Spatial Relationships of Bees

Blackawton Bees

For my research today I learned about the Blackawton Bees.  Blackawton Bees use the spatial relationships between colors to figure out which flowers had sugar water in them and which flowers had salt water in them. I thought this was very interesting how someone could think this up. How does one think to experiment on bees and use colors to determine whether there is salt or sugar water in them.  They gave the bees series of challenges to determine if they were intelligent enough to find the difference of salt and sugar water in the flowers. The test became harder and harder and finally the results the bees had become more and more conclusive. One test they used was the bee arena. The bee arena was a small box in which they put the bees in and tested their reaction to different colors and flowers. They had to let the bees in the arena individually at times so that they would be independent and develop their own reasoning and not copy others. Overall between all three tests the Blackawton Bees had similar test results and were all pretty accurate while choosing between the sugar and salt water flowers in the various tests.

 

Bombus terrestris- the buff-tailed bumblebee or large earth bumblebee is one of the most numerous bumblebee species in Europe

buff-tailed bumble-bee- a bumblebee

visual perception- what ones sees

colour vision- the color someone sees

behavior- the range of actions an mannerisms of an organism

— S. Obrien

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Blackawton Bees

Blackawton Bees could be as smart as humans. Although we don’t see them as having the ability to understand and solve things like humans do, bees have similar understandings to us when it comes to figuring out logic. In the experiment discussed in the article, it was concluded that bees could be trained to solve puzzles just like humans can be trained to solve puzzles. The bees in this experiment worked together and solved the puzzle that was given, and were able to complete the puzzle. Bees have personalities and can think about strategies which are something that seems abnormal. Through the experiment, we learned that bees can memorize patterns and shapes which is what helps them to choose which flowers to go to when they need to pollenate, an important survival skills of bees. Bees are just as smart as humans and have many of the same memory skills that humans do. We relate a lot more to our nature than we might think.

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Running in the Wild

Usually when I’m out on a run I’m thinking mostly about trying to maintain my pace, which road I need to turn down next, and any homework I have due.  Unfortunately for me, when this thinking process is taking place I somehow manage to forget to do other important things such as you know breathing, but I usually manage to keep it together pretty good.  I decided that the next time I went out for a run, I would completely clear my mind from all my thoughts, and just observe what is ‘nature’.

I noticed that while I was running there was this large bush, which I almost thought it out to be a small tree.  Of course it wasn’t until later that I found out it actually was a shrub.  It was called a ‘Quince shrub’.  The reason I noticed this particular shrub was mainly from all of the bright pink flowers it had blooming.  As I got closer and examined it more clearly, I heard loud buzzing noises so my initial reaction was to just keep running!  But as I backed away I also saw some hummingbirds at the top circling it.  It was very interesting and of course naturally the process taking place right before my eyes was ‘pollination’.

To see a small part of pollination occurring was definitely cool and it got me thinking about how each organism in nature relies on one another to survive.  For example, if the Quince shrub did not produce any flowers, then the birds and the bees would not be able to survive since they rely on the nectar.  However, if the birds and bees did not fetch for the nectar and pick up pollen at the same time to disperse it as they fly to different plants, the flowers in question would not exist.  Overall, pollination and the relying of organisms to one another is an ongoing process that will definitely continue for years and years to come.

Jake Getz

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The Great Outdoors of West Newbury

Today I went outside to observe what was going on. The first thing I noticed was a big, fuzzy, bumble bee http://www.bumblebee.org/ digging a whole into the dirt beneath a lilac bush.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syringa I’ve never seen a bee digging into the ground before so I was surprised. It seemed as if it was taking cover from the weather because it was very windy and rather cold for how it had been the past few days. I walked around the lilacs and it seemed as if they were already passing by; compared to most years where they were just blooming at that point. I walked up my walkway, and I noticed that the daffodils we had were already dead, and I really couldn’t remember when they were ever alive. I was thinking that the poor bee no longer had a place to collect pollen, since all of the flowers were either dead or hasn’t bloomed yet. With out the bees, I couldn’t think of any organisms that would die, except for maybe birds, but that wouldn’t make a big impact on the organisms either. So what’s the point of bees? All they do is sting people, and I guess the honey’s okay though. I felt bad so I took my mom’s columbine flower and planted it outside. I hope it doesn’t die with all of the cold weather we’ve been getting lately.

-Vicky D

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Animal In the Wild

Today, I went to the backyard because it looked like a nice day.  When I got outside it was really windy and I could see the leaves being blown all around and I could see birds flying everywhere along with bees.  The bees were huge, not sure what exactly they were, and they kept flying around looking like they were about to fall down.  They kept going flower to flower which I think was probably them spreading nectar from flower to flower.  The bees get food from the nectar of the flowers.  I saw chipmunks running in the grass and even up trees. I’m guessing the chipmunks live in the trees as over the course of an hour I went outside again and continued to see random chipmunks running to and from the tree.  If there was no tree I’m pretty sure the random birds would swoop down and catch one of those critters.  It’s hard to tell because anything can happen in the wild.  For all I know, the chipmunks might eat the birds!  No one really knows what will happen but can only presume what will based on their prior knowledge.  There seems to be a swampy place behind the fence.  Not really a swamp but the land there seems wet.  I heard a random sound.  It sounded like something ran past the plants that look like the plants you see where lions live.  I checked out what it could be but when I got there it was gone.  On the lookout now for what animal is living in the swamp area.

Alex H.

           

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