"A dead mouse in a honey bee nest is like a dead whale shark in the lobby of an apartment building" So glad the reviewers, and Insect Socio, didn't cut that line! Awesome work, and surprising results, led by Erica Maul @ericamaul.bsky.social

Insectes Sociaux@insectessociaux.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New research article! 📰 @ericamaul.bsky.social and @smithbeelab.bsky.social reveal that honey bees process dead mice inside their nests, rather than simply sealing them in propolis. 🐁 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #HoneyBees #SocialImmunity #Necrophagy #CollectiveBehavior

My first first-author paper is now published online at Insectes Sociaux! I loved this project and sharing it with y’all at IUSSI-NAS and ABS. Check it out! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Honey bees actively process dead mice inside their nests - Insectes Sociaux

Honey bee nests are warm and resource-rich, making them attractive targets for animal intruders during winter, including mice. Beekeepers often protect their nests from mice, but have also documented ...

link.springer.com

The list of Ecology/Evolution/Marine Bio Labs recruiting grad students for Fall 2027 is live! PIs enter your position info here: forms.gle/MAGd4ohyPeoY... students (and PIs not recruiting) share the composite list: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Please share widely! 🧪

Ecology/Evolution/Marine Biology labs recruiting for Fall 2027

Please complete this form if you are a PI recruiting graduate students for a Fall 2027 start. If you are NOT recruiting, feel free to share the response sheet with prospective students looking for lab...

forms.gle

postdoc alert 🚨! NIH-funded postdoc in my lab to work on Ancestral Recombination Graphs in space. Please spread the word widely in your networks, and please reach out if you're interested! (2-3yr position, start date flexible, pay/benefits good!). details here: careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...

recruitment

Multiple positions available: ​ Postdoc PhD students

genescape.org

Finally, direct evidence of ornithology negatively impacting my work.

🚨 PhD opportunity 🚨 Fully funded PhD at the University of Bristol (UK) on how ant colonies remodel their nests to optimise performance under pressure, combining experimental work, quantitative analysis, and field work. Detail/how to apply: stroeymeyt-lab.co.uk/open-positio... Deadline: 5 June 2026

Erica Maul with LOG NEST 2026! @ericamaul.bsky.social (somehow, they don't sell these as standard beekeeping supply)

Paper alert 🚨🐜! Fire ant foraging looks remarkably robust until you perturb their communication. @dornhaus.bsky.social and I tested how fire ants respond to disruptions in pheromone trail communication during foraging. More in the thread below 🧵(1/6). link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Persist or give up? Fire ants motivated to search for a high-quality food source even if they don’t know how to find it - Insectes Sociaux

Insectes Sociaux - Finding resources for the colony is one of the most difficult and risky tasks for a social insect worker. A worker on a foraging trip can face a number of challenges, including...

link.springer.com

A New Toy for Serious Science Allows for Individual Honey Bee Forager Tracking. Read about exciting work from Stentiford, Harrap et al. from the Straw lab that delivered a decisive one–two punch to the long-standing challenge of tracking foraging honey bees. authors.elsevier.com/a/1mkeE3QW8S...

Have you ever wondered what you would find if you could keep your eyes on a bee for more than a few meters? Us, too! preprint (with videos!) + thread 🧵 Precise, individualized foraging flights in honey #bees 🐝 revealed by multicopter drone-based tracking www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/9

My main issue with this work is that they don't mention how cute drones are with white eyes. Like, not even a single figure devoted to the cuteness factor?

Brock Harpur@beeharpur.bsky.social · 8mo ago

We worked with a beekeeper in Kentucky (and third author) to identify what was causing half of his drones to have white eyes. We were able to identify a recessively-acting mutation in an uncharacterized ncRNA. Great work here by much of the lab and especially the lead, PhD Candidate Riley Shultz

Here's my latest contribution to the "Lost Science" series at the New York Times: Jay Falk, a scientist who studies why some female hummingbirds look just like males. Gift link: nyti.ms/4qF7Qje

Nothing says "dinner party" like a large boa constrictor! Great to have Ummat Somjee @the-bug-hut.bsky.social as the DBS seminar speaker this week. (btw, we ate tacos, not David Boa)

Do peeps have suggestions for where to advertise postdoc positions broadly? Have done eco-evo, and evo-dir, but would welcome applicants from all sorts of fields (maths, physics, computer science).

Smith Bee Lab@smithbeelab.bsky.social · 11mo ago

The Smith Bee Lab is HIRING! 🐝🐝🐝 - Postdoc (2-4yrs, flexible start-date) - 1-2 Graduate Students (to start Fall 2026) No prior experience with honey bees needed, we encourage people from diverse research areas to apply! (no jerks, plz)

The Smith Bee Lab is HIRING! 🐝🐝🐝 - Postdoc (2-4yrs, flexible start-date) - 1-2 Graduate Students (to start Fall 2026) No prior experience with honey bees needed, we encourage people from diverse research areas to apply! (no jerks, plz)

Why have ONE party tent, when you can have TWO?!? (thanks Andrew for snapping the pic!)

Cientifico Latino is an awesome program, AND yes, you should definitely apply for the NSF GRFP (even if it's a tight deadline!)

Científico Latino@cientificolatino.com · 11mo ago

Applying to the NSF-GRFP (or another fellowship) on a tight deadline? We built a 7-week guide + timeline to get you from draft to submission. It’s not too late — you’ve got this! ✨ 🔗 cientificolatino.com/apply-in-7-weeks #NSFGRFP #GradSchool #Fellowship

In humans, bigger teams often mean less effort per person — the #Ringelmann effect. Weaver #ants 🐜 flip the script: #teamwork makes them superefficient! Video + paper out now in Current Biology! @cellpress.bsky.social tinyurl.com/44yrvp6m tinyurl.com/3jnnevfn

Superefficient teamwork in weaver ants / Curr. Biol., Aug. 12, 2025 (Vol. 35, Issue 17)

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

tinyurl.com

A week ago we were told via YouTube that USDA-BARC and our Bee Lab will be closed. BARC has had a productive 90 years but is aging and I trust there is a longterm vision behind this decision. The largest loss will be the people, who are 100% devoted to bees, beekeepers, science, and this country.

Made it to Baltimore for #ABS2025 !! Come to my talk in the Dietary Decisions section Thursday at 3:00 (spoiler: it’s not about dietary decisions!!), and message or find me if you want to chat about research or my experience in @smithbeelab.bsky.social (recruiting grad students!).

Current google search: "Will I have any friends at #Evolution2025 in Athens, GA?"

Perfect day for beekeeping. 10/10. (Thanks to Erica and Andrew for keeping it cool!)

PhD wins can feel few and far between, so I’m thankful for this week! Not only did I finish my quals and become a candidate, but I also was awarded a Wellesley College Graduate Fellowship! Had to celebrate in @smithbeelab.bsky.social tradition.

Any chance anyone gets hard copies of Current Biology? (looking to get a copy from 16 Dec 2024)

Check out this wild resin forager in her natural tree nest. She has tree resin packed on her back legs where pollen is typically stored. It will be made into propolis to coat the cavity for antimicrobial protection and water sealing. Shot with the Laowa 24mm macro probe.

Come learn how honey bees organize their nests in 3 dimension across time today at 11:30 in salon 10 #SICB2025

@aztecacecropia.bsky.social has developed incredible techniques for watching the change in time of every cell of a honeybee nest. Cells are specialized, clustered, and polarize their function!

Friends, plz repost and share! We are hiring a lab technician with exp in mol biology and general lab management. BS or MS degree and good org skills are required. Deadline Feb 1, 2025. We are a welcoming and equitable lab community. Details at link below. 🐸🐢🐍🦎 zamudiolab.org/2024/12/18/k...

KZLab is Seeking a Lab Technician!

The Zamudio Lab (zamudiolab.org) in the Department of Integrative Biology at UT Austin seeks a highly motivated and detail-oriented laboratory technician to play a key role in supporting the resear…

zamudiolab.org

Our architectural symmetry paper made the cover of Current Biology! Congrats to @smithbeelab.bsky.social and the team. Check out the form, function, and evolutionary origins of honeybee nest symmetry here: www.cell.com/current-biol...

So excited to see BEES (and their beautiful nest) on the cover of Current Biology! @currentbiology.bsky.social This work wouldn't have been possible without a super team of researchers, and the cover wouldn't have been possible without the phenomenal Peter Marting! @aztecacecropia.bsky.social