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Thread: On the telly

  1. #11
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    [QUOTE=Nellie;476.

    I did also wonder about the claim that brood raised on one temperature was destined to be a house bee, those on another would become foragers, that pretty much flies in the face of accepted wisdom, as I understand it at least.[/QUOTE]

    Hi Nellie,

    Did not see the telly last night but you are right. The TV got that bit wrong. Bees have a gene called the FOR gene which was found to be similar to the fruit fly. In a young bee this FOR gene is suppressed therfore it remains a house bee. As it gets older the FOR gene is switched on and the bee becomes a forager. Scientists discovered it was some chemical signal that switched the FOR gene. They did an experiment where they exposed the young bees to the chemical signal and discovered they could make nurse bees become foraging bees at an earlier age. I can't remember the reason why they did this experiment and I don't know if temperature was involved.

    Jimbo

  2. #12
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    I had another quick look at the livestream from Würzburg this afternoon. There was no wind at all, and still lots of bees landed on their backs! Are these bees very clumsy or do they get confused by the shiny surface of their 'landing board'?

    Somewhere I have read that snow can do a similar thing, and bees try to fly upside down?

    Doris

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