Not only are bees crucial to the world’s ecosystems, but they are very sophisticated creatures indeed. They have even learned how to “score goals” – well, roll a ball to a target in return for food (see first link below). Red-tailed Bumblebees are able to create a great deal of heat using their flight muscles, and they do this to incubate their brood and regulate the nest temperature generally. As well as eating nectar and pollen, the worker-bees will sometimes try to eat the queen’s eggs, in which case she will head-but them, and threaten them with her mandibles (not so sophisticated).
Photos by Anne Riley
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