“Identity Parade” got me thinking. OK, so I’ve got used to the idea that the honeybee is just one of a total of 250 species of bees in the U.K.
But what about human beings – how do we stack up from the bees’ perspective? Well, if you look at the different species of mammal native to the U.K, we are simply a single species amongst 93 others (http://www.mammal.org.uk/node/31).
That’s a lot fewer mammal species than I would have guessed. However, the bees probably would add another mammalian species to that list: “homo apisens”. This distinctive humanoid goes around on its hind legs, wearing bee-suits and emitting smoke around bee-hives.
Of course, some mammals, like the honey-hungry brown bear or wolverine, have become extinct in the wild in the U.K. And I’m sure that our honeybees must be grateful that they are not preyed upon by the fearsome Honey Badger, an African/Asian mammal, celebrated in this 2011 mashup “meme”:
Fun for a wet weekend (parental advisory – beware strong language !):
Honey Badger Don’t Care http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg