{"id":21694,"date":"2020-08-15T05:10:25","date_gmt":"2020-08-15T05:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=21694"},"modified":"2020-08-17T18:09:51","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T18:09:51","slug":"honey-bees-cant-practice-social-distancing-so-they-stay-healthy-in-close-quarters-by-working-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/honey-bees-cant-practice-social-distancing-so-they-stay-healthy-in-close-quarters-by-working-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Honey bees can’t practice social distancing, so they stay healthy in close quarters by working together"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rachael Bonoan<\/a>, Providence College<\/a><\/em> and Phil Starks<\/a>, Tufts University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

As many states and cities across the U.S. struggle to control COVID-19 transmission, one challenge is curbing the spread among people living in close quarters<\/a>. Social distancing can be difficult in places such as nursing homes, apartments, college dormitories and migrant worker housing.<\/p>\n

As behavioral ecologists<\/a> who have studied social interactions in honey bees<\/a>, we see parallels between life in the hive and efforts to manage COVID-19 in densely populated settings. Although honey bees live in conditions that aren\u2019t conducive to social distancing<\/a>, they have developed unique ways to deal with disease by collectively working to keep the colony healthy.<\/p>\n