Posted on 03/17/2010 9:43:10 PM PDT by fishhound
The secret of honey bees' success has been discovered living deep inside their hives - a special type of bee which acts like a living radiator, warming the nest and controlling the colony's complex social structure.
The "heater bees" have been found to play a crucial, and previously unappreciated, role in the survival of honey bee colonies.
Using new technology that allows sceintists to see the temperature inside the bee hives, researchers have been able to see how heater bees use their own bodies to provide a unique form of central heating within a hive.
They have found that these specialised bees, whose body temperatures are considerably higher than other bees in the colony, not only keep the hive warm but also control the social make-up within a colony.
Bees, and other social insects such as ants, share jobs within a colony so each individual has specific role that benefits the colony as a whole.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I think they don’t cook themselves because they don’t fan their muscles when heat is not needed. The article said they have a way of decoupling their wings so they can fan the muscles a lot without moving the wings.
God is cool too!
” For Freeper Beekeepers”
I have a co-worker who started a few weeks ago.
” For Freeper Beekeepers”
I have a co-worker who started a few weeks ago.
OK, so are heater bees born or are they assigned the job? If they are born, what causes that? Do their pupae have to be kept at a particular temperature? Do they have to get the food for the extra energy themselves or do other bees deliver it to them? Etc.
Maybe these answers aren’t known yet, but reporters are good at not asking probing science questions.
Each bee in the hive needs a miniature TV camera attached to its head to we can see what is going on in there.
And, I hate to do this, but will global warming make all of the bees into foragers and then there would be no more housekeepers to take care of the larvae and clean the nest? Or will the government take care of that job for them?
Wait until algore reads this.
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Gods |
Thanks ApplegateRanch and gleeaikin.a special type of bee which acts like a living radiator, warming the nest and controlling the colony's complex social structure |
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Whoops! Thanks GeronL, thought I saw everyone’s pings! [blush]
The fact that some bees have a higher temperature than others is very old news. It is in fact common knowledge
In the winter when the colony is inactive:
The bees at the center of the cluster are warmer than those on the outside. As the temperature of those on the outside gets too cold, the warm bees move outward. The bee temp from the center of the cluster to the outside is continuously variable.
Honey is the fuel that provides the body temp
Doing the jobs drones won’t do.
Ya done good!
Anybody want to learn? Start here: www.beemaster.com
Maybe this will help clear up why the bees were disappearing
Maybe they were just too hot. :’) Handy wild bees:
http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/inse006/inse006.htm
He is, indeed. : )
Heater bees - global warming!! Oh Noes!!1!!
Is she a do-bee or a don’t bee?
That wouldn't surprise me. The theory presented in the article is that empty cells in the comb are needed for the heater bees to do their thing, but breeders have been selecting for queens that don't leave empty cells. Perhaps the pupae were too cold and not enough foragers emerged?
They’re gonna get a buzz on.
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