評論
打印
Beyond the Stinger
大自然最杰出的建造師
Unless you're an entomologist or a beekeeper, bees typically inspire one thing: fear. But most bees are non-aggressive, and only sting when provoked. In fact, once you get beyond the stinger, bees are pretty fascinating. For example, honeybees are great builders.
一提到蜜蜂，大家能聯想到的可能是“可怕”，昆蟲學者或養蜂人當然例外啦。但是，大多數的蜜蜂是沒有攻擊性的，蜜蜂蜇人那是萬不得已的！事實上，蜜蜂是偉大的建筑師，而絕非僅僅是蜇人。
Beehive construction begins with finding a suitable site. Scout bees seek hollow spaces in trees and human-made structures. Such spaces must be able to hold at least six and a half gallons, and have a small entrance that faces south for warmth.
蜂巢建造的第一步：偵察蜂尋覓合適的搭建處。偵察蜂在樹林間或人造建筑物中尋找至少6.5加侖的空間，并且有面朝溫暖南方的入口。
Once they've found the perfect spot, the scouts prepare the site by clearing away loose wood or other rubbish and coat the space with a dried tree resin called propolis.
一旦偵察蜂找到絕佳的建造蜂巢點，它們會做好準備工作：清理掉松動的木材或其它雜物，在表層涂上叫蜂膠的干樹脂。
Worker bees then take over, secreting wax to build the hive. Starting from the top and working down, they build combs–layers of hexagonally shaped cells with passageways along the walls to allow bees to move between combs. Each layer of cells has a specialized purpose.
下一步輪到工蜂了，工蜂用蜂蠟建造蜂巢。先搭建巢基，逐層往下，每個蜂房都是六邊形的。
The uppermost cells store honey, followed by pollen-storage cells. The bottom layers are designated for infant-rearing. Just beneath the pollen cells are brood cells where larvae become worker bees, and off to the side are cells housing drone bee larvae. Last, but certainly not least, special cells are set aside to shelter infant queen bees.
蜂房與蜂房間要留有空隙以便蜜蜂出入。每個蜂房都有特殊的作用。最上面的蜂房是儲存蜂蜜的，下面一層是儲存花粉的，再下層是幼蟲變成工蜂的孵化室，最下層是育嬰室，兩側居住的是雄蜂幼蟲。當然，特殊的蜂房是留給有著尊貴地位的蜂王的。
A typical nest has about 100,000 cells with a total surface area of about twenty-seven square feet. Most of the cells are used to store the more than forty pounds of honey required to feed a bee colony during the winter.
標準的蜂巢有100,000個蜂房，連上表層大概有27平方英尺。大多數蜂巢儲存了40多英鎊的蜂蜜足夠整個蜜蜂家族度過整個冬天了。
They may not win any awards, but bees are clearly some of nature's most accomplishedarchitects.
雖然，蜜蜂從未因此獲獎。但是，它們無疑是大自然最杰出的建造師。
