Bee researcher wins MacArthur "genius" grant

The fight to protect U.S. honeybee populations got more ammunition today, as University of Minnesota entomologist Marla Spivak was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." Spivak "won the grant for breeding honey bees that can restore health to beehives stricken with pests or pathogens, which in recent years have devastated U.S. bee colonies," Lauren Etter of The Wall Street Journal reports. She plans to use the $500,000 grant to launch new bee-related projects. (WSJ photo by Matt McLoone)

"It just blew me away," Spivak, a professor of apiculture, told Etter. "I thought they might have the wrong person." Spivak's research "focuses on genetically influenced behaviors that confer disease resistance to entire colonies through the social interactions of thousands of workers," the MacArthur Foundation writes on its Web site. Spivak's "Minnesota Hygienic" bees offer "an effective and more sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides in fighting a range of pests and pathogens," the foundation writes. (Read more) (MacArthur Foundation video)

The story of bees, colony collapse, apiculture and agriculture is an important story, and it's easy for journalists to localize. Almost every community has someone who keeps bees and produces honey, and it's a fascinating process.