bees

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation has released its annual suggestions for changes to rules for hunting and wildlife management, and Oklahomans can provide feedback over the next month.

Scientists wanted to learn whether bees, like humans and other mammals, had any interest in playing for fun's sake. They say they have evidence that bees do, and that could change how we view insects.

Earlier this year, Oklahoma State became the first university in the state to be designated a certified bee campus. The certification creates a plan for communities to conserve pollinators and increase native plants.

Recent survey results show commercial honeybees are on track to have another year of colony losses. A decline in these essential pollinators could hinder food production.

Environmental writer Oliver Milman says habitat loss, pesticides and climate change are killing off insects worldwide, which, in turn, threatens humans. His new book is The Insect Crisis.

Many people in prison learn trades, like cooking or landscaping. It helps prepare them for life after they’re released. Some prisons are doing something different: they’re training inmates to work with bees.

The U.N. has designated May 20 as the day to celebrate these famous pollinators. "There are 20,000 species of bees around the world and a lot of these bees are in decline," says bee expert Hien Ngo.

New research shows that climate change and habitat loss are causing widespread decline among bumblebees in North America and Europe — and putting ecosystems that depend on these pollinators at risk.

An annual survey of beekeepers shows the rate of colony death last winter was the highest reported since the survey began 13 years ago.

The bee towers over its apian cousins. Females have been recorded as being at least an inch and a half long. Add to that a pair of gigantic mandibles, and it's a bee like no other.