'Wrecked their fertility': Heat waves devastate sperm counts in crop-critical bees

A new bee study suggests heat waves may be doing more damage to pollinating insects than scientists had realized — not by killing them outright, but by quietly undermining their ability to reproduce. That could spell trouble for farms, gardens, and a food supply that depends on healthy wild bee populations.

'Wrecked their fertility': Heat waves devastate sperm counts in crop-critical bees. A new bee study suggests heat waves may be doing more damage to pollinating insects than scientists had realized — not by killing them outright, but by quietly undermining their ability to reproduce. That could spell trouble for farms, gardens, and a food supply that depends on healthy wild bee populations. According to a report from The Conversation, researchers in the U.K. recreated the three-day heat wave that struck in July 2022 to see how developing red mason bees would respond. The study , which was published in the Journal of Thermal Biology, subjected a group of developing red mason bee larvae to three days of high temperatures matching those of the July heat wave. The test group experienced daily peaks of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit...