The defense mechanism of bees is to sting its attacker. I knew that. But I only recently learnt that the bee dies after the sting is detached from its body. Huh? I am not getting this. So this insect stings the attacker to safeguard itself but dies in the process? So exactly how is this a “defense” mechanism?
After researching extensively (I meant wiking, googling…) I found more startling information. The actual process is that when an attack is perceived or an intruder is identified by the bees, a pheromone substance is released that warns all the other bees in the hive and also triggers the “attack process” amongst the worker bees. These bees attack the attacker/intruder by stinging and die in the process while ensuring the safety of the other bees. Hmmmm so, in human terms, do the worker bees “sacrifice” themselves to save the others?
Well, it turns out that this act is not what it is usually perceived as. The crux of this mechanism is that the bees act as a group and not as an individual. That means, in Dawkins language, the bee genes are driving the worker bees to behave in this manner for their selfish motive, that is protecting the queen so that chances of the genes to continue remains high. The bees are behaving “selfishly” and not actually sacrificing anything.
Hah! And here we are trying to categorize this under stuff like sacrifice, greater good etc etc. Continuing in this line of thought, do all human actions have this species backed intent? Or have we gained control over the genes and created our own priorities? Has "thought" gained control over "genes" and are now behaving as two different entities?
I am just rambling on.....
