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* The OLd Drone found this road kill on the internet highway using a
text search engine. I do believe that something was lost in the
translation as it is just a little hard to believe, skept'ic I must
bee....But since it is so close to April Fool's day I pass this gas to
my many beekeeping friends who are smart enough not to be fooled by BS
..or sometime the facts...   ttul Andy-
 
   Information Bulletin No.72
 
             STINGLESS BEES DEVELOPED FOR POLLINATING FRUIT TREES
 
     _________________________________________________________________
 
   February 13, 1996
 
   Honeybees are often used in the pollination of such fruit-bearing
   trees as apples and pears, but they pose a hazard to the fruit grower,
   who risk being stung.
   To eliminate this annoyance, researchers at the National Institute of
   Animal Industry of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
   Fisheries, has succeeded in producing bees that cannot sting, and it
   is hoped that they will resolve a longstanding sore point for fruit
   growers.
 
   Pollen Carrier
   Pollination is an important part of a fruit-grower's task, and many
   farmers still perform the task manually, climbing ladders and
   crouching to pollinate each flower. To lighten this load, some have
   begun harnessing honeybees as pollinators. As the bees fly around in
   search of nectar, they carry pollen from one flower to another. Those
   who are not used to handling the bees, though, are frequently stung,
   and experienced beekeepers must be enlisted to release and recapture
   the bees.
   At the National Institute of Animal Industry, an attempt was made to
   produce honeybees that would not sting by exposing them to gamma
   waves. It was found in that if bee larvae were exposed to 30 grays of
   radiation just before becoming pupae, 97% of the bees born had
   deformed stingers. The typical stinger consists of two narrow needles
   encased in a sheath, but in the mutant variety, the two needles were
   separated from the sheath, destroying their ability to sting.
   Of the 18 queen larvae that were exposed to radiation in the same way,
   16 were born as no stingers.
 
   Controlling Reproduction
   The new varieties of both queen and worker bee showed no difference
   other than in the stinger, and they otherwise appeared to behave
   normally. This led researchers to believe that the exposure to
   radiation had caused a genetic mutation in the bees. Researchers are
   now working to determine how many larvae of stinger-less queens will
   have the same trait and to establish a process by which the trait can
   be genetically transmitted.
   One concern is the impact the stinger-less bees will have on the
   ecosystem if they breed with naturally occurring varieties. The mixing
   of genetic strains can be prevented, researchers, believe, by simply
   utilizing worker bees for pollination purposes, since they have no
   reproductive capabilities and thus pose no threat that they will breed
   with bees in the wild.
 
   (The above article, edited by Japan Echo Inc., is based on domestic
   Japanese news sources. It is offered for reference purposes and does
   not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese
   Government.)
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 ~ QMPro 1.53 ~ ... Which a bee would choose to dream in.