file-20231214-18-xu49z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=404%2C0%2C2068%2C1213&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Scarlett Howard</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you’ve ever been tricked by a visual illusion, you know the feeling of disconnect between what your eyes perceive and what is actually there. Visual illusions occur due to errors in our perception, causing us to misperceive certain characteristics of objects or scenes.</p>
<p>As it turns out, many non-human animals also experience these effects, including illusions of item size, brightness, colour, shape, orientation, motion or quantity. We study these illusions and the differences between animals as it can tell us how visual systems evolved.</p>
<p>Our latest study, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(23)02774-8">iScience</a>, shows that European honeybees and European wasps see illusions of quantity in a similar way to humans.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Muller-Lyer illusion; Vertical-horizontal illusion; Ponzo illusion; Illusory contour; Delboeuf illusion; Ebbinghaus illusion" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568540/original/file-20240110-21-nn3vhp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568540/original/file-20240110-21-nn3vhp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568540/original/file-20240110-21-nn3vhp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568540/original/file-20240110-21-nn3vhp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568540/original/file-20240110-21-nn3vhp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568540/original/file-20240110-21-nn3vhp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568540/original/file-20240110-21-nn3vhp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Examples of different visual illusions where the eye is tricked to perceive incorrect proportions of objects.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Scarlett Howard</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An illusion perceived by several species</h2>
<p>The study of visual illusions provides interesting windows into how brains operate. Visual illusions are perceptual errors, which likely enable us to process complex natural information efficiently.</p>
<p>The Solitaire illusion causes a misperception of quantity based on the configuration of dots in an image. Those who perceive the illusion will overestimate the quantity of dots when they are clustered together and/or underestimate the number of dots when unclustered.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565938/original/file-20231215-20-ftnpzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two images containing a cross shape made up of yellow and blue dots" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565938/original/file-20231215-20-ftnpzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565938/original/file-20231215-20-ftnpzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565938/original/file-20231215-20-ftnpzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565938/original/file-20231215-20-ftnpzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565938/original/file-20231215-20-ftnpzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565938/original/file-20231215-20-ftnpzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565938/original/file-20231215-20-ftnpzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An example of the Solitaire illusion. The yellow elements generally appear more numerous on the right than the left, despite both images having an identical quantity of yellow and blue elements.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Scarlett Howard</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We know the Solitaire illusion is perceived by <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-33482-001">humans, capuchin monkeys</a>, <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-55920-001">guppies</a> and <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.22.554303v1.abstract">bumblebees</a>. <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-33482-001">Chimpanzees, rhesus monkeys</a> and <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/12/2304">domestic dogs</a> do not appear to perceive the illusion. Interestingly, in humans age appears to impact the perception of the Solitaire illusion – younger children are less susceptible than <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022096515002258">older children</a>.</p>
<p>A possible evolutionary reason humans and other species may experience this misperception of quantities is it may allow us to process and compare large numbers of items more efficiently and quickly.</p>
<p>For quantities greater than about five, fast decisions may be more important than absolute accuracy, which would require manual, sequential counting.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-then-some-how-to-count-like-a-bee-138815">One, then some: how to count like a bee</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Testing honeybees</h2>
<p>Some insects, including bees and wasps, are very “motivated” to participate in behavioural experiments. European honeybees and wasps are central-place foragers: they will return to the location of a high-quality food source.</p>
<p>We provided freely flying bees and wasps with a reward of sugar water for participating in experiments. This allows us to train and test individually colour-marked insects throughout a day, with them returning by their own choice.</p>
<p>We have used this method to show honeybees can perform a variety of numerical tasks such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-join-an-elite-group-of-species-that-understands-the-concept-of-zero-as-a-number-97316">understanding the concept of zero</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-learn-higher-numbers-than-we-thought-if-we-train-them-the-right-way-124887">discriminating between quantities</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-bees-do-maths-yes-new-research-shows-they-can-add-and-subtract-108074">performing simple addition and subtraction</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-taught-bees-a-simple-number-language-and-they-got-it-117816">matching symbols with quantities</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/honeybees-join-humans-as-the-only-known-animals-that-can-tell-the-difference-between-odd-and-even-numbers-181040">categorising quantities as odd or even</a>.</p>
<p>Honeybees are also known to perceive some <a href="https://theconversation.com/which-square-is-bigger-honeybees-see-visual-illusions-like-humans-do-87673">spatial</a>, movement and colour illusions. These past skills make them an ideal candidate to study and see if they are fooled by illusions of quantity.</p>
<p>Wasps are far less tested than honeybees for their behaviour and cognition, but recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/many-people-hate-wasps-but-theyre-smarter-than-you-might-think-and-ecologically-important-212706">studies</a> show they are also capable of advanced learning. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565683/original/file-20231214-29-eewqnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A grey circular screen displaying stimuli to insects" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565683/original/file-20231214-29-eewqnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565683/original/file-20231214-29-eewqnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565683/original/file-20231214-29-eewqnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565683/original/file-20231214-29-eewqnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565683/original/file-20231214-29-eewqnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565683/original/file-20231214-29-eewqnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565683/original/file-20231214-29-eewqnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The circular rotating screen used to present stimuli to insects during training and testing. Insects were trained one at a time and rewarded with a sugar water drop for landing on the correct stimulus option during training.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Scarlett Howard</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Bees, wasps and the Solitaire illusion</h2>
<p>We tested the European honeybee (<em>Apis mellifera</em>) and the European wasp (<em>Vespula vulgaris</em>) using an identical method for both species.</p>
<p>We presented each insect with images containing blue and yellow dots. For 70 trials, the insects were trained with a sugar reward to visit an image with a higher quantity of yellow dots versus blue.</p>
<p>We then presented them with the Solitaire illusion – one image with the yellow dots clustered in the middle and the blue dots unclustered, versus one image of the opposite. </p>
<p>The images actually contained an identical number of blue and yellow dots. So, if the insects perceived the illusion, they would choose the option with the yellow dots clustered in the centre, revealing an overestimation of the quantity of yellow dots.</p>
<p>We found both honeybees and wasps perceived the illusion in a similar way to humans, capuchin monkeys and guppies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565942/original/file-20231215-15-307y5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A wasp sits on a platform in front of an image of yellow and blue dots. A honeybee is approaching to land" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565942/original/file-20231215-15-307y5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565942/original/file-20231215-15-307y5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565942/original/file-20231215-15-307y5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565942/original/file-20231215-15-307y5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565942/original/file-20231215-15-307y5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565942/original/file-20231215-15-307y5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565942/original/file-20231215-15-307y5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bee and wasp in front of one of the training images.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Scarlett Howard</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Is there an evolutionary clue here?</h2>
<p>We now know the perception of the Solitaire illusion occurs across a range of species including humans, non-human primates, fish and insects. There are also primates and other mammals that appear not to perceive the illusion.</p>
<p>This could suggest two potential evolutionary pathways of experiencing the illusion. </p>
<p>One is <em>convergent</em> evolution, where different species separately developed the ability to perceive this illusion due to the requirements of their environment.</p>
<p>The other pathway is that the perception occurred through <em>conserved</em> evolution, where a common ancestor perceived the illusion, and subsequently some species either retained or lost the illusion perception.</p>
<p>One important consideration is that while the Solitaire illusion is considered an illusion of quantity, it could also be perceived as an illusion of colour area, size, line length, or perimeter. More research will be needed to determine whether the illusion induces the misperception of quantity or other cues that correlate with quantity.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/which-square-is-bigger-honeybees-see-visual-illusions-like-humans-do-87673">Which square is bigger? Honeybees see visual illusions like humans do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219577/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scarlett Howard receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Monash University, Australian Academy of Sciences, and the Hermon Slade Foundation. She is affiliated with Triple R.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Dyer receives funding from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Being susceptible to visual illusions is part and parcel of life not just for humans, but many other species – including bees.Scarlett Howard, Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, Monash UniversityAdrian Dyer, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180052023-12-05T13:19:06Z2023-12-05T13:19:06Z‘Inert’ ingredients in pesticides may be more
toxic to bees than scientists thought<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563090/original/file-20231203-27-yyo7nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3048%2C2162&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A honeybee approaches a sunflower at Wards Berry Farm in Sharon, Mass.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sharon-ma-a-honeybee-buzzes-a-sunflower-in-bloom-at-wards-news-photo/1242574226">John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bees help pollinate over a third of the world’s crops, contributing <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/article/press-release-pollinators-vital-our-food-supply-under-threat">an estimated US$235 billion to $577 billion</a> in value to global agriculture. They also face a myriad of stresses, including pathogens and parasites, loss of suitable food sources and habitat, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-air-pollution-is-making-life-tougher-for-bugs-213122">air pollution</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-face-many-challenges-and-climate-change-is-ratcheting-up-the-pressure-190296">climate-driven weather extremes</a>.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-46948-6">recent study</a> has identified another important but understudied pressure on bees: “inert” ingredients in pesticides. </p>
<p>All pesticide products in the U.S. contain <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">active and inert ingredients</a>. Active ingredients are designed to kill or control a specific insect, weed or fungus and are listed on product labels. All other ingredients – emulsifiers, solvents, carriers, aerosol propellants, fragrances, dyes and such – are considered inert.</p>
<p>The new study exposed honeybees to two treatments: the isolated active ingredients in the fungicide <a href="https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/ppls/007969-00199-20221130.pdf">Pristine</a>, which is used to control <a href="https://agriculture.basf.us/content/dam/cxm/agriculture/crop-protection/products/documents/BASF_Pristine_Almonds_TIB_medres.pdf">fungal diseases in almonds</a> and <a href="https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/ppls/007969-00199-20221130.pdf">other crops</a>, and the whole Pristine formulation, including inert ingredients. The results were quite surprising: The whole formulation impaired honeybees’ memory, while the active ingredients alone did not. </p>
<p>This suggests that the inert ingredients in the formula were actually what made Pristine toxic to bees – either because the inerts were toxic on their own or because combining them with the active ingredients made the active ingredients more toxic. As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B1qAtjIAAAAJ&hl=en">social scientist focusing on bee declines</a>, I believe that either way, these findings have important implications for pesticide regulation and bee health. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QKTRYP2OF44?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Threats to bees include single-crop agriculture, habitat loss, air pollution and pesticide exposure.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What are inert ingredients?</h2>
<p>Inert ingredients have a variety of functions. They may extend a pesticide’s shelf life, reduce risks for people who apply the pesticides or help a pesticide work better. Some inerts, called adjuvants, help pesticides stick to plant surfaces, reduce pesticide drift or help active ingredients better penetrate a plant’s surface. </p>
<p>The “inert” label is a colloquial misnomer, though. As <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes</a>, inerts aren’t necessarily inactive or even nontoxic. In fact, pesticide users <a href="https://doi.org/10.1289%2Fehp.118-a168">sometimes know very little</a> about how inerts function in a pesticide formula. That’s partly because they are regulated very differently than active ingredients. </p>
<h2>Measuring bee effects</h2>
<p>Under the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-federal-insecticide-fungicide-and-rodenticide-act">Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act</a>, or FIFRA, the EPA oversees pesticide regulation in the U.S. To register a pesticide product for outdoor use, chemical companies must provide <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-07/documents/guidance-exposure-effects-testing-assessing-risks-bees.pdf">reliable risk assessment data</a> on the active ingredients’ toxicity for bees, including the results of an acute honeybee contact test. </p>
<p>The acute contact test tracks how honeybees react to a pesticide application over a short period of time. It also aims to establish the dose of a pesticide that will kill 50% of a group of honeybees, a value known as the LD50. To determine the LD50, scientists apply the pesticide to bees’ midsections and then observe the bees for 48 to 96 hours for signs of poisoning. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CrBYxo4g0U4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>In 2016, the EPA <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-07/documents/guidance-exposure-effects-testing-assessing-risks-bees.pdf">expanded its data requirements</a> by requiring an acute honeybee oral toxicity test, in which adult bees are fed a chemical, as well as a 21-day honeybee larval test that tracks larval reaction to an agrochemical from the egg to their emergence as adult bees. </p>
<p>These tests all help the agency determine what potential risk an active ingredient may pose for honeybees, along with other data. Based on the information from these varied tests, pesticides are labeled as nontoxic, moderately toxic or highly toxic. </p>
<h2>A chemical black box</h2>
<p>Despite this rigorous testing, much remains unknown about how safe pesticides are for bees. This is particularly true for pesticides that have sublethal or chronic toxicities – in other words, pesticides that don’t cause immediate death or obvious signs of poisoning but have other significant effects.</p>
<p>This lack of knowledge about sublethal and chronic effects is problematic, because bees can be repeatedly exposed over long time spans to pesticides on floral nectar or pollen, or to pesticide contamination that builds up <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0009754">in beehives</a>. They even may be exposed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saaa041">through miticides</a> that beekeepers use to control Varroa mites, a <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/tucson-az/carl-hayden-bee-research-center/research/varroa/varroa-overview/">devastating bee parasite</a>.</p>
<p>Complicating the issue, symptoms of sublethal exposure are often more subtle or take longer to become apparent than acute or lethal toxicity. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.5772/62487">Symptoms might include</a> abnormal foraging and learning ability, decreased egg laying by the queen, wing deformation, stunted growth or decreased colony survival. The EPA doesn’t always require chemical companies to perform the tests that could detect these symptoms.</p>
<p>Inert ingredients add another level of mystery. While the EPA reviews and <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">must approve all inert ingredients</a>, it does not require the same toxicity testing as for active ingredients. </p>
<p>This is because under FIFRA, inert ingredients are protected as trade secrets, or <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">confidential business information</a>. Only the total percentage of inert ingredients is required on the label, often lumped together and described as “other ingredients.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A box shows that a pesticide has 0.375% active ingredients and 99.625% 'other' ingredients." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=167&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=167&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=167&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sample pesticide ingredient label from an EPA training guide, showing that just 0.375% of ingredients are disclosed and tested for bee safety.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-labels/label-review-training-module-3-special-issues-page-34">EPA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sublethal weapons</h2>
<p>A growing body of evidence suggests that inerts are not as harmless as the name suggests. For example, exposure to two types of adjuvants – organosilicone and nonionic surfactants – can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040848">impair honeybees’ learning performance</a>. Bees rely on learning and memory functions to gather food and return to the hive, so losing these crucial skills can endanger a colony’s survival. </p>
<p>Inerts can also affect bumblebees. In a 2021 study, exposure to alcohol ethoxylates, a coformulant in the fungicide Amistar, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00919-x">killed 30% of the bees exposed to it</a> and caused a number of sublethal effects.</p>
<p>While some inerts may be nontoxic on their own, it’s hard to predict what will happen when they are combined with active ingredients. Research has shown that when two or more agrochemicals are combined, they can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03787-7">become more toxic for bees</a> than when applied on their own. This is known as <a href="https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/synergism.html">synergistic toxicity</a>. </p>
<p>Synergism can also occur when inerts are combined with pesticides. Another 2021 study showed that adjuvants that were nontoxic on their own caused <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s41348-021-00541-z">increased colony mortality when combined with insecticides</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bee in flight, covered with yellow pollen grains." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sweat bee (<em>Halictus ligatus</em>) covered with pollen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/dJ9ZZ4">Sam Droege, USGS/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A better testing strategy</h2>
<p>Mounting evidence on the toxicity of inerts points to three key changes that could better support bee health and minimize bees’ exposure to potential stressors. </p>
<p>First, environmental risk assessments for pesticides could test the whole pesticide formulation, including inert ingredients, to provide a more complete picture of a pesticide’s toxicity to bees. This is already done <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/pollinator-risk-assessment-guidance">in some cases</a> but could be required for all outdoor uses where bees are at risk of exposure.</p>
<p>Second, inerts could be identified on product labels to enable independent research and risk assessment. </p>
<p>Third, more testing could be required on pesticides’ long-term sublethal effects on bees, such as learning impairment. Such research would be especially relevant for pesticides that are applied to blooming crops or flowers that attract bees.</p>
<p>Researchers and environmental groups have been arguing for changes like these since <a href="https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.9374">at least 2006</a>. However, because pesticide regulation is dictated by federal law, changes require congressional action. This would be challenging politically, since it would increase the regulatory burden on the chemical industry. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, rising concerns about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-011118-111847">bumblebee declines</a> and beekeepers’ significant <a href="https://beeinformed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BIP-2022-23-Loss-Abstract.pdf">annual colony losses</a> make a strong case for a more precautionary approach to pesticide regulation. With a growing world population and <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop28-7-food-and-agriculture-innovations-needed-to-protect-the-climate-and-feed-a-rapidly-growing-world-218414">food supplies under increasing stress</a>, supporting bees’ contribution to agriculture is more important then ever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218005/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennie L. Durant has worked as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in USDA's Office of Pest Management Policy.</span></em></p>Inert ingredients are added for purposes other than killing pests and are not required under federal law to be tested for safety or identified on pesticide labels.Jennie L. Durant, Research Affiliate in Human Ecology, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116882023-11-23T08:26:29Z2023-11-23T08:26:29ZFaced with dwindling bee colonies, scientists are arming queens with robots and smart hives<p>Be it the news or the dwindling number of creatures hitting your windscreens, it will not have evaded you that the insect world’s in bad shape.</p>
<p>In the last three decades, the global biomass of flying insects has shrunk by <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0185809">75%</a>. Among the trend’s most notables victims is the world’s most important pollinator, the honeybee. In the United States, <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/30260/honey-bee-colony-losses-in-the-united-states-timeline/">48% of honeybee colonies died</a> in 2023 alone, making it the second deadliest year on record. This significant loss is due in part to colony collapse disorder (CCD), the sudden disappearance of bees. In contrast, European countries report lower but still worrisome rates of colony losses, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218839.2020.1797272">ranging from 6% to 32%</a>.</p>
<p>This decline causes many of our essential food crops to be under-pollinated, a phenomenon that threatens our society’s <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/70/2/109/5637848">food security</a>.</p>
<h2>Debunking the sci-fi myth of robotic bees</h2>
<p>So, what can be done? Given <a href="https://theconversation.com/deciphering-the-mysterious-decline-of-honey-bees-56648">pesticides’ role in the decline of bee colonies</a>, commonly proposed solutions include <a href="https://www.bee-life.eu/post/the-positive-impact-of-organic-farming-in-bee-health">a shift away from industrial farming</a> and toward less pesticide-intensive, more sustainable forms of agriculture.</p>
<p>Others tend to look toward the sci-fi end of things, with some scientists imagining that we could eventually replace live honeybees with robotic ones. Such artificial bees could interact with flowers like natural insects, maintaining pollination levels despite the declining numbers of natural pollinators. The vision of artificial pollinators contributed to ingenious designs of <a href="https://www.agritechfuture.com/robotics-automation/winged-robot-smaller-than-a-pea-could-pollinate-crops/">insect-sized robots capable of flying</a>.</p>
<p>In reality, such inventions are more effective at educating us over engineers’ fantasies than they are at reviving bee colonies, so slim are their prospects of materialising. First, these artificial pollinators would have to be equipped for much more more than just flying. Daily tasks carried out by the common bee include searching for plants, identifying flowers, unobtrusively interacting with them, locating energy sources, ducking potential predators, and dealing with adverse weather conditions. Robots would have to perform all of these in the wild with a very high degree of reliability since any broken-down or lost robot can cause damage and spread pollution. Second, it remains to be seen whether our technological knowledge would be even capable of manufacturing such inventions. This is without even mentioning the price tag of a swarm of robots capable of substituting pollination provided by a single honeybee colony.</p>
<h2>Inside a smart hive</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bees crawl on one of Hiveopolis’s augmented hives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hiveopolis</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rather than trying to replace honeybees with robots, our two latest projects funded by the European Union propose that the robots and honeybees actually team up. Were these to succeed, struggling honeybee colonies could be transformed into bio-hybrid entities consisting of biological and technological components with complementary skills. This would hopefully boost and secure the colonies’ population growth as more bees survive over harsh winters and yield more foragers to pollinate surrounding ecosystems.</p>
<p>The first of these projects, <a href="https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/824069">Hiveopolis</a>, investigates how the complex decentralised decision-making mechanism in a honeybee colony can be nudged by digital technology. Begun in 2019 and set to end in March 2024, the experiment introduces technology into three observation hives each containing 4,000 bees, by contrast to 40,000 bees for a normal colony.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The foundation of an augmented honeycomb.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hiveopolis</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within this honeybee smart home, combs have integrated temperature sensors and heating devices, allowing the bees to enjoy optimal conditions inside the colony. Since bees tend to snuggle up to warmer locations, the combs also enables us to direct them toward different areas of the hive. And as if that control weren’t enough, the hives are also equipped with a system of electronic gates that monitors the insects movements. Both technologies allow us to decide where the bees store honey and pollen, but also when they vacate the combs so as to enable us to harvest honey. Last but not least, the smart hive contains a robotic dancing bee that can direct foraging bees toward areas with plants to be pollinated.</p>
<p>Due to the experiment’s small scale, it is impossible to draw conclusions on the extent to which our technologies may have prevented bee losses. However, there is little doubt what we have seen thus far give reasons to be hopeful. We can confidently assert that our smart beehives allowed colonies to survive extreme cold during the winter in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. To precisely assess how many bees these technologies have saved would require upscaling the experiment to hundreds of colonies.</p>
<h2>Pampering the queen bee</h2>
<p>Our second EU-funded project, RoboRoyale, focuses on the honeybee queen and her courtyard bees, with robots in this instance continuously monitoring and interacting with her Royal Highness.</p>
<p>Come 2024, we will equip each hive with a group of six bee-sized robots, which will groom and feed the honeybee queen to affect the number of eggs she lays. Some of these robots will be equipped with royal jelly micro-pumps to feed her, while others will feature compliant micro-actuators to groom her. These robots will then be connected to a larger robotic arm with infrared cameras, that will continuously monitor the queen and her vicinity.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1677&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1677&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1677&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A RoboRoyale robot arm susses out a honeybee colony.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">RoboRoyale</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As witnessed by the photo to the right and also below, we have already been able to successfully introduce the robotic arm within a living colony. There it continuously monitored the queen and determined her whereabouts through light stimuli.</p>
<h2>Emulating the worker bees</h2>
<p>In a second phase, it is hoped the bee-sized robots and robotic arm will be able to emulate the behaviour of the workers, the female bees lacking reproductive capacity who attend to the queen and feed her royal jelly. Rich in water, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and minerals, this nutritious substance secreted by the glands of the worker bees enables the queen to lay up to thousands of eggs a day.</p>
<p>Worker bees also engage in cleaning the queen, which involves licking her. During such interactions, they collect some of the queen’s pheromones and disperse them throughout the colony as they move across the hive. The presence of these pheromones controls many of the colony’s behaviours and notifies the colony of a queen’s presence. For example, in the event of the queen’s demise, a new queen must be quickly reared from an egg laid by the late queen, leaving only a narrow time window for the colony to react.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of RoboRoyale’s first experiments has consisted in simple interactions with the queen bee through light stimulus. The next months will then see the robotic arm stretch out to physically touch and groom her.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">RoboRoyale</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Finally, it is believed worker bees may also act as the queen’s guides, leading her to laying eggs in specific comb cells. The size of these cells can determine if the queen lays a diploid or haploid egg, resulting in the bee developing into either into drone (male) or worker (female) bee. Taking over these guiding duties could affect no less than the rate’s entire reproductive rate.</p>
<h2>How robots can prevent bee cannibalism</h2>
<p>This could have another virtuous effect: preventing cannibalism.</p>
<p>During tough times, such as long periods of rain, bees have to make do with little pollen intake. This forces them to feed young larvae to older ones so that at least the older larvae has a chance to survive. Through RoboRoyale, we will look not only to reduce chances of this behaviour occurring, but also quantify to what extent it occurs under normal conditions.</p>
<p>Ultimately, our robots will enable us to deepen our understanding of the very complex regulation processes inside honeybee colonies through novel experimental procedures. The insights gained from these new research tracks will be necessary to better protect these valuable social insects and ensure sufficient pollination in the future – a high stakes enterprise for food security.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is the result of The Conversation’s collaboration with <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine">Horizon</a>, the EU research and innovation magazine. In February, the authors published an <a href="https://projects.research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/en/horizon-magazine/robotic-bees-and-roots-offer-hope-healthier-environment-and-sufficient-food">interview with the magazine</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211688/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Farshad Arvin is a member of the Department of Computer Science at Durham University in the UK. The research of Farshad Arvin is primarily funded by the EU H2020 and Horizon Europe programmes.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Stefanec is a member of the Institute of Biology at the University of Graz. He has received funding from the EU programs H2020 and Horizon Europe.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tomas Krajnik is member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The research of Tomas Krajnik is primarily funded by EU H2020 Horizon programme and Czech National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>Two EU-funded projects are looking at high-tech solutions that could transform honeybee colonies into bio-hybrid entities.Farshad Arvin, Associate professor in robotics, Durham UniversityMartin Stefanec, University assistant in biology, University of GrazTomas Krajnik, Associate professor in robotics, Czech Technical UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2137692023-10-10T19:03:32Z2023-10-10T19:03:32Z‘Phantom decoys’ manipulate human shoppers – but bees may be immune to their charms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552452/original/file-20231006-29-apjef6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C10%2C3468%2C1954&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/macro-shot-honey-bee-collecting-pollen-718733596">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you ever waited in a long queue only to find the ice cream flavour you wanted is gone? What did you choose instead? </p>
<p>In the field of behavioural economics, researchers have shown that people make very predictable second choices if the item they want is sold out. So much so, that it is possible to use unavailable items to nudge people into buying certain products. </p>
<p>These unavailable items are referred to as phantom decoys, because even though they are not available, they still influence peoples’ choices. </p>
<p>So much for humans. What about bees? In <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00040-023-00934-3">new research</a> published in Insectes Sociaux, we tested whether honeybees could be influenced by the phantom decoy effect – with surprising results.</p>
<h2>Phantom decoys in the animal world</h2>
<p>Research has found phantom decoys influence animals including <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-010-0350-9">cats</a>, <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.12288">Asian honey bees</a> and <a href="https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-3287219/v1">monkeys</a>. </p>
<p>However, it’s not all straightforward. Phantom decoys can apparently make <a href="https://academic.oup.com/beheco/advance-article/doi/10.1093/beheco/arad057/7232488?login=true">wallabies</a> spend more time investigating all the available food options, but the decoys don’t nudge their choices.</p>
<p>Testing phantom decoy effects can help us understand why animals make particular choices. This can have benefits for agriculture, conservation and even pest control.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-bees-dont-know-can-help-them-measuring-insect-indecision-20099">What bees don't know can help them: measuring insect indecision</a>
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<p>Western honey bees (<em>Apis mellifera</em>) are important pollinators of agricultural crops around the world. In Australia, the honeybee industry is worth <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/agriculture-land/farm-food-drought/hort-policy/honeybees#honey-levy">A$14 billion a year</a> in honey production and pollination services. </p>
<p>Bees visit flowers to collect nectar and pollen, which provides them with carbohydrates and protein. In this process, they also pollinate plants, which is essential for the plants to reproduce. </p>
<p>However, not all flowers provide bees with nectar: some are, in effect, phantom decoys. Flowers that were rich in nectar at one time may have none at others, either because other insects have already collected it or because of variation in nectar production throughout the day. Some <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-strange-donkey-orchid-uses-uv-light-to-trick-bees-into-thinking-it-has-food-198980">flowers</a> never contain much nectar at all, but attract pollinators by resembling other plants that have more nectar.</p>
<h2>Artificial flowers, real choices</h2>
<p>In our latest research, we tested whether Western honey bees fall for phantom decoys. Instead of real flowers, we used artificial flowers made from a laminated piece of paper with a tube containing nectar in the centre. </p>
<p>To create different “values” of flowers, we adjusted the nectar quality of the flowers by increasing the nectar’s sugar content. We also adjusted the accessibility of the nectar by forcing bees to crawl down tubes to get to it. Short tubes were “easy access”; longer tubes made flowers “difficult to access”.</p>
<p>We then trained bees to fly into a box where they had a choice of three flowers: one flower was easy to access, but had low nectar quality; a second flower had high-quality nectar, but was difficult to access; and a third flower had easy access <em>and</em> much higher-quality nectar than the other two flowers. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, bees quickly preferred flower number three. To see whether bees were influenced by the phantom decoy effect, we then gave them the same choice between three flowers, except the easy-access, high-quality flower was empty of nectar. </p>
<h2>Bees won’t accept second best</h2>
<p>Unlike humans, who would likely have picked whatever available option was most similiar to the empty flower, bees did not make choices in any predictable fashion after encountering the “sold out” empty flower. This suggests that, at least in this case, they were not susceptible to phantom decoys. </p>
<p>Instead, when bees encountered an empty phantom decoy flower, they left all three flowers alone. This is in contrast to <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929133252.htm">humans</a>, for whom unavailable items often create a sense of urgency, making them more likely to spend money on other items. </p>
<p>The bees’ behaviour is like discovering your favourite ice cream flavour is sold out and, instead of buying the next-best flavour, you leave the shop with no ice cream at all. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-are-astonishingly-good-at-making-decisions-and-our-computer-model-explains-how-thats-possible-208189">Bees are astonishingly good at making decisions – and our computer model explains how that's possible</a>
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<p>Bees also moved more between all three flowers in the presence of an empty flower, probably because the bees expected the empty flower would eventually refill.</p>
<p>The overall increase in movement between flowers, and eventual abandonment of patches due to phantom decoys, could have important ramifications for pollination in patches of flowers and related agricultural and conservation management practices. </p>
<p>Insect pollinated plants rely on insects to move pollen from flower to flower for reproduction, so empty flowers may benefit nearby flowers by increasing pollinator movement, which, in turn, increases the movement of pollen – but only if they hang around the flowers for long enough.</p>
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<p><em>We would like to thank Anahi Castillo Angon and Cristian Gabriel Orlando for their contribution to this research and the writing of this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213769/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlyn Forster received funding from The Australian Research Council. She is a volunteer for Invertebrates Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eliza Middleton received funding from the Australian Research Council. She is affiliated with Accounting for Nature, and is a forum member of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanya Latty receives funding from The Australian Research Council and AgriFutures Australlia. She is affiliated with Invertebrates Australia (conservation organisation) and is president of the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behavoiur.</span></em></p>You’re a bee, and your favourite flower is out of nectar. What do you do?Caitlyn Forster, Associate Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of SydneyEliza Middleton, Biodiversity Management Officer, University of SydneyTanya Latty, Associate professor, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2131222023-09-21T15:09:18Z2023-09-21T15:09:18ZHow air pollution is making life tougher for bugs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548018/original/file-20230913-25-fwkjh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C11%2C1273%2C1036&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Air pollution is the latest threat facing our insects.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Robbie Girling/Inka Lusebrink</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether you love them or loathe them, we all depend on bugs. Insects help to pollinate <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/12/protect-pollinators-food-security-biodiversity-agriculture/">three-quarters</a> of the world’s crop varieties, making them a treasured resource. </p>
<p>But we’re making the lives of insects tough – and not just by swatting them away with a newspaper. Insect populations worldwide are in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(19)30796-1.pdf">sharp decline</a> as they battle against climate change, habitat loss and pesticides. </p>
<p>Now, we can add air pollution to the list of threats. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749122000616">Our research</a> from 2022 revealed that when exposed to two common air pollutants at concentrations within <a href="https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/air/air-quality/eu-air-quality-standards_en">EU air quality limits</a>, the visits of pollinating insects to flowers plummeted by as much as 90%. </p>
<p>Over a span of two years, we artificially elevated the levels of either ozone or diesel exhaust fumes around plots of flowering black mustard plants, all within fields of non-flowering wheat. We carefully monitored and controlled the release of pollutants using rings constructed around each plot. </p>
<p>This method allowed us to monitor the number of pollinating insects visiting the flowers in polluted plots and draw comparisons with plots devoid of pollutants.</p>
<p>We were surprised by what we found. In the rings where we released ozone or diesel exhaust fumes, the number of pollinating insects decreased by 70% and overall pollination success rates decreased by up to 31%. </p>
<p>It wasn’t just bees and butterflies that were affected. Ground-dwelling insects suffered too, with exposure to these pollutants <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.833088/full">causing their numbers to decrease</a> by as much as 36%.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547556/original/file-20230911-15463-a7zcdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A fenced off ring in the middle of a field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547556/original/file-20230911-15463-a7zcdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547556/original/file-20230911-15463-a7zcdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=173&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547556/original/file-20230911-15463-a7zcdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=173&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547556/original/file-20230911-15463-a7zcdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=173&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547556/original/file-20230911-15463-a7zcdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547556/original/file-20230911-15463-a7zcdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547556/original/file-20230911-15463-a7zcdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Eight rings were used to elevate pollution levels around flowering black mustard plants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Neil Mullinger</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<h2>Why air pollution makes life so hard</h2>
<p>Many insects rely on their sense of smell to locate flowers. When they feed on nectar, they quickly connect the flower’s scent with its sugary reward. Consequently, when they come across the same scent later on, they track its trail in pursuit of another tasty treat. </p>
<p>Thus, flowers serve a dual purpose. They are not just pretty to look at but also function as beacons that release a specific blend of fragrant chemicals designed to attract pollinators. </p>
<p>But these signals are under threat. Air pollutants like ozone are highly reactive and can degrade the signals by destroying the chemicals that make up a flower’s scent.</p>
<p>In our more <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749123013386?via%3Dihub">recent research</a>, we simulated a floral scent in a 20-metre long wind tunnel and then mapped out how the levels of each of the chemicals that made up the scent changed in response to increasing ozone pollution. We found that ozone quickly ate away at the edges of the plume, reducing both its width and length. </p>
<p>Essentially, the chemical signal could travel only a shorter distance, which limited the number of insects it could reach.</p>
<p>Adding ozone also changes the smell of each of the chemicals that make up a flower’s scent. By observing these changes in a wind tunnel, we could measure the speed at which these chemical changes occur. </p>
<p>Some chemicals degraded within seconds, whereas others were not affected at all. How far away you are from the scent’s source appears to change how the scent smells.</p>
<h2>Pavlov’s Bees</h2>
<p>To understand how changes to the floral scent might affect pollinators, we taught honeybees to recognise the same floral scent that we released into the wind tunnel. Much like <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html">Pavlov’s dogs</a> drooling at the sound of a dinner bell, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg2DSfuZDAk">bees stick out their proboscis</a> (tube-like tongue) when they sniff an odour they have learned to associate with a sugary reward. This allowed us to see how many bees could still recognise the floral scent once it had been exposed to ozone pollution. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pg2DSfuZDAk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Like Pavlov’s dogs, bees can be trained to respond to a dinner bell – or in their case, the scent of a flower.</span></figcaption>
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<p>We first tested the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/honeybee">honeybees</a> with scent blends replicating those observed at the plume centre when ozone levels were elevated. At a distance of six metres from the flower, 52% of bees recognised the scent. This fell to only 38% at a distance of 12 metres. </p>
<p>We then tested the response of honeybees to the more degraded plume edges. Only 32% of the bees responded at six metres, falling to just 10% at 12 metres. </p>
<p>These results help to explain the significant decline in the number and diversity of insect visits and pollination rates observed in our field trials. Put simply, ozone pollution limits the reach of chemical signals and changes their meaning, leaving insects confused.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547727/original/file-20230912-21-4ef5j9.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two diagrams showing how ozone disrupts a flower's scent." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547727/original/file-20230912-21-4ef5j9.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547727/original/file-20230912-21-4ef5j9.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547727/original/file-20230912-21-4ef5j9.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547727/original/file-20230912-21-4ef5j9.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547727/original/file-20230912-21-4ef5j9.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547727/original/file-20230912-21-4ef5j9.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547727/original/file-20230912-21-4ef5j9.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Ozone makes it difficult for insects to sniff out flowers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ben Langford</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But this is unlikely to be the full story. Although we replicated the effects of ozone pollution on floral scents, we never exposed the bees directly to ozone. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722014358">Separate research</a> carried out in France suggests that direct exposure to ozone might also impair the ability of bees to detect floral scents. </p>
<p>The full extent to which air pollution is impacting the insects we all depend on is only just beginning to be revealed. So, the next time you lift your newspaper to swat a bug, take a second and ask yourself – don’t they have it tough enough already?</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Langford receives funding from the Natural Environmental Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Ryalls has received funding from The Leverhulme Trust and The Royal Society to conduct research on this topic.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robbie Girling has received funding to conduct research on this topic from the Natural Environment Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust and the Gerald Kerkut Charitable Trust. </span></em></p>We’re making life tough for insects – and not just by swatting them away with a newspaper.Ben Langford, Senior Atmospheric Scientist, UK Centre for Ecology & HydrologyJames Ryalls, Research Fellow in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of ReadingRobbie Girling, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2140022023-09-21T03:39:32Z2023-09-21T03:39:32ZAustralia has officially given up on eradicating the Varroa mite. Now what?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549465/original/file-20230921-29-20q28x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C45%2C766%2C553&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Varroa mites on drone pupae.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cooper Schouten/Southern Cross University</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.directory.gov.au/portfolios/agriculture-water-and-environment/department-agriculture-water-and-environment/national-management-group">federal government body</a> in charge of pest control has announced Australia will abandon efforts on eradicating the Varroa mite.</p>
<p>This parasitic mite (<em>Varroa destructor</em>) lives in honey bee colonies, feeding on <a href="https://hbrc.ca/stages-of-bee-growth/">pupae</a> and adult bees. The mites spread viruses, impair the bees’ ability to fly and communicate, and makes them more susceptible to pesticides, eventually causing a colony collapse if left unmanaged.</p>
<p>Until recently, Australia remained free of Varroa thanks to stringent biosecurity measures. But <a href="https://www.outbreak.gov.au/current-outbreaks/varroa-mite">in June 2022</a>, the mite was detected in the New South Wales coastal area near Newcastle and has continued to spread.</p>
<p>A recent increase in detections over a greater area has now made eradication technically unfeasible. As a result, Australia is transitioning from <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response">eradication to management</a> of the Varroa mite.</p>
<h2>Can we fight the mite?</h2>
<p>It has been a tough time for beekeepers, the broader beekeeping community and the growers of crops relying on honey bees for pollination. </p>
<p>Varroa mite is already causing significant economic damage to livelihoods, due to restrictions on hive movements and the euthanasia of around 30,000 bee colonies.</p>
<p>To manage it, we will need to learn from overseas, where people have lived with Varroa for decades. However, Australia also has to develop its own solutions because of our unique climate, biodiversity and agricultural systems.</p>
<p>As seen <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1051/apido/2010010.pdf">in other countries</a>, honey production and hive numbers may remain relatively stable. But beekeepers will need to invest significant time and resources to monitor, manage and replace hives due to Varroa losses. </p>
<p>There are effective <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34536080/">chemical control options</a>, but these cannot eliminate the mites completely. They also have impacts on bees and can leave residues in hive products. Over-reliance on synthetic chemicals will rapidly lead to resistance in Varroa populations, as seen in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/21/5/6/6372257">almost every country Varroa exists</a>.</p>
<p>Effective <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/21/5/6/6372257">organic and non-chemical treatments exist</a>, but they are comparatively labour intensive – an additional burden on certified organic beekeepers. </p>
<p>To keep Varroa mite numbers below economically damaging thresholds, beekeepers will need to use integrated pest management solutions – a combination of approaches to reduce mite populaitons, while following up to ensure these appraoches have been effective.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="994" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SjJS9jPmjlw" title="Varroa mites crawling around weak and deformed worker nurse bees after following uncapping of brood." frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-in-a-unique-position-to-eliminate-the-bee-killing-varroa-mite-heres-what-happens-if-we-dont-205926">Australia is in a unique position to eliminate the bee-killing Varroa mite. Here's what happens if we don't</a>
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<h2>Beekeeping will become more complex and expensive</h2>
<p>Costs for the average-sized Australian bee business could increase <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/sitecollectiondocuments/animal-plant/pests-diseases/bees/honeybee-report.pdf">by as much as 30%</a>. Experience <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jee/article-abstract/102/3/868/2199132?redirectedFrom=fulltext">in other countries</a> suggests there will be <a href="https://agrifutures.com.au/product/a-study-of-new-zealand-beekeeping-lessons-for-australia/">significant declines</a> (up to 50%) of hobbyist and semi-commercial operators. Currently, recreational beekeeping is worth <a href="https://agrifutures.com.au/product/size-and-scope-of-the-australian-honey-bee-and-pollination-industry-a-snapshot/">A$173 million</a> in Australia annually.</p>
<p>We also know Varroa will <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/sitecollectiondocuments/animal-plant/pests-diseases/bees/honeybee-report.pdf">progressively kill around 95%</a> of Australia’s feral honey bees within approximately three years. Therefore, we will likely need more bee colonies per hectare to pollinate some crops effectively. </p>
<p>Cumulatively, increased costs of production, a decrease in the numbers of beekeepers and fewer feral bees will likely result in higher demand for bee hives to service <a href="https://agrifutures.com.au/product/pollination-aware-the-real-value-of-pollination-in-australia-fact-sheet/">35 pollination dependent industries</a> across the country. As seen in Aotearoa New Zealand, where the Varroa mite established in 2000, prices for bee hives rented to growers increased by <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/06-1632.1">30–100% per hive within five years.</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A frame with worker bees, capped brood, brown open brood, white larva, a diversity of coloured pollen, fresh nectar and some ripe capped honey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cooper Schouten/Southern Cross University</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What should Australia do to minimise the impact?</h2>
<p>We need a national program in Australia that <a href="https://beeinformed.org/2023/06/22/united-states-honey-bee-colony-losses-2022-23-preliminary-results-from-the-bee-informed-partnership/">monitors colony losses</a> so we can quantify the impacts across the sector. This also holds true for Australian native bees which play an important role in pollination of tropical crops – we do not have the monitoring and baseline data needed to evaluate the changes about to occur.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/move-over-honeybees-aussie-native-bees-steal-the-show-with-unique-social-and-foraging-behaviours-200536">Move over, honeybees: Aussie native bees steal the show with unique social and foraging behaviours</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As an industry that contributes more than <a href="https://www.wheenbeefoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Karasinski-JM-2018_The-Economic-Valuation-of-Australian-Managed-and-Wild-Honey-Bee-Pollinators-in-2014-2015.pdf">$14.2 billion</a> to the economy, we now have a critical need for national capacity building for beekeeping, Varroa and pollination research, development and training.</p>
<p>Western Australia and Tasmania have significant opportunities to remain free from Varroa for as long as possible because the mite is currently only in NSW on the eastern boarder. Restricted movements of honey bees across the Bass Strait and the Nullarbor offer an additional biosecurity buffer. </p>
<p>Australia also remains free from virulent bee viruses, such as the <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/story_archive/2019/bees_broken_wings">deformed wing virus</a>. Hopefully, the Varroa incursion will lead to strengthened biosecurity for honey bee pests and diseases we do not have in the country yet, like <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32072354/"><em>Tropilaelaps</em> mites</a>.</p>
<p>We also need to strengthen compliance with the <a href="https://www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Bee-Biosecurity-Program-Code-of-Practice-May-2022-for-web_final.pdf">honey bee biosecurity code of practice</a> and improve monitoring of bee losses, bee viruses and native bees. In the long term, we will need to establish breeding programs for bees with Varroa tolerance, as seen in other countries such as the United States, New Zealand and Hawaii.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214002/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cooper Schouten receives funding from The Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research and is a Member of the NSW Apiarists Association and QLD Beekeepers Association. </span></em></p>The Varroa mite is here to stay. This will have wide-ranging impacts on beekeeping and the crops that rely on honey bee pollination in Australia.Cooper Schouten, Project Manager - Bees for Sustainable Livelihoods, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2042142023-08-16T14:50:28Z2023-08-16T14:50:28ZWhy moths might be more efficient pollinators than bees and butterflies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542831/original/file-20230815-19-7lgapk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C20%2C3493%2C2308&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Yellow underwing moths were one of the species in the study</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/large-yellow-underwing-moth-1026230716">Eileen Kumpf/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you’ve ever felt underestimated and ignored, spare a thought for your local moths. Honeybees, bumblebees and butterflies are almost synonomous with pollination. People love them for their intimate relationship with flowers – we can’t grow a lot of our food or enjoy the sight of fragile springtime blossom without them. But our recent research showed moths may actually be more efficient pollinators. </p>
<p>Almost all scientific research on pollinators happens during the day, which means we know little about what happens at night. So we <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281810">designed a study</a> to compare the contribution of nocturnal and day-active pollinators. We focused on bramble, which is widespread across Europe. People often look at <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/brambles-and-other-woody-weeds">bramble as a prickly pest</a> that needs to be removed from our green spaces. But it is a <a href="https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/icad.12436">crucial source of nectar</a> and pollen for bees, butterflies and moths, flowering from early spring through until the autumn. </p>
<p>During peak summer in the UK, when we carried out our experiment, the night is only around one-third of the entire day cycle. During this time, moths are almost the only insects that visit flowers. Even though 83% of all flower visits in our study happened during the day, pollination rates were higher at night time. This suggests moths are more efficient pollinators than species that are active during the day. </p>
<p>We used trail cameras to record visitors to bramble flowers over three days and placed special bags over the flowers so we could compare their pollination rates. One group of flowers was covered for the whole three days. The second group was covered only during the day time and a last set was covered only at night. It wasn’t possible to identify the species of every moth that visited the flowers, but among them were <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/silver-y">silver Y</a> and <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/large-yellow-underwing">large yellow underwing moths</a>, which are both in the family <em>Noctuidae</em>. </p>
<p>While it remains unclear precisely why moths had higher pollination rates, it may be that they spend more time visiting each flower than honeybees, hoverflies and other daytime pollinators. In any case, it’s certain that the importance of moths as nocturnal pollinators is undervalued. Despite the fact there are only 60 species of butterfly and over 2,500 species of moth in the UK, a far higher proportion of research and environmental policies focus on butterflies. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542832/original/file-20230815-19-ky4ndg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Moth perches on purple flower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542832/original/file-20230815-19-ky4ndg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542832/original/file-20230815-19-ky4ndg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542832/original/file-20230815-19-ky4ndg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542832/original/file-20230815-19-ky4ndg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542832/original/file-20230815-19-ky4ndg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542832/original/file-20230815-19-ky4ndg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542832/original/file-20230815-19-ky4ndg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A silver Y moth visiting a flower.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/isolated-specimen-silver-y-moth-autographa-1894448098">Davide Bonora/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our study showed that the pollination of valuable crop plants and threatened species of wildflowers may rely upon on moths. Many of the UK’s macro-moths (which tend to be larger) are declining, with over 40% of species
<a href="https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530375/">declining in abundance</a>. </p>
<h2>Under pressure</h2>
<p>Moths face the same challenges as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08974-9">daytime pollinators</a>, such as pesticides, habitat loss and climate change. But nocturnal moths are also threatened by artificial light at night. Recent research has highlighted how street lighting is <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.abi8322">disrupting the feeding behaviour of caterpillars</a> and reducing moth numbers. Previous work has also shown the light <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5377031/#:%7E:text=Feeding%20behaviour%20of%20adult%20moths,experimentally%20subjected%20to%20artificial%20light.">disrupts adult moths</a> from feeding, <a href="https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/icad.12447">breeding and laying eggs</a>.</p>
<p>Moths are not only <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0187">important pollinators</a> – they are key links in the food chain and shape the structure and composition of habitats. Their caterpillars feed on grasses and other plants. When caterpillars are dispersed throughout a habitat, some areas are grazed and others are not, which creates a varied structure. This variety bodes well for biodiversity, by creating a greater range of habitats for different species to live in. Not to mention the importance of moths as a vital food source for bats, birds and other small mammals.</p>
<p>New approaches to research are being developed and tested, which will help address gaps in our understanding about the role of moths as important pollinators. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/rse2.245">automated identification and tracking</a> of insects through machine learning can allow us to remotely monitor pollinator activity, saving time in collecting and processing data. Understanding more about moths will give us the knowledge we urgently need to protect them. </p>
<h2>What you can do</h2>
<p>You can help these pollinating insects by allowing some patches of bramble and other flowering, scrubby plants to grow in your garden, allotments and hedgerows. You can also encourage your council to do the same across the <a href="https://news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/2022/04/07/love-your-verge-protecting-wildflowers-and-wildlife-on-dorsets-roadsides/">network of road verges</a> and parks in the UK.</p>
<p>The harmful effects of artificial light can be managed by dimming or limiting the operating time of street-lighting during the night, as <a href="https://www.southdevonaonb.org.uk/projects/reducing-light-pollution/">pioneered by Devon</a> and some other district councils. At home, you can switch off or reduce the use of outdoor lights at night and close your curtains and blinds to prevent light from spilling outside. Tackling light spill from shop fronts and glass office blocks could also help moths stay focused on pollination. </p>
<p>In light of the huge <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/11/insect-populations-suffering-death-1000-cuts-scientists">declines in populations of pollinating insects</a> across the globe, it’s more important than ever to protect our pollinators. These small and simple changes will provide more homes for wildlife. Spreading the word could have a crucial impact on moth conservation – some of the most underappreciated and important animals on our planet.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 20,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204214/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona Mathews receives funding from Research Councils UK, and has previously been funded for work on light pollution by the UK's Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. She is chair of Mammal Conservation Europe. There are no conflicts of interest with the publication of this article. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Max Anderson works for Butterfly Conservation, a charity that has the conservation of butterflies, moths and the environment as its core aim and the publication of this article may help to achieve that aim in terms of increasing awareness. However, there is unlikely to be any financial benefit to the charity from the publication of the article.</span></em></p>But pesticides and climate change are threatening moths’ future.Fiona Mathews, Professor of Environmental Biology, University of SussexMax Anderson, South West Landscape Officer for Butterfly ConservationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2108132023-08-07T16:12:24Z2023-08-07T16:12:24ZIvy, dandelions and other common wildflowers are often seen as weeds – but they’re a crucial resource for pollinating insects<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541512/original/file-20230807-25161-zpbybv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1283%2C110%2C3318%2C2476&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bumblebee flying over a blooming bramble bush.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bumblebee-fly-over-blackberry-flowers-1420563443">Legonkov Vladimir</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the end of the second world war, factors such as more intensive farming and urbanisation have reduced the abundance of wildflowers in Britain. In fact, the past 90 years have seen the loss of <a href="https://meadows.plantlife.org.uk/">over 97% of the UK’s wildflower meadows</a>. </p>
<p>Simply <a href="https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/icad.12085">planting more wildflowers</a> seems an obvious solution – although difficult on a large scale. There’s just one problem. Many common British wildflowers are <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.10475">undervalued and even disliked</a> by the public, who consider them to be weeds. </p>
<p>These flowers, which include many species from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/dandelion">dandelion</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/clover-plant">clover</a> to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/bramble">bramble</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/ivy-plant">ivy</a>, provide large amounts of pollen and nectar for bees and other insects. But some people consider dandelions a nuisance in their gardens. Others dislike brambles because of their thorns and vigorous growth. And even plants like ivy, with inconspicuous flowers, are wrongly thought to be unhelpful to bees.</p>
<p>Greater appreciation of wildflowers like these will not only help to improve the food supply for bees and other flower-visiting insects, it will also help reconnect people with plant diversity and nature. So, what will it take for people to accept and enjoy more wildflowers in their lawns, parks, roadsides and fields?</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.</em>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/plant-curious-137238?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=PlantCurious2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of a series, Plant Curious</a>, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>One clear answer is education. In Britain, knowledge about plants seems to be lacking. A phenomenon called “plant blindness” – an inability to notice or appreciate plants, distinguish between species or recognise their importance – could be one reason for negative public attitudes towards native plants.</p>
<p>In 2005, a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00219266.2005.9655963">study of UK A-level students</a> found that 86% could name only three or fewer common wildflowers. And in 2017, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00219266.2005.9655963">only 3.5% of British participants</a> in a poll commissioned by UK conservation charity Plantlife were able to name a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/red-clover">red clover</a> correctly. These figures show the disconnect between people and plants.</p>
<p>This is surely not a good thing. Bees and other flower-visiting insects rely heavily on flowers, and most life on Earth depends either directly or indirectly on plants. Although underappreciated, common native wildflowers are an important part of this.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dandelions in profusion on a road verge." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dandelions in profusion on a road verge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Francis Ratnieks</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sources of pollen</h2>
<p>Ivy is a common climbing plant that grows on walls, tree trunks and in hedges throughout Britain’s towns and countryside. Ivy is often falsely accused of strangling the trees it climbs or parasitizing them by embedding its roots into the tree itself. </p>
<p>But the reality is far less sinister. During the autumn, ivy blooms and becomes the main source of <a href="https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/icad.12033">nectar and pollen</a> for a wide range of insects, including <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/honeybee">honey bees</a>, <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/ivy-bee">ivy bees</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/bumblebee">bumble bees</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/hover-fly">hover flies</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/butterfly-insect">butterflies</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/wasp">wasps</a>. In fact, pollen analysis from work published in 2021 on honey bee hives in Sussex suggests that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11829-021-09807-7">90% of the pollen that is collected in autumn</a> comes from ivy. </p>
<p>The nectar and pollen provided by ivy’s open flowers are also accessible to all insects. Even insects with shorter tongues can gather ivy nectar. In contrast, plants like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/lavender">lavender</a> secrete nectar at the base of the flower tube and thereby restrict access to insects with longer tongues such as bumble bees and butterflies. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Honey bee (right) gathering pollen and nectar from ivy flowers alongside a hover fly (left)." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Honey bee (right) gathering pollen and nectar from ivy flowers alongside a hover fly (left).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Francis Ratnieks</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bramble, also called blackberry, parallels ivy. It is abundant in both urban and rural settings and its open flowers are accessible to all types of insect. </p>
<p>Bramble blooms for a long period of time, starting in late May and continuing into autumn. In one study, when we used pollen traps (an apparatus that dislodges some of the pollen pellets from honey bee legs as they return to the hive), we found that <a href="https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/icad.12436">31% of the pollen collected</a> from late May to early August comes from bramble. </p>
<h2>What about weeds?</h2>
<p>Dandelions and white clover are native wildflower species that also provide pollen and nectar. Both are often found in lawns but are not always appreciated. Garden centres even sell herbicides to eliminate these and other “weeds” from lawns.</p>
<p>Interestingly, five native wildflower species in Britain are officially classified as “injurious weeds”, and having them on your land is technically illegal. Among these are <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/ragwort">ragwort</a> and two species of both <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/docks">dock</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/thistle">thistle</a>. These plants are found almost anywhere, from road verges to fields, waste land and even gardens. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14132">our more recent research</a>, which was carried out in Sussex, revealed that these so-called injurious weeds attract twice as many flower-visiting insects as wildflower species that are officially recommended as “good for pollinators”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bee collecting pollen from ragwort blossom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bee collecting pollen from ragwort blossom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bee-collects-pollen-some-ragwort-blossom-208368913">Ian Grainger/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Appreciating native plants</h2>
<p>To truly encourage appreciation and support for native wildflowers, we need to shift people’s perspective. Instead of viewing lawns with wildflowers as unattractive or a sign of laziness, let’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12085">celebrate the benefits</a> they bring. It’s certainly easier, cheaper and probably safer to enjoy existing wildflowers than to go to the trouble of removing them with herbicides.</p>
<p>Many of these underappreciated wildflowers are already popular beyond their value as nectar and pollen sources. Blackberries, for example, are widely eaten as a wild food in Britain, while the name Ivy holds a special place for some. </p>
<p>We must recognise that local native wildflower species with pollinator-friendly flowers already exist almost everywhere. By appreciating and supporting them, we not only assist pollinators, but also gain psychological benefits by reconnecting with the wonders of plants and nature. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Native common wildflowers provide large amounts of pollen and nectar for insects – but many are undervalued by the public.Francis Ratnieks, Professor of Apiculture, University of SussexNick Balfour, Research Technician in the School of Life Sciences, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2071532023-07-25T20:05:41Z2023-07-25T20:05:41ZThe feral flying under the radar: why we need to rethink European honeybees<p>Australia’s national parks, botanic gardens, wild places and green spaces are swarming with an invasive pest that is largely flying under the radar. This is yet another form of livestock, escaped from captivity and left to roam free. </p>
<p>Contrary to popular opinion, in Australia, feral colonies of the invasive European honeybee (<em>Apis mellifera</em>) are not “<a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response/wild-european-honey-bee-management">wild</a>”, threatened with <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aar2269">extinction</a> or “good” for the Australian environment. The truth is feral honeybees compete with native animals for <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/pc21064">food</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-07635-0">habitat</a>, disrupt native <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/aec.13040">pollination systems</a> and pose a serious biosecurity threat to our honey and pollination industries.</p>
<p>As ecologists working across Australia, we are acutely aware of the damage being done by invasive species. There is rarely a simple, single solution. But we need to move feral bees out of the “too hard” basket. </p>
<p>The arrival and spread of the parasitic <a href="https://www.outbreak.gov.au/current-outbreaks/varroa-mite"><em>Varroa</em> mite in New South Wales</a> threatens to decimate honeybee colonies. So now is the time to rethink our relationship with the beloved European honeybee and target the ferals.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Closeup photograph of a honeybee collecting pollen from a purple flower" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Feral honeybee foraging on native <em>Boronia ledifolia</em> in the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amy-Marie Gilpin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/buzz-off-honey-industry-our-national-parks-shouldnt-be-milked-for-money-131891">Buzz off honey industry, our national parks shouldn’t be milked for money</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What makes a hive feral?</h2>
<p>European honeybees turn feral when a managed hive produces a “swarm”. This is a mass of bees that leaves the hive seeking a new nest. The swarm ultimately settles, either in a natural hollow or artificial structure such as a <a href="https://www.lfwseq.org.au/bees-nest-boxes-sticky-problem/">nesting box</a>. </p>
<p>With up to 150 hives per square kilometre, Australia has among the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-07635-0">highest</a> feral honey bee densities in the world. In NSW, feral honeybees are listed as a “<a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/threatened-species/nsw-threatened-species-scientific-committee/determinations/final-determinations/2000-2003/competition-from-feral-honeybees-key-threatening-process-listing">key threatening process</a>”, but they lack such recognition elsewhere. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1360&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1360&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A nesting box installed for native animals filled with feral honeybees (Apis mellifera).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cormac Farrell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Feral honeybees have successfully invaded most land-based ecosystems across Australia, <a href="https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https:/biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/1a490f00-368f-427c-8d4c-fa3f3271d75f">including</a> woodlands, rainforests, mangrove-salt marsh, alpine and arid ecosystems.</p>
<p>They can efficiently harvest large volumes of nectar and pollen from native plants that would otherwise provide food for native animals, including birds, mammals and flower-visiting insects such as native bees. Their foraging activities alter seed production and reduce the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/aob/article/103/9/1395/146886?login=false">genetic diversity</a> of native plants while also pollinating <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132355">weeds</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, feral honeybees are now the most <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/pc21064">common</a> visitors to many native flowering plants.</p>
<h2>Are feral bees useful in agriculture?</h2>
<p>Feral honeybees can pollinate crops. But they compete with managed hives for nectar and pollen. They can also be an reservoir of honeybee pests and diseases such as the <em>Varroa</em> mite, which ultimately threaten crop production. That’s because many farms rely on honeybees from commercial hives to pollinate their crops. </p>
<p>So reducing feral honeybee density would benefit both honey production and the crop pollination industry, which is worth <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/agriculture-land/farm-food-drought/hort-policy/honeybees#pollination">A$14 billion annually</a>. </p>
<p>Improved management of feral honeybees would not only help to limit the biosecurity threat, but increase the availability of pollen and nectar for managed hives. It would also increase demand for managed honeybee pollination services for pollinator dependent crops. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hear-me-out-we-could-use-the-varroa-mite-to-wipe-out-feral-honey-bees-and-help-australias-environment-185959">Hear me out – we could use the varroa mite to wipe out feral honey bees, and help Australia's environment</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What are our current options?</h2>
<p>Tackling this issue will not be straightforward, due to the sheer extent of feral colony infestation and limited tools at the disposal of land managers.</p>
<p>If the current parasitic <em>Varroa</em> mite <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response">infestation in NSW</a> spins out of control, it may reduce the number of feral hives, with <a href="https://theconversation.com/hear-me-out-we-could-use-the-varroa-mite-to-wipe-out-feral-honey-bees-and-help-australias-environment-185959">benefits</a> for the environment. Fewer feral hives would be good for the honey industry too. </p>
<p>Targeted strategies to remove feral colonies on a small scale do exist and are being applied in the <em>Varroa</em> mite emergency response. This includes the deployment of <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response/wild-european-honey-bee-management">poison (fipronil) bait stations</a> in areas exposed to the mite.</p>
<p>While this method seems to be <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response/wild-european-honey-bee-management">effective</a>, the extreme toxicity of fipronil to honeybees limits its use to areas that do not contain managed hives. In addition, the possible effects on non-target, native animals that feed on the bait, or poisoned hive remains, is still unstudied and requires careful investigation.</p>
<p>Where feral hives can be accessed, they can be physically removed. But in many ecosystems feral colonies are high up in trees, in difficult to access terrain. That, and their overwhelming numbers, makes removal impractical.</p>
<p>Another problem with hive removal is rapid recolonisation by uncontrolled swarming from managed hives and feral hives at the edges of the extermination area.</p>
<p>Taken together, there are currently no realistic options for the targeted large-scale removal of feral colonies across Australia’s vast natural ecosystems.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Drone (male) honeybee.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where to now?</h2>
<p>For too long, feral honeybees have had free reign over Australia’s natural environment. Given the substantial and known threats they pose to natural systems and industry, the time has come to develop effective and practical control measures. </p>
<p>Not only do we need to improve current strategies, we desperately need to develop new ones.</p>
<p>One promising example is the use of traps to catch bee swarms, and such work is underway in Victoria’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-05-28/bee-swarm-monitoring-in-macedon-ranges/102385310">Macedon Ranges</a>. However, this might be prohibitively expensive at larger scales.</p>
<p>Existing strategies for other animals may be a good starting place. For example, the practice of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ultimate-invader-high-tech-tool-promises-scientists-an-edge-over-the-cane-toad-scourge-186542">using pheromones to capture cane toad tadpoles</a> might be applied to drones (male bees) and swarms. Once strategies are developed we can model a combination of approaches to uncover the best one for each case.</p>
<p>Developing sustainable control measures should be a priority right now and should result in a win-win for industry, biosecurity and native ecosystems. </p>
<p>If there is something to learn from the latest <em>Varroa</em> incursion, it is that we cannot ignore the risks feral honeybees pose any longer. We don’t know how to control them in Australia yet, but it is for lack of trying. </p>
<p><em>We would like to acknowledge the substantial contribution made by environmental scientist and beekeeper Cormac Farrell to the development of this article.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-2-coin-features-the-introduced-honeybee-is-this-really-the-species-we-should-celebrate-181089">A new $2 coin features the introduced honeybee. Is this really the species we should celebrate?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207153/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy-Marie Gilpin receives funding from Horticulture Innovation Australia and is a member of the IUCN Wild Bee Specialist Group Oceania. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James B. Dorey is affiliated with Flinders University and the University of Adelaide. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katja Hogendoorn is a member of the board of the Australian Entomological Society and receives funding from the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, HortInnovations, AgriFutures, and the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kit Prendergast is an adjunct at Curtin University and Murdoch University. She has previously received funding from the Federal Government for the Bushfire Recovery Project, from the Forrest Research Foundation for her PhD, and from the Australian Wildlife Society. </span></em></p>Feral honeybees have become a major problem in Australia. It’s time to develop effective and practical control measures.Amy-Marie Gilpin, Research Fellow, Ecology, Western Sydney UniversityJames B. Dorey, Adjunct Lecturer, Flinders UniversityKatja Hogendoorn, Research fellow, University of AdelaideKit Prendergast, Native bee ecologist, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2089122023-07-24T20:09:39Z2023-07-24T20:09:39ZBees have appeared on coins for millennia, hinting at an age-old link between sweetness and value<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538671/original/file-20230721-25-7t24i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C137%2C1894%2C1661&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NZ Post Collectables</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2022, the Royal Australian Mint issued a $2 coin decorated with honeybees. Around 2,400 years earlier, a mint in the kingdom of Macedon had the same idea, creating a silver obol coin with a bee stamped on one side.</p>
<p>Over the centuries between these two events, currency demonstrating a symbolic link between honey and money is surprisingly common. </p>
<p>In a recent study in <a href="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/assets.mmxgroup.com.au/ACR/Bee+Article.pdf">Australian Coin Review</a>, I trace the bee through numismatic history – and suggest a scientific reason why our brains might naturally draw a connection between the melliferous insects and the abstract idea of value.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Royal Australian Mint 2022 two-dollar coin representing 200 years since the introduction of the honeybee to Australia.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is currency and why is it important?</h2>
<p>Money is a store of value, and can act as a medium of exchange for goods or services. Currency is a physical manifestation of money, so coins are a durable representation of value. </p>
<p>Coins have had central role in many communities to enable efficient trade since ancient times. Their durability makes them important time capsules.</p>
<p>Ancient Malta was famous for its honey. The modern 3 Mils coin (<a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1775.html">1972-81</a>) celebrates this history with images of a bee and honeycomb. According to the information card issued with the coin set,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A bee and honeycomb are shown on the 3 Mils coin, symbolising the fact that honey was used as currency in Ancient Malta. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=732&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=732&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=732&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A circulating 3 Mils coin from Malta showing a honeybee on honeycomb.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In ancient Greece, bees were used on some of the earliest coins made in Europe. A silver Greek obol coin minted in Macedon between 412 BCE and 350 BCE, now housed in the British Museum, shows a bee on one side of the coin. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An ancient obol from Macedon, dated between 412 BCE and 350 BCE, shows a bee one side.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bees also feature on coins minted elsewhere in the ancient Greek world, such as a bronze coin minted in Ephesus dated between 202 BCE and 133 BCE. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bronze coin minted in Ephesus, dated between 202BCE and 133BCE, featuring a honeybee.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The use of bees on ancient coins extended for many centuries including widely circulated bronze coins, and new varieties <a href="https://coinweek.com/bee-all-that-you-can-bee-honeybees-on-ancient-coins/">continue to be discovered</a>.</p>
<h2>Why we might like bees on coins</h2>
<p>Why have bees appeared so often on coins? One approach to this question comes from the field of neuro-aesthetics, which seeks to understand our tastes by understanding the basic brain processes that underpin aesthetic appreciation.</p>
<p>From this perspective, it seems likely the sweet taste of honey – which indicates the large amount of sugar it delivers – promotes positive neural activity <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/artp/10/1/article-p1_2.xml">associated with bees and honey</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-rock-carvings-to-rock-music-the-prevalence-of-bees-in-art-throughout-human-history-173069">From rock carvings to rock music – the prevalence of bees in art throughout human history</a>
</strong>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Indeed, primatologist Jane Goodall once proposed that obtaining high-calorie nutrition from bee honey may have been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0066185668800032">an important step</a> in the cognitive development of primates.</p>
<p>Our brain may thus be pre-adapted to liking bees due to their association with the sweet taste of honey. Early usage of bees on coins may have been a functional illustration of the link between a known value (honey) and a new form of currency: coins as money. </p>
<h2>The bee on modern coins</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1920 Italian bronze ten-centesimi coin featuring featuring an Italian honeybee on a flower.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The use of bees as a design feature has persisted from ancient to modern times. A honeybee visiting a flower is shown on a series of ten-centesimi bronze coins issued in Italy from <a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1960.html">1919 to 1937</a>. </p>
<p>(As an aside, the world’s last stock of pure Italian honeybees is found in Australia, on Kangaroo Island, which was declared a sanctuary for Ligurian bees by an <a href="https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/home/historical-numbered-as-made-acts/1885/0342-Lingurian-Bees-Act-No-342-of-48-and-49-Vic,-1885.pdf">act of parliament</a> in 1885.)</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A coin from Tonga showing 20 honeybees emerging from a hive.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More recently, a 20-seniti coin from the Pacific nation of Tonga shows 20 honeybees flying out of a hive. This coin was part of a series initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to promote sustainable agricultural and cultural development around the world. </p>
<p>Bees are relevant here because their pollinating efforts contribute to about one-third of the food required to feed the world, with a value in excess of <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/2616458">US$200 billion per year</a>, and they are threatened by climate change and other environmental factors.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-face-many-challenges-and-climate-change-is-ratcheting-up-the-pressure-190296">Bees face many challenges – and climate change is ratcheting up the pressure</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Bees on coins, today and tomorrow</h2>
<p>Public awareness of bees and environmental sustainability may well be factors in the current interest in bee coins. The diversity of countries using bees as a design feature over the entire history of coins suggests people have valued the relationship with bees as essential to our own prosperity for a long time. </p>
<p>In Australia, the 2022 honeybee $2 coin is part of a series developed by the <a href="https://www.ramint.gov.au/about-mint">Royal Australian Mint</a>. In 2019, the Perth Mint in Western Australia also released coins and stamps celebrating native bees.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian native bee coin and stamps released in 2019 by the Perth Mint.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite the decline of cash, bee coins still appear to be going strong. The buzzing companions of human society are likely to be an important subject for coin design for as long as coins continue to be used.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208912/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Dyer receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.</span></em></p>The surprising frequency of bees on coins through history shows the enduring importance to human societies of our buzzing companions.Adrian Dyer, Associate Professor, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2081892023-06-27T07:00:15Z2023-06-27T07:00:15ZBees are astonishingly good at making decisions – and our computer model explains how that’s possible<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533958/original/file-20230626-196941-sa646o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C8%2C2794%2C1821&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bee-hovering-while-collecting-pollen-pussy-14616013">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A honey bee’s life depends on it successfully harvesting nectar from flowers to make honey. Deciding which flower is most likely to offer nectar is incredibly difficult.</p>
<p>Getting it right demands correctly weighing up subtle cues on flower type, age and history – the best indicators a flower might contain a tiny drop of nectar. Getting it wrong is at best a waste of time, and at worst means exposure to a lethal predator hiding in the flowers. </p>
<p>In new research <a href="https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.86176">published today in eLife</a> our team reports how bees make these complex decisions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-do-so-much-more-than-you-think-from-dancing-to-being-little-art-critics-204039">Bees can do so much more than you think – from dancing to being little art critics</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A field of artificial flowers</h2>
<p>We challenged bees with a field of artificial flowers made from coloured disks of card, each of which offered a tiny drop of sugar syrup. Different-coloured “flowers” varied in their likelihood of offering sugar, and also differed in how well bees could judge whether or not the fake flower offered a reward. </p>
<p>We put tiny, harmless paint marks on the back of each bee, and filmed every visit a bee made to the flower array. We then used computer vision and machine learning to automatically extract the position and flight path of the bee. From this information, we could assess and precisely time every single decision the bees made. </p>
<p>We found bees very quickly learned to identify the most rewarding flowers. They quickly assessed whether to accept or reject a flower, but perplexingly their correct choices were on average faster (0.6 seconds) than their incorrect choices (1.2 seconds).</p>
<p>This is the opposite of what we expected.</p>
<p>Usually in animals – and even in artificial systems – an accurate decision takes longer than an inaccurate decision. This is called <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2014.00150/full">the speed-accuracy tradeoff</a>.</p>
<p>This tradeoff happens because determining whether a decision is right or wrong usually depends on how much evidence we have to make that decision. More evidence means we can make a more accurate decision – but gathering evidence takes time. So accurate decisions are usually slow and inaccurate decisions are faster.</p>
<p>The speed-accuracy tradeoff occurs so often in engineering, psychology and biology, you could almost call it a “law of psychophysics”. And yet bees seemed to be breaking this law. </p>
<p>The only other animals known to beat the speed-accuracy tradeoff <a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/3/938">are humans and primates</a>. </p>
<p>How then can a bee, with its tiny yet remarkable brain, be performing on a par with primates?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Several bees in a circular pattern on a honeycomb background, larger bee in the middle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bees surrounding a queen bee marked with a dot on its back.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/queen-apis-mellifera-marked-dot-bee-1815893135">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Bees avoid risk</h2>
<p>To take apart this question we turned to a computational model, asking what properties a system would need to have to beat the speed-accuracy tradeoff.</p>
<p>We built artificial neural networks capable of processing sensory input, learning and making decisions. We compared the performance of these artificial decision systems to the real bees. From this we could identify what a system had to have if it were to beat the tradeoff. </p>
<p>The answer lay in giving “accept” and “reject” responses different time-bound evidence thresholds. Here’s what that means – bees only accepted a flower if, at a glance, they were <em>sure</em> it was rewarding. If they had any uncertainty, they rejected it.</p>
<p>This was a risk-averse strategy and meant bees might have missed some rewarding flowers, but it successfully focused their efforts only on the flowers with the best chance and best evidence of providing them with sugar.</p>
<p>Our computer model of how bees were making fast, accurate decisions mapped well to both their behaviour and the known pathways of the bee brain.</p>
<p>Our model is plausible for how bees are such effective and fast decision makers. What’s more, it gives us a template for how we might build systems – such as autonomous robots for exploration or mining – with these features.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-bee-season-to-avoid-getting-stung-just-stay-calm-and-dont-swat-153625">It's bee season. To avoid getting stung, just stay calm and don't swat</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208189/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Barron receives funding from the Australian Research Council grants FT140100452 and DP210100740 and Templeton World Charity foundation Grant TWCF-2020-20539.
Coauthors on the article James Marshall and HaDi MaBouDi currently work for UK robotics company Opteran Technologies.</span></em></p>Picking the correct flowers is a crucial job for honey bees, so it’s no wonder they are incredibly efficient at it. But how can such little brains do it?Andrew Barron, Professor, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2033342023-06-09T00:51:23Z2023-06-09T00:51:23ZHelp, bees have colonised the walls of my house! Why are they there and what should I do?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519472/original/file-20230405-16-pony0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C14%2C5000%2C3308&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you spotted a swarm of flying insects emerging from a wall? Or noticed a buzzing noise coming from inside the house?</p>
<p>If this sounds familiar, a colony of European honeybees (<em><a href="https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/honey-bee/">Apis mellifera</a></em>) may be making their home in your walls.</p>
<p>Why does this happen, and what should you do?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528721/original/file-20230528-15-s3g4d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528721/original/file-20230528-15-s3g4d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528721/original/file-20230528-15-s3g4d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528721/original/file-20230528-15-s3g4d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528721/original/file-20230528-15-s3g4d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528721/original/file-20230528-15-s3g4d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528721/original/file-20230528-15-s3g4d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528721/original/file-20230528-15-s3g4d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If they are inside homes or high traffic areas, honeybees will usually need to be removed by a professional.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-deadly-jaws-and-enormous-strength-to-mushroom-farming-ant-man-is-only-tapping-into-a-portion-of-the-real-superpowers-of-ants-200530">From deadly jaws and enormous strength to mushroom farming, Ant-Man is only tapping into a portion of the real superpowers of ants</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Are they honeybees?</h2>
<p>First, work out who these house guests really are. Honeybees are often the culprits, but European <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/european-wasp/european-wasp-identification-guide">wasps</a> (<em><a href="https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/european-wasp/">Vespula germanica</a></em>) also occasionally build their nests inside human-made structures. Their nests have a papery appearance and are made from chewed-up plant fibres. </p>
<p>European wasps are a more dramatic yellow and black, and have narrower waists. Honeybees have less slender waists, appear furrier, and are a duller orange-brown colour.</p>
<p>If they are inside homes or high-traffic areas, both honeybees and European wasps will usually need to be removed by a professional.</p>
<p>Depending on where you live, other social bees such as <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/stingless-bee/#:%7E:text=The%20Stingless%20Bee%20stores%20pollen,a%20number%20of%20different%20flowers.">stingless bees</a> and <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/pest-insects/bumble-bee">bumblebees</a> may occasionally build colonies in human-built structures, but they rarely cause any serious problems. </p>
<p>Solitary native bees such as <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/peacock-carpenter-bee/">carpenter bees</a>, <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/common-blue-banded-bee/">blue banded bees</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amegilla_bombiformis">teddy bear bees</a> do not live in colonies. However, they sometimes build their individual nests close to one another. These insects are rarely aggressive and can often be left alone.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528733/original/file-20230529-228237-x6t3t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528733/original/file-20230529-228237-x6t3t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528733/original/file-20230529-228237-x6t3t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528733/original/file-20230529-228237-x6t3t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528733/original/file-20230529-228237-x6t3t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528733/original/file-20230529-228237-x6t3t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528733/original/file-20230529-228237-x6t3t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528733/original/file-20230529-228237-x6t3t9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Once inside, bees produce wax to build the hexagonal cells that make up the nest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How did they get there?</h2>
<p>When a honeybee <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_bee_life_cycle">colony outgrows</a> its current dwelling, the bees embark on a quest to find a new home. </p>
<p>In preparation, the queen bee lays eggs in special cells known as “queen cells”. The larvae in these cells are fed with royal jelly, which helps them develop into new queens. </p>
<p>Once the new queens emerge, the old queen leaves the hive accompanied by a substantial number of worker bees.</p>
<p>Now homeless, the house-hunting bees gather together in a tight cluster called a “swarm ball” on a nearby object. From this temporary base of operations, the bees send out scouts to find potential nesting sites. </p>
<p>When a scout <a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/how-do-bees-find-a-home/">discovers a suitable location</a>, she returns to the swarm ball and performs an extraordinary routine known as a “waggle dance”.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/12Q8FfyLLso?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Astonishingly, this dance communicates the location of the potential new home to other scouts, who then venture out to inspect the advertised site. If they agree with its suitability, they return to the hive and do their own waggle dance.</p>
<p>Once enough scouts agree on the suitability of the new home, the entire swarm <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222540064_How_does_an_informed_minority_of_scouts_guide_a_honeybee_swarm_as_it_flies_to_its_new_home">soars through the air</a> to their new home. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the bees occasionally choose to settle in human-made structures. Once inside, they produce wax to build the hexagonal cells that make up the nest. Some cells are used as nurseries for larvae, while others are used to store pollen and honey. </p>
<p>The most obvious sign is usually a steady stream of bees flying in and out of the hive, usually from a small hole or gap in the wall. </p>
<p>You might also hear a buzzing sound. </p>
<h2>What will the honeybees do to my house?</h2>
<p>The honey and wax produced by bees can melt when the colony dies or during hot weather. This leads to stains and damage to walls, while the lingering honey may draw in rodents. The growing weight of a colony can also cause structural damage over time.</p>
<p>While honeybees are generally not aggressive, they will sting in self-defence, particularly near their colony. </p>
<p>Moving slowly and avoiding swatting can <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-bee-season-to-avoid-getting-stung-just-stay-calm-and-dont-swat-153625">lower the chance of getting stung</a>.</p>
<h2>Dealing with honeybees in the home</h2>
<p>If honeybees have taken up residence in your home, ask a professional, such as a beekeeper, to remove them. </p>
<p>Do not attempt to remove the bees yourself; this could be dangerous. Spraying insecticides or repellents into your walls may not kill all the bees and could trigger aggression. </p>
<p>Even if the insecticide does kill the colony, the dead bees, wax and honey will decay and melt, creating a bigger mess and attracting pests.</p>
<p>Not all beekeepers are equipped to remove bees from homes. Look for beekeepers who advertise “bee removal” or “bee rescue” services. </p>
<p>You can also try contacting <a href="https://www.beekeepers.asn.au/">amateur beekeeping associations</a>, which may maintain a list of experienced bee removers. If there are no appropriate beekeepers in your area, or the colony is not easy to access, you may need to contact a pest controller.</p>
<p>Sometimes, colonies can be removed alive and relocated but this is not always possible. Your options will depend on the size of the colony, whether or not the beekeeper can access the colony, their level of experience and how long the colony has been there.</p>
<p>If you live in certain regions of New South Wales, it’s very important you <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response/how-to-deal-with-a-swarm">report</a> honeybee swarms or wild colonies to the Department of Primary Industries. </p>
<p>Wild colonies may harbour invasive Varroa mites, which are a deadly honeybee parasite. Varroa mites are currently subject to an <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-in-a-unique-position-to-eliminate-the-bee-killing-varroa-mite-heres-what-happens-if-we-dont-205926">eradication program</a>. Varroa mite is only in NSW at the moment.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528723/original/file-20230528-15-bmpabq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528723/original/file-20230528-15-bmpabq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528723/original/file-20230528-15-bmpabq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528723/original/file-20230528-15-bmpabq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528723/original/file-20230528-15-bmpabq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528723/original/file-20230528-15-bmpabq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528723/original/file-20230528-15-bmpabq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528723/original/file-20230528-15-bmpabq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Colonies can be removed alive and relocated. However, this is not always possible.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Prevention is key</h2>
<p>Try to prevent bees getting in your house in the first place. Seal cracks or holes in exterior walls and put fly screen mesh over outdoor vents. </p>
<p>Beekeepers can prevent swarms happening in the first place by making sure they manage their hives appropriately. Joining a local beekeeping club is an excellent way to learn about bee care.</p>
<p>While honeybees are important <a href="https://honeybee.org.au/pdf/PollinationAwareFactSheet.pdf">pollinators</a> and <a href="https://beeaware.org.au/industry/">honey producers</a>, they can also be a nuisance in your home.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-kill-the-curl-grubs-in-your-garden-they-could-be-native-beetle-babies-191771">Don’t kill the curl grubs in your garden – they could be native beetle babies</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203334/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanya Latty receives funding from the Australian Research Council, The Branco Weiss Foundation and AgriFutures Australia. She co-founded and works with Invertebrates Australia, a conservation organisation dedicated to the conservation of insects and other invertebrates. She is President of the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour, and sits on the Education Committee for the Australian Entomological Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nadine Chapman receives funding from AgriFutures Australia and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. She is a member of the NSW Apiarist Association and the Amateur Beekeepers Association.</span></em></p>Honeybees have the potential to cause damage to the structure of homes. The honey and wax produced by bees can melt under certain circumstances, like when the colony dies or during hot weather.Tanya Latty, Associate professor, University of SydneyNadine Chapman, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2063902023-05-25T01:01:52Z2023-05-25T01:01:52ZCould wildflowers and bug hotels help avert an insect apocalypse? We just don’t know – yet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528125/original/file-20230524-29-9g5xse.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C54%2C5160%2C3383&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Insects are in rapid decline. One study found the global total is falling by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320718313636">2.5% a year</a>, with insect species going extinct eight times faster than mammals, birds and reptiles. </p>
<p>While scientists don’t yet know when insect populations could drop to the point of no return, we can’t keep losing species without, ultimately, a catastrophic outcome. </p>
<p>Many people are concerned about insect biodiversity and trying do something about it. One way is to give some habitat back to insects. <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/garden/119011599/how-to-grow-a-wildflower-meadow">Wildflower meadows</a>, for example, are being sown in parks and other urban green spaces. </p>
<p>Typically, these are mixtures of mostly non-native species chosen to provide nectar, pollen, and other resources for insects, as well as visual floral appeal. They are often deployed for other reasons, like reducing the need for mowing and its associated costs and carbon footprint. </p>
<p>But before we plant wildflower fields or build “bug hotels”, we need to better understand how these measures help – and when they don’t. The lack of robust research means there is still a lot we don’t know. Our team of researchers at the University of Canterbury is trying to fill some of this knowledge gap.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1628922661027057665"}"></div></p>
<h2>What we don’t know</h2>
<p>The long-term potential of wildflowers is unclear. They seem to attract insects, but there are many unanswered questions. </p>
<p>Do these insects come from elsewhere or is there a genuine bolstering of populations? Which insects benefit most? What is the balance between pests and beneficial species? Can exotic plants support an increase in native insects? Do the effects extend beyond planted areas, and if so, how far?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/insects-worldwide-study-reveals-widespread-decline-since-1925-137089">Insects: worldwide study reveals widespread decline since 1925</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Bug hotels, which generally consist of artificial homes for insects, raise similar questions. As their design, materials, and construction are more variable, it’s even more difficult to assess their efficacy. </p>
<p>This is something we need examine further as some designs may be more effective than others. This will depend on the mix of insects in the vicinity. What works well in one place may be counter-productive in another.</p>
<h2>Long-term commitment</h2>
<p>Enthusiasm for sowing wildflowers and building bug refuges rarely extends to ongoing upkeep and long-term monitoring. Many studies are short-term, local scale, and rather ad hoc, making it difficult to compare and draw broader conclusions. </p>
<p>The results are often unpublished or difficult to find, hidden in reports about other things. This means, if we are to use these insect ecosystem revival approaches effectively, we need to draw this evidence together and implement more long-term studies across a wide variety of contexts.</p>
<p>Fortunately, studies like this are relatively easy to do. They just require a commitment to keeping them going. We also need to be sharing the results in ways that allow meaningful comparisons. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/insects-are-vanishing-worldwide-now-its-making-it-harder-to-grow-food-199826">Insects are vanishing worldwide – now it's making it harder to grow food</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The research methods used by scientists to study insect populations don’t require expensive equipment and can easily be replicated by volunteers, community groups and school students of all ages. For example, <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-to-make-pitfall-trap-to-catch-insects.html">pitfall traps</a>, which measure insect activity on the ground, can be yoghurt pots sunk into the soil. </p>
<p>The educational possibilities are many, from science fair projects to basic numeracy skills. Similar to birdwatching, volunteers could do five-minute bug counts to see what insects visit flowers and “hotels”. </p>
<p>Other entomological methods such as “beating” (shaking a low-hanging branch over a white sheet to see what falls out) are just as easy. The important point is to choose methods and a sampling frequency that are sustainable, and stick to it.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1660442923060830208"}"></div></p>
<h2>Understanding bug populations</h2>
<p>Baseline studies before establishing a meadow or bug hotel would make research like this even more effective, but this is rarely done. This is why we have been doing baseline studies of areas where wildflower meadows are planned at the University of Canterbury. We want to understand the environment, and insect populations, before the introduction of the wildflowers.</p>
<p>Although all the available evidence suggests these meadows will significantly increase the number and diversity of insects in the area, it’s surprising how many insects we’ve found in our baseline studies, including lots of tiny parasitic wasps, which tell us the insects they live off must also be around, even though we have not seen so many of them. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-happens-to-the-natural-world-if-all-the-insects-disappear-111886">What happens to the natural world if all the insects disappear?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These baseline studies will allow us to see how the composition of the insect community changes after meadows are sown. We may even find some kinds of insects decrease in numbers while others flourish. These details are important for assessing the overall impacts of the meadow.</p>
<p>In the process, we may also counter the trend towards disconnection from nature, particularly among young people. Wildflower meadows, bug hotels and other interventions could be a wonderful way to “rewild” our urban spaces, and bring some nature back into people’s lives. </p>
<p>If we want to know the best way to use such measures, however, we need to monitor their impacts. This can be an interesting, fun way to engage with and learn about nature, and to add value to community gardens and replanting projects.</p>
<p>It can also provide important scientific data to help us more effectively provide the space insects need to thrive alongside us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206390/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Cruickshank does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There’s a lot of enthusiasm for wildflower fields and bug hotels. But before introducing these insect-saving measures, we need to better understand when they help – and when they don’t.Rob Cruickshank, Lecturer – Teaching & Administration, University of CanterburyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2059262023-05-24T01:51:10Z2023-05-24T01:51:10ZAustralia is in a unique position to eliminate the bee-killing Varroa mite. Here’s what happens if we don’t<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527408/original/file-20230522-17-by2qo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=57%2C23%2C3767%2C2562&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Théotime Colin</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Varroa mites – notorious honey bee parasites – have recently reached Australian shores, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-06-24/varroa-mite-detected-at-newcastle-port/101180446">detected at the Port of Newcastle</a> in New South Wales last year. If they establish here, there would be significant implications for agricultural food security, as honey bees are heavily relied on for the pollination of many crops.</p>
<p>However, while Australia is the last continent to be invaded by the mite, it has an opportunity to be the first to eradicate it.</p>
<p><em>Varroa destructor</em> is a small mite that attaches to bees and <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190114161137.htm">eats their “fat body</a>”. The fat bodies of honey bees are the insect equivalent of a liver. Varroa weakens bees, reduces their lifespan and increases the spread of deadly viruses.</p>
<p>Scientists need to be ready: this might be Australia’s best chance to collect important data on the spread and evolution of this parasite. Our new paper <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0589">published today in Biology Letters</a> outlines what questions scientists need to ask and what data they need to collect if Varroa spreads in Australia.</p>
<p>Such data could help us understand how parasites evolve, why Varroa are so damaging for honey bees, and how Varroa mites impact other insects and the environment.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-varroa-mite-the-tiny-killer-threatening-australias-bees-25710">Explainer: Varroa mite, the tiny killer threatening Australia's bees</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Will Varroa establish in Australia?</h2>
<p>Australia is in close proximity to countries that have the mite, including New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Indonesia.</p>
<p>This probably explains why invasive honey bee swarms are frequently intercepted at our ports, <a href="https://www.beeawarebrisbane.org/blog/a-brief-history-of-honey-bee-incursions-into-australia">many of these carrying Varroa</a>. Australia currently bans importation of honey bee colonies due to the biosecurity risk, so these interceptions are typically due to stowaway swarms taking up residence in shipping containers.</p>
<p>Previous invasions of Varroa have been successfully <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-06-29/varroa-mite-detected-in-melbourne/9923972">eradicated before establishing</a>, but this time Varroa circumvented the biosecurity surveillance near Newcastle and spread locally.</p>
<p>The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries has been <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response">contact-tracing and culling hives in contaminated areas</a>, and the spread has been slow so far. Australia has large populations of feral honey bees, which could potentially act as a reservoir for Varroa and are much harder to trace and control, so the department is tackling this with a <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response/wild-european-honey-bee-management">wild honey bee baiting program</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A small red mite facing the camera on a grey metallic background, the many legs of the mites are visible as well as a few pieces of wax" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Varroa mite fallen from a hive in France.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Théotime Colin</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What threats does Varroa pose?</h2>
<p>Varroa mites are a threat to food security. Although Australia has an abundance of food and <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/products/insights/australian-food-security-and-COVID-19">exports it to other nations</a>, the price of food is likely to increase if Varroa escapes confinement.</p>
<p>Currently, pollination of crops in eradication zones such as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-07-27/varroa-mite-nsw-berry-production-price-detection-coffs-harbour/101272874">berries in Coffs Harbour</a> is at risk due to the removal of all honey bees in the region, which may lead to short-term increases in food costs.</p>
<p>However, establishment and spread of Varroa will lead to lower pollination and lower crop production across the country, which will raise the price of most fruit and vegetables that depend on bee pollination.</p>
<p>This could worsen the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/17/inflation-and-inadequate-welfare-fuelling-australias-food-insecurity-crisis-foodbank-finds">food affordability crises caused by the current inflation</a>, affecting the ability of low income households to buy nutritious and fresh produce. Almond pollination has already noted a deficit of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-07-18/victoria-to-be-80-000-bee-hives-short-for-almond-pollination/101246392">80,000 hives in the last season</a>. </p>
<p>Many of the honey bee colonies that pollinate our crops are <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-varroa-mite-the-tiny-killer-threatening-australias-bees-25710">thought to be feral</a>, living in tree hollows or nest-boxes designed for native animals. These feral bees are not managed by beekeepers and so won’t be saved by the use of Varroa treatments, meaning they will most likely disappear. </p>
<p>Varroa may be a threat to wild pollinators including native bees. Varroa often spreads viruses, which can jump between species and may threaten our wild native pollinators. Of particular concern are viruses that deform insect wings and cause paralysis. Fortunately, these viruses have not been detected in the current Varroa incursion.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustration of different bee species pollinating flowers from crops and native plants" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia currently relies on pollination by commercial honey bees (yellow), supplemented by feral honey bees (brown), though we have many native bee species like stingless bees and blue banded bees that are also being used in crop pollination.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Boris Yagound, adapted from Chapman et al. 2023</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How can we secure Australia’s agricultural industry?</h2>
<p>Australia’s agricultural industry relies mostly on pollination by European honey bees. This choice has been risky.</p>
<p>In Europe, pollination services are also provided by diverse species like bumble bees, mining bees and mason bees (e.g. <em>Osmia rufa</em>), many of which are un-managed wild species that nest alone.</p>
<p>If Varroa escapes confinement, beekeepers will still be able to maintain colonies of honey bees but at greater costs, due to colony losses and the need for chemicals to treat Varroa mites in the hives. These costs have the potential to sink businesses, and affect the livelihoods of beekeepers. </p>
<p>Australia needs to decrease its reliance on the European honey bee in agriculture and improve pollinator diversity via the use of <a href="https://beeaware.org.au/pollination/native-bees/native-bees-as-alternative-pollinators/">other native pollinator species</a> such as native stingless bees, blue banded bees, <a href="https://www.horticulture.com.au/hort-innovation/news-events/media-releases/2022/Scientists-bring-flies-to-Varroa-Mite-Red-Zone">or even flies</a>. For example, native Australian stingless bees aid in the pollination of macadamia and capsicum crops and could be used for the pollination of other crops.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7MILt82Y5ig?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Native blue banded bees pollinating tomatoes in Australia.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Australia’s unique situation</h2>
<p>Australia is different from other Varroa infected regions of the world. Our incursion was smaller, it was identified early and the management zone is small enough to be feasibly eradicated.</p>
<p>Even if Varroa spreads in Australian landscapes, hopes are that the pace of the spread may be slower in Australia than it was in other regions due to the smaller incursion, the colossal eradication effort and large tracts of land that are inhospitable to honey bees. Managed honey bee populations are <a href="https://extensionaus.com.au/professionalbeekeepers/670000-registered-honey-bee-hives-in-australia/">concentrated around coastal regions</a>, or in Australia’s major rural food bowl regions where pollinator-dependant crops (such as almonds, blueberries and apples) are located. </p>
<p>This gives us a chance to prevent the spread of Varroa across inland Australia, where there are no honey bees.</p>
<p>Luckily for us, most of the world has already spent the last few decades trying to minimise Varroa mite management costs. As a nation, we now have the chance to initiate a fresh and coordinated management response. Australia could organise state-wide <a href="https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/pesticides/integrated-pest-management">integrated pest management</a> approaches and treatment regimes to prevent Varroa’s resistance to chemical treatments from developing rapidly.</p>
<p>In short, there are good reasons to remain positive about the future of Australian beekeeping and horticultural industries, but there is still much work for our research community to do.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-do-so-much-more-than-you-think-from-dancing-to-being-little-art-critics-204039">Bees can do so much more than you think – from dancing to being little art critics</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scarlett Howard has received funding from Australian Government, RMIT University, Fyssen Foundation, L’Oreal-UNESCO, Australian Academy of Sciences, Hermon Slade, Deakin University, and Monash University. She has been affiliated with Pint of Science Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Mikheyev receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Agrifutures Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Remnant has received funding from The University of Sydney, Horticulture Innovation Australia, Agrifutures Australia, the Australia and Pacific Science Foundation, the Australian Government and the NSW Government. She has volunteered for the NSW Apiarists Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Tierney has received funding from Australian Entomological Society, Centre for Biodiversity Analysis, Flinders University, Hort Innovation, National Geographic Society, Royal Entomological Society, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Tokyo Metropolitan University and Western Sydney University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Théotime Colin receives funding from Macquarie University, the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, the Eldon & Anne Foote Trust, Hort Innovation Australia, the Innovation Connections program, the The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and Agrifutures Australia. He is a member of the New South Wales Apiarists' Association.</span></em></p>Australia is the last continent to be invaded by the dangerous honey bee parasite, and has an opportunity to be the first to eradicate it.Scarlett Howard, Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, Monash UniversityAlexander Mikheyev, Group Leader, Mikheyev Group - Evolutionary genomics, Australian National UniversityEmily Remnant, Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of SydneySimon Tierney, Lecturer & Research Fellow, Western Sydney UniversityThéotime Colin, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2059322023-05-23T20:11:13Z2023-05-23T20:11:13ZCoffee, brought to you by bees: a case study in how restoring habitat is a win-win for forests and farmers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527609/original/file-20230523-25-1oj0e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3872%2C2579&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(05)00302-2">Bees are crucial</a> for producing many of our beloved foods and beverages. Coffee is one crop that <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880921003844">benefits from bee pollination</a>. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en/news/pollinator-decline-across-globe-verdict-international-group-scientific-experts">pollinator numbers are falling</a> worldwide. Many are <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/03/40-of-pollinator-species-face-extinction-report-finds/">facing extinction</a>. This decline is <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/monoculture-farming-modern-day-agriculture-killing-bees-scientists/story?id=80536659">due in part</a> to ever-expanding farmland covered by a single kind of crop plant – agricultural monocultures. </p>
<p>Restoring pollinators’ habitat is essential, both to stop their decline and to maintain food production. Calls for large-scale restoration, such as the <a href="https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/">UN Decade of Restoration</a>, are ambitious and may compete with other land uses. In addition, restoration often has an upfront cost, while its benefits could take time to obtain. </p>
<p>However, our <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002107">new research</a> shows that coffee farmers who restore patches of forest across their properties can nearly double their profits with just a 15% increase in natural habitat over five years. The benefits, a result of higher pollinator numbers, continue to increase for both farmers and forest over the long term (40 years). This is the first study that assessed such benefits in the long term and at a large scale.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-birds-and-the-bees-help-coffee-plants-181189">How the birds and the bees help coffee plants</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Finding a sweet spot</h2>
<p>Planting trees without planning that takes all factors into account may lead to poor conservation or economic outcomes. For instance, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825210001571?via%3Dihub">tree planting in unsuitable arid areas of China</a> ultimately led to further environmental degradation, although the aim was to combat desertification. </p>
<p>For our study, we set up two clear objectives: </p>
<ol>
<li>to maximise coffee profitability</li>
<li>to maximise restoration of forest that pollinators could use. </li>
</ol>
<p>We used Costa Rica as a case study because of the wealth of information on pollination services for coffee in this region. One study found forest-based pollinators <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0405147101">increased coffee yields by 20%</a> within 1 kilometre of forest. So the presence of a healthy population of pollinators has a big impact on farmers’ revenue. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Hands picking coffee berries off the bush" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coffee production depends on a healthy population of pollinators.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/boosting-bee-diversity-can-help-stabilise-crop-production-new-research-157328">Boosting bee diversity can help stabilise crop production – new research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A common practice to increase profits is to expand cropland by clearing forest. Therefore, restoring coffee lands to forest may involve trade-offs. To account for this, we considered two different planning contexts: </p>
<ol>
<li>only restoration and no agricultural expansion</li>
<li>a mix of restoration and agricultural expansion. </li>
</ol>
<p>We also compared multiple scenarios to assess the trade-offs between focusing solely on coffee profitability (objective one) versus giving more priority to restoring habitat for bees (objective two), and everything in between. Our mathematical modelling then selected the best locations to restore habitat (or expand agriculture) for each scenario.</p>
<p>There was a sweet spot between both objectives when practising only restoration. We found coffee farms can increase economic benefits by 98% after five years by increasing forest area by 15%. After 40 years, the economic benefits increase by about 109% with a 19% increase in forest area. </p>
<p>We also found that if farmers restore habitat without expanding agriculture, profits are steadier. When farmers restore and expand at the same time, this adds an element of volatility.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Aerial view showing patches of forest among areas of coffee crops" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Farmers need to find a sweet spot between habitat for pollinators and cleared land for growing crops.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/restoring-forests-often-falls-to-landholders-heres-how-to-do-it-cheaply-and-well-204123">Restoring forests often falls to landholders. Here's how to do it cheaply and well</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Small or big patches?</h2>
<p>We found restoring many small patches throughout the farmed area maximised pollination services. Bees can only travel fairly short distances, ranging from 40 metres to 3 kilometres. Dispersed forest patches allowed the bees to reach more coffee plants. </p>
<p>However, while smaller patches are generally suitable for pollinators, other species have different needs. Restoring large areas is important for species that travel longer distances, such as the jaguar (<em>Panthera onca</em>), or for forest specialists that need <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10425">dense forest to thrive</a>. </p>
<p>However, having only a big patch of restored forest in an area of farmland may isolate species that have a large home range. In contrast, restoring small patches of land can provide <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-013-0470-y">important corridors for mammals</a>. </p>
<p>In our study, we found other solutions that restored a mix of big and small patches at the same time. These solutions can still can deliver good economic and restoration outcomes. Having a mix is important because it allows <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.12666">biodiversity conservation and farming to co-exist</a>.</p>
<p>Ideally, farmers who have large patches restored on their land would receive financial compensation. This could make up for the farmers’ upfront and ongoing costs, such as sapling cost and labour to maintain plants throughout some years. At the same time, <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10138">neighbouring farms</a> will benefit from bees travelling to and pollinating their crops, even if habitat isn’t restored on this land.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tropical-forests-can-recover-surprisingly-quickly-on-deforested-lands-and-letting-them-regrow-naturally-is-an-effective-and-low-cost-way-to-slow-climate-change-173302">Tropical forests can recover surprisingly quickly on deforested lands – and letting them regrow naturally is an effective and low-cost way to slow climate change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="bees on white coffee flowers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Having forest nearby increases the numbers of bees that can get to the coffee plants and pollinate their flowers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, these findings support solutions for farmers with different environmental outlooks. Some farmers may be generally supportive of conservation, leading to more proactive restoration actions and no clearing of forest. Other farmers may place a high importance on expanding agricultural production to improve their livelihoods. </p>
<p>Our study takes into account both contexts. Our findings show strategic habitat restoration for pollinators produces win-win outcomes for farming and the environment in both cases.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sofía López-Cubillos is affiliated with Fundación Manigua desde la Tierra in Colombian and the Institute for Capacity Exchange in Environmental Decisions in Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca K. Runting receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>The optimal trade-off between restoring habitat and crop production hinges on pollinators. A new study shows giving pollinators more natural habitat on the farm leads to big increases in production.Sofía López-Cubillos, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of MelbourneRebecca K. Runting, Senior Lecturer in Spatial Sciences and ARC DECRA Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040392023-05-19T00:35:57Z2023-05-19T00:35:57ZBees can do so much more than you think – from dancing to being little art critics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524552/original/file-20230505-23-flxhaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C85%2C2796%2C1909&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kirill Demchenko/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bees are among <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/why-bees-are-essential-people-and-planet">the most important insects on Earth</a> – vital pollinators of our crops and significant contributors to <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-rock-carvings-to-rock-music-the-prevalence-of-bees-in-art-throughout-human-history-173069">human societies</a> for thousands of years.</p>
<p>While visiting various plants, bees need to figure out the best flowers so they can be the most efficient foragers possible, and communicate this to their hive.</p>
<p>But there’s much more these insects’ tiny brains are capable of.</p>
<h2>Bees have a great memory and can learn a lot</h2>
<p>Bees can visit hundreds of flowers a day across multiple locations, and are great at learning which floral colours, shapes and locations are best for finding food. These flower memories can last for days, allowing for individual workers to return to the best flowers.</p>
<p>Bees are capable of learning in complex ways. They can use “cross-modal” learning, recognising an object they’ve experienced with one sense when it’s presented in another sense. In one study, bumblebees were trained <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aay8064">to tell cubes and spheres apart</a> using only touch, but could still distinguish them visually if they were unable to touch the shapes – and vice versa.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A light purple lavender stem with a fuzzy bumblebee on it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bumblebees can integrate information from different senses – a useful skill when foraging from colourful flowers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/L3z12pKGq-Y">NON/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bumblebees were trained on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-bumblebees-can-help-us-understand-the-evolution-of-human-memories-192193">different combinations of higher and lower quality coloured flower pairs</a>. When bees were presented with flower combinations that had never been paired together, bumblebees forgot information about how sweet a flower was, but could remember if their experience was better or worse for the two flowers displayed.</p>
<p>This demonstrates bees can integrate sensory information independently of the specific sense involved. This is something human babies do when developing, and how we learn to read and write. </p>
<h2>Bees also learn from each other</h2>
<p>Honeybees are possibly most famous <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-honeybees-iconic-waggle-dance-learned-or-innate-new-research-provides-the-answer-201297">for the “waggle dance”</a>, which is how they tell their nest mates about the distance, direction, and quality of a food source. </p>
<p>Honeybees are born to dance, but when young bees are able to observe older, more accomplished dancing bees, the <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade1702">young bees become “better” dancers</a>. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6N3nJItYrcw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Aside from the waggle dance, social bees use a range of social information to learn from others. They follow each other to good flowers, they use scent marks to mark both rewarding and empty flowers, or simply <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64884107">watch more experienced individuals</a> to learn how to access food.</p>
<p>Bees are also individuals, with differences in their ability to learn – <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0090556">some are fast learners, whilst others are a bit slow</a>. </p>
<p>Their learning isn’t simply passive either. Bumblebees have been trained to push balls into holes to get rewards. During these experiments there have been observer bees who have learnt the skill either by watching (and no direct interaction with the teacher bee), or interacting with the teacher bee and then spontaneously improving on the technique.</p>
<p>This demonstrates an understanding of the task at hand and the desired outcome, allowing the observer bee to find her own, better way to get the reward.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/exsrX6qsKkA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>As the FIFA Women’s World Cup approaches, we can even use this training technique to get bees to learn to <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/bees-learn-soccer-from-their-buddies/">play soccer</a>.</p>
<h2>Bees can recognise faces – and paintings</h2>
<p>Bees’ ability to memorise doesn’t stop at flowers. In one example, honeybees were rewarded every time they visited a painting by a “rewarding” artist (either <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23076444/">Monet or Picasso</a>). When bees were given paintings they had never seen before, they still visited the rewarding artist, suggesting they can discriminate between art <em>styles</em>.</p>
<p>This extends beyond Picasso and Monet, with bees learning to discriminate between <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-learn-the-difference-between-european-and-australian-indigenous-art-styles-in-a-single-afternoon-110494">Monet and Indigenous artist Noŋgirrŋa Marawili</a> in a single afternoon. </p>
<p>Their discrimination ability beyond flowers is also impressive, as honeybees can even <a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/208/24/4709/15923/Honeybee-Apis-mellifera-vision-can-discriminate">recognise people’s faces</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I_4G-3mFnRs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Bees can play</h2>
<p>Play is considered a really important part of learning and cognition, and it’s not limited to humans. A previous study of bumblebees showed <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347222002366">they meet the criteria of play</a> – repeated behaviours that occur voluntarily for pleasure, and offer little value to the animal’s ability to mate, reproduce, or feed successfully. </p>
<p>Bumblebees that entered a room full of wooden balls willingly rolled around with the balls, and were more likely to enter a room that was previously associated with wooden balls, even though they were given no food reward for doing so.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7-LOJysXxcU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Native bees are smart</h2>
<p>Most of our understanding of bee brains focuses on two groups of bees: honeybees and bumblebees. These bees are widely distributed across the globe and are commercially important pollinators.</p>
<p>But there are a lot of other species of bees we don’t know as much about.</p>
<p>In Australia, we have over 2,000 species of native bees, and we know that a lot of them have great colour vision, and innate preferences for particular shapes and colours. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-021-01739-9">Halictid bees</a> can learn to avoid flowers associated with predation, for example.</p>
<p>It is highly likely that most other bee species are capable of clever feats – we just need to spend more time studying them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/move-over-honeybees-aussie-native-bees-steal-the-show-with-unique-social-and-foraging-behaviours-200536">Move over, honeybees: Aussie native bees steal the show with unique social and foraging behaviours</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Could bees be… sentient?</h2>
<p>Thinking about these abilities and taking the research all together, it becomes clear that the “simple” minds of bees are far more capable than we could have imagined.</p>
<p>Though they only have about a million neurons (we have about 100 billion), bees show complex behaviours like tool use, they have a representation of space, and they can learn through observation. </p>
<p>This has brought about some <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-constitutes-a-mind-lars-chittka-challenges-our-perception-of-sentience-with-the-smallest-of-creatures-182855">exciting discussions</a> around bees potentially having consciousness. If that were true, it could change not only how we see bees, but how we interact with them. It also raises the question – could other invertebrates have consciousness?</p>
<h2>Stress and other factors limit their ability to do these clever things</h2>
<p>Native bees face many risks, including the negative impacts of habitat loss, pollution, climate change, and the overuse of pesticides. </p>
<p>For bees generally, stress is a problem as well. All kinds of <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-get-stressed-at-work-too-and-it-might-be-causing-colony-collapse-96412">stress</a> can make it harder for bees to learn, as it impacts their cognitive functions, their ability to think, and remember. </p>
<p>There is evidence that pesticides and air pollution can impair memory and learning in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep16508#:%7E:text=However%2C%20following%20chronic%20pesticide%20exposure,exposure%20to%202.4%20ppb%20pesticide.">bumblebees</a> and <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.13193">honeybees</a>. When honeybees were exposed to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/oik.05405">road pollution</a>, they were less able to remember floral scents, which makes it harder for them to locate the flowers they need to sustain their hive. </p>
<p>Next time you’re watching bees in your garden, don’t forget to appreciate all of the things their brains are able to do – and how much we need to look after them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204039/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlyn Forster received funding from the Australian Research Council and The Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eliza Middleton received funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>We all know bees are vital pollinators. But they’re also art critics, social learners, dancers and so much more.Caitlyn Forster, Associate Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of SydneyEliza Middleton, Biodiversity Management Officer, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2057202023-05-18T14:37:02Z2023-05-18T14:37:02ZDecolonize your garden: This long weekend, dig into the complicated roots of gardening — Listen<p>The May long weekend is the unofficial start of summer. And for those of you with home gardens or access to community space, this is the weekend to dust off your gardening tools and visit the garden centre for the growing season ahead.</p>
<p>As we approach the start of gardening season, it’s good time to ask some questions about its origins.</p>
<p>Whether you plan to get marigolds, plant a vegetable garden or create a pollinator patch — all gardens have complicated roots. </p>
<p>In fact, the practice of gardening is <a href="https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/the-coloniality-of-planting">deeply tied to colonialism</a> — from the <a href="https://www.noemamag.com/the-long-shadow-of-colonial-science">formation of botany as a science</a>, to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01865-1">spread of seeds, species and knowledge.</a> </p>
<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/92c92d2a-9628-4da6-9b3f-8bf5ec67d7cf?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><em><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/decolonize-your-garden-this-long-weekend-visit-the-complicated-roots-of-gardening-listen">In this episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient</a>, we explore the complicated roots of the garden, including who gets to garden. We also discuss practical tips about what to plant with an eye to Indigenous knowledge. We speak with researcher Jacqueline L. Scott and also chat with community activist, Carolynne Crawley, who leads workshops that integrate Indigenous teachings into practice.</em></p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Watercolor illustration of Tulipa sylvestris in I Cinque libri di piante.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pietro Antonio Michiel, Venice ca. 1550–1576, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Coveted tulips</h2>
<p>Some of the most recognizable plants today, such as <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/there-never-was-real-tulip-fever-180964915/">tulips</a>, are the result of early colonial conquests. Originally found growing wild in the valleys where current China and Tibet meet Afghanistan and Russia, tulips were first cultivated in Istanbul as early as 1055. </p>
<p>Later, after they were hybridized and commodified by the Dutch, they became highly coveted status symbols because of their gorgeous, but fleeting, blooms. </p>
<p>Exploratory botanical voyages by colonial European powers were integral to the expansion of empire. These trips fueled the big business of collecting global plant samples and also led to the emergence of botany as a scientific discipline. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">227 figures of plant anatomical segments with descriptive text. Botany. Plant anatomy. Plant morphology. Plants. Roots (Botany). Roots (Botany) – Morphology. Roots (Botany) – Anatomy. Rootstocks. Tubers. Leaves. Leaves – Morphology. Flowers – Morphology. Flowers. Fruit – Morphology. Bulbs (Plant anatomy). Plants – Variation. Botany – France. Stems (Botany).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Botanical gardens served as labs</h2>
<p>Botanical gardens played a key role, serving as the laboratories where plant specimens were organized, ordered and named. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsisyn.2021.100196">“Scientific objectivity”</a> asserted a Eurocentric point of view, disrupting and displacing Indigenous Knowledge and ecological practices. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1913 illustrated depiction of African American people picking cotton.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CottonpickHoustonWhere17.png">Jerome H. Farbar: 'Houston: Where Seventeen Railroads Meet the Sea.' Page 31/40, 'Cotton Pickers'</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The movement and transfer of plants around the world went hand in hand with the transportation of people to provide a labour force, through slavery and indentured servitude. </p>
<p>The plantation system cleared out local ecosystems and replaced traditional farming methods with growing cash crops — like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/sugar-slave-trade-slavery.html">sugar-cane</a>, <a href="https://thecorrespondent.com/222/the-history-of-tea-is-darker-than-a-builders-brew">tea</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/16/20806069/slavery-economy-capitalism-violence-cotton-edward-baptist">cotton.</a> These were products meant for European curiosities, markets and profit and not for the local populations.</p>
<h2>Plant and racial hierarchies</h2>
<p>This colonial system of <a href="https://open.oregonstate.education/cultivatedplants/chapter/colonialagriculture/">organizing agriculture</a> laid the groundwork for <a href="https://www.sapiens.org/biology/race-scientific-taxonomy/">categorizing people</a> in a similar way, establishing a social hierarchy which dehumanized non-Europeans, helping justify slavery and Indigenous genocide, and eventually leading to racial categories.</p>
<p>This history has shaped our current relationships to the land, and our gardens. It also informs beliefs about land ownership and access; who has a right to enjoy the land, versus who is expected to be working on it. Who has the literal and figurative space and freedom to garden?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On the left is a lawn (Stephen Cobb/Unsplash) and on the right is a native plant garden in Streeterville, Chicago (Shutterstock).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shifting attitudes</h2>
<p>But the soil is shifting. There is a growing shift away from <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-is-it-time-to-decolonize-your-lawn/">the colonial status symbol of the lawn</a> and <a href="https://chatelaine.com/living/quiet-quitting-garden/">manicured gardens</a>, in favour of <a href="https://broadview.org/lorraine-johnson-interview/">pollinator-friendly</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/13/realestate/why-some-of-your-annuals-should-be-native-plants.html">native plants</a>. </p>
<p>There is also a growing understanding that <a href="https://broadview.org/grandfather-teachings-gardening/">centuries-old Indigenous land-based knowledge</a> and practices — like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/21/wildfire-prescribed-burns-california-native-americans">controlled burns</a> — can help manage wildfires, and foster a more resilient landscape.</p>
<p>With concerns about our climate crisis growing, one of the possible avenues for <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-urban-gardens-can-boost-biodiversity-and-make-cities-more-sustainable-162810">creating more sustainable cities may very well lie in our gardens</a>.</p>
<p>Could we have an impact simply by thinking a little differently about the seeds we sow and the “weeds” we pull?</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Monarch butterfly on purple coneflowers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeffrey Hamilton/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:DCMR@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/01/29/news/tiffany-traverse-rare-indigenous-seed-project">Tiffany Traverse on seeds and their endless power to give, heal and grow</a> - <em>Canada’s National Observer</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/the-coloniality-of-planting">The coloniality of planting: legacies of racism and slavery in the practice of botany</a> - <em>The Architectural Review</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.noemamag.com/the-long-shadow-of-colonial-science/">The Long Shadow Of Colonial Science</a> - <em>Noema Magazine</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-is-it-time-to-decolonize-your-lawn/">Is it time to decolonize your lawn?</a> - <em>Globe and Mail</em></p>
<p><a href="https://turtleprotectors.com">Turtle Protectors</a> in Toronto’s High Park</p>
<p><a href="https://gardeningoutloud.substack.com/p/guest-episode-1-spring-joy-with-ateqah">Spring joy with Ateqah Khaki</a> - <em>Gardening Out Loud</em></p>
<h2>From the archives - in The Conversation</h2>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-colonial-past-of-botanical-gardens-can-be-put-to-good-use-104786">How the colonial past of botanical gardens can be put to good use</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/director-of-science-at-kew-its-time-to-decolonise-botanical-collections-141070">Director of science at Kew: it's time to decolonise botanical collections</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-shortage-of-native-seeds-is-slowing-land-restoration-across-the-us-which-is-crucial-for-tackling-climate-change-and-extinctions-199049">A shortage of native seeds is slowing land restoration across the US, which is crucial for tackling climate change and extinctions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An aerial view of small green seedlings in pots.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Markus Spiske PG/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205720/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
As we approach the start of gardening season, it’s a good time to ask some questions about what to plant and who gets to plant.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientAteqah Khaki, Associate Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2038372023-05-17T12:39:23Z2023-05-17T12:39:23ZBees can learn, remember, think and make decisions – here’s a look at how they navigate the world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526312/original/file-20230515-24407-1yxhj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2286%2C1560&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bumblebee lands on the flowers of a white sloe bush. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/april-2022-saxony-anhalt-kathendorf-a-bumblebee-lands-on-news-photo/1240227459">Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As trees and flowers blossom in spring, bees emerge from their winter nests and burrows. For many species it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/spring-signals-female-bees-to-lay-the-next-generation-of-pollinators-134852">time to mate</a>, and some will start new solitary nests or colonies. </p>
<p>Bees and other pollinators are essential to human society. They provide about one-third of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-bee-economist-explains-honey-bees-vital-role-in-growing-tasty-almonds-101421">food we eat</a>, a service with a global value estimated at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20588">up to $US577 billion annually</a>.</p>
<p>But bees are interesting in many other ways that are less widely known. In my new book, “<a href="https://islandpress.org/books/what-bee-knows">What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees</a>,” I draw on my experience <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tqms8REAAAAJ&hl=en">studying bees for almost 50 years</a> to explore how these creatures perceive the world and their amazing abilities to navigate, learn, communicate and remember. Here’s some of what I’ve learned.</p>
<h2>It’s not all about hives and honey</h2>
<p>Because people are widely familiar with honeybees, many assume that all bees are social and live in hives or colonies with a queen. In fact, only about 10% of bees are social, and most types don’t make honey.</p>
<p>Most bees lead solitary lives, digging nests in the ground or finding abandoned beetle burrows in dead wood to call home. Some bees are cleptoparasites, <a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/death-and-thievery-in-the-colony/">sneaking into unoccupied nests to lay eggs</a>, in the same way that cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and let the unknowing foster parents <a href="https://madisonaudubon.org/blog/2018/8/9/into-the-nest-cowbirds-everybodys-favorite-villain">rear their chicks</a>.</p>
<p>A few species of tropical bees, known as vulture bees, survive by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02317-21">eating carrion</a>. Their guts contain acid-loving bacteria that enable the bees to digest rotting meat. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CGWgbHdgmBB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Busy brains</h2>
<p>The world looks very different to a bee than it does to a human, but bees’ perceptions are hardly simple. Bees are intelligent animals that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.05.005">likely feel pain</a>, remember patterns and odors and even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01929">recognize human faces</a>. They <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/nlme.1996.0069">can solve mazes</a> and other problems and use simple tools. </p>
<p>Research shows that bees <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.12.027">are self-aware</a> and may even have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.08.008">primitive form of consciousness</a>. During the six to 10 hours bees spend <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9583">sleeping daily</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.09.020">memories are consolidated</a> within their amazing brains – organs the size of a poppy seed that contain 1 million nerve cells. There are some indications that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.09.001">bees might even dream</a>. I’d like to think so. </p>
<h2>An alien sensory world</h2>
<p>Bees’ sensory experience of the world is markedly different from ours. For example, humans see the world through the primary colors of <a href="http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/colcon.html">red, green and blue</a>. Primary colors for bees are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71496-2_15">green, blue and ultraviolet</a>.</p>
<p>Bees’ vision is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ento.010908.164537">60 times less sharp than that of humans</a>: A flying bee can’t see the details of a flower until it is about 10 inches away. However, bees can see hidden ultraviolet floral patterns that are invisible to us, and those patterns lead the bees to flowers’ nectar.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kQ8GRJp8bVg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Naturalist David Attenborough uses ultraviolet light to show how flowers may appear different to bees than to humans.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bees also can spot flowers by detecting color changes at a distance. When humans watch film projected at 24 frames per second, the individual images appear to blur into motion. This phenomenon, which is called the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/movement-perception/Apparent-movement#ref488126">flicker-fusion frequency</a>, indicates how capable our visual systems are at resolving moving images. Bees have a much higher flicker-fusion frequency – you would have to play the film 10 times faster for it to look like a blur to them – so they can fly over a flowering meadow and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00610583">see bright spots of floral color</a> that wouldn’t stand out to humans.</p>
<p>From a distance, bees detect flowers by scent. A honeybee’s sense of smell is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0009110">100 times more sensitive</a> than ours. Scientists have used bees to sniff out chemicals <a href="https://entomologytoday.org/2013/11/25/can-trained-bees-detect-cancer-in-patients/">associated with cancer</a> and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/boston-researchers-train-bees-to-detect-diabetes/">with diabetes</a> on patients’ breath and to detect the presence of <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2006/12/07/227361/using-bees-to-detect-bombs/">high explosives</a>. </p>
<p>Bees’ sense of touch is also highly developed: They can feel tiny fingerprint-like ridges <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.82.14.4750">on the petals of some flowers</a>. Bees are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0005772X.1995.11099233">nearly deaf</a> to most airborne sounds, unless they are very close to the source, but are sensitive if they are standing on a vibrating surface. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1348645052134944771"}"></div></p>
<h2>Problem solvers</h2>
<p>Bees <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0005772X.1995.11099233">can navigate mazes</a> as well as mice can, and studies show that they are self-aware of their body dimensions. For example, when fat bumblebees were trained to fly and then walk through a slit in a board to get to food on the other side, the bees <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2016872117">turned their bodies sideways and tucked in their legs</a>. </p>
<p>Experiments by Canadian researcher Peter Kevan and Lars Chittka in England demonstrated remarkable feats of bee learning. Bumblebees were trained to pull a string – in other words, to use a tool – connected to a plastic disk with hidden depressions filled with sugar water. They could see the sugar wells but couldn’t get the reward <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002564">except by tugging at the string</a> until the disk was uncovered.</p>
<p>Other worker bees were placed nearby in a screen cage where they could see what their trained hive mates did. Once released, this second group also pulled the string for the sweet treats. This study demonstrated what scientists term <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/social-learning">social learning</a> – acting in ways that reflect the behavior of others.</p>
<h2>Pollinating with vibrations</h2>
<p>Even pollination, one of bees’ best-known behaviors, can be much more complicated than it seems. </p>
<p>The basic process is similar for all types of bees: Females carry pollen grains, the sex cells of plants, on their bodies from flower to flower as they collect pollen and nectar to feed themselves and their developing grubs. When pollen rubs off onto <a href="https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/biodiversity-counts/plant-identification/plant-morphology/parts-of-a-flower">a flower’s stigma</a>, the result is pollination. </p>
<p>My favorite area of bee research examines a method called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2013.05.002">buzz pollination</a>. Bees use it on about 10% of the world’s 350,000 kinds of flowering plants that have special <a href="https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/biodiversity-counts/plant-identification/plant-morphology/parts-of-a-flower">anthers</a> – structures that produce pollen. </p>
<p>For example, a tomato blossom’s five anthers are pinched together, like the closed fingers of one hand. Pollen is released through one or two small pores at the end of each anther. </p>
<p>When a female bumblebee lands on a tomato flower, she bites one anther at the middle and contracts her flight muscles from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erab428">100 to 400 times per second</a>. These powerful vibrations eject pollen from the anther pores in the form of a cloud that strikes the bee. It all happens in just a few tenths of a second. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SZrTndD1H10?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Bumblebees demonstrate buzz pollination on a Persian violet blossom.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The bee hangs by one leg and scrapes the pollen into “baskets” – structures on her hind legs. Then she repeats the buzzing on the remaining anthers before moving to different flowers.</p>
<p>Bees also use buzz pollination on the flowers of blueberries, cranberries, eggplant and kiwi fruits. My colleagues and I are conducting experiments to determine the biomechanics of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2022.0040">how bee vibrations eject pollen from anthers</a>. </p>
<h2>Planting for bees</h2>
<p>Many species of bees are <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-face-many-challenges-and-climate-change-is-ratcheting-up-the-pressure-190296">declining worldwide</a>, thanks to stresses including <a href="http://dx.doi.org/%2010.1126/science.1255957">parasites, pesticides and habitat loss</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Wood cubes filled with twigs and bricks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A backyard ‘insect hotel’ for solitary bees and other nesting insects, made from stems, bricks and wood blocks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/insect-hotel-for-solitary-bees-and-artificial-nesting-place-news-photo/601067110">Arterra/Universal Images Group vis Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whether you have an apartment window box or several acres of land, you can do a few <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-help-insects-make-them-welcome-in-your-garden-heres-how-153609">simple things to help bees</a>. </p>
<p>First, plant native wildflowers so that blooms are available in every season. Second, try to avoid using insecticides or herbicides. Third, provide open ground where burrowing bees can nest. With luck, soon you’ll have some buzzing new neighbors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203837/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Buchmann does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scientists are learning amazing things about bees’ sensory perception and mental capabilities.Stephen Buchmann, Adjunct Professor of Entomology and of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of ArizonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.