Very, Very Interesting!!!

  Very, Very Interesting!!!

In my post yesterday; on honey bees and their importance to our food production. I explained how their pollination efforts are responsible for 80% of our food supply, so thank a honey bee today that you got to eat. On that note, I woke my family as I usually do, to have my husband, @erodedthoughts, tell me a story of @trumpman and squirrels. Let’s just say it is not something you want to listen too, ever, or at least not the first adult conversation in the morning. So, I decided to write one of my post today in honor of @trumpman :) 

I did not know that most honey bees are drone bees and they are unfertilized bees. Meaning they have no daddy. The queen bee mates with many drone bees and stores the sperm in her body, for years. The queen bee uses this sperm to fertilize her eggs. The fertilized eggs become the worker bees. The queen bee also lays eggs that she does not fertilize; those eggs become more drone bees. This is how a colony is replenished.  Also, the worker bees are all females and the drone bees are all male. The main job of the drone bee is to mate with the queen bee and die. Once, the drone bee ejaculates, which is called an explosive ejaculation, he dies. 

 As I stated in my post yesterday, the colonies of honey bees are at risk of complete collapse and to combat this threat, Washington State University, started a honey bee semen bank. They will take the semen collected and perform artificial insemination on the queen bees to replenish colonies or make new ones.  

In researching a topic, concerning pumpkins I have found out all this information. I homeschool my 4 and 5 year olds and I am now going to do a lesson on honey bees and their importance. I am also going to put our bee house out with them and plant honey bee friendly plants, to encourage them to live in our yard. Only through education, non use of chemical pesticides, science, and building better habitats for the honey bees, can we reverse some of what has been done.   

I would love to say this is the only reason for the follow-up post; but the idea came from @erodedthoughts and @trumpman and squirrel nuts. Please visit them and see the coloring contest and the gorgeous drawing @trumpman entered into the contest :) Here is the link to the coloring contest: https://steemit.com/art/@erodedthoughts/coloring-contest-2-500-hodlcoins

Here is the link to @trumpman entry to the coloring contest: https://steemit.com/contest/@trumpman/my-entry-for-erodedthoughts-coloring-contest-2-500-hodlcoins

@trumpman here is a picture of a drone honey bee’s penis. I thought since I got a penis squirrel story, first thing in the morning, you would love to see it :)   

Reference: 

Greenwood, Erin. (March 26, 2014). 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Birds And The Bees (Literally, Like How They Have Sex). Retrieved from, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/26/birds-and-bees_n_5028701.html

Greenwood, Erin. (March 26, 2014). Honey Bee Penis Picture. Retrieved from, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/26/birds-and-bees_n_5028701.html

First Bee Photo - CCO

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