In the Bee Lab at Harvey Mudd College, we use biology, math, CS & engineering to study how groups of bees (and ants!) evolve to coordinate group behavior.
In the Bee Lab at Harvey Mudd College, we study more than just bees. We're interested in how groups of animals evolve to coordinate behavior. Honey bees, for example, search out flowers and use their famous dance to tell nestmates where to go. By recruiting more bees to the best flowers, dancing helps the group collect food more efficiently. Using mathematical models, computer simulation, and lab and field experiments with bees and ants, we explore how communication shapes collective behavior.
05/15/2026
On Sunday, Bee Lab researcher Diya will be graduating from Harvey Mudd College -- an exciting, though slightly scary, event! In her last HMC Bee Lab blog post, she writes about a much more painful rite of passage practiced by the Sateré-Mawé people of Brazil with Bullet Ants: https://hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/05/coming-of-age-with-ants-satere-mawe.html
05/12/2026
You've probably stumbled across an ant nest before, but maybe you never stopped to look: what are they doing there, right around the nest entrance? Su writes about what harvester ants do, and how we can tell, in her latest student blog post: https://hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/04/here-at-social-insect-behavior-lab-one.html Harvey Mudd College
04/17/2026
If you closely at what seems like a w**d, you may notice a beautiful Fibonacci spiral of flowers. In the latest blog post from my Ecology Lab's Natural History series, Aabhas writes about the Common Fiddleneck and its striking form. https://hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/04/fiddling-with-fiddlenecks-pondering.html Harvey Mudd College
04/15/2026
Detecting ants is a key part of tracking them, but it's not all that matters. You also need to keep track of who's who -- easier said than done! In this HMC Bee Lab blog post, Livia writes about tracking metrics that take ID into account https://hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/04/how-to-determine-and-interpret-tracking.html Harvey Mudd College
04/10/2026
Are you easily distracted by plants? (Yeah, me too.) Go on a virtual Natural History trip to pHake Lake, our field station's artificial pond, with Ecology Lab student Callie. Enjoy the journey ... and don't focus too much on the destination! https://hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/04/phake-lake-fake-out.html Harvey Mudd College
04/03/2026
Today's edition of my Ecology Lab's Natural History blog series: Karl, a somewhat reluctant naturalist, faces his fear of "knife flies" head on by choosing to study pollinators in his final project https://hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/04/how-i-learned-about-bees-without-birds.html Harvey Mudd College
03/23/2026
Mustard: is it an invasive w**d, or a tasty condiment? Why not both? Read more in the latest post of my Ecology Lab students' blog series! https://hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/mustard-seeds-to-seedy-mustard.html Harvey Mudd College
03/19/2026
Next up in my Ecology Lab students' blog series: Lilo writes about the peace that comes from observing bees and butterflies on a black sage plant. Bonus: some great pics with Adobe's new iPhone camera app Project Indigo! https://hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/lost-in-bushes-examining-black-sage-and.html Harvey Mudd College
03/16/2026
If an ant has no nose, how does it smell? Find out in Pranay's latest student blog post: https://hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/theres-whole-world-youve-never-heard-of.html Harvey Mudd College
Imagine being the size of an ant, and entering an ant nest. Without special defenses or camouflage, you'd probably die immediately. Yet, some beetles do this all the time! Read more in Phoebe's latest undergrad research blog post: https://hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/finding-beetle-in-harvester-ant-haystack.html Harvey Mudd College