We think we're the only ones who understand that zero is less than one. Livescience.com (which brought the exploding rotten fish art story) says that dolphins, African gray parrots and nonhuman primates understand "zero". And that bees are considered to understand zero - with a brain of less than a million neurons (compared to our 86 billion neurons).
'The researchers set up two cards, each of which had a set of symbols on them, like triangles or circles. Then, they trained a group of the bees to fly to the card with the lower number of symbols. (The bees quickly learned what the humans wanted them to do to get their delicious, sugary rewards).
The trained bees were then shown a card that was empty versus one that had symbols on it. Without any prior training, the bees flew more often to the empty card — thereby demonstrating that they understood that "zero" was a number less than the others, according to the study, which was published Thursday (June 7) in the journal Science.
Although they flew more often to an empty card than to one that had one symbol on it, it became easier for them to differentiate when the symbols' card increased in number. For example, they more often flew to the zero when the other card had four symbols than when it had one, according to NPR.'
Today's pictures show our newest restaurant in Grimsby - Casa Toscana. The beautiful turreted house in the middle of the downtown section used to be a real estate office and now is a lively patio/restaurant. Luca Vitali is pictured with Therese de Grace, the chef previously with The Good Earth. Now we can savour fine food along with the finest extra-virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar imported from his mother's farm in Tuscany.
I planted the little herb garden for him out in front of the porch.
The bugs were out yesterday after the rain. With the recent lack of water and the heat there weren't many bees or bugs flying about. It was a quick change yesterday. The double rainfall brought a sprouting of seeds too - and aren't they mostly our most robust weeds - so quick to spread and sprout. As I research 'the ethical gardener' theme, I find that bees love dandelions, plantain and clover - so not mowing the lawn until after they bloom is kind to bees. How does an urbanite balance between the perfect, manicured lawn and the environmentally friendly environment?
Perhaps we can take an alternative path - planting bee-friendly trees. I find out that there are varieties of trees that are bee friendly. I've never had these delicacies: black locust makes a honey that is almost water-white. Tulip poplar nectar is reddish and highly prized, and linden makes a pale, delicately flavoured floral honey.
So planting nectar-rich trees is another way of supporting our pollinators. In my own garden is a prized pollinator tree. It is the Heptacodium miconidoides - Seven Son Flower tree. It is full of bees at the end of the summer when it has dense white clusters of flowers. It is one of Paul Zammit's picks at the Toronto Botanical Gardens for the pollinator garden. Find out more about the TBG pollinator garden.
As the hostas bloom, I start to look at the bees that are collecting nectar. I want to cut the hosta flowers because they don't match my colour scheme. However, there are so many bees that I give in and only cut the most straggly flowers.
These bees are on wisteria - if only a hosta could be this beautiful. These look like bumble bees to me - I don't really know how to identify bees. Like most people I take them for granted. I find out there are fifty species of bumble bees in North America. They live in colonies, headed by a queen who is the main egg-layer. I found a site where a bee had been identified - pink 38 - and her movements tracked for a summer.
Solitary bees make up the largest percent of the bee population. I have a solitary bee house that needs to get up - their nests are in hollow reeds or twigs, so it is an easy nest to make.
There are 20,000 different species of bees in the world, and there are 6.5 billion bees - I guess we will have to share as there are over 7 billion people - so less than a bee for every person. Plant some hostas and you will get more than your fair share.
