Research articles
The astonishing behavioural versatility of nest-site scouts
In my book Honeybee Democracy, I summarised the behaviour of nest-site scouts as they work to find a home for their swarm: “Once bivouacked [in a beardlike cluster], the swarm will field...
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How Karl von Frisch deciphered the waggle dance
Major scientific discoveries rarely arise in a flash of insight. Most emerge over years as an investigator (or an investigation team) gains experience with a subject, develops better ways to study it,...
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A Game of Drones on the Isles of Scilly
BeeCraft has carried news of the Game of Drones on the Isles of Scilly (October 2022) as well as an introduction to the natural laboratory that the islands offer (August 2021). The...
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Honey bee communication: a new model
In his new book Communication Between Honeybees, Professor Jürgen Tautz studies the dance language of honey bees, plotting the historical development of our understanding of this and other methods of communication and...
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Fera: Behind the scenes at the bee labs
The National Bee Unit (NBU) is well-known to beekeepers, playing an important and widely acknowledged role in maintaining the health of our honey bee colonies. Less well known is the part played...
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The sentience of bees: Investigations at Lars Chittka’s bee lab
Professor Lars Chittka’s book The Mind of a Bee is making an impact far beyond the world of entomology. And so it should. Lars and his researchers in the Queen Mary University...
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Helping bees by appreciating common native wildflowers
Bees feed primarily on pollen and nectar provided by flowers. Unfortunately, agricultural intensification, urbanisation, land conversion and other factors have reduced flower abundance. One obvious way to counteract this decline is simply...
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Evolutionary origins of honey bees
The honey bee genus Apis includes at least a dozen species. Among these, only the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) occurs in Europe. More than 30 subspecies are found there and in...
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Wild honey bee colonies in ancient and veteran trees in South East England
The honey bee, Apis mellifera, has existed far longer than humans have been building hives to house them. Before hives were available, and still to this day, honey bees have built their...
Read more
Does spring trapping yellow-legged Asian hornets work?
In 2021 beekeepers in Trégastel, a town on the north coast of France that has a high population of yellow-legged Asian hornets (Vespa velutina), embarked on a four-year study into the impact...
Read more
Other articles of interest
The astonishing behavioural versatility of nest-site scouts
In my book Honeybee Democracy, I summarised the behaviour of nest-site scouts as they work to find a home for their swarm: “Once bivouacked [in a beardlike cluster], the swarm will field...
Read more
How Karl von Frisch deciphered the waggle dance
Major scientific discoveries rarely arise in a flash of insight. Most emerge over years as an investigator (or an investigation team) gains experience with a subject, develops better ways to study it,...
Read more
A Game of Drones on the Isles of Scilly
BeeCraft has carried news of the Game of Drones on the Isles of Scilly (October 2022) as well as an introduction to the natural laboratory that the islands offer (August 2021). The...
Read more
Honey bee communication: a new model
In his new book Communication Between Honeybees, Professor Jürgen Tautz studies the dance language of honey bees, plotting the historical development of our understanding of this and other methods of communication and...
Read more
Fera: Behind the scenes at the bee labs
The National Bee Unit (NBU) is well-known to beekeepers, playing an important and widely acknowledged role in maintaining the health of our honey bee colonies. Less well known is the part played...
Read more
The sentience of bees: Investigations at Lars Chittka’s bee lab
Professor Lars Chittka’s book The Mind of a Bee is making an impact far beyond the world of entomology. And so it should. Lars and his researchers in the Queen Mary University...
Read more
Helping bees by appreciating common native wildflowers
Bees feed primarily on pollen and nectar provided by flowers. Unfortunately, agricultural intensification, urbanisation, land conversion and other factors have reduced flower abundance. One obvious way to counteract this decline is simply...
Read more
Evolutionary origins of honey bees
The honey bee genus Apis includes at least a dozen species. Among these, only the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) occurs in Europe. More than 30 subspecies are found there and in...
Read more
Wild honey bee colonies in ancient and veteran trees in South East England
The honey bee, Apis mellifera, has existed far longer than humans have been building hives to house them. Before hives were available, and still to this day, honey bees have built their...
Read more
Does spring trapping yellow-legged Asian hornets work?
In 2021 beekeepers in Trégastel, a town on the north coast of France that has a high population of yellow-legged Asian hornets (Vespa velutina), embarked on a four-year study into the impact...
Read more
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