Category Plants & Animals

A large beehive can contain up to 80,000 bees but there is never any danger that such a vast number of insects will lead to confusion or chaos.

There is only one queen in a hive and her sole task is to keep on lying eggs. There are several hundred male bees, known as drones, who do not work except fertilize the eggs. But as soon as a new queen is born these drones though incapable of lying eggs.

The worker bees form the overwhelming majorityof the population of a beehive and collect all the nectar and pollen.

Bees suck the nectar from the flower through a special nosetube and then carry it in a sack which contains up to 50 milligrams. The pollen is carried contains up to 50 milligrams. The pollen is carried in two little baskets on the bee’s hind legs. The worker bee delivers these ingredients and other worker bees in the hive mix them together into a sort paste which is fed to the larvae so that they will develop into adult insects.

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Earthworms cannot stand dry conditions in the soil: their bodies must always be in contact with damp earth and even a few minutes’ exposure to the sunlight makes them dry up and die.

Earthworms spend most of their lives digging tunnels in the soil. It is quite surprising how they can burrow their way into even hard ground simply by using the strength of their muscles, for earthworms do not have any special physical equipment for digging.

They contract and expand in a rhythmic manner to force an aperture in the ground and then they push on with their head.

The earthworm then expels the ‘digested’ soil and leaves it as a worm-cast. It has been estimated that the yearly deposition above ground of soil by earthworms is between 7 and 16 tons per acre in England. Earthworms can grow up to 15 centimetres or more in length. In tropical countries some earthworms are as long as 2 metres.

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It seems impossible that tortoises that move in such a slow, cumbersome manner should have relatives that swim fast through the ocean. Turtles, which very closely resemble tortoises, are sometimes as quick as fish in moving through the ocean. Turtles, which very closely resemble tortoises, are sometimes as quick as fish in moving through the water, despite their heavy shell.

These turtles can weight up to 250 kilogrammes but they have adapted wonderfully to aquatic life. Through living in the sea for millions of years, their bodies have become streamlined and their paws have turned into flippers. Turtles come ashore only to lay their eggs. They drag themselves on to deserted beaches where they dig holes for their eggs.

Their home is the sea and that is where they find their food. Turtleseat meat or plants according to their species. The meat of the turtle itself is regarded as a delicacy, especially the green turtle of the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.

The scientific name of turtles is Chelonia and they belong to the reptile class.

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Many varieties of seals live beyond the Arctic Circle. All these animals have short necks and no external ears. It is this latter feature that distinguishes true seals from sealions which have prominent ears.

Seals range in size from the little fresh-water seal of Siberia, about one metre long, to the enormous sea elephant of the subantarctic regions, which can grow to 6 meters in length.

The most common type of seal, however, grows to a length of just over 2 metres. Its fur is brown or yellowish with dark patches. The seal’s hind legs are part of its tail and cannot its body along in a clumsy manner when on land.

On the ice the animal is not awkward and it slides along for considerable distances. But the seal’s true element is the sea for this animal is an extremely skilful swimmer and dives at the slightest sign of danger.

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In zoos the popular names of the animals on display are written on a label in front of their cages. The label also carries the animal’s scientific name in Latin. For example, on a lion’s cage, the Latin name is Panthera leo; on a tiger’s cage of a leopard the name is Panthera pardus.

Latin is the language accepted by scientists and zoologists throughout the world to avoid confusion. The Latin name for any animal consists of two words because the scientific classification of animals still follows the basic principle laid down by the botanist Carolus Linnaeus. In the examples we have already quoted the first part of the names is the word Panthera: this refers to the genus of the animal. The second part of the name refers to the species. Members of an animal species that have many features in common come together in a genus. The Panthera genus, for example, includes the large cats which are unable to purr. Smaller cats, which can purr but do not roar, belong to the genus Feils. Both genera are in the family Felidae. A number of genera from a family and several families form an order. The orders come together under classes and the classes fall into types. The total of all these forms the animal kingdom.

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Dates are used in many ways. Those with a soft, pulpy flesh provide a syrup known as date honey which can be made into a jam. Hard-fleshed dates can be preserved in sugar or made into flour. The juice of dates can be fermented and turned into an alcoholic drink called arrack. The leaves of the date palm can be used for making mats or cord. The seeds or stones of the dates can also be made into buttons.

Dates are full of nutrition, especially dry dates. Dry dates are high in calories particularly carbohydrates (74 grams). It also contains several essential vitamins and minerals with fibres. Dates are famous for their rich concentration of antioxidants which can be beneficial for your cardiac and pulmonary health.

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