Bees are not quite as ‘busy’ as we all think, according to research by German zoologist Professor Randolf Menzel. In fact, says the Sunday Telegraph, "the insects are lazy, workshy and prone to sleeping on the job."
"Bees are not particularly hard working. Instead they sleep a lot and are actually quite lazy," Professor Menzel said.
But the bees have a champion in the form of Glyn Davies, President of the British Beekeepers Association, who argues that they are not lazy but efficient - adding that their attitude is something we could all learn from.
"At any particular stage in its life, a bee has a specific job to do," he said. "If they are unable to do that job, they conserve their energy by doing nothing. Each bee has a unit of life energy and the faster it works, the faster it dies."It is a mistake to assume that a bee doing nothing is being uneconomic. In fact, it is being very efficient and they don't deserve a bad press.
They are being very wise and perhaps humans should try to follow their example instead of running about like headless chickens."
Sunday Telegraph | The truth about bees... they'd rather Zzzzzz than Buzzzzz
