Bumble bee disease, reproduction shaped by flowering strip plants

Flowering strips—pollinator-friendly rows of plants that increase foraging habitat for bees—can help offset pollinator decline but may also bring risks of higher pathogen infection rates for pollinators foraging in those ...

Why bumble bees are going extinct in time of 'climate chaos'

When you were young, were you the type of child who would scour open fields looking for bumble bees? Today, it is much harder for kids to spot them, since bumble bees are drastically declining in North America and in Europe.

Bumble bees prefer a low-fat diet

Bees are an important factor for our environment and our sustenance. Without insect pollination, many plant species—including various crops—cannot reproduce. "Bee mortality therefore affects food supply for human beings," ...

Pollination is better in cities than in the countryside

Flowering plants are better pollinated in urban than in rural areas. This has now been demonstrated experimentally by a team of scientists led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Martin ...

How the bumble bee got its stripes

Researchers have discovered a gene that drives color differences within a species of bumble bees. This discovery helps to explain the highly diverse color patterns among bumble bee species as well as how mimicry—individuals ...

The buzz about bumble bees isn't good

While many scientists are focused on the decline of honey bees, relatively few study bumble bees. The good news is that a new study provides an estimate on bumble bee population and distributions across Michigan in the past ...

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