Bees may provide surprising insights into the kinds of environments that are best for learning.
Increased scientific understanding of the role microbes play in humans and other animals has led to the development of probiotics to improve heath.
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A swarm of honeybees can provide valuable lessons about how a group of many individuals can work together to accomplish a task, even with no one in charge. Roboticists are taking notes.
The Asian honey bee (Apis cerana) has been found in Cairns. It’s just one of the introduced bees buzzing under the radar.
Tobias Smith
Honeybees are good at maths, but it was thought they could only count to four. That is, unless you present them with a task in which they are punished with a bitter-tasting drink for getting it wrong.
It’s unlikely that all species of bees will go extinct anytime soon – but current losses could still have a terrible impact on food supplies and ecosystems.
Maybe the differences between human and non-human animals are not as great as we might previously have thought.
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Urban pollutants are a health concern in growing cities. Scientists are turning to honey bees to help monitor contaminants in soil, water, air and plants.
A buff tailed bumble bee emerges from a crocus covered in pollen.
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Bee brains contain less than one million neurons. Despite this, new research shows the honeybee can use symbols to perform basic maths, including addition and subtraction.
To help draw bees’ attention, flowers that are pollinated by bees have typically evolved to send very strong colour signals.
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Bees need flowers to live, and we need bees to pollinate our crops. Understanding bee vision can help us better support our buzzy friends and the critical pollination services they provide.
A painting titled The Bridge Over the Waterlily Pond by Claude Monet.
AAP/National Gallery of Victoria
Bees can pick up unique characteristics in paintings by zipping quickly back and forth in front of them to detect abrupt changes in the brightness of an image.
Moving beyond pesticides to control the destructive Varroa mite that’s killing honeybees is appealing, but requires more research.
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