In a fascinating report today, The Times tells us that bees have a kind of “insect culture” in which they teach each other how to solve puzzles. The humble bumblebee can learn complex tasks from each other. Professor Lars Chittka, of Queen Mary University of …
The Times reports on the hunter gatherers of the Hadza tribe in Tanzania who, since the Stone Age, have been talking to the greater honeyguide bird in a customised language which gives the bird the confidence to guide members of this ancient tribe to wild …
A study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B has come to the conclusion that some bee species thrive in the urban environment and develop bigger brains to adapt to it. The urban environment can offer unique ecological opportunities with, for example, …
When people think of pollinators they normally think of bees. That’s because we enjoy seeing them in the daytime pollinating plants. But bees are under stress from insecticides and industrial farming. The numbers are falling. Without the pollination of bees all the plants that they …
Introduction: The Africanized bee, also known as the Africanized honey bee and the “killer bee”, is a hybrid of the western honey bee produced originally by crossbreeding of the East African lowland honey bee with various European honey bee subspecies such as the Italian honey …
This is a very rare, critically endangered, bee species found in Indonesia which is enormous and because of its rarity and size dead specimens can be bought on eBay for upwards of US$10,000. It is a toxic mix of trade in rare animal species reduced …
A research study published in the journal Animal Behaviour found that bees are not mindless robots but are probably sentient beings who like to play games, specifically roll balls for no apparent reason other than it is fun. In the study bumblebees were given the …
In July 2014, Morgan Freeman started to become a beekeeper and subsequently into bee conservation due to their decline. The video on YouTube below provides information about his start in beekeeping. The video starts at the point that Morgan Freeman talks about it. And below …
In the UK there is a rather strange statute called the Weeds Act 1959. It lists the injurious weeds of the UK which include: Common ragwort – Senecio jacobaea Broad-leaved dock – Rumex obtusifolius Curled dock – Rumex crispus Creeping thistle – Cirsium arvense Spear …
