On the Hunt: Honeybee Scouts Find Food
Honeybee in flight
A honeybee returns to her hive in Urbana, Illinois.
Honeybee in flight
A honeybee forager visits fall asters in Urbana, Illinois
Honeybee on flower
A tagged honeybee scouting a hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus) flower out.
Honeybee on flower
A honeybee scout takes a sample of nectar from a flower.
Honeybee approaches flower
A scout bee approaches Chinese cabbage flowers.
Honeybee on Thistle
A honeybee scout investigates a flower of star thistle.
Honeybee on poppy
A scout bee approaches a flower of California poppy.
Honeybee in flight
A honeybee returns to her hive in Urbana, Illinois.
honeybees on honeycomb
scout bee (top) comes home and shares her findings with another forager.
How to Make Busy Bees Busier
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
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.
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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.
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