
Honeybee populations are declining worldwide, in a phenomenon also known as Colony collapse disorder (CCD). A possible solution could come from studying the more resilient African bees.

Because of their central role in pollinating several agricultural crops, honeybees are crucial to food security, and their disappearance would have devastating consequences on the economy.

President Obama's administration recently announced that the government would provide money for more bee habitat as well as research into ways to protect bees from disease and pesticides to reduce the honeybee colony losses that have reached alarming rates.

A bumble bee collects nectar from the calyx of a marguerite. Like their relatives the honey bees, bumble bees feed on nectar and gather pollen to feed their young.

African honeybees are more aggressive to beekeepers and are rarely confined to man-made hives. The majority of their estimated 310 million colonies strong population is wild and lives in natural cavities in trees or ground.



