June 28, 2012 - Hotel a Abeilles

[orthodoc]

Say what? Bees putting dead insect bodies in for their larva to eat as they develop? Isn't there a kind of wasp that does that ... but I thought bees fed the larvae. Isn't that what the whole royal jelly thing is about, that the larva that gets royal jelly becomes a queen?

Or am I completely out to lunch here?

Whether or not I'm out to lunch, those hives/structures are very very cool.

[Adak]

Originally Posted by orthodoc

Say what? Bees putting dead insect bodies in for their larva to eat as they develop? Isn't there a kind of wasp that does that ... but I thought bees fed the larvae. Isn't that what the whole royal jelly thing is about, that the larva that gets royal jelly becomes a queen?

Or am I completely out to lunch here?

Whether or not I'm out to lunch, those hives/structures are very very cool.

You're not out to lunch - you're just thinking of the more popular communal bee's, like the Honey bee's, or some Bumblebee's, which make hives.

These are for solitary bee's. Although they're very close to each other here, they work independently. They don't put an insect in there usually, it's a small bit of food, the young bee - to - be, and a seal to try and keep the young from being predated upon.

One wasp that stings and stuns an insect, and implants it with it's young, is the Jeweled Wasp. After sealing up the below ground incubation chamber where it has dragged/coerced the insect to walk, the insect is eaten by the larvae of the wasp. It's not the only wasp to do this, either.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

More than 20 new taxes in Obama's Health Care Bill - including a tax on our homes when we sell them; even our toothbrushes!

Obama for Dog Catcher in 2012!