Category Archives: Science

Bumble Bees and Free Will

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Much is made of a human’s ability to make free choices. It’s an illusion, of course, but if people should be awarded this mysterious power, then why not bees? To bolster this notion of bees and free will, we’ll look … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Ecology, Science | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

The Worker Who Would Be Queen

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Bees have a complicated social structure which some political scientists have sought to embrace. In the old days, people assumed that the King Bee ruled with an iron fist that imposed order, harmony, sacrifice, and unflinching duty. Now that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Genetics, Queens, Science | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Whither the Sunflower?

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Ron Miksha

It can feel a little creepy, sitting on a bench on the edge of a sunflower forest with your back to the sun. In that position, all the sunflowers are looking at you. If it’s morning. The marvel of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Honey, Honey Plants, Science | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Bees’ Sixth Sense

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Bees sense the environment differently than humans. For example,  bees can see ultra-violet colour and distinguish it from violet and white, yet they see red as if it were black. They sense the orientation of polarized light. Their massive compound … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Science | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Sound and Honey (as seen in BeesCene)

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Ron Miksha

The editor of BC’s BeeScene bee magazine picked up an earlier blog post of mine. Last month I wrote about my 13-year-old’s science fair project where Daniel used ultrasound to liquefy comb honey. The results were promising, but not overwhelming. … Continue reading →

Posted in Comb Honey, Honey, Outreach, Science, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Drawing the Bee

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Not long ago, Scientific American had a piece about drawing. The story, written by a biology professor, encourages us to look at nature and draw it. The case is made that drawing helps you understand what you are observing. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Science | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Big Brain, Small Brain, Bee Brain

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Ron Miksha

A bee brain is bigger in the summer, when there are more things to learn, experience, and think about. It shrinks in the winter, which must be a blessing because bees spend weeks on end doing nothing – an active … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Genetics, Science | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Bees are Meaner if Childhood is Miserable

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Some aggressive honey bees were raised to be mean. Some bees, it seems, grow up on the wrong side of the honeycomb. Or, as one experiment shows, in the wrong sort of hive. Illinois and Pennsylvania researchers conducted a brilliant … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Genetics, Science | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Resistance is Futile

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Ron Miksha

The Hive Mind, the idea that an entire colony operates like a single organism with one mind, is a notion that’s been picked up by people who don’t usually wear bee veils. Some of these folks are screenplay writers while … Continue reading →

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Uncommon Ancestory

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Creatures change with time. You might believe that God controls, guides, or designs those changes or you may have the opinion that random acts in the environment create mutations which change a species. The former idea is accepted by the … Continue reading →

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