Wildfires are increasingly recognized as a key threat to bee populations, especially in the fire-prone Mediterranean shrublands. Post‑fire recovery of plant–pollinator networks depends on both floral resource dynamics and the availability of fire refugia, yet the latter remains poorly documented for cavity‑nesting bees. Here we report an unforeseen case study showing that screes act as effective cryptic refugia for snail‑shell‑nesting bees in a protected shrubland. While monitoring nests of the obligate snail‑shell‑nesting bee Rhodanthidium sticticum in summer 2025, a 72‑ha wildfire burnt one of our experimental sites. In this context, we could examine and compare the fate of 123 nests in a complete Before-After Control-Impact (BACI) design. We found direct evidence that nests can survive fire in specific microhabitats, and further provide estimates of their survival probability. All nests in exposed litter were destroyed, whereas most nests located under stone shelters remained structurally intact. Subsequent dissection revealed that 35
Kleptolecty (as the theft of pollen grains by one bee species from the body of another) was previously considered anecdotal and limited to regions where Apis mellifera (L.) has been introduced. Here, we studied the frequency of this behaviour in two National Parks of the south of France (Cévennes and Mercantour) during the summer of 2023 and 2024. We found this behaviour to be widespread on the woolly thistles (Cirsium eriophorum (L.) Scop., 1772. (Asteraceae)), when floral resources are scarce. We quantified this behaviour in 10.9
The small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) is a significant global pest of honey bees, causing colony losses and adversely affecting pollination services. Numerous control strategies have been developed, yet their relative effectiveness remains uncertain making it difficult for beekeepers to select among available options. We conducted a meta-analysis utilising only studies that reported quantitative paired treatment-control results with extractable means, measures of variance, and sample sizes. This resulted in the inclusion of 25 eligible studies, comprising 175 treatment trials. Treatments included chemical pesticides and biological controls (entomopathogenic nematodes), as well as physical traps and barriers. Overall, small hive beetle control methods are highly effective, with treatment category effect sizes ranging from 2.24 to 3.37 Hedges’ g (very large effect relative to untreated controls). On average treatments showed a reduction in beetle survival by 58
In the context of pollinator decline and species-focused conservation measures, the need for data on wild bees continues to grow, and identifying them at a species level has become a crucial issue. This challenge is linked to a lack of naturalist skills, to the difficulty of the group, but also to a lack of tools to train people in this expertise, such as accessible, comprehensive, and up-to-date identification keys. Online multi-access keys are designed to facilitate identification, better illustrate criteria, and enable more fluid updates. These keys require a higher initial investment than dichotomous keys, but they should enable correct identification if they contain at least the information found in the corresponding traditional keys. In this study, we tested whether multi-access keys could help identify wild bees in France. We created three multi-access keys for the three most diverse genera of bees and tested them against dichotomous keys. These tests were carried out by 101 participants each having 15 min per specimen. The resulting 1320 identifications show that the multi-access format returns significantly less correct identifications from the 10 specialists (−19.4
Bumble bees are essential pollinators that have an annual eusocial lifestyle where new cohorts of queens establish colonies each season. The early stages of colony establishment are critical for colony success and are heavily impacted by how readily queens activate their ovaries and initiate egg laying at the start of the season. Understanding the social and nesting factors that influence queen reproduction may provide key insights into early colony establishment. Here, we examine how social conditions and nest cavity size affect the onset of egg laying in early nesting Bombus impatiens queens. In the first experiment, queens were assigned to a social condition where they were placed into nesting boxes that either completely restricted contact with nestmates (and were smaller in size) or allowed direct physical contact and then housed either alone or with nestmates (males or workers). We found that contact with either workers or males accelerated egg laying in queens relative to being housed alone. Unexpectedly, queens housed in the restricted cages, regardless of whether alone or with nestmates, also initiated egg laying earlier. This led us to a second experiment, where we examined ovarian activation and hemolymph juvenile hormone (JH-III) concentrations in early queens housed in different nesting cavity sizes. Here, we found that smaller nest cavity sizes lead to a greater degree of ovarian activation in gynes (young, unmated queens), but juvenile hormone concentrations did not differ. Our findings demonstrate that both social conditions and nest cavity size influence reproductive timing in queens in early-stage bumble bee colonies.
