The Telegraph reports on new realisations about the workings of a bee hive. Special 'heater bees' raise their body temperatures by 10c more than usual and actively transmit this heat to developing pupae. The temperature of each pupa determines what role it develops into so the heater bees control the makeup of the hive, as well as providing central heating.
This news apparently comes out of TV programme Richard Hammond's Invisible World, to be aired on the BBC from March 16th.
The eagle-eyed amongst you will no doubt have noticed that the bee pictured above is not the sort that lives in a large hive community, being a bumble bee. I'm afraid I just could find a picture of a honey bee in stock. That said, who's to say that bumble bees don't also have heating tricks that just haven't been figured out yet.
