Parasitic Cape Honey Bees Out-Reproduce Other Bees Using a Few Unusual Gene Regions

Genes related to hormone signaling and sex cell division let worker bees reproduce asexually PLOS Parasitic cape honey bees exploit and overrun other honey bee colonies by triggering changes that let worker bees reproduce. This social parasitism is enabled by differences in several gene regions, including some related to hormone signaling and chromosomal segregation, report Andreas Wallberg and Matthew T. Webster …

Bee Populations Expanded During Global Warming After the Last Ice Age

Pensoft Publishers An Australian small carpenter bee is visiting a flower. Credit: Marc Newman, http://www.padil.gov.au/pollinators/pest/main/138706 The Australian small carpenter bee populations appear to have dramatically flourished in the period of global warming following the last Ice Age some 18,000 years ago. The bee species is found in sub-tropical, coastal and desert areas from the north-east to the south of Australia. Researchers Rebecca Dew and …