AHBPA

Colleen/Bee Education Director: Wasps are easy to hate on because they can sting people multiple times, but they are actually good for pest control and a few of them are pollinators! They prey on insects such as aphids and caterpillars that harm plants and are key pollinators for fig trees to the extent that their life cycles are intertwined. I don't hate wasps, but I appreciate them from a distance.

Colleen/Bee Education Director: I love this question! My students like to name the queens in their hives. The most popular one is Beyonce, but honorable mentions go to Queen Elizabeth, Queen Latifah, and B-e-a-utiful. If I had any input on these names I'd name one Ginny Beasley.

I liked the parted where it ended. -Arlen the intern. (Never actually seen it)

Intern and Environmental Science student Arlen here. There are many contributing factors and its hard to point to just one. But one interesting thing I'd like to add. By pure chance a Harvard researcher who studies hive collapse did a science AMA a few days ago . His work pointed to a group of pesticides called neonicotinoids as large contributing factor to bee population decline. The mostly widely used of the group is a pesticide called imidacloprid. One very good thing for bees you can do is to make sure any pesticides that you or those around you use aren't imidacloprid and aren't in the neonicotinoids group.

Payden here: Look for a local honey bee group and ASK QUESTIONS. Watch videos online. Read a book. 'Beekeepers Handbook, 4th edition' by Diane Sammataro is awesome. Start with 2 hives so you can compare. Don't delay! Anyone putting an effort towards helping and housing honey bees is helping everyone.