Bee Science
Here’s some bee science to ponder.
The Biology of Plants: Pollination
Pollination occurs in several ways. People can transfer pollen from one flower to another, but most plants are pollinated without any help from people. Usually plants rely on animals or the wind to pollinate them.
The stinger and venom sac of a honeybee
Targeting Cancer With Bee Venom
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have used an ingredient of bee venom called melittin to shrink or slow the growth of tumors in mice.
Honey Bee Genome Holds Clues To Behavior
By studying the humble honey bee, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have come a step closer to understanding the molecular basis of social behavior in humans.
Mathematicians and architects have been attracted to the engineering skills of honeybees for at least 2000 years. In about 70 A.D., for example, Pliny wrote of earlier men devoting lifetimes to the study of the geometry of honeycombs. Professionals in these fields will recognize some of the others who investigated the bees’ architecture: Pappus, Kepler, Maclaurin, Wren, and a 20th century mathematician, L. Fejes Toth, who wrote a highly technical paper with the delightful title, “What the Bees Know and What They Do Not Know.”
Honey in comb before it is capped by the bees.
Research has identified what makes manuka honey good for treating and preventing bacterial infections. Studies at Plant & Food Research have shown that manuka honey, a high value honey made by bees who feed predominantly from flowers of the tea tree bush, has a specific mixture of compounds which results in its antimicrobial properties.
