As promised, here are more x-ray pictures. This is another set of wooden blocks.
Do you see the super bright stuff near the bottom (which is actually the entrance) of the middle block? Those would be rocks. Lots of tiny tiny rocks that the female bees use to separate each cell and close off the entrance to the nest. The other bees use rocks, soil, plants parts like leaves, etc. The rocks show up brightly because they contain some calcium. Cool huh.
Here is a close-up of the bees inside the block on the left. These bees are already developing their body shape. They no longer look like beans or grubs. You can see the 3 major morphological features of these pupae. I have pointed them out using my awesome PowerPoint skills. Goodbear, don’t laugh.
Isn’t that cool to see. When I was looking through the x-rays and saw this I was so excited. I was just as exited as a mother looking at her babies first sonogram. To be able to see their development is just exciting.
[...] block_closeup3. Isn’t that cool to see. When I was looking through the x-rays and saw this I was so excited. More [...]
By: » Bee sonograms « Anna’s Bee World on November 13, 2008
at 11:46 pm
Well aren’t they the cutest things?! I had to page down and look at the first x-rays so that I could better determine the differences over the time period. Your comment is spot on: less bean-like and more clearly developed.
Of course, we still beelieve (cute, eh?) that you are doing this just so you can raise your own mutant bee army.
By: forkboy on November 14, 2008
at 4:09 am
Very cool! Just remember, when your mutant bee army takes over the world, we friendly folk who read your blog should be spared from hard labor in the giant honeycomb factories …
By: Dennis the Vizsla on November 14, 2008
at 3:32 pm
Oh forkboy, you know I always like it when people throw ‘bee’ in a word and make it work. Gotta love it.
I will only make the squirrels (who made my work out in the field difficult) do the hard labor.
By: buzzybeegirl on November 14, 2008
at 8:01 pm
and crystal. please make your mutant bees teach her a lesson!
By: goodbear on November 18, 2008
at 10:44 pm
[...] Bee World (she’s posted amazing new xray photos, [...]
By: Incoming Memes! « Bug Girl’s Blog on November 27, 2008
at 2:43 am
[...] The bees in the photo are blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria). They are cavity nesting bees, meaning that they nest in above ground cavities like dried stems or empty beetle holes in wood. They also use mud to create chambers between eggs, so each egg will have his or her own little compartment to develop in. You can see and example of the chambers here. [...]
By: Will work for mud « Anna's Bee World on December 20, 2010
at 7:12 am