E190: How do we make better food for honeybees? [SJK Audio Edition]

E190: How do we make better food for honeybees? [SJK Audio Edition]

From SJK Audio Edition by Science Journal for Kids

May 4, 2026 · 10 min

About this episode

Researchers improve honeybee health by modifying yeast to produce essential nutrients for their diet.

Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-can-we-make-better-food-for-honeybees/ or watch at: https://youtu.be/IRyT-dMDe6c Summary : Researchers improve honeybee health by modifying yeast to produce the substances in pollen. Abstract : Honeybees visit flowers to collect food for themselves and their colonies. When bees visit flowers, they also pollinate. Pollination is an important step that causes plants to make fruits. Many fruits that we eat, like apples and blueberries, need bees for pollination. Without bees, our food supplies would be in danger of not producing enough fruit. But human activities have reduced the abundance of flowering plants. That means bee colonies are more likely to starve every year. Beekeepers feed honeybees human-made food. But this food is missing essential nutrients called sterols. Yeasts are genetically engineered by scientists to make all kinds of important compounds, like insulin. We engineered a common yeast using genes from plants to produce the correct sterols that bees need. When we added this modified yeast to the bees’ diet, we found that colonies could continue to produce young bees. If the sterols were not in…

Topics covered

  • honeybees
  • food production
  • pollination
  • bee health
  • genetic engineering

Keywords

  • honeybees
  • yeast
  • sterols
  • pollination
  • food supply

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Science Journal for Kids, U.S.

Products: insulin, pollen, fruits, yeast, sterols

Places: U.S.

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