Notes and queries

Are bees really dying out? Sticking out tongues: it's primeval; When lawnmowers just weren't cricket; Will we ever be able to record dreams?
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The bee-all and end-all? Photograph: Haraz N. Ghanbari/AP

Are bees really dying out? If so, how likely is it that humankind will follow?

It is the single species of farmed, non-native honeybee (Apis mellifera) that is suffering from colony collapse disorder in Britain and the US. This may be caused by a particular parasite, but also by over-dependence on this one species for pollination.

However, there are thousands of other insects worldwide that also pollinate flowers. These include some 23 bumblebees and more than 230 solitary bees in the UK, which do not sting and do not make honey, but still forage for nectar and pollen from different flowers, and in so doing pollinate them. So also do butterflies, moths and hoverflies. But most of these insects are now endangered, especially in our intensively farmed landscape.

These insects favour different kinds of crop flowers, and are themselves food for birds and small mammals, so are essential in the foodchain. Several voluntary organisations are trying to get us to take more notice of this and you can help in your garden – as described in my book Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and other Beneficial Insects.

Jan Miller, Holywell, Flints

As a retired plant breeder I can assure the questioner that the human race will continue despite the decline in bees, as most of our staple crops do not require pollination by bees: wheat is self-pollinated; other crops – maize, rice, sugar cane, sugar beet – are all wind pollinated. To feed cattle there is wind-pollinated grass.

We might be a bit short of fruit, but other insects will fill the gap – moths, butterflies, beetles, blowflies, wasps. And no doubt the GM breeders would soon insert the self-pollination gene into cross-pollinated plants.

John Fuller, ex-Cambridge Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge

Why do humans (especially children) stick their tongues out when concentrating hard?

The reflex that makes you stick your tongue out is pretty primeval. It's one of the first reflexes used by babies and unlike some other "ready-programmed" actions (such as hair-grasping and step reflex) it stays with us into old age. The tongue sticking out is blocking any more input – in a tiny baby, that means "no more food or drink please". That's why a full baby will push food out with its tongue and finally stop the gap entirely when it's had enough.

When an older child is absorbed fully in concentrating the plugging reflex kicks in again. We carry on this action into adulthood. I used to play in a string orchestra and from my seat at the back, used to enjoy seeing who was playing with their tongues on show while they concentrated on the music.

Sophie McCook, Findhorn, Morayshire

Before the advent of mechanical mowers, how were the vast lawns of the great country houses cut?

I don't know about large country houses, but there may be a hint in The Life of the Hon Robert Grimston (1816-84) by Frederick Gale. It tells of the groundsman at Lord's cricket ground borrowing a mowing machine. The machine was was being put to work when Grimston, a prominent cricketer, turned up. He went to the top of the ground where some navvies were working and asked if they wanted to earn a sovereign, which of course they did. So he told them to follow him, bringing their pick-axes, and then invited them to "smash that infernal machine up". Gale wrote: "That was the first time a mowing machine was used at Lord's, and not again for years after, for the Hon Robert Grimston, like many others, believed in sheep grazing."

Steven Harris, Lindfield, West Sussex

Will we ever be able to record and replay our brain images – eg, dreams and imaginings?

Samuel Taylor Coleridge recorded part of a dream in his poem Kubla Khan. You can replay it whenever you like simply by reading it aloud.

Gerry Abbott, Manchester

I believe that one day we will all be implanted, at birth, with a tiny device that will record our entire lives and we will be able to replay any incident we like. I'm presently writing a book on this very subject. Recording dreams and imaginings is doubtful, though, as they are too abstract. The implant would need structured input – our eyes in this case – acting like a camera with which to record our existence. But you never know.

MJ Mortimer, Toronto, Canada


Just rejoice in the fact that your son actually does the washing up.

Tim Chappel, Seaford, East Sussex

Any answers?

Did people living 2000 years ago know the pyramids/ Stonehenge were ancient? If yes, how?

Dave Windsor, Brighton

I rescue a spider from the bath. For the spider's wellbeing is it better to be in or out of the house?

Don Morris, Kendal, Cumbria


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