the 'forgotten' cousins.

[prakel]

Social insects of all types interest me but I wonder how many other beekeepers share my fascination?

Could there be enough interest for the Boss to add a 'other social insects' sub forum? I know that this is a beekeeping site but there's quite a lot of interesting research being done, stuff which can be quite engrossing even if it's not relevant to honey bee behaviour in the strictest sense.

[Neils]

A sub forum of the environment section perhaps?

I'd like to see a number of threads on the go and active before creating another section, I personally feel that a forum split into large numbers of inactive sub sections tends to look 'dead' and that creating new sections should only really be done when the volume of posts in an existing forum makes navigation difficult.

Other opinions are available :)

[prakel]

I can see the sense in that, just one of those random ideas that pop to mind sometimes!

[Jon]

As long as you are not thinking of termites as we will get a rehash about Imidacloprid and termites.
They must be almost extinct now apart from places like Orkney.

[Neils]

I can see the sense in that, just one of those random ideas that pop to mind sometimes!
That's not however to say that I'm not interested in discussion around other insects, social or otherwise :)

[prakel]

As long as you are not thinking of termites as we will get a rehash about Imidacloprid and termites.
They must be almost extinct now apart from places like Orkney.


Got to admit, after the initial post, the thought of termites -and the associated glazed eyes which I get from trying to read those threads did cross my mind.

[gavin]

Well, after an email discussion over the weekend with a professor at a Scottish university on the evolution of sociality in insects, I thought that Prakel's suggestion was spot on and, for me, very timely. Happy to hear more views. It might go nowhere but maybe we could give it a try for 2 months or so and if nothing was happening just merge it into an existing sub-forum. I do take the point of proliferating forum subheadings, but this just might bring in folk with other interets.

Anyone mentioning the N word (Jon!!) would find their posts rapidly dumped in the ranters dumping ground below.

[Neils]

Maybe not quite social, but it does get a form of nosema so I'm claiming it's relevant :)

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs21/f/2007/240/7/5/Bombyx_Mori_by_sket88.jpg

[prakel]

it does get a form of nosema so I'm claiming it's relevant :)

But no 'hands off' management with these little fellows!

[Bumble]

I might as well go way off topic and say that that's an amazing photograph. I've no idea what sort of moth it is, so could you give me a clue?

And, to try to get back almost to social insects, does anybody know how to move an anthill without totally destroying the colony? They like to build them in the middle of the lawn, which isn't the best of places to have a small hillock.

[Neils]

Mulberry bushes?

No idea about moving ant's nests though I'm afraid.

[greengumbo]

Not insects but Africa last night featured the monumentaly ugly naked mole rats who have a very strange social structure not entirely unlike ants or bees. Fascinating.

[Neils]

I was given a "Guide to bees of Britain" as a birthday present and it is excellent. Fold out A5(ish) laminated ID chart of various bees on one side and related facts on the other with more of a focus on "not honeybees".

If I have one complaint it's that it shows bees in "museum" pattern rather than how you tend to see them roaming around the place, but otherwise I thoroughly recommend it.

[Easy beesy]

I agree. Bumbles, cuckoo bumbles, solitaries, and even wasps are fascinating. Great guy at Liverpool museum who has an encyclopaedic memory for these guys, Carl Clee, highly recommended as a speaker.

Also handy for those if us planning module 8

Eb