A Pollination Revolution:Now Is Not Tke Time For A Head In Tke Sand Response

摘要

Sometime ago, I wrote the following in critique of Jerry Seinfeld's flick, Bee Movie: "One won't learn much about honey bees viewing it. Biologically, It leaves a lot to be desired. For starters, the movie features male bees as workers, when in reality that niche is occupied in nature only by females. Male bees (drones) have nothing to do with pollination, so it is fanciful that they don back packs in the movie to fertilize flowers by spreading pollen around. They also have no role in honey production and thus, when a male bee takes the human race to court for stealing bee honey and exploiting bees, the males again inappropriately take center stage. Finally, the portrayal of a male bee in tennis shoes with only four (not six) legs falling in love with a human female strains credulity.There's not a lot of research on drones. It's reserved generally for the queen and workers. But that's changing rapidly and not in a way one might think. Actual honey bee males are still pretty much being ignored, but a new era is about to dawn in the form of mechanized, robotic drones.