The hive is its own hospital: bees arrange their medicine like a floor plan

A honeybee's body is not the whole immune system — the hive itself is. Researchers from the University of Sydney and the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries sampled 24 honeybee colonies at five apiaries in New South Wales, Australia, and found that the colony's defences are laid out in layers, like rooms in a house. At the entrance and in the propolis — a sticky resin bees use to seal gaps — the protection is broad and strong. Closer to the centre, the wax comb, the stored pollen and the bees' own bodies filter more precisely, holding back harmful bacteria and fungi while letting helpful microbes through. The defences were strongest against two bacterial diseases that can wipe out a whole colony. And the medicine is only as good as the neighbourhood: the flowers bees can reach shape the chemistry they bring home, so a hive surrounded by varied, healthy flowering land is, quite literally, better defended.

SDG 15 · Life on land — Mechanism: tech innovation