Related topics: bees

Impact of natural selection on nectar supply and demand

New research by the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI) at the University of Sussex shows that natural selection will cause flowers to produce less nectar when pollinators are abundant, and vice versa.

Yeasts in nectar can stimulate the growth of bee colonies

Researchers from KU Leuven have found that the presence of yeasts can alter the chemical composition and thus the nutritional value of nectar for pollinators such as bees. Moreover, the study found that yeasts can even boost ...

Insects might soon be trained to protect crops

One of the biggest contemporary challenges for humanity is to safeguard food security for current and future generations. A growing demand and a steady increase of the world population—nearly 10 billion people are expected ...

The hunger gaps: how flowering times affect farmland bees

For the very first time, researchers from the University of Bristol have measured farmland nectar supplies throughout the whole year and revealed hungry gaps when food supply is not meeting pollinator demand. This novel finding ...

Wasps, cockroaches and crickets are pollinators too

Wasps, cockroaches and crickets are widely disliked, but for a certain species of plant on the Japanese island of Yakushima they play a vital role. While studying the non-photosynthetic Mitrastemon yamamotoi plant, Associate ...

Microbes in flower nectar affect pollination

Dipping its beak into the sweet nectar of a flower, a hummingbird is doing more than getting a meal – it's contributing to a microbial community that could potentially determine the fate of that flower. Recognizing that ...

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