On the Hunt: Honeybee Scouts Find Food

Honeybee in flight

honeybee flies through the air.

(Image credit: Alex Wild / alexanderwild.com)

A honeybee returns to her hive in Urbana, Illinois.

Honeybee in flight

honeybee flying toward a purple flower.

(Image credit: Alex Wild / alexanderwild.com)

A honeybee forager visits fall asters in Urbana, Illinois

Honeybee on flower

A honeybee tagged with the number 25 visits a purple flower.

(Image credit: Zachary Huang / beetography.com)

A tagged honeybee scouting a hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus) flower out.

Honeybee on flower

a honeybee visits a pale yellow flower

(Image credit: Zachary Huang / beetography.com)

A honeybee scout takes a sample of nectar from a flower.

Honeybee approaches flower

A honeybee flies up to a bright yellow flower.

(Image credit: Zachary Huang / beetography.com)

A scout bee approaches Chinese cabbage flowers.

Honeybee on Thistle

Honeybee investigating a pink thistle flower

(Image credit: Zachary Huang / beetography.com)

A honeybee scout investigates a flower of star thistle.

Honeybee on poppy

A honeybee approaches a bright orange poppy flower

(Image credit: Zachary Huang / beetography.com)

A scout bee approaches a flower of California poppy.

Honeybee in flight

honeybee flies through the air.

(Image credit: Alex Wild / alexanderwild.com)

A honeybee returns to her hive in Urbana, Illinois.

honeybees on honeycomb

Two honeybees meet on honeycomb.

(Image credit: Zachary Huang / beetography.com)

scout bee (top) comes home and shares her findings with another forager.

How to Make Busy Bees Busier

(Image credit: Sarah Greenleaf)

A wild bee (the bumble bee Bombus vosnesenskii) and a honey bee forage together on a sunflower. Honey bees that interact with wild, native bees are up to five times more efficient in pollinating sunflowers.

Wanted: Queen Bee Seeks Harem of Male Dancers

(Image credit: Haraz N. Ghanbari/AP)

A colony of honeybees. An unknown pathogen is pushing the industrious honeybee to disaster as scientists scurry to figure out what the cause is. Early results of a key study by the USDA and Pennsylvania State University point towards some kind of disease or parasite. About one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination, according to the USDA.

Jennifer Welsh

Jennifer Welsh is a Connecticut-based science writer and editor and a regular contributor to Live Science. She also has several years of bench work in cancer research and anti-viral drug discovery under her belt. She has previously written for Science News, VerywellHealth, The Scientist, Discover Magazine, WIRED Science, and Business Insider.