pollination

Bee ‘shouts’ might evolve as more effective than ‘whispers’

PULLMAN, Wash. – Let’s say you’re a bee and you’ve spotted a new and particularly lucrative source of nectar and pollen. What’s the best way to communicate the location of this prize cache of food to the rest of your nestmates without revealing it to competitors, or “eavesdropping” spies, outside of the colony?

Coordinating pollination for better crop, profits

Plastic sheets on test plots where alkali bees emerge. PROSSER, Wash. – Huge, colorful plastic squares decorating a farm field in the Touchet Valley may look like works by environmental artist Christo, but they’re really part of an experiment to help producers of alfalfa seed realize higher profits. Alfalfa farmers in the area produce seed […]