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 couldn't find the picture I really wanted, which would be James Arness fighting the ants. He looked really funny because the wardrobe department couldn't find a Army helmet that would fit big Jim.
The previous theory was that the individual bees cycled through the various vocations. The young bees were nurse bees which becam field bees later in their life. I tend to believe that rather than assigned life time jobs for certain bees. One would have to mark and track the individuals to be sure.
.....What do these heater bees do in the summer, live outside the hive? Maybe they have AC bees that keep the place cool in hot weather, huh?.....
Once again, this is old news.
The heater bees consume honey and use that energy to generate body heat. They warm the cluster. As they cool, they go towards the center of the cluster and replace warmer bees that move outward. The cluster is formed in the combs containing cells of honey
Regarding A/C. It is more like the principle of desert coolers and evaporative cooling. They bring in water and then some bees fan their wings to create air current that evaporates the water that cools the hive.
You are a closet beekeeper wannabe and don’t know it. You ask all the right questions.
Get yourself some bees, ask the questions, observe first hand.
Until we learn to communicate two ways with bees, we can forget communicating with ET’s. Bees communicate at a high level we can’t begin to comprehend.
Funny you say that. I've always thought it would be cool to have some bees. (Good call on your part! I am a science guy and love to know how things work in detail.) I raised a few pigeons before I was in high school.
We recently got a house with an acre a bit away from the city. As I drive around, I've seen a few hives back in yards and I am thinking that it might be a plan once I get some other jobs taken care of.
One of my kids took a computer class in college about 'swarming,' which applies to a lot of different areas from bees to the military. They had an indoor hive with a clear tube running to the outside. He told me some interesting things about their behavior.
Also, one of my missions in life is to get people to stop calling yellow jackets 'bees.'
Right now I'm learning more about deer and gardens, groundhogs, Canada geese, ducks, etc. than I needed to know nearer the city. We're having a ball! So, yes, I do see bees in my future.
......I am a science guy ....
I always thought of my bees as sort of a science project.
Keep your eye open for a local bee keeper group. Someone there will take you under his (or her) wing and help you through the trying first year.
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