Welcome to the mysterious world of bees (February 27, 2012) International House at UCSD will be hosting a free event open to the public at which clips from the movie "Queen of the Sun" will be shown. James Nieh will be one of the speakers at this event, which will also include the a visiting Thai Fulbright Professor, Dr. Guntima Suwannapong, and the Vice President of the San Diego Beekeeping Society, Eric Robinson. There will also be a local honey tasting! This event is brought to you by IAG, Slow Food Urban San Diego, The San Diego Beekeeping Society, Slow Food UCSD, Garden of Eden Organics, and the SSC.

New paper: Nguyen H, Nieh JC (2012) Colony and individual forager responses to food quality in the New World bumble bee, Bombus occidentalis. Journal of Insect Behavior. 25:60-69.

Wade Robinson J, Nieh JC, and Goodale E (2011) Pollinators in Peril: A High School Curriculum. Why are bee species disappearing? How can we save species and ourselves? How can we use science to better our world? In this 84 page document, the authors (a high school teacher at San Diego High Tech High, a UCSD faculty member, and a postdoctoral researcher) create a high school science curriculum that addresses three National Science Standards (Inquiry, Life Science, and Science in Personal and Social Perspectives). This single file contains the entire curriculum, including powerpoint presentations. The individual files are also available on Jesse Wade Robinson's website and on the Nieh lab's Teaching Bee website. This project was made possible by a Blasker Science and Technology grant from the San Diego Foundation and partially funded by the National Science Foundation.

Eben Goodale hosts High Tech High student honey bee presentations (November 2011) Together with High Tech High teacher Jesse Wade Robinson, Eben Goodale hosted a mini-conference where more than 40 high school students presented their research on honey bees. Please see the TeachingBee YouTube site. for detailed videos of the student presentations.

Meg Eckles receives a UCSD Excellence in Teaching Award (September 2011) Congratulations to PhD student, Meg Eckles, for receiving a TA Excellence in Teaching Award for her work as a teaching assistant in 2010-2011!

Welcome to visiting Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Guntima Suwannapong (September 2011) Thai professor, Dr. Suwannapong, received a prestigious Fulbright Scholar Award and is conducting research at the Nieh lab for six months on the function of honey bee mandibular gland secretions. This gland is thought to produce an alarm pheromone, but the effects of mandibular gland secretions remain unclear. Dr. Suwannapong has analyzed the chemical contents of honey bee mandibular glands and will be conducting a variety of experiments and bioassays to determine the function of this pheromone.

New research collaboration with Mexican scientists: Effects of the pesticide Spinosad on Mexican bees (August 2011) The title of the project is "Ecological risk assessment: exploring the compatability between the use of Spinosad in agriculture and social pollination by Mexican bees." The Nieh lab is pleased to collaborate with Dr. Daniel Sánchez, El Colegio de La Frontera Sur, Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico. This project will allow an undergraduate or Masters student to travel and take part in this pesticide research in Mexico.

James Nieh receives 2011 San Diego Science Educator's Association Excellence in University Teaching Award Link to SDSEA website See also This Week@UCSD article by Kim McDonald.

New paper: Sanchez, Nieh, & Vandame (2011) Visual and chemical cues provide redundant information in the multimodal recruitment system of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana (Apidae, Meliponini). Insectes Sociaux: in press.

Joyce, E. (2011) "Another pesticide link to vanishing honeybees" KPBS radio broadcast. Listen to the audio recording.

Joyce, E. (2010) "The mystery of vanishing honey bees" KPBS television. Viewable video.

Home and Garden Television, Gardening by the Yard (Episode GBY-1712H) "The Life Cycle of Bees" Season 19. Episode description and photo, but no video link.

Scientific American Frontiers (Calls of the Wild: Bee Lines) "The Life Cycle of Bees" In this early episode, Alan Alda speaks to James Nieh and David Roubik about the recruitment communication of one species of stingless bee in Panama. To view the video, please click on the "Bee Lines" link, the fourth segment in the episode entitled "Calls of the Wild." Viewable video.

Scientific American Frontiers (Calls of the Wild: Bee Lines) "The Life Cycle of Bees" In this early episode, Alan Alda speaks to James Nieh and David Roubik about the recruitment communication of a stingless bee in Panama. This is the link to the show transcript.

University of California Television (first aired 23 February 2009) "Life and death among the flowers" Viewable video.

KPBS Public Radio (21 January 2009) Interview with Maureen Cavanaugh. Listen to the audio recording.

University of California Television (first aired 25 February 2002) "Symbolic communication in stingless bees: exploring the third dimension" Viewable video.

Pat Ledden Memorial Luncheon Talk (December 1, 2011) "Perils of pollination: warning cries inside the hive", Upcoming lecture. Location: Ida and Cecil Green Faculty Club, UCSD Campus, La Jolla, California, (time to be announced).

Idyllwild Garden Club Talk (October 22, 2011) "What's up with those bees?" Upcoming lecture. Location: Caine Learing Center, Idyllwild, California (9:00-10:00 am).

UCSD Emerti Association Talk (October 12, 2011) "Pollinators in peril: factors behind honey bee declines" Upcoming lecture. Location: Ida and Cecil Green Faculty Club, UCSD Campus, La Jolla, California (3:30-5:00 pm).

San Diego Master Gardener's Association (24 May 2011) "Pollinators in peril" Upcoming lecture. This is largely similar in content to the lecture that I gave on the 19 April 2011 (see below). Location: Balboa Park, Casa Del Prado, Room 101, 9-10 am.

Perspectives on Science, Point Loma Nazarene University (3 May 2011) "The secret lives of bees" Upcoming lecture. This lecture will focus on the biology and communication of bees, particularly honey bees and stingless bees. At the end, there will be a brief discussion of bee declines that is similar to the information provided in previous presentations I have given this year.

Lecture Reprise (29 April 2011). In case you missed the lecture that I gave earlier this week on the "Decline and Fall of Bees: Pollinators in Peril" (see below), I will also be giving it to an undergraduate student class at UCSD in Solis Hall Room Room 107 on 4/29/11 from noon to 1 pm. This is the same lecture. If you are not a UCSD student but would like to attend, please email the instructor (msaier@ucsd.edu) for permission.

UCSD Biomedical Library Talk (19 April 2011) "Decline and fall of bees: pollinators in peril" Listen to the audio recording and view the slides. As a clarification, I would like to add that although it is possible to find individuals to remove swarms for free, removal of colonies inside buildings requires qualified individuals and, depending upon the difficulty of the removal, will cost varying amounts. A good resource for San Diegans is provided by the San Diego Beekeeping Society. Here is a list of people who can help you out.

Food Justice Forum (16 April 2011) Food Justice Forum Cultivating University-Community Partnerships for a Healthier Society. See also: "Food Justice Forum a Success at The Global Arc.

Anonymous (2010) "Bees use a stop signal to warn nestmates of danger" BBC News Big Picture

Reilly, M. (2010) "Bees can say stop" Discovery News, Animal Planet

A. N. I. (2010) "Stop signal in honey bee communication discovered by biologist" Science News

Braun (2010) "Bees butt waggle dancers when danger lurks" National Geographic, NatGeo News Watch

LaFee (2010) "Hives stayin' alive: dancing bees' 'stop signal' warns of peril, UCSD researcher says" San Diego Union Tribune

UCSD (2010) "Biologist discovers ‘stop’ signal in honey bee communication"

Hadley, D. (2010) "Threatened honey bees tell others to 'Stop dancing!'" About.com: Insects

Soos, A. (2010) "The Language of Bees" Environmental News Network

Schoolcraft (2010) "Butting bees say 'stop'" Springfield Plateau

Anonymous (2009) "Warm Bee Food" The New York Times Science in Pictures

Anonymous (2009) "Hot for teacher" ScienceShots

Brown S (2008) "Wasps and Bumble Bees Heat Up, Fly Faster With Protein-Rich Food"

Phillips K (2008) "Pollen makes bees hot" (with cartoon!) The Journal of Experimental Biology 2008: iii

Walsh P (2006-2007) "ORBS Receives Funding from NSF" BioSphere 2006-2007: 26

Walsh P (2005) "UCSD Biological Sciences: hooking kids (and grownups) on science" BioSphere Fall: 26

Rowe P (2005) "How do you get from point A to point Bee?" San Diego Union-Tribune 17 July: E2

Pearlman I (2004/05) "Beehive in Muir is stage for interpretive dance performance" BioSphere Winter: 10-11

Fusaro K (2004) Espionagem entra abelhas. In: Pesquisa FAPESP

Leite M (2004) Guerra de abelhas por néctar tem até espiões e linguagem em código. In: Folha de S. Paulo, São Paulo

Milius S (2004) Trail mix: espionage among the bees. Science News 166

Webb S (2004) Honeybees' espionage mission. In: Discover, vol 25, pp 17

Nieh JC (2003) Abelhinhas espertas. Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Ristine J (2002) "UCSD researcher learning the buzzword of beespeak". San Diego Union-Tribune 18 Feb.: B1

Thomson J (2000) Food vibrations. In: Nature science update

Milius S (1999) Look who's dancing. In: Science News, vol 155, pp 216-218