THE THINKING BEE

Research shows that these hardworking insects gather not just pollen but knowledge, too

- THOMAS CHRISTOPHER 

AS A GARDENER, I'm gradually finding my way to a new appreciation of insects.

When I was learning this craft 50 years ago, I regarded any creature of that sort as a threat, something to be greeted with toxic sprays. I gravitated toward plants advertised as “pest-free.” That generally meant the plant was an import from abroad, one that our native North American insects wouldn’t recognize and use as a food source. But since then I’ve learned the vital role that insects, especially native insects, play in the garden ecosystem. They serve as a food source for birds and other creatures up the food chain, and they are also essential as pollinators.

I learned to be thankful for insects, but recently I’ve been moving beyond gratitude to admiration. My attitude toward bees, for example, was transformed by a recent conversation with Dr. Lars Chittka, a professor at Queen Mary University of London and the author of a fascinating new book: The Mind of a Bee (Princeton University Press, 2022).

Previously I had regarded bees, especially honeybees, as the quintessential example of the hive mind. That is, driven by instinct the whole hive shares a single consciousness, with all the members functioning as interchangeable cogs in a biological machine. But Dr. Chittka assured me that I could not be more wrong.