Magazine

Not a print issue: a running blog on bee science. Editorial pieces and earlier blog posts, in English and German.

CommunicationHow a colony decides to move houseScouts dance for competing nest sites until a quorum tips. A decision with no centre.Communication · 9 minDiseases & varroaVarroa, year after yearVarroa destructor remains the main reason colonies die. What treatment schemes achieve — and what they do not.Health · 7 minForage plantsA hundred plants, one bee yearFrom sallow in March to ivy in October: the forage calendar as a map rather than a list.Forage · 6 minHoney varietiesWhy lime honey tastes of mintSingle-origin honeys are made in the flower, not in the jar. A sensory round of seven — and what crystallisation gives away.Honey · 8 minBiology & anatomy21 daysFrom egg to worker: what happens in three weeks inside a cell held at 35 °C.Biology · 5 minWild bees & conservationThe other 590Besides Apis mellifera, Germany holds around 590 wild bee species. Most live alone — and most are on the red list.Wild bees · 7 minPropolis & hive productsPropolis, looked at closelyPropolis seals gaps and keeps the hive low in microbes. What is in it, how it is harvested, and where caution applies.Hive products · 6 min