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Bees Make Natural Polyester That Chemists Can't Replicate episode artwork

Jul 19, 2026 10 min

Bees Make Natural Polyester That Chemists Can't Replicate

from Secret Pollinators Hosted by Kelly Parks

There's a bee that makes polyester. Not metaphorically — an actual transparent, waterproof, antimicrobial film that she paints onto the walls of her underground brood cells with a forked tongue. Chemists have identified the compounds. Industry wants the material for biodegradable packaging. Nobody has been able to reproduce it. This week: the cellophane bees of the genus Colletes, the Dufour's gland secretions they polymerize into natural cling wrap, how to spot a nesting aggregation, and why the low cloud of bees hovering over a bare patch of lawn in early spring is one of the most misunderstood sights in North American nature. www.secretpollinators.com #SecretPollinators #CellophaneBees #Colletes #NativeBees #WildBees #GroundNestingBees #PollinatorPodcast #NativePollinators #BeeScience #PlasterBees #PolyesterBees #SolitaryBees #NaturePodcast #Entomology #PollinatorHabitat

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This episode is 10 minutes long.

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This episode was published on July 19, 2026.

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