Science: The Unhappy Bee

Bees, by & large, lead sad lives. Most young queens are killed by the reigning queen before they reach maturity. All the mature drones (males) are killed or starved by the workers (sterile females) before winter comes. Most drones die celibate; only one in thousands manages to mate with a virgin queen—and then pays with his life when she tears his genitals away.

The females work themselves to death, wearing their wings to rags on trips to & from flowers. The only pleasure they seem to get is when, as young adults, they care for the baby bees, nursing them tenderly...

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