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Honey Bee, Honey Do!

         The Honey Bees moved into the horse paddock awhile back.

Two large man-made hives that were constructed and placed behind a little fence, so the horses wouldn't get too close.

The bee keepers come every day, tending to their little charges, wearing their white suits with the netted hoods.

They tell me the Honey Bees fly up and out of their hives every day (except for rainy days when they prefer to stay at home), finding flowers, and bringing back pollen and nectar to the hive.

And it seems that bee-keeping is becoming the new hobby. 

The new "in" thing to do.  

To save the planet.  

To save us humans.

Because bees in the wild are becoming extinct.

We are inundating them with so many chemicals, as we try to kill other insects that are eating our crops, that we are inadvertently killing them as well.

And as we now know, without bees, we have no plants, and no food.

And bees are an inspiration that we humans could learn from.

Their society and social order is jaw dropping.  

Each insect has a role and a place in the hierarchy.  

A job to do, lest the entire colony fall apart.

The Queen Bee is no slouch.  

She lays thousands of eggs each and every day.

Some she decides to fertilize.  

Other eggs she does not fertilize.

Fertilized eggs grow up to become sterile female Worker Bees.

Unfertilized eggs go on to become fertile male Drones.

How does she decide, one wonders.

The female Worker Bees do all the heavy lifting.

That's about right.

They all have different jobs, depending on the stage of their lives.

As young female Worker Bees, they are known as Nurse Bees.  

They are able to produce a substance called Royal Jelly, with which they feed other babies and the Queen.   

When the babies become a certain size, they are switched to pollen, nectar and honey.

However, a Queen Bee will be fed Royal Jelly until she is grown.

How do they choose who will be the Queen Bee?

So many questions.

When maturing Nurse Bees are no longer be able to produce Royal Jelly, they are then given the task of guarding the hive, and receiving pollen and nectar from foraging bees.

Later still, they test their wings, and become foragers themselves, bringing back pollen and nectar, to the end of their Worker Bee days.

And it is the Worker Bee who has the stinger to protect the hive from danger.

They also have been known to conduct a coup, or two.

They can form a "ball" around a threat, such as a wasp, and using the vibrations of their bodies, heat that intruder to a deadly temperature.  Combine that with poison from carbon dioxide, and that threat is no more.

They have also been known to overthrow a Queen that way - a Queen that was an intruder or defective.

Worker Bees also warm the hive in the winter, using their vibrations to keep the Queen warm, and rotating their bodies throughout the cozy cluster so no bee becomes too cold.

And Worker Bees can effectively cool the hive in the hot summer months, using the same vibrations of their bodies and wings.

Then there are the male Drones.

Their only job is to mate with a Queen who has flown in from another colony.

But the Drones die after mating.

Such is the price.

In their extravagant colonies, Honey Bees display what's been called  "Eusociality" - the highest level of organization of animal society.

Quite the honour.

There is even speculation as to whether or not they display consciousness, or sentience.  

Hence the vegan dilemma.

And so, as the bees and the horses find their way to live peacefully together in the paddock, it makes me feel that we as humans should find a way to all live together with each other and with other species on this planet.

We can all learn from the Honey Bees.


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