ananova brazilian bees keep their own insect ranch scientists have found a new species of bee that behaves like a farmer by keeping herds of insects the amazonian schwarzula use their own insect ranches to provide food and building materials the bees nest in holes in trees alongside NUMBER aphid like insects from a species called cryptostigma cryptostigma feed on tree sap and excrete a sugar solution which the bees stop them from drowning in by licking it up and turning it into honey the insects also produce wax from glands on their backs which the bees scrape off and use for their nest nature reports it is the first time farming behaviour has been discovered in bees biologist joao camargo of the university of sao paulo in brazil said in turn the bees provide the insects with sanitary benefits and protection writing in the journal biotropica camargo says the bees might even carry their insect ranches around the forest with them and is planning further research on how they tend to their herd studies of the schwarzula showed the bees seemed to get most of their sugar from the insect farms some bees were seen licking human sweat for salt story filed NUMBER NUMBER wednesday NUMBERth august NUMBER yahoo groups sponsor super blue stuff pain relief on sale today for NUMBER NUMBER shipping with super blue stuff you ll feel the results in just minutes relieves arthritis pain back pain sore muscles and more URL to unsubscribe from this group send an email to forteana unsubscribe URL your use of yahoo groups is subject to URL 