I give several school presentations each year, and this year for the first 
time ever, I was asked by a 7th grader "are there gay bees?" I have 
googled this and come up empty, except for some obscure reference to this 
this topic possibly in a NEWSWEEK issue, which I am persuing.
 
Given that homosexual behavior would seem to mimic heterosexual behavior 
except that it occurs between members of the same gender, and that the 
heterosexual behavior (i.e. mating behavior) results in the death of the 
male, I can't fathom that "gay" behavior exists at all among honey bees. 
Further, the majority of bees in a colony, namely the workers, engage in 
no sexual activity whatsoever as far as I know.
 
My answer to the question was a "qualified no" but I was just curious if 
any one else had a different perspective here. Generally I shy away from 
discussing reproductive issues with elementary school children (OK for 
college students or adults) but this question was pretty blunt and felt it 
deserved a response.

I am also reminded of an earlier PETA website detailing the "cruel" 
practice of beeekeepers wereby we deprive bees of proper sex lives, or 
words to that effect, referring to assexual workers. So there is a lot of 
misinformation out there and I am working to reduce that.......

C.Crowell
Hightstown, NJ

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