ultraviolet. Hives painted red appear black to bees, and is a poor choice for hive color given that it is the color of a key predator – the black bear –therefore, hives painted in shades of yellows, greens, blues, or pastel colors are more easily distinguished by honey bees compared to ones painted red or purple.
Fifth, hives should provide the bees with a well‐insulated nesting cavity, so that less of a colony's energy is expended on heating and cooling, to achieve thermal homeostasis. The health of a honey bee colony depends on keeping its brood nest at ca. 35 °C from spring to fall, and to keeping the outer layer of the winter cluster above about 10 °C throughout winter.
Finally, bee doctors should avoid treatment of pathogens without a clear diagnosis. A key component of the honey bee environment is the bee's microbiome, which is hidden from view to anyone without a microscope and culture plate. The social behaviors that produce the characteristic flora of the honey bee's gut serve important roles in prevention of disease; the indiscriminate use of antibiotic therapy is known to promote resistance as well as alter the symbiotic gut microbes that underlie the health of honey bee colonies.
Charles Darwin marveled at the honey bee organism and spent a great deal of time studying the organization and structure of their colonies, including the wonderous design of their hexagonal comb. Darwin could not have known the full extent of the threats that the world's honey bees would face in the twenty‐first century – from climate change to mite‐vectored pathogens. But perhaps he had the bees in mind when he wrote: It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
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