Last weekend, CBC radio aired an interesting story concerning research being done on wasp brains. When I heard it I thought someone would mention it on Bee-L but I see no one has. So I will pass on what I can remember. Sean O'Donnell? from Seattle University has been studying colonies of wasps in Costa Rica. He has found that as the wasps graduate from simple housekeeping tasks performed inside the nest to more complex tasks outside the nest their brains grow bigger. I believe Mr. O'Donnell said the region of the brain that grows is known to be responsible for cognitive functions. More research needs to be done to find if the wasp's brain grows larger because of the increased demands on it (how to find and gather food in a complex and changing environment)or if wasp brains simply grow with age. Mr O'Donnell was not asked why he is doing this research on wasps instead of honeybees. It seems likely that honeybee brains would grow in a similar way. With honeybees you could solve the chicken or egg question by incubating several frames of brood, letting them hatch out with a new queen and seeing if the bees that take up the tasks of foraging have bigger brains than those that clean cells. Does anyone know if this research has been done with honeybees? All this could explain why drones don't seem to do much of anything. Given the large size of their heads it seems likely they have a brain to match and that they spend a lot of time just thinking about the complex task they have to perform outside the nest. Speaking of the chicken or the egg I heard a joke the other day. A chicken and an egg are in bed together. The chicken is looking frustrated and the egg is taking a drag on a cigarette. And the egg says " Well, I guess that answers that question". Bees look good. Started bringing in the first of the pussywillow pollen late last week. We could use some rain. Hope you are all getting rain, Ted Ted :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::