KALAMAZOO — Bees looking to build a new hive may see small holes in roofs or siding as the perfect place to infiltrate a home and start a new colony, and homeowners need to be cautious when evicting the winged invaders. Home remedies like spraying insecticide in the wall can cause costly damage and attract other unwanted guests, and there are plenty of local beekeepers available to transport the bees so they can fulfill their honey-making destiny.

via Got hives? As in bees? Call in a professional keeper, don’t make it a DIY project | MLive.com.

The first time I looked at a bee’s eye magnified I was amazed to see a field of hexagons, just like honeycomb. I wondered, is this a coincidence or a clue? Is it simply that hexagons are ubiquitous in nature, or is there a deeper correspondence between the structure of the bee’s vision and the structure she builds – in other words, similar frequencies being expressed in similar form?

via Rose-Lynn Fisher / BEE.

When faced with a choice between carb loading and a protein-rich, Atkins-style diet, honeybees let their guts decide.

Insulin signals from fat cells in the bees’ abdomens help determine whether they forage for high-protein pollen or sugar-filled nectar, a new study shows. The study, published April 1 in PLoS Genetics, is the first to manipulate insulin signals in honeybees and to show how changes in the signals influence behavior.

via Bees Forage With Their Guts – Science News.

A bell jar was placed on top of a mini hive and bees from the nucleus started to create foundation of a hive in the jar. Once the foundation is laid, the bees work in masses to form the rest of the hive. 14 more pics of bees making hive in a jar after the jump.

via Bees Makes Hive In A Jar.

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CHAMPAIGN, lll. – Researchers report this week that they have found a surprising but reliable marker of colony collapse disorder, a baffling malady that in 2007-2008 killed off more than a third of commercial honey bees in the U.S.

Their study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to identify a single, objective molecular marker of the disorder, and to propose a data-driven hypothesis to explain the mysterious disappearance of American honey bees. The team included researchers from the University of Illinois and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

via Genomic study yields plausible cause of colony collapse disorder | News Bureau | University of Illinois.

Hausen et al. [46] reported that propolis has been used as an ingredient in violin varnish for centuries. Stradivari is said to have used it in the varnish of his instruments. Propolis, also known as bee glue, is produced by bees during hive construction to fill structural gaps. It has approximately 50 constituents, primarily resins and vegetable balsams 50%, waxes 30%, essential and aromatic oils 10%, and pollen 5%. Since ancient times, this agent has also been incorporated into numerous medical and cosmetic products since it is believed to be a potent antiseptic and anti-inflammatory substance, local anaesthetic, adstringent, and antioxidant. Moreover propolis may be found in toothpaste, mouthwash preparations, facial creams, chewing gum, polishes, and varnishes.

via BioMed Central | Full text | Contact dermatitis and other skin conditions in instrumental musicians.

Queen Ant Will Sacrifice Colony to Retain Throne | LiveScience

A mighty struggle for ultimate power, with calls of “death to the queen” answered by armies of workers, is routine in some ant colonies. Queen ants are therefore sometimes forced to take care of themselves rather than look out for the good of their colonies, a new study suggests.Queen ants will do whatever it takes to be the last one standing, even if it means producing fewer young workers to the detriment of the collective.

via Queen Ant Will Sacrifice Colony to Retain Throne | LiveScience.

I suppose you’d have to be living under a rock these days to have not heard that the honey bees and beekeepers are in trouble. The problems are complex, far reaching and mostly recent. They are certainly a threat to the survival of the beekeeping industry but, even more so, to the survival of many plants which we need or want for food and many other plants that are a necessary part of the environment.

via Beekeeping Naturally, Bush Bees.

Some bees will steal honeydew from aphids to make their honey, which shows how they are opportunists. Rather than start from nectar, they skip the beehours of labor and get a substance that is higher in original sugar content.

But they are also shortsighted in their pursuits. If they eat honeydew honey during a cold winter it can kill them (or at least make them very uncomfortable from dysentery).

From wikipedia.org: honeybees.

You can trick them with smell. They are VERY scent reliant. Many of the complex behaviors, including when the queen swarms, how the brood is reared, how they find the best flowers or a new hive and more are led by scent.

For example, you can attract a swarm to a hive with lemon grass oil. If you add a half portion of rose oil it may be even more effective.

If you wear rubber dish gloves (the thicker variety) and reach your hand into a hive of bees when it is cooler out, it feels like you are reaching into a warm oven. It’s way above the ambient temperature. You can do it barehanded if you are careful and the bees are in a good mood.

There are few sounds as impressive (or intimidating) as an angry and buzzing hive of bees.

More bees are interested in licking honey off of you than stinging you, even when you are cutting their hive apart during a cutout.

Angry bees are very often hungry bees.

Honeybees get to know their keeper. They recognize you and after a time don’t get as alarmed because they know they can trust you to not be destroying their hive (hopefully my cutouts will forget that part!).

via Apitherapy News: Bee Pollen is One of Nature’s Most Perfect Foods.