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Smith Bee Lab

@smithbeelab.bsky.social
448 followers 483 following 27 posts

We're interested in collective behavior, nest architecture, social physiology, and how honey bee colonies do what they do. smithbeelab.com

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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The HIVES ALIVE exhibit is up! Opening night was a dream, thanks to all that came out. This is definitely the biggest installation I've put together and a real highlight of my career. #sciart #dataviz #scicomm #honeybees #hivesalive
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
wire.auburn.edu/content/cosa...
wire.auburn.edu
Hives Alive: Where honeybee science becomes art
Auburn’s 'Hives Alive' exhibit transforms honeybee research data into an immersive art installation. The exhibit offers visitors a new way to experience the science behind honeybee nests.
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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I humbly invite you to “Hives Alive” - an illuminating display of the dynamic honeybee nest. This sci-art exhibit translates complex biological data on nest morphogenesis and pattern formation into larger-than-life artistic representations of hives. #sciart #honeybee #datavisualization
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
A totally normal purchase for a totally normal bee lab.
Seven boxes of ball-pit balls in the back of the lab truck.
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
"A dead mouse in a honey bee nest is like a dead whale shark in the lobby of an apartment building" So glad the reviewers, and Insect Socio, didn't cut that line! Awesome work, and surprising results, led by Erica Maul @ericamaul.bsky.social
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Erica Maul @ericamaul.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
My first first-author paper is now published online at Insectes Sociaux! I loved this project and sharing it with y’all at IUSSI-NAS and ABS. Check it out! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Honey bees actively process dead mice inside their nests - Insectes Sociaux
Honey bee nests are warm and resource-rich, making them attractive targets for animal intruders during winter, including mice. Beekeepers often protect their nests from mice, but have also documented ...
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Dr. Carly Kenkel @drcarl.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
The list of Ecology/Evolution/Marine Bio Labs recruiting grad students for Fall 2027 is live! PIs enter your position info here: forms.gle/MAGd4ohyPeoY... students (and PIs not recruiting) share the composite list: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Please share widely! 🧪
forms.gle
Ecology/Evolution/Marine Biology labs recruiting for Fall 2027
Please complete this form if you are a PI recruiting graduate students for a Fall 2027 start. If you are NOT recruiting, feel free to share the response sheet with prospective students looking for lab...
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Gideon Bradburd @gbradburd.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
postdoc alert 🚨! NIH-funded postdoc in my lab to work on Ancestral Recombination Graphs in space. Please spread the word widely in your networks, and please reach out if you're interested! (2-3yr position, start date flexible, pay/benefits good!). details here: careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...
genescape.org
recruitment
Multiple positions available: ​ Postdoc PhD students
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Finally, direct evidence of ornithology negatively impacting my work.
Bird (not cute) nesting between stacked bee frames.
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Dr Nathalie Stroeymeyt @nstroeymeyt.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
🚨 PhD opportunity 🚨 Fully funded PhD at the University of Bristol (UK) on how ant colonies remodel their nests to optimise performance under pressure, combining experimental work, quantitative analysis, and field work. Detail/how to apply: stroeymeyt-lab.co.uk/open-positio... Deadline: 5 June 2026
stroeymeyt-lab.co.uk
Open positions – Ant epidemiology Lab
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Erica Maul with LOG NEST 2026! @ericamaul.bsky.social (somehow, they don't sell these as standard beekeeping supply)
Erica Maul holding her badass log nest
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Chinmay Hemant Joshi @chjoshi.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Paper alert 🚨🐜! Fire ant foraging looks remarkably robust until you perturb their communication. @dornhaus.bsky.social and I tested how fire ants respond to disruptions in pheromone trail communication during foraging. More in the thread below 🧵(1/6). link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Persist or give up? Fire ants motivated to search for a high-quality food source even if they don’t know how to find it - Insectes Sociaux
Insectes Sociaux - Finding resources for the colony is one of the most difficult and risky tasks for a social insect worker. A worker on a foraging trip can face a number of challenges, including...
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Maggie Couvillon @freelyflyingbees.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
A New Toy for Serious Science Allows for Individual Honey Bee Forager Tracking. Read about exciting work from Stentiford, Harrap et al. from the Straw lab that delivered a decisive one–two punch to the long-standing challenge of tracking foraging honey bees. authors.elsevier.com/a/1mkeE3QW8S...
authors.elsevier.com
Please wait whilst we redirect you
All content on this site: Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply.
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Andrew Straw @andrewstraw.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Have you ever wondered what you would find if you could keep your eyes on a bee for more than a few meters? Us, too! preprint (with videos!) + thread 🧵 Precise, individualized foraging flights in honey #bees 🐝 revealed by multicopter drone-based tracking www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/9
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
My main issue with this work is that they don't mention how cute drones are with white eyes. Like, not even a single figure devoted to the cuteness factor?
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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 30/10/2025
Here's my latest contribution to the "Lost Science" series at the New York Times: Jay Falk, a scientist who studies why some female hummingbirds look just like males. Gift link: nyti.ms/4qF7Qje
White-necked jacobin, a hummingbird, perched on a branch
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Nothing says "dinner party" like a large boa constrictor! Great to have Ummat Somjee @the-bug-hut.bsky.social as the DBS seminar speaker this week. (btw, we ate tacos, not David Boa)
Members of the Smith Bee Lab holding David Boa (a snake) with Ummat Somjee.  He's a big snake.
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Do peeps have suggestions for where to advertise postdoc positions broadly? Have done eco-evo, and evo-dir, but would welcome applicants from all sorts of fields (maths, physics, computer science).
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
The Smith Bee Lab is HIRING! 🐝🐝🐝 - Postdoc (2-4yrs, flexible start-date) - 1-2 Graduate Students (to start Fall 2026) No prior experience with honey bees needed, we encourage people from diverse research areas to apply! (no jerks, plz)
Advertisement for applying to the Smith Bee Lab
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Why have ONE party tent, when you can have TWO?!? (thanks Andrew for snapping the pic!)
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Cientifico Latino is an awesome program, AND yes, you should definitely apply for the NSF GRFP (even if it's a tight deadline!)
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Daniele Carlesso @danielecarlesso.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
In humans, bigger teams often mean less effort per person — the #Ringelmann effect. Weaver #ants 🐜 flip the script: #teamwork makes them superefficient! Video + paper out now in Current Biology! @cellpress.bsky.social tinyurl.com/44yrvp6m tinyurl.com/3jnnevfn
tinyurl.com
Superefficient teamwork in weaver ants / Curr. Biol., Aug. 12, 2025 (Vol. 35, Issue 17)
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
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Jay Evans @jaydevans.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
A week ago we were told via YouTube that USDA-BARC and our Bee Lab will be closed. BARC has had a productive 90 years but is aging and I trust there is a longterm vision behind this decision. The largest loss will be the people, who are 100% devoted to bees, beekeepers, science, and this country.
Bee researchers at lab
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Erica Maul @ericamaul.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Made it to Baltimore for #ABS2025 !! Come to my talk in the Dietary Decisions section Thursday at 3:00 (spoiler: it’s not about dietary decisions!!), and message or find me if you want to chat about research or my experience in @smithbeelab.bsky.social (recruiting grad students!).
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Current google search: "Will I have any friends at #Evolution2025 in Athens, GA?"
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Perfect day for beekeeping. 10/10. (Thanks to Erica and Andrew for keeping it cool!)
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Erica Maul @ericamaul.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
PhD wins can feel few and far between, so I’m thankful for this week! Not only did I finish my quals and become a candidate, but I also was awarded a Wellesley College Graduate Fellowship! Had to celebrate in @smithbeelab.bsky.social tradition.
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Any chance anyone gets hard copies of Current Biology? (looking to get a copy from 16 Dec 2024)
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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Check out this wild resin forager in her natural tree nest. She has tree resin packed on her back legs where pollen is typically stored. It will be made into propolis to coat the cavity for antimicrobial protection and water sealing. Shot with the Laowa 24mm macro probe.
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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 05/01/2025
Come learn how honey bees organize their nests in 3 dimension across time today at 11:30 in salon 10 #SICB2025
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Jay Jinsing Falk @jjinsing.bsky.social · 05/01/2025
@aztecacecropia.bsky.social has developed incredible techniques for watching the change in time of every cell of a honeybee nest. Cells are specialized, clustered, and polarize their function!
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Kelly Zamudio @kzutaustin.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Friends, plz repost and share! We are hiring a lab technician with exp in mol biology and general lab management. BS or MS degree and good org skills are required. Deadline Feb 1, 2025. We are a welcoming and equitable lab community. Details at link below. 🐸🐢🐍🦎 zamudiolab.org/2024/12/18/k...
zamudiolab.org
KZLab is Seeking a Lab Technician!
The Zamudio Lab (zamudiolab.org) in the Department of Integrative Biology at UT Austin seeks a highly motivated and detail-oriented laboratory technician to play a key role in supporting the resear…
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Peter Marting @aztecacecropia.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Our architectural symmetry paper made the cover of Current Biology! Congrats to @smithbeelab.bsky.social and the team. Check out the form, function, and evolutionary origins of honeybee nest symmetry here: www.cell.com/current-biol...
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
So excited to see BEES (and their beautiful nest) on the cover of Current Biology! @currentbiology.bsky.social This work wouldn't have been possible without a super team of researchers, and the cover wouldn't have been possible without the phenomenal Peter Marting! @aztecacecropia.bsky.social
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Smith Bee Lab @smithbeelab.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
I probably should have mentioned this a while ago, but I'm at the Wiko (@wiko-berlin.bsky.social) this fall, on a College for Life Sciences Fellowship! As you can tell, I've adopted the "Berlin Fashion" particularly well... (Many thanks to Hannah Darabi for taking the photo)
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Claire Bailey🦐🐜🐝 @csbailey128.bsky.social · 26/10/2023
Excited to announce my first paper! I looked at how honeybees continuously reduce their comb area after nest expansion & the fine-scale detailing that goes into it. Very thankful for everyone at the Smith Bee Lab, and excited to share some fun results! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
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