Caleb Bryan
@iwatchbees.bsky.social
|Conneticut Agriculture Expirement Station|
Bee ecology, behavioral ecology, and foraging behavior.
Interested in how landscapes shape and mold bee communities.
Bee ecology, behavioral ecology, and foraging behavior.
Interested in how landscapes shape and mold bee communities.
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
Bumbles are my favorite bees
May 20, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Bumbles are my favorite bees
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
I have been a beekeeper and would like to be again, but getting beehives to 'Save the bees!' is like a sheep farm to support biodiversity. You can do it well and it can have positive impacts, but more domesticated animals won't save wild populations (don't @ me about sheep, struggled for metaphor)
Have we passed “peak honey bee” in Britain?
I’ve posted occasional updates on hive numbers on my blog, but the last of these was in 2022. It feels like it’s time for another - on #WorldBeeDay2025!
Read more here: jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/05/20/h...
#bees #pollinators #biodiversity #FAO #ecology
I’ve posted occasional updates on hive numbers on my blog, but the last of these was in 2022. It feels like it’s time for another - on #WorldBeeDay2025!
Read more here: jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/05/20/h...
#bees #pollinators #biodiversity #FAO #ecology
Have we passed “peak honey bee” in Britain? An update of hive numbers for World Bee Day 2025
Since publishing what I believe are the most comprehensive data on the number of honey bee hives in Britain in my book Pollinators & Pollination: Nature and Society, I’ve posted occasiona…
jeffollerton.co.uk
May 20, 2025 at 8:53 AM
I have been a beekeeper and would like to be again, but getting beehives to 'Save the bees!' is like a sheep farm to support biodiversity. You can do it well and it can have positive impacts, but more domesticated animals won't save wild populations (don't @ me about sheep, struggled for metaphor)
Recruited a new lab assistant while in the field. They seem less than enthused to join the lab.
May 13, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Recruited a new lab assistant while in the field. They seem less than enthused to join the lab.
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
"The administration’s wide-spread reductions in funding scientific research could result in economic losses comparable to the decline in GDP during the Great Recession of 2009, according to a new study by a team of economists at American University’s Institute for Macroeconomic and Policy Analysis."
Federal Cuts To Research Could Contribute To Recession, Study Finds
Wide-spread reductions in funding for scientific research could result in economic losses similar to the loss in GDP during the Great Recession, according to a new study.
www.forbes.com
May 1, 2025 at 2:44 PM
"The administration’s wide-spread reductions in funding scientific research could result in economic losses comparable to the decline in GDP during the Great Recession of 2009, according to a new study by a team of economists at American University’s Institute for Macroeconomic and Policy Analysis."
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
Happy #WorldWildlifeDay. A friendly reminder that livestock cannot replace native biodiversity, despite what you may have heard.
March 3, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Happy #WorldWildlifeDay. A friendly reminder that livestock cannot replace native biodiversity, despite what you may have heard.
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
Honeybees interfere with wild bees in apple pollination in China. Wild bees contribute much higher pollination efficiency than honeybees. Introducing honeybee colonies increased competition with wild bees leading to reduced pollination overall. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Honeybees interfere with wild bees in apple pollination in China
Both honeybees and wild bees contribute to apple pollination and production, but wild bees evidenced much higher pollination efficiency than honeybees. Importantly, introducing high density of honeyb...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 23, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Honeybees interfere with wild bees in apple pollination in China. Wild bees contribute much higher pollination efficiency than honeybees. Introducing honeybee colonies increased competition with wild bees leading to reduced pollination overall. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
Nice story about our recent study investigating how bee communities respond to pressures from migratory beekeeping. www.psu.edu/news/researc...
Native bee populations can bounce back after honey bees move out | Penn State University
Managed honey bees have the potential to affect native bee populations when they are introduced to a new area, but a study led by researchers at Penn State suggests that, under certain conditions, the...
www.psu.edu
February 10, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Nice story about our recent study investigating how bee communities respond to pressures from migratory beekeeping. www.psu.edu/news/researc...
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
The NIH overhead cut doesn't just hurt universities.
It's deadly to the US economy.
The US is a world leader in tech due to the ecosystem that NIH and NSF propel. It drives innovation for tech transfer, creates a highly-skilled sci/tech workforce, and fosters academic/industry crossfertilization.
It's deadly to the US economy.
The US is a world leader in tech due to the ecosystem that NIH and NSF propel. It drives innovation for tech transfer, creates a highly-skilled sci/tech workforce, and fosters academic/industry crossfertilization.
2. While NSF and NIH indeed have a mission to fund specific research innovations via grantmaking, they do a lot more than that.
Their principal role is support a scientific ecosystem in the United States, that includes everything from education and training to infrastructure and communication.
Their principal role is support a scientific ecosystem in the United States, that includes everything from education and training to infrastructure and communication.
February 8, 2025 at 2:03 AM
The NIH overhead cut doesn't just hurt universities.
It's deadly to the US economy.
The US is a world leader in tech due to the ecosystem that NIH and NSF propel. It drives innovation for tech transfer, creates a highly-skilled sci/tech workforce, and fosters academic/industry crossfertilization.
It's deadly to the US economy.
The US is a world leader in tech due to the ecosystem that NIH and NSF propel. It drives innovation for tech transfer, creates a highly-skilled sci/tech workforce, and fosters academic/industry crossfertilization.
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
A motivator for writing 'How to Save the Whole Blinkin' Planet' was seeing fossil fuel companies infiltrating #STEM education spaces and sci museums.
Kids deserve edu free from fossil fuels companies using them for good PR while selling their futures up the river.
commsdeclare.org/2025/02/05/p...
Kids deserve edu free from fossil fuels companies using them for good PR while selling their futures up the river.
commsdeclare.org/2025/02/05/p...
Parents sound the alarm over fossil fuel sponsorships - Comms Declare
Parents sound the alarm: New report reveals concerns over fossil fuel school sponsorships harming children, with over half of parents backing an Australian-first restriction on coal, oil and gas compa...
commsdeclare.org
February 6, 2025 at 4:40 AM
A motivator for writing 'How to Save the Whole Blinkin' Planet' was seeing fossil fuel companies infiltrating #STEM education spaces and sci museums.
Kids deserve edu free from fossil fuels companies using them for good PR while selling their futures up the river.
commsdeclare.org/2025/02/05/p...
Kids deserve edu free from fossil fuels companies using them for good PR while selling their futures up the river.
commsdeclare.org/2025/02/05/p...
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
📅 18 Feb 2025 | Free entoLIVE webinar
Book now: eventbrite.co.uk/e/952936216877
Book now: eventbrite.co.uk/e/952936216877
February 5, 2025 at 2:31 PM
📅 18 Feb 2025 | Free entoLIVE webinar
Book now: eventbrite.co.uk/e/952936216877
Book now: eventbrite.co.uk/e/952936216877
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
Our new paper led by @manusaunders.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... takes stock of the evidence-base for global insect declines 🦋🐝🪳🪰🦗 and how uncertainty is being leveraged by science denialists to undermine efforts to reverse biodiversity loss 🌍🧪.
February 4, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Our new paper led by @manusaunders.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... takes stock of the evidence-base for global insect declines 🦋🐝🪳🪰🦗 and how uncertainty is being leveraged by science denialists to undermine efforts to reverse biodiversity loss 🌍🧪.
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
New research on how non-native honeybees alter visitation networks in a peri-urban environment. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books.
authors.elsevier.com
January 29, 2025 at 4:33 PM
New research on how non-native honeybees alter visitation networks in a peri-urban environment. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
For anyone who has ever asked me what's like to work with bumblebee brains, here is a great reference.
Visual difference between the largest bee brain I work with: Bombus terrestris and the smallest Tetragonula carbonaria. Sharpie for scale!
#science #science🧪 #entomology #bees #neurobiology #phd
#science #science🧪 #entomology #bees #neurobiology #phd
January 29, 2025 at 7:03 AM
For anyone who has ever asked me what's like to work with bumblebee brains, here is a great reference.
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
Pet fur found in songbird nests contains high levels of pesticides, study finds
January 27, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Pet fur found in songbird nests contains high levels of pesticides, study finds
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
We're having a discussion about which interesting animal behaviour would be terrifying on a different species. The rules are
a) it can't be an immediate danger to you
b) it has to be so scary you would stop filming and leave.
Feel free to play along. The current winner is vulture murmuration.
a) it can't be an immediate danger to you
b) it has to be so scary you would stop filming and leave.
Feel free to play along. The current winner is vulture murmuration.
January 26, 2025 at 1:42 PM
We're having a discussion about which interesting animal behaviour would be terrifying on a different species. The rules are
a) it can't be an immediate danger to you
b) it has to be so scary you would stop filming and leave.
Feel free to play along. The current winner is vulture murmuration.
a) it can't be an immediate danger to you
b) it has to be so scary you would stop filming and leave.
Feel free to play along. The current winner is vulture murmuration.
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
A male Bombus huntii with a female Bombus terricola (photos by Rob Wright, Saskatchewan). Not only are these different species of #bumblebee, but they belong to different subgenera (Pyrobombus and Bombus, respectively)! #Hymenoptera #beesofcanada #bees #mating #oopsy
January 26, 2025 at 9:17 PM
A male Bombus huntii with a female Bombus terricola (photos by Rob Wright, Saskatchewan). Not only are these different species of #bumblebee, but they belong to different subgenera (Pyrobombus and Bombus, respectively)! #Hymenoptera #beesofcanada #bees #mating #oopsy
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
Pesticide use in Canada soars, even as danger becomes clearer www.nationalobserver.com/2025/01/08/n...
Pesticide use in Canada soars, even as danger becomes clearer
www.nationalobserver.com
January 8, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Pesticide use in Canada soars, even as danger becomes clearer www.nationalobserver.com/2025/01/08/n...
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
There have been incidents in the lab when I’ve worn some floral prints…
December 23, 2024 at 2:25 AM
There have been incidents in the lab when I’ve worn some floral prints…
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
An inspirational study that everyone interested in the thermal ecology of bees and their responses to environmental warming should read. I'll most likely borrow some of the elegant methods used here, and put them to work with some wild bees next summer 😉
doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
Bees remain heat tolerant after acute exposure to desiccation and starvation
Summary: Sublethal desiccation exposure and short-term starvation do not significantly affect heat tolerance in honey bees and sweat bees.
doi.org
December 19, 2024 at 7:10 PM
An inspirational study that everyone interested in the thermal ecology of bees and their responses to environmental warming should read. I'll most likely borrow some of the elegant methods used here, and put them to work with some wild bees next summer 😉
doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
Can 🌸visitation records be used to figure out whether a bee is a pollen diet specialist? New open access pub in Oecologia led by Colleen Smith & Katja Seltmann & w/ my Missouri State University #RussellLab undergrad team!
And the answer is... yes! Check it out 😇 ⬇️
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
And the answer is... yes! Check it out 😇 ⬇️
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Pollen specialist bee species are accurately predicted from visitation, occurrence and phylogenetic data - Oecologia
An animal’s diet breadth is a central aspect of its life history, yet the factors determining why some species have narrow dietary breadths (specialists) and others have broad dietary breadths (genera...
link.springer.com
December 19, 2024 at 1:00 AM
Can 🌸visitation records be used to figure out whether a bee is a pollen diet specialist? New open access pub in Oecologia led by Colleen Smith & Katja Seltmann & w/ my Missouri State University #RussellLab undergrad team!
And the answer is... yes! Check it out 😇 ⬇️
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
And the answer is... yes! Check it out 😇 ⬇️
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
Quote: "It is very hard to interpret big data in ecology in meaningful ways if you do not know anything about who the organisms are and what they do in the environment."
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
A place for natural history in the 21st century
Natural history provides an important basis for observing interactions between organisms in their environments. Biotropica recently inaugurated a new paper category called “Natural History Field Note....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 15, 2024 at 2:20 AM
Quote: "It is very hard to interpret big data in ecology in meaningful ways if you do not know anything about who the organisms are and what they do in the environment."
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
[new paper] You probably suspected that loss of pollinator diversity consistently reduces reproductive success for wild and cultivated plants, but here we quantify it: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Loss of pollinator diversity consistently reduces reproductive success for wild and cultivated plants
Nature Ecology & Evolution - A meta-analysis finds that decreasing diversity of pollinator species has a negative affect on multiple measures of plant reproductive success, with wild plant...
www.nature.com
December 11, 2024 at 8:49 PM
[new paper] You probably suspected that loss of pollinator diversity consistently reduces reproductive success for wild and cultivated plants, but here we quantify it: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
This is a really important read.
Governments and businesses are looking to lead on climate change, but too many of their commitments are built on flawed “Net Zero” frameworks and “carbon offsets”.
Authentic climate leadership requires more — a transparent and meaningful “Emissions 360” approach.
globalecoguy.org/the-world-ne...
Authentic climate leadership requires more — a transparent and meaningful “Emissions 360” approach.
globalecoguy.org/the-world-ne...
The World Needs Better Climate Pledges
Governments and businesses are looking to lead on climate change, but too many of their commitments are built on flawed “Net Zero”…
globalecoguy.org
December 11, 2024 at 7:36 PM
This is a really important read.
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
How can it be ok to manufacture and export to developing countries chemicals too dangerous to be allowed in the UK?
Our new investigation found:
- Last year, the UK exported 8,500 tonnes of pesticides considered so hazardous they are banned here
- Including: enough bee-killing neonicotinoid thiamethoxam to spray an area larger than England
- Syngenta was responsible for 98% of these banned pesticide exports
- Last year, the UK exported 8,500 tonnes of pesticides considered so hazardous they are banned here
- Including: enough bee-killing neonicotinoid thiamethoxam to spray an area larger than England
- Syngenta was responsible for 98% of these banned pesticide exports
‘Ultimate hypocrisy’: UK exported 8,500 tonnes of banned pesticides last year
unearthed.greenpeace.org
December 9, 2024 at 6:58 PM
How can it be ok to manufacture and export to developing countries chemicals too dangerous to be allowed in the UK?
Reposted by Caleb Bryan
Every year around now, I start to see grad students on social media bemoan that they’re going home for the holidays to a family that doesn’t understand their research, or what they do in general, and it breaks my heart. 🧵 🧪 #SciComm
December 8, 2024 at 4:22 PM
Every year around now, I start to see grad students on social media bemoan that they’re going home for the holidays to a family that doesn’t understand their research, or what they do in general, and it breaks my heart. 🧵 🧪 #SciComm