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Nature photographer Anand Varma brings bees, birds, bats and parasites into focus for National Geographic

Honeybee populations have been declining for more than a decade. To keep one of nature’s most prolific pollinators alive and busy, the USDA has been mixing mite-resistant bees and bees kept by commercial beekeepers. “To say it like that makes […]

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A beekeeper is born: Kara Kelso harvests honey and explains why Des Moines has ‘some of the healthiest bees around’

“Look at this pollen pocket! Look at this girl!” Kara Kelso, co-owner of The Slow Down Coffee Co., excitedly directs my attention to one of her 210,000 bees who is crawling across the frame with big (relative to her size, […]

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Build a bee as part of a Cedar Rapids community art project highlighting the importance of the busy pollinators

Happen to have ping-pong balls, used plastic water bottles, empty milk jugs, hangers and push pins lying around? According to the Grant Wood Art Colony, those common items — or other recycled materials — are un-bee-lievably perfect for crafting a […]

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Album Review: BEES — Shady Lady EP

The early 1970s was a dynamic time for country music. The old guard of ’50s and ’60s country artists started taking a backseat to the rise of artists crossing over with rock and R&B who took over the Top 40: artists like Glen Campbell, Mac Davis, John Denver, Elvis in his post-’68 Comeback period, Jerry Reed and J.J. Cale. […]

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Iowa’s dwindling bee population is part of a larger, frightening trend

Deep in the belly of the Vermeer Science Center at Central College in Pella, Iowa, cardboard boxes are stacked against the wall in a dimly lit laboratory. The boxes contain thousands of bees — carefully preserved and meticulously categorized based on their Latin genus and species — each with a unique tale to tell. Some are as small as a gnat; others are the size of a cockroach. Their colors span the spectrum, too, from rich, reflective blues to the familiar striped yellow and black of the common honey bee. Paulina Mena, an associate professor of biology, is their veritable warden. […]

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