<
https://theconversation.com/honeybees-cluster-together-when-its-cold-but-weve-been-completely-wrong-about-why-218066>
"Honeybees in man-made hives may have been suffering the cold unnecessarily for
over a century because commercial hive designs are based on erroneous science,
my new research shows.
For 119 years, a belief that the way honeybees cluster together gives them a
kind of evolutionary insulation has been fundamental for beekeeping practice,
hive design and honeybee study. More recently, California beekeepers have even
been putting bee colonies into cold storage during summer because they think it
is good for brood health.
But my study shows that clustering is a distress behaviour, rather than a
benign reaction to falling temperatures. Deliberately inducing clustering by
practice or poor hive design may be considered poor welfare or even cruelty, in
light of these findings."
Via Diane A.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
