Heinrich explained that this vibration mechanism “locks the wings in like a clutch,” allowing them to shiver while their wings stay in place.
In the question and answer session at the end of the presentation, Winnie Nauda, a nine-year-old in attendance with her mother, raised her hand and asked a question that had not been addressed up until that point: “How do the bees make the honey?”
Seeley and Heinrich answered Nauda’s question, explaining that the bees take the nectar and concentrate it’s the sugar dissolved in it, producing the sweet and thick honey they are so well known for.
—Staff writer Daniel J. Kramer can be reached at dkramer@college.harvard.edu.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
CORRECTION: April 14
An earlier version of this article misstated the title of the recently published book “A World of Insects: A Harvard University Press Reader.”