News and Blog

Researchers Nyssa van Vierssen Trip, Victoria J. MacPhail, Sheila R. Colla, and Beatrice Olivastri have just published a paper in Conservation Science and Practice on the Canadian public's awareness of bee conservation. The article is titled Examining the public's awareness of bee (Hymenoptera: Apoidae: Anthophila) conservation in Canada. The research found that while Canadians love bees, they are less […]

Published research out of the Rehan Lab indicates that the composition of pollen significantly impacts the development and survival of the native small carpenter bee, Ceratina calcarata. Diets containing higher ratios of clover produced larger individuals with increase survival rates and faster development as compared to rose pollen. While rose pollen contained significantly higher protein and sugar […]

Congratulations to Laurence Packer, Spencer K. Monckton, Thomas M. Onuferko and Rafael R. Ferrari for being awarded with the Royal Entomological Society's Award for the BEST PAPER published in Insect Conservation and Diversity during 2018 and 2019! Every article published within the preceding two years is considered for this award, with the winner chosen by […]

Victoria MacPhail and Sheila Colla, from the Colla Lab, have just published a new review on citizen science projects aimed at conservation titled "Power of the people: A review of citizen science programs for conservation". With a focus on best practices, this review includes experimental design, participant recruitment and impact on policy that you can […]

In their new paper, published today by Royal Society in Proceedings B, titled "Eusociality influences the strength of negative selection on insect genomes", Mohammad Imrit, Kathleen Dogantzis, Brock Harpur and Amro Zayed found strong evidence that increased social complexity reduces the efficiency of negative selection in wild, eusocial bees. Click on the picture or use […]

The Rehan Lab (www.rehanlab.com) is hiring a postdoc to study landscape genomics and microbial ecology of wild bees. The candidates will join a collaborative group of researchers, staff, and students focusing on bee health, behaviour, and conservation. We are located at York University in Toronto, Canada. This position will examine metagenomics of wild bees to […]

Title: Diverse Diets with Consistent Core Microbiome in Wild Bee Pollen Provisions Across three widespread populations of the small carpenter bee, Ceratina calcarata, microbes present in brood provisions are consistent, suggesting that microbe populations are conserved within a bee species, rather than mediated by climate or pollen composition. Published in Insects; click the link or […]

Recent graduate, Rafael Ferrari (Packer Lab), is awarded Thesis Prize for his PhD dissertation “Systematics and Biogeography of Colletinae with Revisionary Studies of the Species of Colletes Latreille (Hymenoptera: Colletidae: Colletinae) from Chile and Eastern South America” Congratulations Rafael! FGS Thesis and Dissertation Prizes honour cutting-edge research

We are officially an Organized Research Unit (ORU) at York University! The Vice President of Research and Innovation (Amir Asif) just announced the senate approval of our proposed ORU - The Centre for Bee Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation! We couldn't be prouder and are excited to begin our cross-disciplinary research. Here's to new beginnings! Senate […]

Spencer Monckton (PhD candidate, Packer Lab) delves into the details of the fascinating Vespa mandarinia, incorrectly dubbed the "Murder Hornet". Some key points: The do not post a danger to humans We don't know if they post a threat to (non-native) honey bees There are already multiple introduced honey bee pests in N. America They are […]