Scientists have developed a breakthrough “superfood” for honeybees by engineering yeast to produce the essential nutrients normally found in pollen. In controlled trials, colonies fed this specially designed diet produced up to 15 times more young, showing a dramatic boost in reproduction and overall health. As climate change and modern agriculture reduce the availability of natural pollen, this innovation could offer a practical way to support struggling bee populations.

Using CRISPR-Cas9, scientists engineered a yeast to produce the nutrient feed. Farmers could have it in two years.

  • ButteryMonkey@piefed.socialEnglish
    1·
    3 hours ago

    I feel that strongly about native bees and honey bees cause problems for them so… yeah. I’m big on native wildlife. Fuck invasive species.

    Honeybees are not native where I am, and somehow we have so many crops that supposedly rely on them or they would fail entirely, how is that not invasive agriculture? People truck bees across the country to support these crops.

    I’m not saying they can’t produce honey from native flowers, they can but that’s entirely beside the point, and that’s also competing with native bees, of which there are hundreds of species.