Stories about the declining bee population and its effects on the environment trickle through the news cycle nearly every day. To keep track of the latest bee news and make sense of the issues, we're highlighting the major bee stories each week, with analysis from the Guardian's Alison Benjamin, co-author of A World Without Bees, Bees in the City: The Urban Beekeepers' Handbook and Keeping Bees and Making Honey.

What happened:

This article profiles the Urban Pollination Project (UPP) – a Seattle initiative to get community gardeners to help with the University of Washington's bee research. Scientists train "citizen scientists" at 35 local gardens to collect data on local bees, greatly increasing the pool of research data beyond what is possible with the school's resources and funding.

Key quote:

'[With citizen science] you can achieve things that you would never be able to achieve with a more standard set of funds and time and energy,' said graduate researcher Susan Waters. '[This is] a kind of knowledge that is ultimately really useful … and it connects people to their local environment.'

Why it matters:

The aim of the project is to understand which bumble bee and solitary bees are pollinating the city and to make conclusions about what bees need to survive in urban environments. This is important because with the growth of intensive agriculture production, the countryside is becoming less bee-friendly, so cities, with their community gardens and allotments and street trees and parks have the potential to become bee havens.

Similar urban pollinator projects are taking place in the UK, in particular one led by Bristol university which is counting the number of pollinator species in different urban locations in such as allotments, cemeteries and backyards in four cities in Britain and looking at what can be done to improve their diversity and abundance in urban areas. Butterfly Conservation, and the bird charity, the RSPB also encourage the public each year to count the number and type of butterflies and birds they see in their garden over a period of time.

What happened:

Researchers at the University of Minnesota are committed to improving pollinator health, so they've created a Bee Lab within the university. With the state's department of agriculture, the lab is investigating a new slew of honey bee die-offs in the city of Minneapolis.

The colonies were healthy until last week when they began acting strangely and falling to the ground. Researchers are conducting tests to confirm that the deaths were the result of pesticide contamination, as the scientists and beekeepers suspect.

Key quote:

Minneapolis resident Mark Lucas noticed the bees he and his family keep in their back yard behaving strangely Wednesday night, shaking on the edge of the hive and falling to the ground. 'They just come spilling out of the hive like they're drunk,' he said.

Why it matters:

Pesticides are implicated in bee deaths worldwide. Research that can confirm that bee deaths are the result of pesticide contamination could lead to a body of evidence that could result in those pesticides being banned or their use being restricted.

What happened:

The short-haired bumblebee has not been seen in the UK since 1988 and was declared extinct in 2000. Experts have confirmed that queens nested and produced young in the UK, after two years of conservation efforts at a reserve in Kent.

Scientists are hoping to build a viable breeding population for the bee, which went in decline in the second half of the 20th century when the grassland they relied upon was made into intensively farmed land. Seven young worker bees have been spotted so far, but scientists are cautiously optimistic about the project as previous efforts have failed.

Key Quote:

Dr Nikki Gammans, who leads the Short-Haired Bumblebee Reintroduction project, said: 'This is a milestone for the project and a real victory for conservation. We now have proof that this bumblebee has nested and hatched young and we hope it is on the way to becoming a self supporting wild species in the UK once again.'

Why it matters:

Bee species in many parts of the world continue to decline due to habitat loss as flowering meadows have given way to intensively farmed land. Of 25 native bumblebee species in the UK, seven are endangered and two have been declared extinct, including the short-haired bumblebee. So successful efforts to bring it back to areas where wild flower meadows still exist or have been replanted is good news for conservation and biodiversity.

What happened:

Researches are inspecting the science behind honeybee flight as part of an effort to create small robot aircraft.

They found that honeybees use sight and feel to optimally position their bodies for maximum flight efficiency. Previous research showed how honeybees use their eyes to detect airspeed and the new study confirmed that they rely on vision to streamline their flights. Studies also showed how honeybees uses their antennas with vision to create a streamlined body position.

Key quote:

'Honeybees often have to travel very long distances with only a small amount of nectar, so they have to be as fuel-efficient as possible,' says Mandyam Srinivasan, professor at Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) at the University of Queensland. 'They achieve this by raising their abdomen to reduce drag so they can fly at high speeds while using less energy.'

Why it matters:

As well as helping scientists create tiny flying machines, this research reiterates how the honeybees' anatomy is perfectly designed to carry out its function in nature, to pollinate flowering plants, which it does by flying up to three miles from its hive. Its antennae primarily function as the bees hyper sensitive nose, sniffing out flowers. But they also feel other bees and sense the vibrations when bees do the waggle dance to communicate the direction of a good source of food. Now we know from this research that the antennae also help bees to regulate their flights by detecting wind speed. We mess with nature at our peril.



What happened:

While the rare (and expensive) manuka honey has become popular with among celebrities, veterinarians recognize that the product can be used to treat animal wounds because of its anti-bacterial properties. Now, studies show it's not the only honey that has those properties. Eighteen different types of honeys, many that can be found on supermarket shelves, can help horses heal.

Key quote:

'As a scientist and equine surgeon, I am very excited by our findings, [which] suggest that there are a number of other types of honey that are equally – if not more – effective (than manuka) in inhibiting the growth of bacteria in wounds,' said Patrick Pollock, DVM, PhD, of the Weipers Centre for Equine Welfare in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

Why it matters:

Manuka has been the most studied honey to date. But this research confirms what the ancient Greeks and Egyptians knew: that honeys have healing properties. This research could boost the sales of local honey, especially Scottish heather honey, which came top in the tests for its anit-bacterial properties. Moreover, in many parts of the developing world, access to expensive antimicrobial drugs is limited, so locally sourced honey could provide a cheaper alternative both for vets and doctors in treating wounds of animals and humans.