Why are bees special? We get inside a hive to find out

In a new National Geographic docuseries, viewers get a look inside a bee hive. The series is called Secrets of the Bees — and since there’s nobody we know who loves bees more than entomologist Sammy Ramsey , we brought him on the show to share some of these secrets. We cover how bees play together (yes, play!), their ability to fend off predators four-times their size and a mite wreaking havoc on honeybees everywhere. If you liked this episode check out past episodes on liquid gold (a.k.a honey ), and honeybees . Email us your questions about insects, critters – or anything else to do with science at shortwave@npr.org . We may turn it into an episode in the future! See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

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Why are bees special? We get inside a hive to find out is an episode from Short Wave by NPR.

This episode is 13:12 long.

This episode was published on Apr 7, 2026.

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