About Bees
Because I haven't posted in a while, here is a zen thought -
"A beehive can apparently be moved two inches each night without disorienting the bees the next morning. Surprisingly, if it is moved two MILES, the bees also have no problem. They are forced by the total displacement of their environment to re-orient their sense of direction, which they can do easily enough.
But if the hive is moved two YARDS, the bees will become fatally confused. The environment does not seem different to them, so they do not re-orient themselves, and as a result, they will not recognize their own hive when they return from foraging, hovering instead in the empty space where the hive used to be, while the hive itself sits just two yards away."
From "In the Blink of an Eye,' by Walter Murch
Comments
so cool are world is. gives me this really sad thought about fatally confused bees. sigh, now I am depressed... seems like it hits so close to home sometimes.
Posted by: will | November 7, 2004 11:16 PM
hey! who moved my country? i swear it wasn't that far right just a second ago...
Posted by: kurt | November 8, 2004 8:05 AM
Ask Mike B. about wasps...very similar behaviors.
Posted by: Michael Steffen | November 8, 2004 10:45 PM