Simon Tierney

This apple grower has noticed a peculiar change on his farm Across the Blue Mountains, apple farmers are noticing less fruit this season. Some are wondering if it's linked to varroa mite.

No fruit in the 2025 fruit bowl - @abcnewsaustralia.bsky.social Victoria Pengilley interviews yours truly. Compounding affects of weather delayed native bees + Varroa mite infested feral honey bees? Is Bilpin the Canary in the Coalmine? The jury is in deliberation:
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

Global synthesis of apple pollination research highlights general pollen limitation and positive contributions of wild bees compared to honeybees Our study highlights that pollen limitation is common in this global crop. While managed honeybees are dominant pollinators, a diverse community of wild bees contributes significantly to apple pollin...

Fresh global-analysis admirably lead by @eeraertsmaxime.bsky.social (+ @oliviabernauer.bsky.social PhD data) indicates native bee pollination services leads to higher-quality apples = improved weight & seed set.

How do you like them apples? 🍎

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

www.researchgate.net/journal/Evol...

Cover image in #G3 highlighting our new paper in "Shifts in bee diet breadths are associated with gene gains and losses and positive selection across olfactory receptors"
academic.oup.com/g3journal/ar...
@genetics-gsa.bsky.social

New perspective on bee microbiomes from a progressively provisioning social tribe that frequently engage in trophallaxis and removal of faeces in stem nests that lack brood cells.
Evolutionary Applications:
doi.org/10.1111/eva....

This review touches upon how ancestral solitary stem-nesting bees (Xylocopini) keep microbes siloed, while derived social Allodapini share them in a network through trophallaxis, brood contact & frass cleanup 🐝🐝🐝

📸 Fig. 2

Origin of obligate dim-light foraging in nomiine sweat bees (Halictidae: Nomiinae), with the description of a new species of Mellitidia - Arthropod-Plant Interactions Dim-light foraging is exhibited by the majority of the seven bee families (facultative behavior—five families; obligate behavior – four families) and represents an underappreciated aspect of pollinati...

first phylogeny for nocturnal foraging nomiine bees:
doi.org/10.1007/s118...

Frontiers | Brain development in a facultatively social allodapine bee aligns with caste, but not group living IntroductionThe ‘social brain hypothesis’ proposes that brain development (particularly primates) is driven by social complexity, more than group size. Yet, ...

new paper on bee brain development in social contexts:
doi.org/10.3389/fevo...