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Bees have appeared on coins for millennia, hinting at an age-old link between sweetness and value

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/adrian-dyer-387798">Adrian Dyer</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p>In 2022, the Royal Australian Mint issued a $2 coin decorated with honeybees. Around 2,400 years earlier, a mint in the kingdom of Macedon had the same idea, creating a silver obol coin with a bee stamped on one side.</p> <p>Over the centuries between these two events, currency demonstrating a symbolic link between honey and money is surprisingly common.</p> <p>In a recent study in <a href="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/assets.mmxgroup.com.au/ACR/Bee+Article.pdf">Australian Coin Review</a>, I trace the bee through numismatic history – and suggest a scientific reason why our brains might naturally draw a connection between the melliferous insects and the abstract idea of value.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=600&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=600&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=600&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536400/original/file-20230709-15-2u5ywn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=754&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Royal Australian Mint 2022 two-dollar coin representing 200 years since the introduction of the honeybee to Australia.</span></figcaption></figure> <h2>What is currency and why is it important?</h2> <p>Money is a store of value, and can act as a medium of exchange for goods or services. Currency is a physical manifestation of money, so coins are a durable representation of value.</p> <p>Coins have had central role in many communities to enable efficient trade since ancient times. Their durability makes them important time capsules.</p> <p>Ancient Malta was famous for its honey. The modern 3 Mils coin (<a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1775.html">1972-81</a>) celebrates this history with images of a bee and honeycomb. According to the information card issued with the coin set,</p> <blockquote> <p>A bee and honeycomb are shown on the 3 Mils coin, symbolising the fact that honey was used as currency in Ancient Malta.</p> </blockquote> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=582&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=582&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=582&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=732&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=732&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536403/original/file-20230709-23-drk2lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=732&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A circulating 3 Mils coin from Malta showing a honeybee on honeycomb.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>In ancient Greece, bees were used on some of the earliest coins made in Europe. A silver Greek obol coin minted in Macedon between 412 BCE and 350 BCE, now housed in the British Museum, shows a bee on one side of the coin.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=293&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=293&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=293&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=368&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=368&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536411/original/file-20230709-182252-v4evxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=368&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An ancient obol from Macedon, dated between 412 BCE and 350 BCE, shows a bee one side.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>Bees also feature on coins minted elsewhere in the ancient Greek world, such as a bronze coin minted in Ephesus dated between 202 BCE and 133 BCE.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=546&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=546&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=546&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=686&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=686&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536407/original/file-20230709-27-a2jvo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=686&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bronze coin minted in Ephesus, dated between 202BCE and 133BCE, featuring a honeybee.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>The use of bees on ancient coins extended for many centuries including widely circulated bronze coins, and new varieties <a href="https://coinweek.com/bee-all-that-you-can-bee-honeybees-on-ancient-coins/">continue to be discovered</a>.</p> <h2>Why we might like bees on coins</h2> <p>Why have bees appeared so often on coins? One approach to this question comes from the field of neuro-aesthetics, which seeks to understand our tastes by understanding the basic brain processes that underpin aesthetic appreciation.</p> <p>From this perspective, it seems likely the sweet taste of honey – which indicates the large amount of sugar it delivers – promotes positive neural activity <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/artp/10/1/article-p1_2.xml">associated with bees and honey</a>.</p> <p>Indeed, primatologist Jane Goodall once proposed that obtaining high-calorie nutrition from bee honey may have been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0066185668800032">an important step</a> in the cognitive development of primates.</p> <p>Our brain may thus be pre-adapted to liking bees due to their association with the sweet taste of honey. Early usage of bees on coins may have been a functional illustration of the link between a known value (honey) and a new form of currency: coins as money.</p> <h2>The bee on modern coins</h2> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=588&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=588&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=588&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=738&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=738&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536393/original/file-20230709-17-jywq3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=738&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A 1920 Italian bronze ten-centesimi coin featuring featuring an Italian honeybee on a flower.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>The use of bees as a design feature has persisted from ancient to modern times. A honeybee visiting a flower is shown on a series of ten-centesimi bronze coins issued in Italy from <a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1960.html">1919 to 1937</a>.</p> <p>(As an aside, the world’s last stock of pure Italian honeybees is found in Australia, on Kangaroo Island, which was declared a sanctuary for Ligurian bees by an <a href="https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/home/historical-numbered-as-made-acts/1885/0342-Lingurian-Bees-Act-No-342-of-48-and-49-Vic,-1885.pdf">act of parliament</a> in 1885.)</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=586&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=586&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=586&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=737&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=737&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536416/original/file-20230709-15-60yst8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=737&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A coin from Tonga showing 20 honeybees emerging from a hive.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>More recently, a 20-seniti coin from the Pacific nation of Tonga shows 20 honeybees flying out of a hive. This coin was part of a series initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to promote sustainable agricultural and cultural development around the world.</p> <p>Bees are relevant here because their pollinating efforts contribute to about one-third of the food required to feed the world, with a value in excess of <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/2616458">US$200 billion per year</a>, and they are threatened by climate change and other environmental factors.</p> <h2>Bees on coins, today and tomorrow</h2> <p>Public awareness of bees and environmental sustainability may well be factors in the current interest in bee coins. The diversity of countries using bees as a design feature over the entire history of coins suggests people have valued the relationship with bees as essential to our own prosperity for a long time.</p> <p>In Australia, the 2022 honeybee $2 coin is part of a series developed by the <a href="https://www.ramint.gov.au/about-mint">Royal Australian Mint</a>. In 2019, the Perth Mint in Western Australia also released coins and stamps celebrating native bees.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=373&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=373&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=373&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536405/original/file-20230709-15-iditcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australian native bee coin and stamps released in 2019 by the Perth Mint.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>Despite the decline of cash, bee coins still appear to be going strong. The buzzing companions of human society are likely to be an important subject for coin design for as long as coins continue to be used.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208912/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/adrian-dyer-387798">Adrian Dyer</a>, Associate Professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Australian Royal Mint / NZ Post Collectables</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-have-appeared-on-coins-for-millennia-hinting-at-an-age-old-link-between-sweetness-and-value-208912">original article</a>.</em></p>

Money & Banking

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Queen Bee Catherine delights in unusual getup

<p>Catherine, Princess of Wales, has gotten into the spirit of World Bee Day with a bee-autiful new look. </p> <p>In a picture shared to the prince and princess’s official Instagram account, taken the previous year by photographer Matt Porteous, Kate could be seen standing in front of a beehive in a full beige beekeeper suit - complete with a protective veiled hat and boots - and holding a rack covered in the pollinators.</p> <p>“We are buzzing about #WorldBeeDay,” came the honeyed words of the post’s caption. “Bees are a vital part of our ecosystem and today is a great opportunity to raise awareness of the essential role bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy.”</p> <p>While the image was taken at Kate’s country home in Norfolk, beekeeping is reportedly one of Kate’s long-treasured hobbies, and she even has bees at home at Anmer Hall. And in June 2021, she turned that beloved hob-bee into a sweet - albeit quite sticky - affair, taking a jar of her own honey to give to children at London’s Natural History Museum.</p> <p>The royal honey isn’t limited to just Kate’s hives, either, with both Buckingham Palace and Clarence House producing their own for their hardworking kitchens - enough that they could be considered self-sufficient.</p> <p>Despite their success on the honey front, however, all attention in 2023 was on Kate and her suit - though some made note of her previous gift-giving in their comments, among the loving buzz towards the princess. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CsdcUTmNhGk/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CsdcUTmNhGk/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by The Prince and Princess of Wales (@princeandprincessofwales)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“Even in this outfit she looks stunning! Whatever she wears she always looks so classy and beautiful,” one fan wrote. </p> <p>“Oooh, I remember The Princess bringing honey from her bees to an engagement and let the children taste it,” another shared. “Lovely photo!”</p> <p>Meanwhile, another had to ask, “is there anything that this lady can’t do? I don’t think so.”</p> <p>“Awww, a ‘honey’ checking the Bees,” wrote one devoted pun-ster. </p> <p>Some - while pleased with this latest insight into royal life - were grateful to Kate for raising awareness over the important date, with one writing “thanks for shining a light on so many important matters.”</p> <p>“Such an informative update! i have no idea there's something called #WorldBeeDay haha,” one declared. </p> <p>“There is and you can have a small bee lover plant to benefit bees in your area,” came a well-intended suggestion in response, “they love lavender.” </p> <p>And as another put it, “wow she’s a beekeeper too, lucky bees”, before noting that she “will be the queen bee anyway”.</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

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Pesticide exposure makes it harder for bees to walk in a straight line

<p>Bees, long despised for stinging humans and pets, but loved by horticulturalists for their life giving goodness, are under attack like never before.</p> <p>In June research identified a dangerous variant of the deformed wing virus is <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/06/220601111805.htm#:~:text=Summary%3A,and%20the%20animals%20to%20die." target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the rise worldwide</a>. The virus infects honeybees, causing their wings to atrophy and the animals to die. </p> <p>Also that month the varroa mite, a major honeybee parasite, was discovered in biosecurity surveillance hives at the Port of Newcastle.</p> <p>Now new research has identified what happens to bees when they are subject to insecticides.</p> <p>Have you ever struggled to walk in a straight line after having one too many? Well, it seems that honeybees are having similar issues but after getting a dose of insecticides.</p> <p>“Here we show that commonly used insecticides like sulfoxaflor (kills aphids and lygus) and the neonicotinoid imidacloprid (pesticide that protects seeds of field crops) can profoundly impair the visually guided behaviour of honeybees,” <a href="https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/bees-struggle-to-fly-in-a-straight-line-if-theyve-been-exposed-to-pesticides" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said lead author of a new study</a>, Dr Rachel H Parkinson from the University of Oxford.</p> <p>“Our results are reason for concern because the ability of bees to respond appropriately to visual information is crucial for their flight and navigation, and thus their survival.”</p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p202420-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> <form class="wpcf7-form mailchimp-ext-0.5.62 spai-bg-prepared init" action="/earth/pesticide-exposure-bees-walk-straight-line/#wpcf7-f6-p202420-o1" method="post" novalidate="novalidate" data-status="init"> <p style="display: none !important;"><span class="wpcf7-form-control-wrap referer-page"><input class="wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text referer-page" name="referer-page" type="hidden" value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/" data-value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/" aria-invalid="false" /></span></p> <p><!-- Chimpmail extension by Renzo Johnson --></form> </div> </div> <p>Insects have an innate ‘optomotor response’, which lets them orient themselves back onto a straight trajectory if they steer off-course while walking or flying.</p> <p>The research, published in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/finsc.2022.936826/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Frontiers in Insect Science</em></a><em>,</em> challenged this optomotor response of walking honeybees by putting them in front of video screens of vertical lines which tricked them into thinking they’d moved off course.</p> <p>The vertical bars would move from left to right, or right to left which ‘tricks’ the bee into thinking it’s been blown off-course and needs to perform a corrective turn.</p> <p>The team of researchers looked at four groups of between 20-30 bees. The control had access to normal sugar water to drink, while the other three had different forms of insecticides added. One group had 50 parts per billion of imidacloprid, another had 50 parts per billion sulfoxaflor, and the last had 25 parts per billion of imidacloprid and 25 parts per billion of sulfoxaflor together.</p> <p>Unfortunately, the bees which had been exposed to the insecticide performed worse as they turned to get back on track. Bees exposed to pesticides seemed to have shallower turns and sometimes only turned one way. The asymmetry between left and right turns for example was 2.4 times greater for those bees exposed to pesticides.</p> <p>After this experiment, the researchers then had a look at the bee brains to look at the damage. Using molecular techniques, the team found that pesticide-exposed bees tended to have an elevated proportion of dead cells in parts of the brain’s optic lobes, which is important for processing visual input.</p> <p>Key genes for detoxification were also dysregulated after exposure. However these brain changes were relatively weak and highly variable across bees, and unlikely to be the sole explanation for the strong visual issues in the original experiment.</p> <p>“Neonicotinoid and sulfoximine insecticides activate neurons in the insect brain and are not always recycled fast enough to prevent toxicity,” said Parkinson.</p> <p>This research comes on the heels of a slew of other research in recent years suggesting that pesticides <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/pesticides-impair-baby-bee-brain-development/">impair baby bee brain development,</a> or it can make <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/neonicotinoids-make-bees-antisocial-and-lazy/">them antisocial and lazy</a>, and many scientists <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sustainability/scientists-call-for-urgent-action-on-bee-killing-insecticides/">are asking for them to be banned</a>.</p> <p><!-- Start of tracking content syndication. Please do not remove this section as it allows us to keep track of republished articles --></p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=202420&amp;title=Pesticide+exposure+makes+it+harder+for+bees+to+walk+in+a+straight+line" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><!-- End of tracking content syndication --></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/pesticide-exposure-bees-walk-straight-line/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/jacinta-bowler" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jacinta Bowler</a>. Jacinta Bowler is a science journalist at Cosmos. They have a undergraduate degree in genetics and journalism from the University of Queensland and have been published in the Best Australian Science Writing 2022.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

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Pop legend unrecognisable after bee sting

<p dir="ltr">Irish pop legend Brian McFadden has been left with a swollen face after being stung by a bee, and has joked about how it looks like he received free botox and fillers.</p> <p dir="ltr">The former Australian Idol judge shared a series of posts to his Instagram showing how badly swollen his face became after a bee sting.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 42-year-old’s first post was a video of himself singing I’m Sexy And I Know It by LMFAO while laying in a hospital bed.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Stung by a bee and got an allergic reaction!! Owning that look! Free Botox and fillers!!!!!” his caption read as he laughed.</p> <p dir="ltr">In his next post, he shared photos from different angles showing massive lips and a swollen eye.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChFoNnkjRYU/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChFoNnkjRYU/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by brianmcfadden (@brianmcfadden123)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">He explained that the reaction from the bee sting was ongoing.</p> <p dir="ltr">Finally, his third post showed a selfie after his face had finally calmed down from the unfortunate incident.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My face is calming down again. Thanks for all your lovely messages,” he wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">Allergies to venoms caused by a stinging insect such as a bee, ant or wasp is known to cause an anaphylactic reaction.</p> <p dir="ltr">The most common symptoms include an all over rash, swelling of tongue or throat, trouble breathing, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and a drop in blood pressure (shock).</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>What to do if you are stung by a bee</strong></p> <ol> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Remove the sting by sliding or scraping your fingernail across it, rather than pulling at it.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Wash the area and apply ice to reduce the swelling.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">If the person goes into anaphylactic shock the only treatment is an injection of adrenaline.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Immobilise the person, apply pressure to the bite and seek immediate medical help.</p> </li> </ol> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

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From rock carvings to rock music – the prevalence of bees in art throughout human history

<p>With a looming <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/how-world-can-head-looming-biodiversity-crisis">biodiversity crisis</a> and concerns over <a href="https://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1194910/icode/">food security and sustainability</a>, bees are frequently making <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/25/the-insect-apocalypse-our-world-will-grind-to-a-halt-without-them">news headlines</a>.</p><p>The importance of bees in our society as pollinators and honey producers appears to have led to their increased popularity in many artistic endeavours, such as film, social media, gaming and contemporary art. </p><p>Is this new fascination with bees a recent phenomenon? In <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/artp/aop/article-10.1163-22134913-bja10031/article-10.1163-22134913-bja10031.xml">our new study</a>, we explored how bees are represented throughout different cultures, time periods and art mediums. </p><p>Their representation in art would tell us how people at different times perceived bees, which we also found has led to bees being a source of inspiration for different art forms.</p><h2>Bee art throughout time and cultures</h2><p>Bees have been depicted in carvings, jewellery, coins, songs, tools and sculptures for thousands of years. One of the first known depictions of bees is in the form of rock art from 8000 BCE in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuevas_de_la_Ara%C3%B1a">the Spider Caves (Cuevas de la araña) in Spain</a>. It shows a person climbing a ladder to collect honey from a hive.</p><p>We examined the history of bees in culture and art from China, Central America, South America, and Australia. Centuries before the introduction of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee">European honeybees</a>, human societies in Central and South America had a close relationship with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingless_bee">native stingless bees (Meliponini)</a>.</p><p>Advanced agricultural societies like the Mayans developed apicultural techniques (The raising and care of bees for commercial or agricultural purposes) and kept native bees in their homes. Some gods in their pantheon were consecrated as protectors of the hives, while others were often represented in postures resembling landing bees in sculptures adorning temples.</p><p>While Chinese art has a long history of representing plants, it was during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_dynasty">Tang Dynasty (618-907)</a> that honeybees started to be represented in poetry and painting, when formal beekeeping and the use of bee products in traditional medicine increased. </p><p>Prior to the Tang Dynasty bees were regarded with suspicion due to the capacity of some bees to sting, revealing how a positive aesthetic representation of bees developed with an improved understanding of the value of bees to our <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/artp/aop/article-10.1163-22134913-bja10031/article-10.1163-22134913-bja10031.xml">environment and well-being</a>.</p><h2>Bee sounds in art culture and music</h2><p>The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9naKEy1v6Lw">buzzing sounds and signals</a> bees make have intrigued humans for centuries. Indeed, the “drone” music style popularised by the Beatles <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHNbHn3i9S4">Tomorrow Never Knows</a> in name originates from Old English words representing male bees. </p><p>To the ear, ancient instruments like Australia’s First Nations Didgeridoo, Scottish Bagpipes, and India’s Tanpura resemble the rich and mesmerising drone sound of bees, and the ethnic communities of Southwestern China made special bee drums to celebrate cultural links to bees. </p><p>Bee-inspired music and song vary to accommodate the wide variety of experiences and emotions humans attempt to convey. In Britain during the 17th Century, Charles Butler scored the angelic <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2eonteQEps">Melissomelos</a> from his keen observations of bee “voices” and their societal structure. </p><p>In popular music, bees have been called upon to express <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl4HZSzXMKc">human emotions</a>, and explore <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYAJopwEYv8">musical dynamics and mastery</a>. </p><p>Today, co-species collaborations like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UevWXcSkiNg">“Into”</a> by the music group Be directly employ honeybee sounds to present new ways of making music, while also promoting the plight of the precious providers.</p><h2>Bees and architecture</h2><p>Bees are some of <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00900/full">nature’s best architects</a>. The hexagonal structures in honeybee hives have inspired building design and architecture throughout the world, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3034770/a-beehive-for-humans-designed-so-we-can-live-on-mars">as well as futuristic designs for Mars</a>. These bee-inspired buildings are evidenced across time and cultures, and represent different design goals. In some cases, bee inspired architecture forms the most stable and efficient structures. </p><p>Other buildings aim to highlight the importance of bees to humans. For example the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive_(New_Zealand)">New Zealand parliament’s “beehive” building</a> pays homage to the efficiency and cooperation of bees, and the experimental architecture of The Hive, which is a 14 metre aluminium lattice cuboid built to bring attention to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36542080">honeybee decline</a>. Modern designs such as these reflect the perceived value of living or working like honeybees.</p><h2>Bees in film and video games</h2><p>Bees are increasingly represented in screen culture for both entertainment and environmental messaging like in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Movie">Bee Movie (2007)</a>. In the worldwide gaming phenomenon, Pokémon, the designs of a number of the imaginary creatures are based on bees, like female <a href="https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Combee_(Pok%C3%A9mon)">Combees</a> that collect resources for their colony.</p><p>Our work reveals bees have long played an important role in human society as pollinators, sources of nutrition as well as artistic inspirations and muses. </p><p>However, as many bee species are not as common as they once were in the environment, there has never been a more important time to understand and communicate about bees.</p><p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p><p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-rock-carvings-to-rock-music-the-prevalence-of-bees-in-art-throughout-human-history-173069" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

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Could bees become the next sniffer dogs?

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The COVID-19 pandemic has seen scientists try everything they can think of to try and stem the spread of the disease.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The latest idea involves bees.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Following on from researchers for BC Infectious Diseases finding dogs could be used to detect which patients were infected with coronavirus at a success rate of 94 percent, scientists in the Netherlands have tried the same thing with bees.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In controlled tests with 150 bees at the biosafety lab of Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, scientists were able to train the bees to detect positive coronavirus samples collected from minks infected with the disease.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After a lengthy training period, the bees were then able to detect COVID-19 in human samples.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The bees extended their tongues to collect the sugar water solution. By repeating this action several times, the bees associated the sugar reward with the scent as a stimulus,” </span><a href="https://www.wur.nl/en/news-wur/Show/Training-bees-to-smell-the-coronavirus.htm"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the report stated</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“With this repeated conditioning, soon enough bees started extending their tongues out for the scent alone, with no reward as a follow-up.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to InsectSense, bees can detect volatile compounds in concentrations of parts per billion to parts per trillion due to their extremely sensitive olfactory receptors. This makes them ideal for the detection of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) present in extremely low amounts.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The researchers have also developed “BeeSense”, a machine prototype that can automatically train lots of bees simultaneously and includes a biosensor that deploys the trained bees for diagnosis.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The scientists involved in the study also believe the BeeSense could be a useful diagnostic system in developing countries where access to high-end technology, such as PCR machines, is more limited.</span></p>

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Lisa Wilkinson’s cheeky comment leaves Bee Gees star red-faced

<p><span>Lisa Wilkinson left her celebrity interview, <em>Bee Gees</em> legend Barry Gibb, red-faced during an interview on <em>The Sunday Project.</em></span><br /><br /><span>The veteran journalist decided to thank the celebrity musician for their most memorable trait - their tight pants.</span><br /><br /><span>“I have to tell you, Barry, I was a teenager in the '70s when [the <em>Staying Alive</em> music video] came out,” Lisa said.</span><br /><br /><span>“Oh those white pants. I want to say, belatedly, thank you.”</span><br /><br /><span>Barry Gibb sat awkwardly laughing before Lisa went on to ask him: “Did you have to be convinced to wear those?”</span><br /><br /><span>The<em> How Deep Is Your Love</em> singer responded: “I remember how difficult they were to get on and how difficult to get off.”</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/BeeGees?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BeeGees</a> legend Barry Gibb chats with <a href="https://twitter.com/Lisa_Wilkinson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Lisa_Wilkinson</a> about the secret to 50 years of marriage, life growing up on the Aussie beaches, and story behind *those* white pants. <a href="https://t.co/9TXPPbRCEX">pic.twitter.com/9TXPPbRCEX</a></p> — The Project (@theprojecttv) <a href="https://twitter.com/theprojecttv/status/1348187800580055040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><br /><span>“Did that give the falsettos extra oomph? Took you up half an octave surely,” Lisa went on to cheekily ask.</span><br /><br /><span>Barry jokingly replied: “Are you suggesting that the tight pants were responsible for the falsetto? I take issue with that. I thought your voice got deeper.”</span><br /><br /><span>Barry also gushed over his wife of 50 years, Linda Gray, saying they are “very happy and the tight pants don’t fit anymore”</span><br /><br /><span>Lisa asked: “Has she ever asked you to put them back on again?”</span><br /><br /><span>Gibb responded: “I have tried and failed. Those days are over love.”</span><br /><br /><span>Barry Gibb joined<em> The Sunday Project</em> just released his new country album, <em>Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook, Vol. 1.</em></span><br /><br /><span>It will feature appearances from Keith Urban, Dolly Parton and Sheryl Crow.</span></p>

Music

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Air pollution could be making honey bees sick

<p>Whether it’s exhaust fumes from cars or smoke from power plants, air pollution is an often invisible threat that is <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1">a leading cause</a> of death worldwide. Breathing air laced with heavy metals, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter has been linked to a range of chronic health conditions, <a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-pollution-thats-hurting-our-health-25242">including</a> lung problems, heart disease, stroke and cancer.</p> <p>If air pollution can harm human health in so many different ways, it makes sense that other animals suffer from it too. Airborne pollutants affect all kinds of life, <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.en.27.010182.002101">even insects</a>. In highly polluted areas of Serbia, for instance, <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/5197/">researchers found</a> pollutants lingering on the bodies of European honeybees. Car exhaust fumes are known to interrupt the scent cues that attract and guide bees towards flowers, while also <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41876-w">interfering with</a> their ability to remember scents.</p> <p>Now, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2009074117">a new study from India</a> has revealed how air pollution may be depleting the health of honey bees in the wild. These effects may not kill bees outright. But like humans repeatedly going to work under heavy stress or while feeling unwell, the researchers found that air pollution made bees sluggish in their daily activities and could be shortening their lives.</p> <p><strong>Unhealthy bees in Bangalore</strong></p> <p>India is one of the world’s <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/264662/top-producers-of-fresh-vegetables-worldwide/">largest producers</a> of fruit and vegetables. Essential to that success are pollinator species like the giant Asian honey bee. Unlike the managed European honey bee, these bees are predominantly wild and regularly resist humans and other animals eager to harvest their honey. Colonies can migrate over hundreds of kilometres within a year, pollinating a vast range of wild plants and crops across India.</p> <p>Researchers studied how this species was faring in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, where air pollution records have been <a href="https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/cover-story/you-think-delhi-is-polluted-bengalurus-pollution-levels-will-leave-you-breathless/articleshow/69065577.cms">reported as</a> some of the highest in the country. The giant Asian honey bees were observed and collected across four sites in the city over three years. Each had different standards of air pollution.</p> <p>The number of bees visiting flowers was significantly lower in the most polluted sites, possibly reducing how much plants in these places were pollinated. Bees from these sites died faster after capture, and, like houses in a dirty city, were partly covered in traces of arsenic and lead. They had arrhythmic heartbeats, fewer immune cells, and were more likely to show signs of stress.</p> <p>There are some caveats to consider, though. For one thing, areas with high pollution might have had fewer flowering plants, meaning bees were less likely to seek them out. Also, the researchers looked at the health of honey bees in parts of the city purely based on different levels of measured pollution. They couldn’t isolate the effect of the pollution with absolute certainty – there may have been hidden factors behind the unhealthy bees they uncovered.</p> <p>But, crucially, it wasn’t just bees that showed this trend. In a follow-up experiment, the study’s authors placed cages of fruit flies at the same sites. Just like the bees, the flies became coated in pollutants, died quicker where there was more air pollution, and showed higher levels of stress.</p> <p>The threat posed by pesticides is well known. But if air pollution is also affecting the health of a range of pollinating insects, what does that mean for ecosystems and food production?</p> <p><strong>Fewer cars, more flowers</strong></p> <p>Our diets would be severely limited if insects like honey bees were impaired in their pollinating duties, but the threat to entire ecosystems of losing these species is even more grave. Crop plants account for less than 0.1% of all flowering species, yet 85% of flowering plants are <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.464.6928&amp;rep=rep1&amp;type=pdf">pollinated by</a> bees and other species.</p> <p>Giant Asian honey bees like the ones in Bangalore form large, aggressive colonies that can move between urban, farmed and forest habitats. These journeys expose them to very different levels of pollution, but the colonies of most other types of wild bee species are stationary. They nest in soil, undergrowth or masonry, and individuals travel relatively short distances. The levels of pollution they’re regularly exposed to are unlikely to change very much from one day to the next, and it’s these species that are likely to suffer most if they live in towns or cities where local pollution is high.</p> <p>Thankfully, there are ways to fix this problem. Replacing cars with clean alternatives like electrified public transport would go a long way to reducing pollution. Creating more urban green spaces with lots of trees and other plants would help filter the air too, while providing new food sources and habitat for bees.</p> <p>In many parts of the UK, roadside verges have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/roadside-wildflower-meadows-are-springing-up-across-the-uk-and-theyre-helping-wildlife-in-a-big-way-120014">converted to wildflower meadows</a> in recent years. In doing so, are local authorities inadvertently attracting bees to areas we know may be harmful? We don’t know, but it’s worth pondering. From September 2020, Coventry University is launching a citizen science project with the nation’s beekeepers to map the presence of fine particulate matter in the air around colonies, to begin to unravel what’s happening to honey bees in the UK.</p> <p>Air pollution is likely to be one part of a complex problem. Bees are sensitive to lots of toxins, but how these interact in the wild is fiendishly difficult to disentangle. We know <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13592-014-0308-z">cocktails of pesticides</a> can cause real damage too. But what happens when bees are exposed to these at the same time as air pollution? We don’t yet know, but answers are urgently needed.</p> <p><em>Written by Barbara Smith and Mark Brown. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/air-pollution-could-be-making-honey-bees-sick-new-study-144155">The Conversation.</a></em></p> <p><em> </em></p>

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One, then some: How to count like a bee

<p>If you were a honeybee, how would you choose where to find flowers? Imagine your first flight out of the hive searching for food. What would you do if you saw flower patches with one flower, or three, or twelve, or twenty?</p> <p>Our new study, published in the <a href="https://jeb.biologists.org/content/223/9/jeb223610">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>, tested honeybees on exactly this question. We wanted to understand how honeybees choose where to forage in environments like greenhouses where our food is pollinated, in local parks, or in our own backyards.</p> <p>Specifically, our research looked at whether honeybees with no specific numerical training could choose a flower patch based on the quantity of flowers it had.</p> <p>We found the bees could tell the difference between groups of 1 vs 4 flowers – but not between, say, 4 vs 5. Basically, they couldn’t differentiate between groups of 2 or more flowers.</p> <p><strong>A mathematical matter of life and death</strong></p> <p>The ability to tell the difference between two quantities can mean life or death for an animal. “Quantity discrimination” can be vital for survival in tasks including:</p> <ul> <li>resource comparison: choosing a larger quantity of food</li> <li>aggressive interactions: choosing to avoid conflicts with larger groups of individuals, and</li> <li>avoiding predators: choosing to stay with a larger group of animals of the same species to reduce your chance of being eaten.</li> </ul> <p>We are gaining a better understanding of quantity discrimination across the animal kingdom. <a href="http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150826-the-animals-that-can-count">Primates and other mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish</a> all display some form of quantity discrimination in day-to-day tasks. For example, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoaling_and_schooling#Predator_avoidance">fish</a> use quantity discrimination to stay in larger groups to reduce the chance of being eaten by a predator.</p> <p>However, little is known about spontaneous number choices by insects.</p> <p><strong>How do bees choose where to forage?</strong></p> <p>Honeybees assess the available flowers based on several factors, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/plants-use-advertising-like-strategies-to-attract-bees-with-colour-and-scent-92673">scent, colour</a>, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cz/article/65/4/457/5244969">shape</a> and <a href="https://digital.library.txstate.edu/handle/10877/2557">size</a>.</p> <p>Honeybees typically visit around 150 individual flowers per flight from the hive to collect resources such as nectar or pollen. For a honeybee, a high quantity of flowers in a single area would mean less energy exertion than having to fly to many flower patches with less flowers.</p> <p>Using different numbers of artificial flowers, we wanted to test whether individual honeybees could discriminate between a range of quantities, and how they might determine the quality of a flower patch.</p> <p>Our honeybees were shown pairs of flower quantities ranging from easier number comparisons (such as 1 flower vs 12 flowers) to more challenging scenarios (such as 4 flowers vs 5 flowers).</p> <p>Interestingly, despite previous findings that trained honeybees can discriminate between <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-learn-higher-numbers-than-we-thought-if-we-train-them-the-right-way-124887">challenging quantities</a> and can also learn to <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-bees-do-maths-yes-new-research-shows-they-can-add-and-subtract-108074">add and subtract</a>, the bees performed poorly in our spontaneous number task.</p> <p>We found they were only able to discriminate between 1 vs 3, 1 vs 4, and 1 vs 12 flowers – wherein they preferred the larger quantity. When 1 flower was an option they succeeded, but confused any comparisons between groups of 2 flowers or more.</p> <p>This result suggests flower patch choice based on numerical-type cues is difficult for honeybees. And this has implications for how flower displays are interpreted.</p> <p>With today being <a href="https://blog.publish.csiro.au/world-bee-day/">World Bee Day</a>, why not take the opportunity to discover what bees are doing in gardens near you. Chances are they’re going to any flower patch with more than one flower, rather than paying much attention to absolute numbers.</p> <p><em>Written by Scarlett Howard and Adrian Dyer. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-then-some-how-to-count-like-a-bee-138815">The Conversation.</a> </em></p>

Caring

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“These are amazing": The $16.99 ALDI "house" selling for today only

<p>ALDI is well loved for their insane bargain deals, and this includes their Special Buys sales that has managed to gain a cult following on social media over the years. </p> <p>This week’s latest item calls on Animal and insect lovers and has gotten fans buzzing for the bee and insect houses.</p> <p>For just $16.99, the wooden bee-houses will be sold at this price as part of its Summer Gardening Special Buys range.</p> <p>It comes in three simple designs and also includes a hanging cord.</p> <p>Not only is it small and affordable, but it’s also kind to the environment.</p> <p>“With bees, insects and butterflies population in serious decline, the Gardenline Bee and Insect House provides a safe place for your Australian native bees and beneficial insects, to establish a home in your garden,” ALDI’s website read. </p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FALDI.Australia%2Fposts%2F2919409801449835%3A0&amp;width=500" width="500" height="633" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe></p> <p>ALDI customers took to Facebook to share their excitement over the adorable houses. </p> <p>“These are amazing, we got our cub scouts to make their own, but to have something like this on our den and watch nature would be great…” one user wrote. </p> <p>Another added: “These look like a fantastic idea!”</p> <p>“Great christmas idea,” another ALDI customer commented. </p> <p>These bee and insect houses won’t be available for long. </p>

Home & Garden

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Bees are smarter than we thought and can learn more if they're trained the "right way"

<p>Bees are pretty good at maths – as far as insects go, at least. We already know, for example, that they can count up to four and even <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-join-an-elite-group-of-species-that-understands-the-concept-of-zero-as-a-number-97316">understand the concept of zero</a>.</p> <p>But in a new study, <a href="https://jeb.biologists.org/content/222/19/jeb205658">published today in the Journal of Experimental Biology</a>, we show honeybees can also understand numbers higher than four – as long as we provide feedback for both correct and incorrect responses as they learn.</p> <p>Even our own brains are less adept at dealing with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subitizing">numbers greater than four</a>. While we can effortlessly estimate up to four items, processing larger numbers requires more mental effort. Hence why when asked to count, a young child will sometimes <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027706002137">answer with “1, 2, 3, 4, more”</a>!</p> <p>If you don’t believe me, try the test below. The various colour groupings representing 1-4 stars are easy to count quickly and accurately. However, if we try estimating the number of all stars at once by ignoring colours, it requires more concentration, and even then our accuracy tends to be poorer.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295960/original/file-20191008-128661-me98r1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /> <span class="caption">For numbers of elements ranging from 1-4, as represented here in different colours, we very efficiently process the exact number. However, if we try estimating the number of all stars at once by ignoring colour, it requires a lot more cognitive effort.</span></p> <p>This effect isn’t unique to humans. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-008-0140-9">Fish</a>, for example, also show a threshold for accurate quantity discrimination at four.</p> <p>One theory to explain this is that counting up to four isn’t really counting at all. It may be that many animals’ brains can innately recognise groups of up to four items, whereas proper counting (the process of sequentially counting the number of objects present) is needed for numbers beyond that.</p> <p>By comparing the performance of different animal species in various number processing tasks we can better understand how differences in brain size and structure enable number processing. For example, honeybees have previously been shown to be able to count and discriminate <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-008-0159-y">numbers up to four</a>, but not beyond. We wanted to know why there was a limit at four – and whether they can go further.</p> <p><strong>Best bee-haviour</strong></p> <p>Bees are surprisingly good at maths. We recently discovered that bees can learn to <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-taught-bees-a-simple-number-language-and-they-got-it-117816">associate particular symbols with particular quantities</a>, much like the way we use numerals to represent numbers.</p> <p>Bees learn to do this type of difficult task if given a sugary reward for choosing the correct association, and a bitter liquid for choosing incorrectly. So if we were to push bees beyond the four threshold, we knew success would depend on us asking the right question, in the right way, and providing useful feedback to the bees.</p> <p>We trained two different groups of bees to perform a task in which they were presented with a choice of two different patterns, each containing a different number of shapes. They could earn a reward for choosing the group of four shapes, as opposed to other numbers up to ten.</p> <p>We used two different training strategies. One group of ten bees received only a reward for a correct choice (choosing a quantity of four), and nothing for an incorrect choice. A second group of 12 bees received a sugary reward for picking four, or a bitter-tasting substance if they made a mistake.</p> <p>In the test, bees flew into a Y-shaped maze to make a choice, before returning to their hive to share their collected sweet rewards.</p> <p>Each experiment conducted with a single bee lasted about four hours, by which time each bee had made 50 choices.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296142/original/file-20191009-3846-1t5w4gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296142/original/file-20191009-3846-1t5w4gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Bees were individually trained and tested in a Y-shaped maze where a sugar reward was presented on the pole directly in front of the correct stimulus.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span></p> <p>The group that only received sweet rewards could not successfully learn to discriminate between four and higher numbers. But the second group reliably discriminated the group of four items from other groups containing higher numbers.</p> <p>Thus, bees’ ability to learn higher number discrimination depends not just on their innate abilities, but also on the risks and rewards on offer for doing so.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296143/original/file-20191009-3860-qstnbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296143/original/file-20191009-3860-qstnbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Bee’s-eye view of either four or five element displays that could be discriminated. Inserts show how we normally see these images.</span></p> <p>Our results have important implications for understanding how animals’ brains may have evolved to process numbers. Despite being separated by 600 million years of evolution, invertebrates such as bees and vertebrates such as humans and fish all seem to share a common threshold for accurately and quickly processing small numbers. This suggests there may be common principles behind how our brains tackle the question of quantity.</p> <p>The evidence from our new study shows bees can learn to process higher numbers if the question and training are presented in the right way. These results suggest an incredible flexibility in animal brains, of all sizes, for learning to become maths stars.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124887/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/adrian-dyer-387798">Adrian Dyer</a>, Associate Professor, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jair-garcia-387799">Jair Garcia</a>, Research fellow, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/scarlett-howard-423771">Scarlett Howard</a>, Postdoctoral research fellow, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-de-toulouse-iii-paul-sabatier-2447">Université de Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-learn-higher-numbers-than-we-thought-if-we-train-them-the-right-way-124887">original article</a>.</em></p>

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7 iconic songs that will transport you back to the '70s

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 1970’s was a simpler time for some, and with hits like these, it’s easy to see why.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Listen to the top 7 songs of the 1970’s and take a journey back in time.</span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_izvAbhExY">Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees</a></strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This song was made iconic as it played over the opening credits of 1977 film </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Saturday Night Fever</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as John Travolta struts through the streets of NYC. The song was written specifically for the film and quickly climbed through the charts.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The band was well aware that they were creating a heart-thumping rhythm with the song.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We thought when we were writing it that we should emulate the human heart," Robin Gibb explained in Daniel Rachel's </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We got Blue Weaver who was the keyboard player at the time to lie on the floor and put electrodes on his heart and put it through the control room. Then we got the drummer to play the heartbeat. We were the first people in the world to do a drum loop based on that."</span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CFuCYNx-1g">Superstition by Stevie Wonder</a></strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Believe it or not, Stevie Wonder wrote this song about the dangers of believing in superstitions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The song incorporates many elements of rock music, which was ideal for Wonder at the time as it helped extend his appeal to a white audience.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It worked as it was his second #1 hit in the U.S.</span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrGuyw1V8s">Dancing Queen by ABBA</a></strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">ABBA had recorded this song a year before it was released, and it was written around the same time as “</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fernando</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">”. However, they chose to release </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fernando</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as the single as they knew they were onto something big with </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dancing Queen.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This song was the only one of ABBA’s 14 US Top 40 hits to make it to number one and it’s easy to see why.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The song also reached number one in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Rhodesia, South Africa, Sweden and Germany.</span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgl-VRdXr7I">Killing Me Softly With His Song by Roberta Flack</a></strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The story goes that the inspiration for this song is Don McLean, who was famous for </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">American Pie</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The songwriting team of Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel intimately wrote the track back in 1973, and it wasn’t until Roberta Flack heard the original artist sing the song that she decided to record it herself.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Charles Fox first heard from Flack after Quincy Jones gave her his number.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I was at Paramount Pictures one day walking through the music library, and someone handed me a telephone and said, 'This is for you.' And the voice on the other end of the line said, 'Hi, this is Roberta Flack. We haven't met, but I'm going to sing your songs.'</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“So it was kind of magical at that - that thing just doesn't happen to people. She had just won the Grammy Award for '</span><a href="https://www.songfacts.com/facts/roberta-flack/first-time-ever-i-saw-your-face"><span style="font-weight: 400;">First Time Ever I Saw Your Face</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.' Beautiful record. So it's kind of remarkable to get a call from her in the first place. And she did go on to sing other songs. And actually, she sang on the main title for me of a show that was called </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Valerie</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after Valerie Harper."</span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQZmCJUSC6g">You’re So Vain by Carly Simon</a></strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It looks like no one apart from Simon herself will know who she’s singing about, although this hasn’t stopped people from trying to figure it out.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rumours include Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens and Mick Jagger.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, Richard Perry, who produced the album, has his own ideas about who the song is about.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said in the book </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Record Producers</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">: "It's about a compilation of men that Carly had known, but primarily Warren Beatty."</span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ">Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen</a></strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It seems like no one will know what this song is about either, apart from the band and Freddie Mercury himself.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When pressed, Mercury remained tight-lipped.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mercury himself stated, "It's one of those songs which has such a fantasy feel about it. I think people should just listen to it, think about it, and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The band has always been very keen to let listeners interpret the music in a way that’s personal to them instead of imposing their own meaning on the songs.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The song was Queen’s first Top 10 hit in the US. In the UK, the song shot up to #1 and stayed there for nine weeks, which was a record for the time. </span></p> <p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrcwRt6J32o">Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel</a></strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Paul Simon wrote this song about providing comfort to a person in need. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">He revealed this in the documentary </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Marking of Bridge Over Troubled Water</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I have no idea where it came from,” Simon said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It came all of the sudden. It was one of the most shocking moments in my songwriting career. I remember thinking, 'This is considerably better than I usually write."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Upon its release, it was one of the few songs to top the US and UK charts at the same time. It was #1 in the US for six weeks and #1 in the UK for three. </span></p>

Music

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5 fascinating pollination facts

<p><strong>1. Pollination is an essential part of the fertilisation process </strong></p> <p>The movement of pollen from one flower to another flower of the same species is an essential step in the fertilisation of plants and the development of the fruit and seeds needed for reproduction.</p> <p><strong>2. 75% of flowering plants depend on pollinators for fertilisation </strong></p> <p>An overwhelming proportion of at least 75% of flowering plants depend on pollinators for fertilisation. It’s a good reason to encourage the birds and the bees into your garden to help it flourish.</p> <p><strong>3. Bees pollinate but so do other animals and insects </strong></p> <p>Birds, bees, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps and small mammals are all common pollinators. Other animals, as well as the wind, can carry pollen from flower to flower as well.</p> <p><strong>4. Pollination leads to the creation of everyday essentials like coffee and tequila </strong></p> <p>About a thousand plants we rely on worldwide for the production of goods require pollinators. These include those grown for food, beverages, spices and medicines. Think coffee, chocolate and tequila!</p> <p><strong>5. Protect pollinators by planting native flowering plants </strong></p> <p>You can protect pollinators by planting native flowering plants, reducing your use of pesticides and telling others of the danger these animals and insects are in through chemical misuse, loss of habitat and diseases.</p> <p><em>Republished with permission of </em><a href="http://www.handyman.net.au/5-fascinating-pollination-facts"><em>Handyman Australia</em></a><em>.</em></p>

Home & Garden

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Can you spell the winning word from the junior spelling bee?

<p>It was a big week for Lena Zhu, who was officially crowned New South Wales 2017 Best Junior Speller. The nine-year-old out-spelled 44 finalists from all around the state to claim the prestigious prize, but how do you think you would’ve gone?</p> <p>Could you have spelled the winning word, “irrevocable”?</p> <p>Lena got the word perfect (I-R-R-E-V-O-C-A-B-L-E) and claimed the prize in the biggest state final of the Premier’s Spelling Bee since the competition was introduced in 2004.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Congrats to Oatley Public School's Lena Zhu, 2017 NSW Premier's Spelling Bee Junior Champion. An irrevocable title! (And Lena's final word.) <a href="https://t.co/Z9r0RRGlPb">pic.twitter.com/Z9r0RRGlPb</a></p> — ABC Sydney (@abcsydney) <a href="https://twitter.com/abcsydney/status/928101732466470912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2017</a></blockquote> <p>“My dad helped me practise and I read lots of books,” Lena said.</p> <p>NSW premier Gladys Berejicklian acknowledged the difficulty of the competition which had many children spelling out words they’d never even heard before.</p> <p>“I did misspell a few of them,” Gladys Berejicklian admitted. “I think I definitely would have had a few of them wrong.”</p> <p>Do you think you would’ve got the winning word?</p> <p><em>Image credit: Twitter / ABC Sydney</em></p>

Mind

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The reason behind the Bee Gees’ fall from grace revealed

<p>It’s hard to think back on the ‘70s without thinking of the Bee Gees. The Australian trio of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb enjoyed a string of worldwide number-ones for years, but by the time the ‘80s came around, their spectacular success had well and truly faded.</p> <p>Now, in the new tell-all book <a href="http://t.dgm-au.com/c/93981/71095/1880?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booktopia.com.au%2Fstaying-alive-simon-spence%2Fprod9781911036272.html" target="_blank"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Staying Alive: The Disco Inferno of the Bee Gees</span></em></strong></a> by Simon Spence, the reason behind their decline has finally been revealed.</p> <p>In 1979, a year after their <em>Saturday Night Fever</em> soundtrack racked up a staggering 24 weeks at number one on the US charts, the Bee Gees were at their peak. Playing to crowds of 60,000 across America at the height of the disco craze, there was no stopping the Gibb brothers.</p> <p>Yet mere months later, that’s exactly what happened. Disco was dead, and to the US’s most popular radio stations, so were the Bee Gees. “Nobody wanted to touch them,” writes Spence. “What happened to them was unprecedented in popular music.”</p> <p>After the success of <em>Saturday Night Fever</em>, by 1978, 200 radio stations around the US were devoted to disco – something that didn’t sit right with many, particularly white men between the ages of 18 and 24. This demographic, Spence believes, loved rock and therefore “felt excluded, even threatened, by the disco scene. The phrase ‘disco sucks’ was a clear pejorative term.”</p> <p>By 1980, Billboard reported that the stations which had once played disco exclusively had virtually banned it. To Barry, the backlash seemed to come out of nowhere. “It was almost like people were angry with us and it was more interesting to make fun of us than to actually try and understand or appreciate what we had done.”</p> <p>According to Robin, however, the reason was much simpler. “The public had OD’d on us.”</p> <p>“The exhaustion of being the Bee Gees set in, and we couldn’t see what tomorrow was going to bring,” Barry agreed.</p> <p>Barry, now 71, is the only remaining Bee Gee. Despite once saying of “Stayin’ Alive” that he wanted to “dress it in a white suit and gold chains and set it on fire,” these days, he’s made peace with his demons. Two months ago, he even performed all the <em>Saturday Night Fever</em> songs at the UK’s Glastonbury Festival – and the crowd loved it.</p> <p>Are you a fan of the Bee Gees' music? Tell us in the comments below.</p>

Books

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Make your own honey bee plant hanger

<p>This 120cm long plant hanger gets its name from the picot knots combined with the yellow rope which makes me think of small insect wings! You can also switch to use alternating square knots here.</p> <p><strong>Knots used (see gallery):</strong></p> <ul> <li>Overhand knot (OK)</li> <li>Wrap knot (WK)</li> <li>Square knot (SK)</li> <li>Square knot sennit (SK sennit)</li> <li>Picot square knot (PSK)</li> <li>Josephine knot (JK)</li> <li>4-ply crown knot (4-CK)</li> </ul> <p><strong>Materials</strong></p> <ul> <li>38m of twined 2.5mm cotton rope</li> <li>Wooden ring, 4 – 5cm diameter</li> <li>8 wooden beads, 2–2.5cm diameter with</li> <li>6–10mm diameter hole</li> <li>Equipment</li> <li>Brush</li> <li>Crochet hook (to help thread the beads)</li> </ul> <p><strong>Preparation</strong></p> <p>Cut the following:</p> <p>4 cords, each 3m long (filler cords)</p> <p>3 cords, each 6m long (working cords)</p> <p>1 cord, 8m long (extra-long to make the wrap knots)</p> <p><strong>Instructions:</strong></p> <p>Pair a 3m cord with a 6m cord. Pass them through the ring, folding both in the middle, then bundle the 4 cords together with an overhand knot (OK) to keep them from falling out or moving in the ring. Repeat with the remaining cords, except for one 3m filler cord and the extra-long working cord. Pass the last filler cord and the extra-long working cord through the ring and fold both in the middle. Bundle together both ends of the filler cord with one end of the extra-long working cord using an overhand knot, and leaving the other long end loose.</p> <p><img width="499" height="750" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39980/in-text-1-honey-bee-bundle_499x750.jpg" alt="In Text 1 Honey Bee Bundle"/></p> <p><em>Step 1 </em></p> <p>Using the loose extra-long working cord, make a 4–5cm long wrap knot (WK) just underneath the ring, gathering all the other cords together.</p> <p><em>Step 2</em></p> <p>Untie the overhand knot (OK) with only 3 ends, and add in the cord you used to</p> <p>make the wrap knot. Use both long cords to tie a sennit of 17 square knots (SK). Untie the other overhand knots one at a time and tie 17 square knots with each</p> <p>set of cords.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img width="500" height="853" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39981/in-text-2-step-3_500x853.jpg" alt="In Text 2 Step 3"/></p> <p><em>Step 3</em></p> <p>Tie 2 picot square knots (PSK). Thread the filler cords through a bead (you might need the help of a crochet hook or tapestry needle), then tie 2 more picot square knots under the bead. Repeat for the other 3 sets of cords.</p> <p><em>Step 4</em></p> <p>Tie another sennit of 6 square knots and repeat for the other 3 sets of cords.</p> <p><em>Step 5</em></p> <p>Tie 3 picot square knots. Thread the filler cords through a bead, then tie 3 more picot square knots under the bead. Repeat for the other 3 sets of cords.</p> <p><em>Step 6</em></p> <p>Tie another sennit of 9 square knots and repeat for the other 3 sets of cords.</p> <p><em>Step 7</em></p> <p>Take a filler cord and a working cord from 2 sennits and tie a Josephine knot (JK), placed about 10 cm (4 in) from the sennits above. Tie 3 more Josephine knots to finish the net.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"> <img width="500" height="544" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39982/in-text-3-step-8_500x544.jpg" alt="In Text 3 Step 8"/></p> <p><em>Step 8</em></p> <p>To tie the cords together, make a 4-ply crown knot (4-CK), using the 4 sets of cords as working cords, as shown in the illustration. Place your fist on a table with the tail of the plant hanger held upside down, and lay the cords down to make it easier to work the crown knot. Place the crown knot about 10cm (4 in) from the Josephine knots above it. Tie 5 to 6 rounds of the crown knot.</p> <p><em>Step 9</em></p> <p>Take the longest remaining cord and tie a 4–5cm (11/2 –2 in) long wrap knot around all other cords.</p> <p><em>Step 10</em></p> <p>Fray all the ends and use a brush to give the tail more volume.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"> <img width="499" height="1065" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40007/image__499x1065.jpg" alt="Image_ (395)"/></p> <p><img width="143" height="180" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39984/macrame-cover_143x180.jpg" alt="Macrame Cover (1)" style="float: right;"/></p> <p><em>This is an edited extract from </em>Macramé<em> by Fanny Zedenius published by Quadrille RRP $27.99 (NZ proce) and is available in stores nationally. Photographer: © Kim Lightbody</em></p>

Home & Garden

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8 surprising facts about the Bee Gees

<p>Here are a few fun facts you may not have known about the famous band, the Bee Gees.</p> <p>1. You may know that the Bee Gees consisted of brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice – but did you know they had an older sister called Lesley and a younger brother called Andy?</p> <p>2. Andy almost joined the band later in their career, but tragically died, aged 30, before that could happen.</p> <p>3. The Bee Gees are in the top money makers of all time. In terms of record sales, they are up there with The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Elvis, Garth Brooks and Michael Jackson.</p> <p>4. Not only did they write their own music, they also wrote for many other artists, including “Islands in The Stream”for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.</p> <p>5. The band’s album <em>Living Eyes,</em> holds the title as the first album to be manufactured on CD.</p> <p>6. The band only got involved with the soundtrack for John Travolta’s <em>Saturday Night Live </em>after it was filmed. The songs were all written in one weekend.</p> <p>7. Barry Gibb almost died as a child. He was badly burned at 18 months old, when hot tea was spilled on him.</p> <p>8. Robin also had a near death experience, when he and his fiancé were involved in a horrific train crash that killed 49 people.</p> <p>What’s your favourite Bee Gees song, and why? We would love to hear from you in the comments.</p>

Music

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Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb reveals secret turmoil

<p>Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb has spoken for the first time about a terrifying incident that occurred when he was just four years old, causing years of secret turmoil.</p> <p>In an interview with the UK’s Radio times, Gibb revealed that a man had tried to molest him in his youth, and specific details of what happened, “would be unpalatable”.</p> <p>The 70-year-old said, “I’ve never said this before, Jesus Christ, should I be saying it now?”</p> <p>“But there was a moment in time when a man tried to molest me when I was about four years old. He didn’t touch me, but other things happened, and happened to other kids.</p> <p>“And eventually they came and arrested him, and they woke me up during the night. Four years old and a policeman on your bed at four in the morning, interviewing you.”</p> <p>Gibb, who reached fame in the 70s as part of the iconic trio, is the last surviving member of the Bee Gees after his brothers Maurice and Robin passed away.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Now Playing: Tragedy by Bee Gees - Listen at <a href="https://t.co/inAKQ8VFcG">https://t.co/inAKQ8VFcG</a><br /> - Buy it <a href="https://t.co/nh6jpM55rw">https://t.co/nh6jpM55rw</a> <a href="https://t.co/rps6bvFQEJ">pic.twitter.com/rps6bvFQEJ</a></p> — HitMusic70s (@HitMusic70s) <a href="https://twitter.com/HitMusic70s/status/873057354308173825">June 9, 2017</a></blockquote> <p>Gibb said he had “never told anybody” about his experience.</p> <p>“If that doesn’t teach you about life, nothing does. But it’s vivid for me still.”</p> <p><em>Hero image credit: Youtube / Bee Gees </em></p>

Music

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Pentatonix honours The Bee Gees with emotional rendition

<p>The most well-known a capella group in the world has stunned fans by covering a song of one of the biggest musical groups in the world, The Bee Gees.</p> <p>The Bee Gees make up the some of the most iconic performers in the music industry with the group having continuous hit songs over a career that spanned nearly five decades.</p> <p>Pentatonix honoured the musical group for the CBS television special <em>Stayin’ Alive: A Grammy Salute to the Music of the Bee Gees</em>.</p> <p>Pentatonix paid tribute to the band before a live audience at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater and they performed an astounding rendition of ‘Too Much Heaven’.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EN4Ncj3qHjQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>The song was originally released as the lead single to The Bee Gees’ 1979 album <em>Spirits Having Flown</em>.</p> <p>This sensational hit song was written as the band’s contribution to a fundraising project for UNICEF called ‘Music for UNICEF’.</p> <p>The original song took the longest out of all the tracks on the <em>Spirits Having Flown</em> album due to nine layers of a three-part harmony which created 27 voices.</p> <p>Pentatonix proved they were capable of singing this masterpiece and soared through the performance.</p> <p>The star-studded television special brought together a variety of world-class performers from all genres of music who honoured the work of the three Gibb brothers with celebratory performances. Pentatonix, Celine Dion, Keith Urban, Stevie Wonder and Barry Gibb himself, appeared on stage to celebrate the sensational music of The Bee Gees. </p> <p><em>Image credit: CBS Broadcasting</em></p>

Music

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