I promised more on bees - here it is :)

Sadly, it isn't that much, but it does deal with swarms and hives and the differences (as I remember them).

So, last time it was about treating bee stings.  When a bee stings you, get it out as quickly as possible and take the appropriate medication (if necessary).  But what do you do about a swarm of bees?

OK, it turns out swarms fall into two categories:  I call them "moving" and "protective".  a Moving swarm is just that:  the hive has taken off after the queen and is now looking for a new location for their hive (this also applies to the little queens and their new hives).  A Protective swarm is this:  the hive has been disturbed for some reason and the workers are trying to protect their queen, and the best way to do that is by stinging (well, duh, they are bees, after all).  The thing with beehives is that the hive will never attack without provocation.  Usually the hive has been disturbed by humans or honey badgers, bee-eaters or other animals after their carbohydrate treasure.  Sometimes the hive has to be moved because they constitute a threat of some kind to children or the elderly.  Whatever the case, there has been a disturbance of the hives and the workers are in full attack mode.  This is where the beauty of nature becomes deadly:  it only takes one bee's sting to incite the others to swarming.

This is done by the release of pheromones in the apitoxin (bee venom) when the sting is delivered.  As bees communicate visually and by smell, pheromones are a perfect war-flag.  Not only do the released pheromones "activate" the workers' defensive kamikaze modes, they also identify the target (hypothetically, the poor, inexperienced fool tasked with removing the possibly dangerous hive to a safer location).  Once this attack drive is activated, the bees will attack the threat until such a time as they feel it isn't a threat anymore.  Many people who die of bee stings die because of swarm attacks for this very reason.

Right, it's after midnight and my eyes are on fire.  I'm off to bed and I hope you will be, too.

Sleep tight!