
Finding the buzz: Bee walk & talk
The buzzing of bumblebees in the garden is the sound of summer. Wild bees play a valuable and often underestimated role in pollinating...

Breeding better beans for bees
This week I am very excited to have reached a big milestone in my scientific career: the publication of the first of my PhD research...


The hunt for rare bumblebees at RSPB Dungeness; a lab trip
A windswept headland that lies in the shadow of a nuclear reactor might not seem like the most obvious place to go searching for rare...

From bees to sequencer: tracking pollinator viruses in Wellies
Here we are, early spring in Oxfordshire. The sun is rising and a beautiful day is forecast. It’s time for field work. In the village of...


Social insects in Helsinki
This August I had the pleasure of attending the European IUSSI meeting on social insects, hosted by Lotta Sundström and colleagues at the...

A fortnight of fieldwork
I write this post on the penultimate day of our fortnight of fieldwork, though it’s only supposed to take ten days! As with all fieldwork...


Viruses in humans and bees
The Rio Olympics are nearly upon us, but one of the biggest stories is not about sport, but about the dangers posed to athletes and...