Cool findings. However, considering the endangered nature of bumblebees in North America, it is sad and frustrating to see the number of Queens sacrificed in the name of research. Hundreds if not more.
This was the most grotesque part of the research, that sacrificed 20 bees right here:
> They froze five bees at each stage of the experimental process: before submersion, after four days underwater, after eight days underwater and after one week of post-submersion recovery. The researchers then ground up the frozen queens and measured the concentration of lactate in the resulting mush.
This could have been done without needing to kill the Queen bees. One such method has been known since 2017, that draws their blood through their antennae:
Not to take from the thrust your comment but just so you know, bumblebees and honeybees are not the same species.. Bumblebee nests are somewhat different than hives, and the way in which they develop is different also.
Ti me it seems that the opinion is the result of anthropomorphizing bees. They exist in a different social order. Their survival depends on things that, if people were organized in such way, it would seem very wrong to people. Their survival depends on numbers much more than human survival. They’re just not equivalent.
This was the most grotesque part of the research, that sacrificed 20 bees right here:
> They froze five bees at each stage of the experimental process: before submersion, after four days underwater, after eight days underwater and after one week of post-submersion recovery. The researchers then ground up the frozen queens and measured the concentration of lactate in the resulting mush.
This could have been done without needing to kill the Queen bees. One such method has been known since 2017, that draws their blood through their antennae:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5268409/