Topic description and stories

Artificial flower discs designed to mimic the bullseye sizes of the three hibiscus flowers

Flowers use adjustable ‘paint by numbers’ petal designs to attract pollinators

13 Sep 2024

Flowers like hibiscus use an invisible blueprint established very early in petal formation that dictates the size of their bullseyes – a crucial pre-...

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Honey badger eating honeycomb

Birds and honey badgers could be cooperating to steal from bees in parts of Africa

29 Jun 2023

The tale of two charismatic species cooperating for mutual benefit has captivated naturalists for centuries – but evidence has been patchy...

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Honey bee approaching a flower. Courtesy of Cam Miller under a CC license.

Discovery of RNA transfer through royal jelly could aid development of honey bee vaccines

02 May 2019

Researchers have discovered that honey bees are able to share immunity with other bees and to their offspring in a hive by transmitting RNA ‘vaccines...

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Commercial honeybee hives in the Teide National Park, Tenerife, Spain.

Think of honeybees as ‘livestock’ not wildlife, argue experts

25 Jan 2018

Contrary to public perception, die-offs in honeybee colonies are an agricultural not a conservation issue, argue Cambridge researchers, who say that...

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Researcher Sanjie Jiang inside the 'flight arena' in the glasshouse of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden.

Virus attracts bumblebees to infected plants by changing scent

11 Aug 2016

Study of bee-manipulating plant virus reveals a “short-circuiting” of natural selection. Researchers suggest that replicating the scent caused by...

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Bee on a non-iridescent flower

Flowers tone down the iridescence of their petals and avoid confusing bees

25 Feb 2016

Latest research shows that flowers’ iridescent petals, which may look plain to human eyes, are perfectly tailored to a bee’s-eye-view.

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Bombus pascuorum

The Life and Death of the Queen Bumblebee

23 Sep 2015

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, Q is for...

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Time for plan bee

03 Oct 2013

Insect pollinators provide a service worth an estimated £430 million to food, farming and retail sectors in the UK. How can we protect them, and...

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Bumblebee foraging from a Hebe inflorescence

Blowing in the wind: how hidden flower features are crucial for bees

29 May 2012

New research reveals that velcro-like cells on plant petals play a crucial role in helping bees grip flowers.

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Bee in flight

Translating science for conservation: bees benefit first

08 Sep 2010

A project to make conservation science accessible and relevant to conservationists and policymakers launches its first major synopsis of evidence, on...

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Pollination

All abuzz about petals

01 May 2010

The amazing diversity of flowers is a biological mystery that has long intrigued scientists. Dr Beverley Glover explains how new understanding of...

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bee

Getting a grip: ‘Velcro’-like structure helps bees stick to flowers

14 May 2009

When bees collect nectar, how do they hold onto the flower? Cambridge University scientists have shown that it is down to small cone-shaped cells on...

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