The Spirit of the Hive That's the title of a newly published
book written by Robert E. Page Jr., one of the world's foremost
honey bee geneticists. In his 224-page book, published by
Harvard University Press, Page sheds light on how 40,000 bees,
"working in the dark, seemingly by instinct alone, could
organize themselves to contstruct something as perfect a a honey
comb." Page, former professor and chair of the UC Davis
Department of Entomology, marvels at how bees can accomplish
these incredible tasks. In synthesizing the findings of decades
of experiments, he presents "a comprehensive picture of the
genetic and physiological mechanisms underlying the division of
labor in honey bee colonies and explains how bees' complex
social behavior has evolved over millions of years," according
to the Harvard University flier. Page, now vice provost and dean
of the Arizona State University's College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences and Foundation Professor of Life Sciences, still keeps
his specialized stock of honey bees at