Bee Who You Are

Bee Who You Are

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Honey bees drones actually have a large spectrum of personalities. Scientists found that some are homebodies, some are explorers, and no matter what they are, we can change them.

The defining trait of personality is a consistent response to similar stimuli in different contexts. Honey bees hives are filled with self-sacrificing drones, but certain bees, while gathering food, tended to range farther and explore more than other drones. When the hives out grew their homes and the colony had to split, intrepid bees had to go out in search of new nest sites. The most novelty-seeking worker bees responded to the crisis, scouting out new areas to nest, searching far beyond the scope of the regular hive. Once researchers found bees that had novelty-seeking personalities, they took a look at their biological make-up, finding genes expressed differently depending on the bee’s tendency to seek out new horizons. They then starting tinkering with the various biological that determined personalities in the bees.