For Some Bees, Climate Change Could Be Good

Australian carpenter bee. (Credit: Marc Newman)

The latest scientific buzz is that climate change could be good for certain bees, according to a press release from Pensoft Publishers.

Australian small carpenter bees’ numbers seemed to have increased exponentially after the previous Ice Age.The bees are found in various locations ranging from southern to northeastern Australia.

Southern University of Australia and University of New Hampshire researchers replicated the bees’ prior response to climate change using DNA patterning. Interestingly, the bee population boom wasn’t restricted to Australia. Similar increases were discovered in bees from North America and Fiji.

Although the findings are encouraging, researchers say the news isn’t all good. Some species of bees need cooler temperatures to survive. Rising temperatures could push them toward extinction. The next step will be figuring out how climate change will affect bees over time.

Top image: Australian carpenter bee. (Credit: Marc Newman)