Overall, this work shows that physical interactions are critical for initiating the fanning response in honey bees. We are still working on what exactly they are doing when they are interacting, but we are excited about where this work will take us!
Using a tracking program, ABCTracker, we found that in higher social densities, bees interact more, but in the les socially dense groups, they spent more time interacting.
When we put bees in higher density social environments, bees were more likely to fan.
We found that if bees were prevented from touching, separating them by screen, they were significantly less likely to fan.
So we wanted to know, how do bees know they are around each other? We previously tested brood pheromones, which did not influence the fanning response. So we looked to physical interactions.
My previous work showed that fanning is modulated by group size - bees fan more and fan at temperatures closer to ideal colony temp when in larger groups.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
During the summer, one of the ways that bees keep their colony cool is by fanning - literally flapping their wings to circulate hot air out of the colony and cool air into the colony.
Honey bees regulate their colony temperature to 35C, or 96F - and they are so good at it that they have been called a "warm blooded insect". If the temp gets to cold or hot, it can disrupt the development of the baby bees, and even kill them.
I am excited to share more research from my lab! This work, lead by PhD student Casey Lambert, identifies physical interactions as a method of communication to coordinate social behavior in honey bees, published in Behavioral Ecology. Let me tell you about it...
academic.oup.com/beheco/advan...
🎉🎉 I graduated my first PhD Student!! Dr. Justine Nguyen successfully defended her dissertation yesterday. I couldn't be more proud. I haven't been stressed giving a talk in many years, but introducing her made me so nervous!! 🐝🐝 @jlotusnguyen.bsky.social
thecooklab.org/news/drjustine
And thank you @kerrigantobin.bsky.social gor making the card and poem, and @biorender.bsky.social for the card inspo!!
🎉 Happy Holidays from The Cook Lab! 🎄 This year was incredible - hired our first postdoc, published several papers, gave many talks, traveled internationally, developed new techniques, submitted several grants, developed collaborations, and learned so much! 🎉 🐝 ♥️
thecooklab.org/news/holiday...
Macro photo of a large, slender, skinny black ant walking on the ground with her mandibles stuffed full with several termites.
On Thantsgiving, the ants eat too much.
Researchers reported last year that Ethiopian wolves enjoy licking nectar from red hot poker flowers, documenting this behavior for the first time in a large predator.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/4ocqSuW #ScienceMagArchives
Graph showing global surface temperature relative to 1951-1980 versus global carbon dioxide levels from 1979 to 2023. Includes a trend line indicating rising temperatures as CO₂ levels increase. Data from NOAA and NASA.
Imagine how scary it’d be if we didn’t know why global temperatures were rising.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Thats 216 biomedical PhD students for their whole degree, or 140 2 year R21 grants, or 30 5 year R01 grants, or one fired football coach...
Voyager 1 is almost one light-day from Earth. The intrepid #spacecraft will cross a major distance milestone in November 2026 - 16.1 billion miles. #Voyager1 #lightday Link for more information: https://www.popsci.com/science/voyager-one-light-day-earth/
Voyager 1 is almost one light-day from Earth. The intrepid #spacecraft will cross a major distance milestone in November 2026 - 16.1 billion miles. #Voyager1 #lightday
Link for more information: www.popsci.com/science/voya...
Kilauea erupting at around 9:20 PST on 11/25/2025
Kilauea being badass right now on USGS Live Feed:
www.youtube.com/live/tk0tfYD...
Large wood ant mound on the edge of a plantation forest
These wood ants are edge specialists... but not all edges are equal. Jacob Podesta used a decade of population expansion data to show that wood ants spread more quickly along certain edges, depending on the edge orientation. Currently available open access here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Minnesota Zoo is hiring an Animal Behavior & Wellbeing Specialist to work on their animal welfare team! A new position, bachelors-level with at least 3 years experience. Apply by Oct 28.
#job #animalwelfare #zoo #captivewildlife #aza
www.aza.org/jobs?job=48841
What an honorable title! @okstate.edu is hiring a Temple Grandin Endowed Professor in Applied Animal Behavior & Well-Being. 75% research 25% teaching.
#job #phd #animalwelfare #agriculture #farmanimalwelfare
jobs.okstate.edu/jobs/temple-...
Join the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona for our 2026 Dendrochronology Intensive Summer Course (DISC)! Spend 3 great weeks (May 18th to June 5, 2026) in the field, lab, and classroom learning first-hand how tree-ring research is done! ltrr.arizona.edu/summerschool
Interested in building research infrastructure and contributing to a culture of open and reproducible science? Verena is looking for a full stack developer for the Pathogen Harmonized Observatory (PHAROS)! See the Verena website for more details and to apply […]
🚨 Job alert 🚨 Postdoc position in ecological forecasting 📈 as part of the Horizon Europe OSCARS call. The postdoc will be based in lovely Sevilla (fantastic place to live) and will include working closely with several European forecasting projects. Apply by Dec 11! 🌎🧪 globalchangeeco.com/jobs
I am looking for a Senior Researcher (at least 2 years postdoctoral exp.) for the LivePlatforms project into how people make livelihoods in the platform economy; a 5-year FT post based in the School of Info and Communication Studies at UCD. Do share widely!
universityvacancies.com/university-c...
** Recruiting a postdoc ** We are looking for a postdoc to work on emotion, mental health, and interoception, based in London at @ucl.ac.uk in my lab (Clinical and Affective Neuroscience). Part of a large Wellcome Grant (co-led with the brilliant @camillanord.bsky.social)
Our study of time processing in bumblebees 🐝 covered by @cnn.com here edition.cnn.com/2025/11/12/s... . Our summary is here youtu.be/hsGxU65OMQk and the original paper royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.... @royalsocietypublishing.org
A picture of a frog on a leaf with the SICB and Skype a Scientist logos on the bottom right with the following words on top: "Call for Artists!" Learn about the latest animal research adn create art inspired by the science at the SICB meeting in Portland, OR. Deadline to apply: dec 12, Project dates Jan 3-7, Stipend $1000"
ARTISTS!
I need your help!
In collab. w/the Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology, I'm organizing a group of artists to come to our Jan. meeting! We're looking for artists to create based on what they learn at the conference. $1000 stipend.
Application is V short! forms.gle/ah1i8KwNJinZ...
Temperature, precipitation, habitat loss, and more: The interacting forces of climate change are driving shifts in insect populations and biodiversity. Scientists gathered at a symposium at #EntSoc25 to share current research on climate change and insect biodiversity and identify knowledge gaps.
Job add for genetics/genomics: text is https://jobs.missouristate.edu/postings/83638
Job add for freshwater fisheries biology. Text is at https://jobs.missouristate.edu/postings/83637
Job add for biology education position. Text is at https://jobs.missouristate.edu/postings/83639
Wanna be my colleague? We've got TT positions open!
1 in genetics/genomics jobs.missouristate.edu/postings/83638.
1 in biology education / open jobs.missouristate.edu/postings/83639.
1 in freshwater fisheries biology jobs.missouristate.edu/postings/83637
Date of first consideration is Jan 4 2026
