Hello nerds! This week while we're hard at work on some new stuff, we're gonna encore some of our favorite episodes.

We're talking about honey bees, the discovery of Ebola, hip hop, and NASA, and how artificial light

changed the way we sleep and how fireflies find love. All these episodes have one thing in common.

They feature the work of some incredible black scientists, and we're celebrating that work all

this week. So thanks for listening, and here's today's episode. I'll be seeing you later.

You see what I did there? You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

Maddie Sapphire here, today a non-coronavirus episode for you about honey bees from a guy who knows

all about them. Sammy Ramsey, aka Dr. Bugs. So first of all, can I just ask you how you got that

nickname? So I actually got that title, Dr. Bugs, while working at the Supreme Court of the United

States. I worked at the Supreme Court in the... I know, I know. I was the only intern in

entomology major, and the deputy clerk of the court referred to me as Bugs, and then when I told him

that I was going for my doctor, he's like, oh, Dr. Bugs! So honestly, the Supreme Court folks just

did not know how to handle your entomologist, and all they could do was just yell Bugs.

They really did not know what to do with that. And of course, the nickname stuck, which is perfect

for Sammy, a honeybee researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Also, props to the Supreme

Court for taking an entomology intern, the best science. Yeah, I said it. Okay, so honey bees play

an important role in our ecosystem and for our economy. But the bees themselves, as you might have

heard, are not doing so hot. We lost about 40% of our honeybee colonies last year, which was

deeply concerning, and unfortunately, has continued a trend over the past decade or so, of us losing

close to 30% of our bees every year. And that could have huge consequences for all of us.

So today in the show, what's killing the bees? Sammy Ramsey tells us what's driving these

diodes, including a wild critter straight out of a horror movie. And he tells us what we can do to

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