Friday, December 17, 2021

Do Italian Honeybees speak Japanese in their Okayama hives?

 

This Italian honey bee is in overdrive.

Honeybees, I've observed have four gears, four speeds.  
First gear is "overnight" the slowest movement, just enough to keep their hive warm and cozy.
Second gear is normal daytime activity that includes hive brood maintainance.
Third gear is nectar speed older sister field bees return to the hive and transfer nectar to their younger sibling hive bees.
Fourth gear is a kind of a bee hyper speed overdrive when the oldest super pollen carrier big sisters have returned home with bulging loads of pollen to unload. Their younger "tween" sisters pack the pollen away in a kind of rainbow over the brood nursery honey comb.