Hives for Humanity: Using bees for social empowerment in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

Photo: Sarah Common

A Canadian mother-daughter team is bringing life and colour to the Hastings homeless community by installing therapeutic apiaries and gardens.

Long live the sperm

Photo: Alison McAfee

Honey bee queens keep drones’ sperm alive inside them for years, but some surprising environmental triggers can cause massive sperm death.

The blueberries and the bees

Photo: Marta Guarna

Thousands of honey bee colonies arrive in the Fraser Valley’s blueberry fields every spring, but beekeepers are worried this crop may be harming their bees.

Hygienic behavior and the scent of death

Photo: Alison McAfee

HYGIENIC WORKER BEES are key players in the hive’s social immune system, removing sick and dying brood before the diseases they harbor can spread. 

Why we need to rethink the anti-pesticide movement

Pesticides have been used in agriculture for decades, so why is everyone outraged about them now?

Calling all bee breeders!

Do you run a queen breeding operation in Canada and want to contribute to honey bee research?

Combating the peer review woes: An argument for the preprint paper

For us scientists, publishing our work in a respected scientific journal is one of our top priorities. To do this, it must pass the gates of peer review. . . The idea behind peer review is simple: Step 1) editor filters out garbage papers that aren’t worth the reviewers’ time; Step 2) send the paper to expert scientists in the field to identify strengths, flaws and overall worthiness; Step 3) reject, accept, or return the paper to the authors for corrections. This process of getting expert feedback on each other’s work is a good idea at its core, but some things about this system are broken.

What’s so great about the Asian honey bee?

Not many people know that there are actually two domesticated honey bee species

Useful genetics: My MOOC experience

This blog post is a little different than the rest. I normally write about scientific research – either my own or what others have done – but this time I’m writing about something else: MOOCs.