Here you find links to articles on our research in the print and non-print media
October 30, 2020
Scientists find commonality in bees’ famed 'Waggle Dance'
New research suggests that there are common mechanisms involved whenever Asian honey bees communicate through dance.
Deccan Herald, Report by Akhil Kadidal
Researchers put the bee into NCBS
New research carried out by Bengaluru-based National Centre (NCBS) has suggested that there is a common mechanism involved whenever Asian honey bees communicate through dance.
BangaloreMirror, Report by Bangalore Mirror Bureau
August 10, 2020
Air pollution could be making honey bees sick - new study
Now, a new study from India has revealed how air pollution may be depleting the health of honey bees in the wild. These effects may not kill bees outright. But like humans repeatedly going to work under heavy stress or while feeling unwell, the researchers found that air pollution made bees sluggish in their daily activities and could be shortening their lives.
The Conversation, Article by Barbara Smith & Mark Brown
Air pollution impacts the health of wild pollinators
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nine of the world's 10 most polluted cities are in India. Yet, researchers have almost no idea how air pollution is affecting non-human organisms. In some of the first research to address the physiological and molecular impacts of air pollution on wild plants and animals, scientists from the Bangalore Life Science Cluster show that air pollution could be devastating for organisms humans rely on most for survival, like the honey bee.
phys.org/news/2020-08
'Its body looked like a warzone.' Air pollution could kill off critical honey bee in India
Bees feel the sting of air pollution more acutely than we do. A 3-year study in India finds that even mildly dirty air could kill 80% of giant Asian honey bees, a key pollinator in South Asia. Without such bees and other insects, domestic production of fruit, vegetables, nuts, and legumes could be at risk, the team says.
Science, Report by Harini Bharat
Pollution stings Bengaluru's bees in the heard
Scientists from the Bangalore Life Science Cluster have found that the Giant Asian honey bee (Apis dorsata) from more polluted areas of Bengaluru exhibited lower flower visitation rates than those found in lesser polluted areas.
Bangalore Mirror, Report by Hemanth C.S.
Dreckige Luft macht Bienen krank
An Orten mit hoher Feinstaubbelastung besuchen Riesenhonigbienen weniger Blüten, ihre Körperfunktionen werden beeinträchtigt und ihre Sterberate steigt.
Der Tagesspiegel, Report by Walter Willems (dpa)
World Bee Day May 20, 2020
Indian honey bees need some love
Apis mellifera, a European import, produces 75% of India's honey. But the conversation needs to move away from 'foreigners' and honey, and look at why our indigenous bees can better the lives and yields of farmers.
The Hindu, Report by Surya Praphulla Kumar
BLiSC Science Cafe: World Bee Day Special
On the occasion of the UN World Bee Day, Axel and the documentary movie maker, Ranjani Mani, had a Q & A Science Cafe session.
The importance of honey bees: Research perspectives from India
A short documentary showing interviews with Indian bee researchers produced by Columbia Global Centres, Mumbai.
March 10, 2020
Honeybees' waggle dance has different dialects - study solves 70-year-old mystery
The waggle dance is a unique form of communication of honeybees, which is used to convey the distance and direction of a food source. ..... A study of three different honeybees species in India has revealed that the insects’ waggle dance have different ‘dialects’ based on the distance they travel for food — solving a 70-year-old zoological mystery.
theprint.in, Report by Mohana Basu
Bienen tanzen in Dialekt
Mit dem Schwänzeltanz teilen Honigbienen ihren Artgenossen mit, wo Futterquellen zu finden sind. Je nach Bienenart gibt es dabei unterschiedliche Tanzdialekte, wie ein deutsch-indisches Forschungsteam nachgewiesen hat.
December 28, 2019
Unseen 2019: Silence of the Bees
- Nearly 1 million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction worldwide, but conservation in India continues to focus on big cats, elephants and rhinos
- Bees, which are critical to the survival of the human race, are on the decline due to use of pesticides and habitat loss
September 9, 2019
The Story of our Native Honeybees
Conservation stems from understanding a species.
This is at the heart of Rajani Mani’s documentary film Colonies in Conflict, a work in progress, in which she addresses the importance of Apis dorsata or Asian honey bees.
The Hindu, Report by Sravasti Datta
August 27, 2019
Arunachal Pradesh a treasure trove of bumblebees, finds study
In the high elevations of the Himalayas, bumblebees are important pollinators for many wild and agricultural plants. These fuzzy bees are adapted to cold climates and play a crucial ecological role in a landscape that is not comfortably habitable for many other insects. However, little is known about their distribution within India. While some studies have examined their diversity in the West and Central Himalaya, the harsh climatic conditions of the East Himalaya have been a deterrent to such studies.
For the first time, in a recent study, a team of researchers from India, Austria and Germany, have studied Bombus—the bumblebees—in Arunachal Pradesh, which lies at the eastern end of the Himalayas. They have reported 21 species from the state, showing a higher diversity of bumblebees than previously reported.
Research Matters Report by Sharada Ramadas
July 27, 2019
Bees use complex memory for communication
Bees use waggle dance to communicate with their nest mates the flight distance and direction to foraging sites. Now, a research team led by Axel Brockmann at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, has studied how bees use complex memory to generate dance duration to communicate a change in foraging distance.
The Hindu, Report by I.T.Ilavenil
March 16, 2019
We need to Save the Bees - but Where Do We Begin?
In the last decade, the population of bees around the world nosedived, prompting concerted efforts to conserve them. The decline was the result of habitat loss and fragmentation, lack of forage due to mono-cropping and widespread use of pesticides called neonics. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, bees are responsible for about 80% of pollination worldwide, making them vital to agriculture. And if their numbers are falling, so will the economy’s.
The WIRE, Report by Manal Shakeel
November 20, 2017
They sure create a Buzz
BangaloREsident Sebastian Marokko Walter spoke to a cross-section of society to know their thoughts on honey bees. He got only one predictable response: people are afraid of them. Sebastian worked in the lab of Dr Axel Brockmann at the National Centre For Biological Sciences (NCBS). The outcome of his research was an exhibition, displayed last month at NCBS
The Hindu, Report by Sravasti Datta
September 30, 2017
Super smell strength of solitary bees create a Buzz
“It is important to identify and study the olfactory receptors as bees mainly depend on scent cues. They have an excellent memory and can identify and remember the smell of their preferred food plants..."
The Hindu, Report by Aswathi Pacha
January 6, 2014
Foreign Scientists in India take Good with Bad
"Be careful," Axel Brockmann tells the visitor as he unlocks the door to the outdoor honeybee enclosure on the sprawling campus of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore. One cabin belongs to Apis dorsata; another, to the European-African honeybee species A. mellifera. ....
Science, Report by G.B.S.N.P. Varma