colony collapse disorder

The genetically modified bacteria spark an RNAi response in the parasite that leads to self-destruction—and perhaps a path to combatting colony collapse disorder.

A bee researcher finds that his subjects are protected from viral infections when they dine on fungus.

Glyphosate perturbs the balance of gut bacteria in honey bees and increases the insects’ susceptibility to lethal infection.

Sulfoxaflor, an alternative insect-killer to older chemicals that decimate pollinators, turns out to kneecap colonies.

Researchers pinpoint a protein that can metabolize at least one of the insecticides, highlighting a route to identifying compounds that are friendlier to the critical pollinators.

Fewer commercial pollinators died over the winter than during the same season the preceding year.

A virus that causes blight in plants may contribute the catastrophic decline of honeybee colonies.

Removing just a single bee species from an ecosystem can decrease the ability of the remaining species to pollinate plants.

In the midst of an ongoing debate over the role of the pesticides in the deaths of bees, the European Union will restrict their use for 2 years.

Bees, the pollinators of a third of the world’s food crops, are in peril. And that’s about the only thing scientists, environmentalists, policy makers, and agro-industrialists can agree on.

A round-up of recent discoveries in behavior research

A parasitic mite helps spread a deadly virus among honey bee colonies.

Yet another study demonstrates that how pesticides might be related to the collapse of wild bee colonies.

Bees exposed to neonicotinoids, a widely-used class of pesticide, navigate poorly and produce fewer queens, suggesting a role for neonicotinoids in colony collapse.

Researchers reveal several new viruses lurking in healthy hives.