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Let’s talk about bees and gum trees
This article was first published on IOL Cape Town – Gum trees, regarded in South Africa as bad aliens that invade indigenous vegetation and suck up huge amounts of scarce water, have an indirect but crucial role to play in South Africa’s food production. A recent study by the SA National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) has…
Honeybee venom kills aggressive breast cancer cells
This article, written by James Kingsland, was first published in MedicalNewsToday In laboratory studies, the active component of honeybee venom rapidly killed two types of breast cancer cells that are particularly difficult to treat. Crucially, the toxin left healthy cells unharmed. For thousands of years, humans have used honey, propolis, and venom from the European…
Who were the geniuses who first domesticated the wild honey bee?
This article, written by Thomas D. Seeley was first published in Literary Hub. The bas-relief sculptures depicting beekeeping in the Egyptian temple to the sun god Re at Abū Jirāb show us that honey bees were already living under the care of people some 4,500 years ago, but these sculptures do not reveal when the first…
Some bees are born curious while others are more single-minded.
This article, written by James Kingsland, was first published in The Conversation. New research hints at how the hive picks which flowers to feast on When you try to pick a restaurant with a group of friends, how do you decide? Your curious friend wants to try the new place, while your focused friend wants…