In 2020, Ciara Duffy and a team from the Harry Perkins Institute in Australia studied how honeybee venom and its main part, melittin, affect breast cancer cells. They tested it on lab samples of triple-negative and HER2-enriched breast cancers, two hard-to-treat types, using venom from European honeybees and compared it to bumblebee venom.

USDA scientists have linked the worst U.S. honeybee die-off on record—a staggering ~60% colony loss—to pesticide-resistant Varroa mites spreading deadly viruses, notably deformed-wing viral strains A & B, and acute bee paralysis virus. Mites resistant to the last line pesticide, amitraz, failed to stop the viral spread—signaling a massive warning for bee health and ecosystems.