Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Bees and mice are not friends

Sometimes I have to play with mice as part of my job. And by play, I mean use them for experiments. It isn't something I feel great about, but some biological processes can only be studied in living organisms. And so I treat them with respect, and thank them for helping us learn about our universe.

It occurred to me that mice and bees are natural enemies. Mice will get into a hive in the winter, when the bees are all clustered at the top of the hive, and build a nest at the bottom of the hive. It is warm, provides protection from the elements, and the mice can eat the bees once they die. However, once spring arrives and the bees are free to un-cluster, the bees unleash their pent-up anger and kill the mouse.

After some days at work, I'm positive that I smell more like a mouse than a human. I can smell it on myself, and I know that if I smell it, it must be bad. Today is one of those days. And despite my better judgment, I'm about to inspect the hives and add another super. I hope this is not the precursor to the awesome blog title, "Wrath of My Bees," that Ellie mentioned.

No comments:

Post a Comment