Honeybees

‘Groomer’ honeybees remove parasites and build colony immunity

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Groomer honeybees can boost a colony’s immunity by clearing deadly parasites off their nestmates using their mandibles, a study has found.  For a short period of their lives, some worker bees take on the role of removing debris including dangerous pests from other members of the colony. These bees – dubbed allogroomers – develop a … Read more

Japanese honeybees COOK invading ‘murder hornets’ to death

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There is a war going on in nature – murderous Asian hornets are invading honeybee hives, and are decapitating the insects and feeding the bodies to their young. However, Japanese honeybees have developed a bizarre counter attack that cooks the predators to death. More than 500 workers bees swarm around the hornets, trapping them in … Read more

Honeybees are being wiped out by disease that causes chronic paralysis

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Honey bees in the UK are increasingly suffering at the hands of a deadly viral disease that is sweeping England and Wales, according to a new study. British scientists found colonies of the honey bee that are infected with ‘chronic bee paralysis’ rose nearly 200-fold between 2007 and 2017. Whole colonies are frequently lost to … Read more