The waggle dance is performed by forager bees to convey important information about food sources.
A honeybee is performing the waggle dance in the center of this photo to communicate the location of a rich nectar source to its nestmates.
Heather Broccard-Bell
Honeybees possess one of the most complex examples of nonhuman communication. New research suggests that it is learned and culturally passed down from older to younger bees.
More watchful eyes can mean more safety for all.
Georgette Douwma/Stone via Getty Images
A vaccine for bees may evoke images of teeny hypodermic needles, but this product works in a sophisticated way that reflects the social structure of honeybee colonies.
Honeybees are vital pollinators.
BigBlueStudio/Shutterstock
Honey bees, wild and native bees face threats from parasites, pesticides and habitat loss. Shorter winters, more extreme weather and more habitat destruction won’t help.
Researchers have found that honeybees are effective blueberry pollinators.
Dr Keanu Martin
The son of a formerly enslaved mother, Charles Henry Turner was the first to discover that bees and other insects have the ability to modify their behavior based on experience.
Studying bee sperm is difficult because of the way it coils, but fluorescent light illuminates the head of the sperm. Sperm quality may indicate stress levels in the bee colony.
African bees trying to block beetles from damaging the hive end up inadvertently feeding them.
Chamanti Laing, Social Insects Research Group
Small hive beetles are the only species known to trick worker bees into feeding them essential food for the bee colony’s own survival and reproduction.
The varroa mite’s arrival in Australia was only a matter of time. We could benefit from one pest fighting another.
Yao honey-hunters harvesting a honeybee nest in Niassa Special.
Reserve, Mozambique, where human-honeyguide cooperation still thrives.
Photo by Jessica van der Wal
The miniature brains of honeybees were able to understand the concepts of odd and even, despite only having 960,000 neurons (compared to 86 billion in humans).
Honeybee workers gather on a frame from a hive.
(Leslie Kennah)
Celebrating the European honeybee is a misplaced opportunity to honour our forgotten native pollinators.
Planting corn near Dwight, Ill., April 23, 2020. Virtually all corn seeds planted in the U.S. are coated with neonicotinoid insecticides.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Studies suggest that seeds coated with neonicotinoid insecticides may harm nontarget insects, mammals and birds. In response, states are starting to restrict use of these products.