Dr Jeri Wright is an insect neuroethologist whose lab investigates the interrelationship of plants and bees, and how bees sense and learn about the world around them. She works to understand how bees detect food, and how they know what nutrients they need and seek those out, and how other (sometimes unwanted) compounds affect them.
We talked first about bee senses and cognition - their memory, their propensity to addiction, and cooperation as a Hive. We then moved on to what anthropological changes are affecting them, and in what ways their incredible way of life and previously misunderstood and underestimated cognitive abilities are being impacted by our degradation of ecosystems.
0:00 Bees and plants
3:56 Evolution of insect/plant relationships
11:51 Diversity in bee diets
14:30 Bee sense of smell
16:10 Bee vision
20:05 Bee memory
22:45 Flowers or 'crops'?
26:07 The Waggle Dance & Navigation
30:33 Generational memory
34:17 Instinctive or learnt?
37:50 Anthropological effects on bees
43:55 Drawing bees away from people
45:48 Jeri's Lab & research (caffeine)
53:38 Why do WE like floral scents?
56:06 Bee communication (pheromones)
01:00:30 Bee defense
01:02:45 Can they sense what's bad for them?
01:06:07 Bee decline
01:13:42 Queen bees & Hive politics
01:19:37 Genetics within the Hive
01:21:05 Jobs within the Hive
01:25:01 Bees as a Hive vs as individuals
01:31:10 Future in bee research
This is a series of in-depth conversations with fascinating people, with loads to say about the current state of the world, everything that came before us, and everything that could be still to come.
You can also WATCH the episode on Youtube at: https://youtu.be/UCU7R96R8Lk
We hope you enjoy.
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Jeri's Work: https://www.zoo.ox.ac.uk/people/professor-geraldine-wright#tab-1951261
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