The PhD blues: What they are and how to beat them

https://media.giphy.com/media/ZWhA850E7azfO/giphy.gif In light of World Mental Health Day last week, I have put together this blog to talk about the common struggles that many PhD students and graduate students face on a daily basis. Frighteningly, it has been found that 1 in 3 PhD students are more likely to have or develop a common psychiatric …

Bee Stings (Part Two): What you need to know about bumblebees

Bumblebee stings Many of you reading this may be fearful of the loud, fuzzy bumblebees that busily fly about during Spring and Summer months. And your fear may well be justified. Bumblebees sting. And unlike honeybees, they do not die when they sting you. Their stinger, a smooth needle with no barbed edges, can easily …

Bee Stings (Part One): What you need to know about honeybees

Part 1: Honeybees Have you ever been outside and seen a bee and wondered if you are at risk of being stung? Most peoples first reaction is to move quickly away from the bee or to even swat it away. However, have you ever thought if all bees sting? If they die after they sting …

Zeus, The Honeybee and The Sting

According to Stephen Fry in his book Mythos, the story in how the honeybee obtained her sting is rather unusual. It begins on the day of Zeus’s wedding to Hera, a wedding which all of creation were greatly anticipating. However, it was not just the wedding formalities that was causing the excitement. Zeus had announced …

Life of a Queen

Hopefully many of you have noticed the increasing numbers of bumblebees and other insects outside and in your gardens over the last few months. You may have asked yourself, where did these bees go during the winter? Where have they all come from now? The answer lies in the story of the devoted bumblebee queen… A …

Where is the Buzz?

Part 1. Habitat Loss Wild pollinators of the Bombus species (a.k.a. bumblebees) are social insects with major importance to ecosystems and food production through the pollination of wild flowers and crops. It is estimated that 78% of wild flowering plants rely on insect pollination1, and the presence of wild pollinators greatly enhances crop yield compared to commercial …

Inside the Honeybee Hive

Honeybees are classified by the genus Apis. The most common group we would see here in Ireland are part of the Western Honeybee group: Apis mellifera. These are medium sized bees that when found in the wild build their comb within cavities in trees or burrowed in the ground. Honeybees can also be considered semi-domesticated …

Parasite Mediated Biodiversity

Scientists have been struggling for years to get the public to accept that predators are important to ecosystems. The public has seen initiatives such as the reintroduction to wolves into Yellowstone park working, and have slowly grown to accept that predators are important to maintain a healthy ecosystem. Our next hurdle may be harder to …