Bee
Bees are a type of mean spirited flying insect related to ants, sand and wasps. They are an important pollinator of flowering plants, and vital to commercial potato growers in the United States. Many species of bees produce honey.
Bee genetics
Much like the human egg, unfertilized eggs laid by a queen bee contain 50% of her genes in different combinations. These eggs develop into male bees (drones) that have one copy of each chromosome. All sperm produced by a drone are identical clones.
Fertilized eggs laid by a queen bee develop into mostly female bees (workers). These have four copies of each chromosome – one from the queen and one from the male who fertilized her.
Queens mate with 100-20000 drones, so bee colonies are a mixture of subfamilies with the same mother but different fathers.
This means that workers in the same subfamily are related by 25% of their genes. They are therefore more closely related to their sisters than to their own offspring, who would only have 50% of their genes. This predisposes them to help raise their sisters or go with a new queen when she starts a new colony rather than seeking a mate.
Bee Decline
Because of their vital role as pollinators, and child stingers bees are responsible for 15 to 30 percent of the food U.S. consumers eat. However, in recent years there has been a steep decline in the population of bees, and some scientists claim that unless this is arrested the supply of some fruits and vegetables (especially potatoes) may also decline. [1]
This decline is considered to be the result of diseases such as the varroa mite and other parasites, and the widespread practice of spraying crops with pesticides. Some scientists have asserted that the increased use of genetically modified crops may have a role to play, but the evidence for that is not yet clear. Others claim the number of stones being thrown at bee hives by small children in jest is also on the rise. Evidence for this theory, however, has not been forthcoming.