A study by researchers at the University of California Berkeley has found that ethanol is surprisingly common in floral nectar, the sugary fuel that keeps pollinators alive. Yeast feeding on those sugars produces trace amounts of alcohol, and in this study, it showed up in 26 of the 29 plant species sampled.
Individuals allergic to bee stings can safely consume honey because the venom produced by bees is not related to honey. The venom is injected through the stinger, while honey is produced from nectar.
Around a third of UK gardeners use pesticides, and our studies found that house sparrow numbers, for example, were nearly 40% lower in gardens where the pesticide metaldehyde was used. By reducing pesticide use, you can actively encourage birds back into your outdoor spaces, as they rely on invertebrates such as slugs and snails as natural prey.
This study started from a discussion with my co-author and postdoctoral researcher, Sabrina Rondeau, whose recent findings showed that these queens can survive submersion for over a week, which is extraordinary for a terrestrial insect. We wanted to understand how that's even possible.
While the data shows 80% of people live within walking distance of green or blue spaces such as a river, park or woodland, it also reveals a disparity between rural and poorer urban areas. In some areas of local authorities, fewer than 20% of residents live close to these spaces, according to data released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on Wednesday.
For its fifth anniversary, 'Secrets of' turns its lens to one of Earth's smallest yet most vital heroes: bees. Far more than pollinators, bees are socially complex, fast-thinking individuals and the most important insects on our planet. Their impact on the natural world and humanity is immeasurable, and we're only just beginning to see how extraordinary they truly are.
A small, stingless bee may be able to raise coffee yields while fitting into real-world pest control programs, according to a new study from Brazil. In a field study on full-sun arabica farms, researchers reported a 67% higher fruit yield on coffee branches closer to colonies of the native stingless bee Scaptotrigona depilis, compared with branches farther away. The study was recently published in Frontiers in Bee Science.
London is the only place in the UK where you can find scorpions, snakes, turtles, seals, peacocks, falcons all in one city and not London zoo. Step outside and you will encounter a patchwork of writhing, buzzing, bubbling urban microclimates. Sam Davenport, the director of nature recovery at the London Wildlife Trust, emphasises the sheer variation in habitats that you find in UK cities, which creates an amazing mosaic of wildlife.
Conservationists have now persuaded landowners to cut hedges in a more gentle rotation, with sections left uncut for up to three years, to enable more eggs to survive over winter. The caterpillars emerge with the foliage in spring and hatch into adult butterflies in July. The brown hairstreak is difficult to spot as a butterfly but every winter volunteers assess its populations by counting its minuscule cream-coloured eggs, which with careful searching are visible on the bare branches of blackthorn.