FOR THE LOVE OF BEES AND BEEKEEPING: The Mysterious Case of the Self-Sacrificing Worker

摘要

Among the many "Wow I didn't know that" moments that confront a new beekeeper is the lesson that a worker bee dies after she delivers a sting. It's true. Her barbed stinger implants in the skin of her adversary like a harpoon, tears away as she leaves, and its attached poison sac keeps throbbing away under involuntary muscles pumping out every last dreg of venom (Fig. 1). Meanwhile, the mortally wounded worker renews her assault with more determination than ever. She flies recklessly at the intruder,burrowing into fur or hair with a buzzing designed to distract and deter. She flies straight at the eyes. It's as if she knows she's a gonner so she might as well give it all she's got. If she survives the encounter and returns to the nest she has onlya few more hours to live before her internal injuries catch up with her and she dies, only to be unceremoniously disposed of by an undertaker bee.