A collection of posts on broader entomology as well as general biology (and botany, and phylogeny and immunology and other -ologyies…). Warning: Heavy Hymenopteran bias
Holometabolous Insect Orders: An Overview
Some eighty percent of insects undergo complete metamorphosis (“holometaboly”) to reach adulthood, and this lifecycle can be summarised in four steps: egg –> larva –> pupa –> adult. This contrasts the incomplete metamorphosis (“hemimetabolous”) insect
Hemimetabolous Insect Orders: An Overview
In simplified taxonomy, the classification “Order” is preceded by Class (Insecta), Phylum (Arthropoda) and Kingdom (Animalia). This Part One1 deals with the hemimetabolous (or “heterometabolous”) insect orders, as they do not undergo complete metamorphosis to
An Introduction to Hexapoda & Insecta (But Not Arachnida)
An insect is a creature with six legs (“hexapod”) and three body parts, belonging to the taxonomic class “Insecta”. “Six legs and three body parts” is an oversimplification, as it only describes the adult insects
Nectar Chemistry Part Two: Pollinator-Plant Preferences
Part One covered the micronutrients. Part two deals with the secondary metabolites, those compounds with deterring (or attracting) functions: alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, the inorganic ions, the caffeine, the nicotine, and other products that manipulate pollinator
Nectar Chemistry Part One: Pollinator Macronutrients
Nectars are carbohydrates predominantly composed of three sugars: sucrose, glucose and fructose. The non-carbohydrate component is minor and differs by species in terms of amino acid, alkaloid, phenols, lipids & secondary metabolite composition, amongst others.
Sex-Based Differences in Bees
Did you know that ~20% of males in the solitary bee genus Megachile (“leafcutter bees”) have modified forelegs that serve as pheromone-secreting glands for attracting a female, or that male longhorn bees have antennae that
The Evolution of Pollen Transport in Bees
With the first plants came the first plant-feeding insects, some 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous period. Later emergents were the flowering plants of the late Cretaceous, which had increased angiosperm diversity (“flowering plants”),
Expansions & Stagnations: 2025 in Review
In 2025: 22 posts published, 19 were content-based The three non-content posts: Introducing shirts, May 2025 AI Deslopification, August 2025 (better late than never) Introducing video content, November 2025 (harder than I thought) Seven posts
Introducing: Shirts
What can I say? I just love Queen rearing! Shirts for thee, not for bee If you could summarise beekeeping concepts into a t-shirt, would you wear it? I would, so I went and got
Wind & Animal Pollination
Bees are pollinators, and honey bees are the species commonly used as commercial pollinators. Almonds, apples, apricots, asparagus and all the way to zucchini – these fruits rely on the worker transporting pollen from one
The Superorganism Model of Social Insects
The superorganism model describes how social insects like bees, ants, wasps and termites behave as single, coordinated parts within a whole (the colony). Each part (or worker) partakes in division of labour, communication, and decision-making
Honey Bee Ancestry: Descended from Wasps?
Reader John asked this in response to bees eating their larvae. From a human perspective, bees are not “vegetarian”. Indeed, diseased and weak young larvae is eaten to recycle nutrients and prevent the infection of
Bee Mimicry: Occurrences & Advantages
Hoverflies are an example of a “Batesian” mimic, whereby a harmless species evolves to imitate the warning signals of one more harmful. By looking like a bee, a hoverfly signals its defensive behaviours to deter
How Honey Bees Defend Themselves
Asian honey bees (Apis cerana) bee ball hornets to death. Giant honey bees (Apis dorsata) deter predators by synchronised shimmering atop their open combs, whereas the dwarf honey bees (Apis florea) abandon their nest and
Apis cerana Swarms: Competition and Classification
To beekeepers, Asian and European honey bees are pretty much identical. They live in social colonies consisting of a single queen, many workers, and a few drones. They make honey, gather nectar, pollen, propolis and
Reworking Articles: 2023
Dear handsome reader, I’ve come a long way. In early articles, I wrote wrong like “queen retinue pheromone and queen mandibular hormones are made in different parts of the body“. I also said that they
Are Honey Bees Evolving?
“Are honey bees still evolving, or is this it for them?” Asked an attendee at my beekeeper’s club. “Bees evolved to live in trees and now we use selective breeding to requeen our hives, is
Health & Honey Bee Gut Bacteria
Much like our own microbiome, except far simpler, the honey bee gut microbiota is involved in metabolism and immune stimulation. When the gut microbiome is disrupted through antibiotic treatments, pesticide exposure or poor nutrition, it
The 12 Bees of Christmas
Haters will say it’s Photoshop 🎵 On the first day of Christmas, my beekeeper sent to meA Resin bee in a gum tree. 🎵 🎵 On the second day of Christmas, my beekeeper sent to
Apis dorsata: the “Giant” Honey Bee
The giant honey bee Apis dorsata is native to south- and south-east Asia. Known for building large, exposed combs, A. dorsata colonies have seasonal migration patterns, moving from areas of low to high forage availability.
Why Do Bees Buzz?
The buzzing sound of bees is generated by their wings and flight muscles. This movement of air generates an audible buzz as the wings vibrate rapidly following contraction by the thorax’s indirect flight muscles. Buzzing
Genetic Drift & Other Evolution Terms
Now my dear reader, it’s time for me take it easy and explain things technically. This article serves as a glossary of terms for evolutionary biology and evolutionary theory. While not explicitly tied to bees
The Giant Asian Hornet
A native hornet to Asia, the Giant Asian Hornet is the world’s largest hornet species, with workers reaching 45–55 mm long and a wingspans of ~75 mm. This also makes it the largest insect predator
How to Help Native Bees
In the public eye, “Save the Bees” doesn’t capture the variety of bee species beyond the honey and bumble bees, and so this article examines what can be done to help these native, wild bees.
Are Honey Bees Invasive?
The short answer is yes, for the majority of the new world (Americas/Australasia), honey bees are invasive. HOWEVER! there is a distinction between “invasive” and “introduced”; A species is introduced when humans transport it outside
The Scientific Name of Bees
In commonspeak, the word “bees”, refers to “honey” bees 90% of the time, bumble bees 9.9% of the time, and solitary bees 0.1% of the time (if you’re lucky). The European Honey Bees Apis mellifera