"Reproduction is interesting. Not all bees have two parents. We have three classes: the queen, the female workers, and the male drones. The one special fertile female - the queen. There are other females but they do not produce any eggs. The male bees are produced by the queen's unfertilized eggs (in other words - no father). The females are produced when the queen has mated with a male - therefore she has two parents.
Interestingly, the family tree of a colony produces what we know as the Fibonacci sequence. A bee's ancestry fits the exact pattern. Draw out the example.
great- great,great gt,gt,gt
grand- grand- grand grand
Number of parents: parents: parents: parents: parents:
of a MALE bee: 1 2 3 5 8
of a FEMALE bee: 2 3 5 8 13
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987 ..
As you may or may not know, the Fibonacci sequence is one of the major chords played by Nature in her symphony. Everywhere one looks there is the sequence displayed: view the construction of sunflowers, pinecones, pineapples, artichokes, apples, lemons, chiles, starfish, sand dollars, the iris, buttercup, daisies, and you could go on and on."
The Symbolism Of The Beehive And The Bee
Thomas D. Worrel
"What is really interesting about the Fibonacci sequence is that its pattern of growth in some mysterious way matches the forces controlling growth in a large variety of natural dynamical systems. Quite analogous to the reproduction of rabbits, let us consider the family tree of a bee - so we look at ancestors rather than descendants. In a simplified reproductive model, a male bee hatches from an unfertilized egg and so he has only one parent, whereas a female hatches from a fertilized egg, and has two parents...
The male ancestors in each generation form a Fibonacci sequence, as do the female ancestors, as does the total. You can see from the tree that bee society is female dominated."
THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE, SPIRALS AND THE GOLDEN MEAN
Dan Reich
Department of Mathematics, Temple University
Interestingly, the family tree of a colony produces what we know as the Fibonacci sequence. A bee's ancestry fits the exact pattern. Draw out the example.
great- great,great gt,gt,gt
grand- grand- grand grand
Number of parents: parents: parents: parents: parents:
of a MALE bee: 1 2 3 5 8
of a FEMALE bee: 2 3 5 8 13
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987 ..
As you may or may not know, the Fibonacci sequence is one of the major chords played by Nature in her symphony. Everywhere one looks there is the sequence displayed: view the construction of sunflowers, pinecones, pineapples, artichokes, apples, lemons, chiles, starfish, sand dollars, the iris, buttercup, daisies, and you could go on and on."
The Symbolism Of The Beehive And The Bee
Thomas D. Worrel
"What is really interesting about the Fibonacci sequence is that its pattern of growth in some mysterious way matches the forces controlling growth in a large variety of natural dynamical systems. Quite analogous to the reproduction of rabbits, let us consider the family tree of a bee - so we look at ancestors rather than descendants. In a simplified reproductive model, a male bee hatches from an unfertilized egg and so he has only one parent, whereas a female hatches from a fertilized egg, and has two parents...
The male ancestors in each generation form a Fibonacci sequence, as do the female ancestors, as does the total. You can see from the tree that bee society is female dominated."
THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE, SPIRALS AND THE GOLDEN MEAN
Dan Reich
Department of Mathematics, Temple University
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