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Nearly 500 bee species are thriving in a small patch of US desert

29 March 2021

A wildlife refuge on the US-Mexico border is home to nearly 500 species of bees, the densest aggregation of bee species anywhere in the world

Flying robots suggest bees can’t rely on instinct to land on flowers

1 February 2021

We thought bees relied on hardwired instinct to land, but a study involving flying robots suggests that bees may also need to learn about specific surface textures before they can touch down

Bumblebees can fly sideways to fit through tight gaps

23 November 2020

Bees tasked with flying through a narrow gap will turn sideways to avoid touching the edges, showing that they are aware of how big they are

Honeybees are able to calculate probability and use it to find food

1 September 2020

In a lab test, honeybees were able to calculate the probability of an artificial flower dispensing sweetened water, then use this information to inform their foraging strategy

Bees force plants to flower early by cutting holes in their leaves

21 May 2020

Hungry bumblebees can make plants flower up to a month earlier than usual by cutting holes in their leaves, which may help them adapt to climate change

Bees are first insects shown to understand the concept of zero

4 August 2017

Zero is not an easy idea to grasp, even for young humans – but experiments suggest bees might be up to the challenge

Maths explains how bees can stay airborne with such tiny wings

25 July 2017

The tiny wings on bees shouldn’t be able to lift their big bodies. How they fly has eluded mathematicians since the 1930s, but the mystery is now solved