Date/Time
Date(s) - Fri 30/01/2026
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Location
Trinity United Reformed Church

Category(ies)

• Monthly Meeting

We have welcomed Dr Mitchell previously on a subject of insulations. This was also published in Beecraft – February 2024

Dr Mitchell will speak on the topic “Bees Are Their Nests“.  He describes the aim of this talk as follows: 

•  Know what is an Extended Phenotype;

•  Identify at least 3 key interactions between the nest and honey bee;

•  Know why a tree is significantly different from a hive.

We hope to learn from Dr Mitchell how to see the nest “as part of the honey bee itself, a concept that in biology is known as an “extended phenotype”, which refers to all the ways a creature’s genes affect the world.”  The Extended Phenotype was introduced as a biological concept by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.

“Perhaps the most common example of an extended phenotype is that of the beaver, which shapes its environment by controlling the flow of water with dams. Nests enable honey bees to similarly adjust their environment by controlling the flow of two fluids – air and water vapour – plus something that acts like a fluid – heat.”