Honeybees use social distancing when mites threaten hives – study

Foraging bees keep away from centre of colony when infested with mites, find researchers

In the past 18 months humans have become all too familiar with the term social distancing". But it turns out we are not the only ones to give our peers a wide berth when our health may be at risk: research suggests honeybees do it too.

Scientists have found that when a hive of honeybees is under threat from the mite Varroa destructor - a parasite linked to the collapse of honeybee colonies - the bees respond by changing the way they interact with one another.