Bees & Pollinators

ARS researchers found two promising candidates to manage the Varroa mite, a destructive pest that costs bee keepers millions per year.

ARS researchers discovered that bees collect pollen from centipedegrass flower heads.

A long-term honey bee monitoring network helps researchers to better understand colony performance and survivorship over multiple seasons.

ARS researchers are studying genetics and breeding to make honey bees more resilient.

Researchers with the ARS Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Research Unit have identified a region of the honey bee genome linked to reduced colony defensiveness.

Putting honey bees into indoor cold storage in October rather than November increases their chances of surviving the winter.

Collaboration between ARS scientists and more than 30 national and international institutions resulted in two new pollinator bee genome sequences.

ARS researchers are focusing on the honey bee “microbiome”—the bacteria and other microbes that inhabit the insect's gut.

Two oilseed crops that are good for pollinators—pennycress and camelina—can fit into profitable rotations with corn and soybeans.

Collaboration between ARS scientists and more than 30 national and international institutions resulted in two new pollinator bee genome sequences.