Biology and Bees

By Lee Drutman

It has been estimated that bees pollinate 80 percent of our food crops and 80 percent of all pollinated plants. “Bees are important pollinators,” explains Robert Dudley, a professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

However, since most species of bees live in the tropics and most research is done in more temperate climates, there are a lot of unknowns about how bees operate.

Enter Brendan Borrell, a graduate student in the department of integrative biology and a self-styled man of the tropical bees. Borrell has been asking interesting questions about bees and coming up with interesting answers for years now. Recently, his article, “Thermal stability and muscle efficiency in hovering orchid bees,” coauthored with fellow graduate student Matt Medeiros, was published in the August 2004 issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology. Additionally, his article, “Suction feeding in orchid bees,” was published in the Royal Society Biology Letters and the relevant research was featured in Science Magazine online.

Borrell's first project was attempting to understand how orchid bees regulatetheir body temperature during flight. “It was actually a controversial topic,” Borrell explains.

That's because the conventional wisdom among scientists was that the flight muscles of the bee, which account for one-third of the insect's body mass, were used merely to lift the bee off the ground. Since the metabolic rate of the bee while in flight was so high-100 times that of a bee at rest-the bee would be unable to regulate body heat while in flight.

In order to determine whether this was an accurate assessment, Borrell did a combination of things. First, he filmed bees flying so he could examine closely the motion of their wings. Then he recorded how much carbon dioxide the bees were producing, their body temperatures after flight, and how much heat they were producing. Using an energetic model, he was able to determine how much heat energy was going into flight at cold temperatures as compared to warm temperatures.What he found was that at cold temperatures, the bees were beating their wings faster and producing a lot more heat.

“It's neat that they are able to regulate how much heat they produce,” Borrell says.“People didn't think this happened for flying insects….This helps to change the view of how sophisticated insect flight muscles are.”

But Borrell admits,“There's still controversy. It's a new approach and it's a difficult question to approach. Anything trying to measure a hovering insect is bound to be complicated.”

More recently, Borrell has turned his focus to the proboscis tongue of the orchid bee, which, when fully extended, is four times the length of its body. How and why did this superlong tongue-which operates as a soda straw-like tube-evolve and what impact does it have on how these bees gather nectar? That's what Borrell set out to answer.

“I wanted to look at the mechanics of how they drink nectar, and how this influences their behavior of foraging and how they pick which flowers,” Borrell said.

So, he caught 71 of the male orchid bees, since only males visit orchids, and let them roam around in an enclosure where he had created fake flowers out of cardboard and styrofoam, with artificial fragrance and sugar syrups of various concentrations ranging from 5 percent to 75 percent. Borrell found that the bees were most happy with the 35 percent solutions, whereas honeybees, who have a more cat-like tongue, prefer the 55 percent solution. As Borrell wrote in his paper in the Royal Society Biology Letters,“Energy flux during nectar feeding is maximized at an intermediate sugar concentration, the value of which depends on the morphology of the feeding apparatus and the modality of fluid feeding.” In other words, the type of tongue that bees have corresponds with the type of nectar that they prefer.

And how did such an odd tongue evolve in orchid bees, while most other bees have a smaller tongue in proportion to the rest of their bodies? “One probable evolutionary scenario is that as proboscis length evolved in concert with floral morphologies, anatomical constraints on glossal reciprocation would have rendered nectar transport via lapping less effective than suction feeding,” wrote Borrell. In other words, there was some co-evolution going on, with plants adjusting their shape so that longer tongues would be more effective at getting the desired nectar, and vice versa.

Still, Borrell is mulling over the data, which is going to be the basis of his dissertation.“What I found isn't totally clear yet,” he says. “Mechanics influenced decisions for sure, but I haven't decided how important these variables are when weighed with other ecological factors that influence decisions in the wild.”

As for what's next in Borrell's research, he says, “I'm getting more interested in behavior questions. Cognition is interesting in general because there are more complicated behavior tasks like looking at color and shape perception and other more complicated choice behaviors…. I'm interested in understanding how bees make decisions.”

With 300 species of orchid bees and most of them not well understood, Borrell will likely have plenty more fruitful research to conduct in the years to come.

“Most of the tropical insects are not real well known,” says Professor Dudley. “It takes a bit of effort to work there. It's a lot easier to stay at home and study lab rats or fruit flies.”

From the Editor: Summer 2004

In science it often happens that scientists say, "You
know, that's a really good argument; my position is
mistaken," and then they would actually change
their minds and you never hear that old view from
them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as
often as it should, because scientists are human and
change is sometimes painful. But it happens every
day. I cannot recall the last time something like
that happened in politics or religion.
--Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer

The University of California at Berkeley wouldn't be such a highly esteemed (and highly ranked) place if we weren't chock full of great innovators, great researchers, and great thinkers. That being said, Berkeley is also host to a terrible case of incestuous amplification. That is to say, because this place is such a haven for “free thinkers” (because there is such a draw to be among likeminded intellectuals), it is often the case that there is that much more of a reinforcement of the “standard Berkeley beliefs”: and this reinforcement can occasionally cause errors in individual and collective judgments.

In order to avoid the onslaught of the lynchmob rising up among you, let me assure you that I'm not necessarily reprimanding you for what you might have recently said or done in your blue-hot rage. While you can feel free to think about such things, I'm not touching that. What I mean to say is that, often, people find themselves critical of everybody but themselves. What have you done to really change things for the better today? If you've got an answer that you feel you could confidently and comfortably tell your boss, your peers, or your students, maybe you're on the right track, and you can feel free to discuss what's wrong with everyone else (for at most the next couple hours,) until tomorrow. If, however, you find yourself drawing a blank…perhaps it's time to cut the carping and get your nose back to the grindstone. Or go watch some delightful internet cartoons. Either way.

This issue of The Berkeley Graduate not only includes the expected news and information about the Graduate Assembly's recent activities, but also a look at some of the compelling research of your peers and an examination of some of the local problems that might have been escaping the purview of your usual criticism. Do your best to keep an open mind…and keep reading!

Overview 2004

The Berkeley Graduate is the only campus publication targeted at the over 9,800 graduate students from every school, department, and program at UC Berkeley. It is a publication of the UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly.

The UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly (the GA) recently received the 2004 UCSA award for Best Graduate Student Body. This recognition highlights the fact that through its helpful events and seminars, its provision of funding opportunities for students and student-initiated projects,and its advocacy and outreach initiatives, this student government and its resource center provide high quality representation and services for the 9800+ graduate and professional students at UC Berkeley.

For the new kids, the GA is UC Berkeley's graduate student government. Housed in Anthony Hall, it is composed of student representatives from the different graduate programs and departments on campus (1 delegate per 100 students or fraction thereof in the department).

The GA currently maintains nine main projects: the grant program, the funding program,the Outreach Project, the Graduate Communications Project, the Graduate Support Services Project, the Graduate Minority Students' Project, the Graduate Women's Project and the Women of Color Project, and the Graduate Social Club.

GA events include open houses, graduate student orientations, the occasional lecture series, and "town hall" meetings, as well as workshops, committee meetings and networking opportunities. Importantly, it is also the provider of funds for student initiated groups and services, as well as a channel for activism and other political activities.

Visit http://ga.berkeley.edu to learn more about the GA!

At a Glance (1986)

Percentage change, over the past 10 years, in the number of women entering UC who anticipate a career in business:
+400

Amount a woman financial manager can expect to make per dollar earned by a man in the same position:
62 cents

Percentage change, over the past 10 years, in the number of white males entering Berkeley who consider themselves politically "conservative" or "right"
+160

Percentage of entering Berkeley students in 1973 who thought marijuana should be legal:
70
In 1984:
32

Percentage of college students in California in 1986 who think cigarettes should be legal:
68

Percentage who believe in god:
88

All-time favorite book among California college students surveyed in 1986:
The Bible

Other than relatives, the individual mentioned most often by California college students surveyed in 1986 as the person they most admire:
Jesus Christ
Next most mentioned:
President Reagan

Percentage who said Reagan supports the Saninistas:
21

Number of California college students who say cheating has become an accepted part of getting a college education:
1 in 5

Percentage who think homosexuals should not be allowed to teach in elementary school:
43

Number fo California college students who support the death penalty:
3 in 4

Percentage of the total number of apartments and other rental units in Berkeley that is vacant and available to be rented:
less than 1

By the turn of the century, the predicted number of available housing units in Alameda county in excess or short of the expected demand:
-31,565

In San Francisco:
+16,728

Cost, per bed, of UC Berkeley's new plan to expand student housing over the next 5 years:
$68,750

Cost of a modest single story house in North Oakland or South Berkeley:
$60-90,000

Cost of one square inch of land in downtown Tokyo:
$195 (US)


Sources: Atlantic magazine, Association of Bay Area Governments, Bureau of Labor Statistics, California Magazine, The UC Berkeley Office of Student Research.

Black Working Women: The System Takes its Toll

by Sharon Broussard

Black women have been prominent in the labor force since the days of slavery, when many were forced to work in fields alongside their men. After slavery, black working women labored as domestics to help support their families. The only other fields open to black women were traditional female professions such as nursing, teaching, and social work.

However, in the late 60's, educated black women began to move into white male dominated professions such as law, business, and medicine, mainly as a result of Affirmative Action programs. This phenomenon has sent many researchers and scholars alike scrambling for data to determine the implications of such sudden career mobility.

Dr. Robert Staples, an associate professor in sociology at San Francisico State and author of "The World of Black Singles: The Changing Patters of Male-Female Relations", is one such scholar. And his conclusions have made him a controversial figure in the black community.

In a lecture last month on the careers and professional relationships of black professional women, given at the four-day-long Black Working Women's Conference sponsored byt the Women's Center here, Staples said that black women are twice as likely as black men to graduate from college and continue their education on the graduate level.

"Black women are in the ascendancy, " he told an audience of approximately 50 people, mostly women, gathered in the Women's Center Lounge. "Womend o better in schools. Men get trapped in the manhood hustle--they believe they'll be basketball stars."

These women are often rewarded with lucrative careers, continued Staples, but they pay a high personal price if they are searching for black marriage partners with similar educational backgrounds and career opportunities. "That's where the rub comes in. There's a numbers problem," said Staples, as he shuffled his yellow legal-sized notes in front of him.

For example, Staples points out there were 150,000 more black women than black men enrolled in college in 1979. In contrast about one million more white males than females were enrolled in college, he said. Unless black women consider "marrying down," marrying working-class men with little education, they may find themselves opthing for alternative relationships ranging from singlehood to lesbianism, concluded Staples.

Staples' lecture was met with hostility and indignation by his audience who accused him of ignoring the general economic status of black women. And rightly so. Only a minority of black women enjoy the material success that Staples described. Economist Julianne Malveaux, an assistant professor at the New School for Social Research in New York, castigated Staples for neglecting to discuss the under-employment and unemployment of black women.

In a later lecture at the conference, Malveaux said that approximately 60% of working black women are in traditional low-paying female clerical and service jobs. "Occupationally, the polsiiton of black women has been worse than other groups." she said.

But few women in the audience objected to Staples's contention that black women outnumber black males in college and higher income professions, although the accuracy of Staples's views would affirm the matriarchy myth, the idea that black women dominate their males in the home and job market. They know that in appearances, at least, black women have made gigantic strides in the marketplace, seemingly moving by leaps and bounds out o fthe white man's kitchen and into elite schools and professions once closed to all blacks, such as law, business, and engineering. But in their wake, more myths have sprung up about black women.

One such myth is that black women are eagerly sought after by employers because they satisfy both race and sex Affirmative Action quotas. However, in acutality, black women are usually counted in one category--race. And despite Affirmative Action gains accrued by a few women, black women with education are less less likely than uneducated or black males to earn more than $20,000.

In addition to these myths, however, there are very real problems of black professional women who are single and complaining. Many o fthem have been groomed by parents for middle-class lifestyle. They have been urged since grade school to excel academically and to forego marriage until after they begin their careers. When school finally ends, they begin to consider marriage--to those who reflect their upbringing and values. Many of them are quickly convinced that single black professional men are practically non-existent.

And that belief is not far from the truth because the middle-class itself is a fragile institution maintained by two working marriage partners and heavily dependent on government employment. According to Malveaux, approximately 40% of the black middlecalass hold government jobs, jobs which may be endangered by government cutbacks.

Yet the success of the new black professional class is the bright side of an otherwise gloomy economic picture for other blacks. The economic gap is widening between whites and blacks. More importantly, high unemployment among black males and teenagers coupled with a tremendous growth in poor female-headed households may mean the perpetuation of a vicious cycle of poverty for the majority of blacks.

A closer look at the problems of professional black women exposes the inner tension of black relationships between the sexes regardless of class due to economic conditions. Both lower-class black women who are living alone and middle-class black women who are unable to establish relationships with those who are their peers have the same "male problem". They both lack mates because uneducated and unskilled black men--of which there are many--oftend on't overcome the effects of job discrimination, poverty, and educational inequality. A disproportionate number of black men are in jaiil, on drugs, or die at an early age.

On college campuses, the "male problem" is an important topic among black women, but it is discussed as though it has no relation to the economic position of black people in this country. C. Dianne Howell, a counseling psychiatrist at Cal, said that the lack of single black men is frequently a discussion topic here. "There's a concern about how to develop meaningful relationships with someone they can respect," said Howell.

Some of these women are looking elsewhere for eligible mates, she said, and considering anew interracial dating, sharing eligible men with other women, and marrying outside of their class.

But choosing alternative relationships is no solution to the economic problems which plague the black community. There is a far deadlier numbers game being played than the scarcity of professional black men and it is reflected in the dire statistics on the widespread poverty of black communities. Until the majority of black males and females have equal educational and career opportunities, then black professional women will continue to trade careers for sound relationships and remain a class apart.

Chinese Baseball: A Racist's Game

by Bill NG

"Have you ever heard of Chinese baseball?" American baseball perhaps. But, Chinese baseball? That question was raised by an instructor in a seminar. As a Chinese-American, I had never heard of it. No one else in the class had either. The name of the game apparently originated in Chicago where there are very few Chinese-Americans. The instructor, who is from Chicago, shared this story as an illustration on how to cope with staff communication problems. The gist of the story is that in the baseball game itself, after the white ball is thrown by the pitcher, anyone can kick the bases. That, he said, is the best way to win. The story upset me sufficiently that I could not understand the point. It supposedly illustrated communication. It supposedly was the best way to win; somehow, nobody, therefore, loses in the game.

I was upset because it sounded as if in the game, at the point where everyone kicks bases, there would result all mannter of confusion. Kicking the bases made it seem that Chinese people were people kicked about. Why else call it "Chinese baseball"?

I confronted the instructor during the class break and inquired as to the origin of the phrase. He did not know where or when the term had come into existence, but he did know that it was a game which had been played in the Chicago area for several generations. I told him that I was Chinese and that his statements had insulted me. The instructor asked me not to "take it personally." Probably his ancestors had problems with Chinese people and the naming of the game had racist origins. Having expressed my concern and having been reassured, I still did not feel very goodabout the way it had been done. Still, I assumed that the phrase would not be repeated. To my amazement, the instructor then closed teh seminar by re-using the illustration. I again approached him. And again he was apologetic and said he would have to find another name for it. Will he?

It is clear to me that members of the dominant society often are not sensitive to and remain unconcerned about minorities. They have no sense of the history of ethnic groups in this country. They will not take seriously the comments and feelings of minorities, even when they are specifically todle that their actions are offensive. Do we have to be dramic forever to insure that our point of view and our feelings are taken seriously? Do I have to "knock" the instructor over the head with a bat? Apparently so, for racisim is alive and swinging.

Micro-Computers

Could you use a "smarter" piece of lab equipment? Perhaps Clark Thompson or Ken Carlock can help you improve your data collection and analysis techniques.

Thompson and Carlock teach CS151B, a laboratory course on microprofessor interfacing. About sixty students complete this course each quarter. Many of them would like to supplement their lab work with real-world experience.

The Computer Science Division offers course credit for student projects. Unfortunately, good project proposals are few and far between. It is not that the students are not talented. They merely have little contact with the application areas.

This campus' laboratories should provide many opportunities for student projects. It is only a lack of comuniaction that prevents the students, the CS151B instructors, and perhaps you from working together.

An apporpirate project would be a modification to an existing mini-or micro-computer system. The changes could involve software and/or hardware. For example, a student could connect a new data-collection device (say a temperature sensor) to your computer, then develop the software to analyze the data.

It is also possible that a student could build a small system from scratch if its capabilities were modest and carefully delineated.

The scale of a project is limited by the amount of available time. A student is generally able to put in ten or fifteen hours a week over a period of one two three academic quarters. Three-quarter projects are rather rate, since many students do not take the microprocessor interfacing course until their Senior year.

The cost of the hardware must be borne by you, the edxperimenter. The Computer Science Division will provide a modest amount of support for developmental tools and equipment, such as oscillocops and PROM programmers.