Season 7 Episode 1: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Ten bee predictions for 2026

Here we go. I might be wrong more than right, but it's still worth a think.

1. I expect more bees declines, but not kept honey bees.

2. Honey bee colony numbers will surprise researchers.

3. Climate-driven phenological mismatches will dominate ecology news.

4. In the USA, lax rules will allow easier registration of agriculture chemicals, resulting in more pollinator deaths.

5. I predict pollinator restoration projects will be big.

6. I expect a new pathogen jump from honey bees to wild bees.

7. In 2026, I think that there will be bee stories regarding extreme weather.

8. I expect at least one article titled something like "Tiny robots are replacing bees as pollinators."

9. Not a wild prediction, but I think bees will be less common on social media in 2026.

10. Robotic androids will not replace beekeepers in the field during 2026.

In 2026, I don't expect to see:

• Robots lighting smokers
• Robots reading brood patterns
• Robots making judgement calls about nectar flows, weather, and beekeeper intuition
• Or even Robots carrying deep honey supers to the truck

Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in January 2026.

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Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/

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