Wild bees make honey bees better pollinators

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A wild bee (the bumble bee Bombus vosnesenskii) and a honey bee forage together on a sunflower. Honey bees that interact with wild native bees are up to five times more efficient in pollinating sunflowers. (Sarah Greenleaf photos)
A wild bee (the bumble bee Bombus vosnesenskii) and a honey bee forage together on a sunflower. Honey bees that interact with wild, native bees are up to five times more efficient in pollinating sunflowers. (Sarah Greenleaf photos)

When honey bees interact with wild native bees, they are up to five times more efficient in pollinating sunflowers than when native bees are not present, according to a new study by a pair of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and UC Davis.


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All News summaries for August 29, 2006

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6 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- It was a dirty job, but somebody had to do it. Anthropologist Nathaniel J. Dominy of the University of California, Santa Cruz, has advanced the investigation of the diet of early human ancestors ...

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7 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
Rural strategies designed to induce economic growth often emphasize the need to improve access to capital for poor households. However, this approach implicitly assumes that family members pool all their resources and allocate ...

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7 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
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