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The Dark Side of the Hive: The Evolution of the Imperfect Honeybee
Honey bees have been described as exceptionally clever, well-organized, mutualistic, collaborative, busy, efficient--in short a perfect society. While the colony is indeed a marvel of harmonious, efficient organization, it also has a considerable dark side. Authors Robin Moritz and Robin Crewe
write about the life history of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, highlighting conflict rather than harmony, failure rather than success, from the perspective of the individual worker in the colony. When one looks carefully, the honey bee colony is far from being perfect. As with any complex social
system, honeybee societies are prone to error, robbery, cheating, and social parasitism. Nevertheless, the hive gets by remarkably well in spite of many seemingly odd biological features.
The perfection that is perceived to exist in the honeybee's social organization is the function of a focus on the colony as a whole rather than exploring the idiosyncrasies of its individual members. The Dark Side of the Hive thus focuses on the role of the individual rather than that of the
collective. Moritz and Crewe dissect the various careers that individual male and female honey bees can take and their role in colony organization. Competition between individuals using both physical and chemical force drives colonial organization. This book deals with individual mistakes,
maladaptations and evolutionary dead-ends that are also part of the bees' life. The story told about these dark sides of the colony spans the full range of biological disciplines ranging from genomics to systems biology.
write about the life history of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, highlighting conflict rather than harmony, failure rather than success, from the perspective of the individual worker in the colony. When one looks carefully, the honey bee colony is far from being perfect. As with any complex social
system, honeybee societies are prone to error, robbery, cheating, and social parasitism. Nevertheless, the hive gets by remarkably well in spite of many seemingly odd biological features.
The perfection that is perceived to exist in the honeybee's social organization is the function of a focus on the colony as a whole rather than exploring the idiosyncrasies of its individual members. The Dark Side of the Hive thus focuses on the role of the individual rather than that of the
collective. Moritz and Crewe dissect the various careers that individual male and female honey bees can take and their role in colony organization. Competition between individuals using both physical and chemical force drives colonial organization. This book deals with individual mistakes,
maladaptations and evolutionary dead-ends that are also part of the bees' life. The story told about these dark sides of the colony spans the full range of biological disciplines ranging from genomics to systems biology.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published September 17, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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January 11, 2020https://inquisitivebiologist.wordpres...
"Males, known as drones, contribute nothing more than their genetic payload in an act that literally sees them pump all their hemolymph (the insect equivalent of blood) into their endophallus, rupturing it in the process, after which they drop dead. (This is the point at which half the audience grimaces.)"
Um. "Me too!"
"Males, known as drones, contribute nothing more than their genetic payload in an act that literally sees them pump all their hemolymph (the insect equivalent of blood) into their endophallus, rupturing it in the process, after which they drop dead. (This is the point at which half the audience grimaces.)"
Um. "Me too!"
June 23, 2020
Without overturning existing research or taking away from the marvellous creature that is the honey bee, The Dark Side of the Hive enriches our picture of this insect by highlighting its evolutionary oddities and imperfections. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2019...
December 17, 2022
Loved reading this book. It has some really solid information on honeybees and their behavior that isn't normally focused on, and it works great to counterbalance some of the ideas that have developed around honeybees. There are sections where the personality of the authors shines through, but it never detracts from the accuracy of the text. I especially loved the line about honeybee swarming which compared it to packing a moving van, parking it in a vacant lot, and hoping you find a new home before the fees accumulate. Nature's most efficient animal indeed.
As far as format goes, it has many of the structural elements of traditional science writing, with chapters split into almost essay-like sections. But the prose is clear and accessible, much like science writing for general audiences. Don't be afraid to pick this book up even if you don't know much about entomology.
As far as format goes, it has many of the structural elements of traditional science writing, with chapters split into almost essay-like sections. But the prose is clear and accessible, much like science writing for general audiences. Don't be afraid to pick this book up even if you don't know much about entomology.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews