Foto: LUCIA GALÁN Ganadora del concurso de fotografía Apiscam 2019
In these turbulent times that we are living in, where events unfold that thought could only be seen on a movie screen: pandemics, natural disasters, wars at our doorstep…, I would like to reflect with you on some of our behaviors and compare them with those of other animals with a longer evolutionary history than ours, and who have found significantly different ways to adapt to the environment, from which we may be able to learn something.
We are not the only animals with complex social organizations and a highly sophisticated capacity for adaptation and survival, which is mainly based on collaboration and solidarity. However, our societies are becoming increasingly polarized and divided. We see those who do not think like us as enemies to be fought; we believe what interests us and do not bother to verify anything, and simple solutions to complex problems are proposed many times, which of course will prove to be wrong. We are experiencing a deep crisis of values where hedonism and vehemently asserting our rights prevail, while we casually neglect our obligations. We place great value on appearances over honesty with ourselves. As it is often said, everyone minds their own business, except me, who minds mine.
Contrasting with this, we find animal societies with complex, sophisticated, and fascinating organization such as the beehive.
Contrasting with this, we find animal societies with complex, sophisticated, and fascinating organization such as the beehive. Slaves to their instincts and guided by the scent of pheromones, bees start working as soon as they are born, taking care of and feeding the larvae, providing them with warmth and nourishment. Nobody shirks their duties. If there is something to be done, the first one to come across it will do it. All equally, in a spirit of solidarity and harmony. They always leave the hive to expel their waste. The hive must be in the best possible hygienic conditions, but if the weather conditions prevent them from leaving, they endure until they die. It is said that a bee’s life is measured in wingbeats, not in time. They die from exhaustion and usually do so outside the hive, avoiding their comrades the task of removing them later. Success is collective or it becomes failure. In the world of bees, there are also diseases, external attacks, shortages due to drought and lack of food, and inclement weather. But their way of reacting to these situations is very different from ours. They do not send the youngest ones to war.
If there is an aggression to repel, it is the older ones who sacrifice themselves in the fight. The young ones are needed to take care of the brood first and then to search for food. The older ones, who have already consumed a good portion of their energy and protein reserves in their bodies, perform a final act of generosity towards the group and sacrifice their lives for the hive. In their last stage of life, they guard and protect the hive from external attacks. Before that, they were nurse bees, taking care of the brood; wax bees, building a home; and later forager bees, looking for nectar and pollen, even several kilometers away from the hive. Far from the hive, they are peaceful and if they are disturbed, they go elsewhere to find their food.
Tienen una reina, pero las que mandan son las obreras.
They have a queen, but it is the workers who are in charge. They decide what is best at each moment and control the queen’s behavior through her diet. Here comes the true meaning of the saying “you are what you eat”. The queen is at the service of the hive and sacrifices her long life, dedicated exclusively to laying eggs. Thousands in a single day during periods of growth and abundant intake of pollen and nectar. The only thing that sets the queen apart from the other worker bees is that she was always fed royal jelly during her development.
She only leaves the hive once to be mated and then never goes out again. The life of bees is about working for the hive, collecting and storing food, maintaining a proper temperature for the brood. But when the hive grows with the abundance of spring, half of the colony makes an unparalleled act of generosity in the animal world, and one day they leave everything behind and set out to find a new location.
Starting from scratch with their old queen, leaving behind all the fruits of their labor, the honey and pollen stored, and the safety of the hive to the other half of the colony that remains with their newly born queen. It is necessary, it is best for the group, it is the swarm that will give rise to a new individual, a new colony. Perhaps in another article, I will talk about the drones, incapable of feeding themselves, without stingers to defend themselves, without a proboscis for sucking nectar, insatiable eaters, useless and lazy. But if he is the fastest, the one who flies the highest and spots the virgin queen first, he will become the chosen one, the father of the entire colony.
