World Bee Day: Working to build better bees to survive what's killing them

A honeybee pollinates a flower on a lamb's ear plant. A researcher in Miami University is working to build a better honey bee, using "instrumental insemination" to fertilise desirable queen bees using well-groomed male bees. – File Photo: AFP

Miami University researcher Alexander Zomchek is working to build a better honey bee, using "instrumental insemination" to fertilise desirable queen bees using well-groomed male bees.

Believe it or not, a key trait to help the endangered honey bee survive is its cleanliness: how well it grooms itself to brush away harmful and infected parasites.