Insects

New Beer Supports A Butterfly That Loves Hops As Much As You

Emily Boyer — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:05:00 +0000

The hops blue butterfly is unique to Colorado. Not much is known about the insect except for one interesting fact: it lives off hops.

Maybe It's Time To Swap Burgers For Bugs, Says U.N.

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:59:00 +0000

Yes, we talk a lot about eating bugs here at The Salt.

What Is It About Bees And Hexagons?

Robert Krulwich — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:51:00 +0000

Solved! A bee-buzzing, honey-licking 2,000-year-old mystery that begins here, with this beehive. Look at the honeycomb in the photo and ask yourself: (I know you've been wondering this all your life, but have been too shy to ask out loud ... ) Why is every cell in this honeycomb a hexagon?

Bees, after all, could build honeycombs from rectangles or squares or triangles ...

But for some reason, bees choose hexagons. Always hexagons.

And not just your basic six-sided hexagon.

For Year-Round Buzz, Beekeepers 'Fast-Forward Darwinism'

Katherine Perry — Sun, 12 May 2013 17:47:00 +0000

Beekeepers In Massachusetts are taking the mission to save the bees into their own hands.

There has been a dramatic disappearance of honeybees across the U.S. since 2006. A recent U.S.

Using Bacteria To Swat Malaria Inside Mosquitoes

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:14:00 +0000

It's a bit like probiotics for mosquitoes.

When scientists infect mosquitoes with a specific bacterium, the insects become resistant to the malaria parasite.

Sounds like an easy way to stamp out malaria, right? Just introduce the infected mosquitoes into an area and let the bugs take over the natural population.

But there's been one big hitch: The bacterium — called Wolbachia — doesn't stick around inside mosquitoes that carry malaria.