A FOREIGN bee is coming to the rescue of the Brazilian rainforest. The
African honeybee—normally regarded as a pest—is rescuing “living
dead” trees from a life of celibacy. Lone trees left standing when forest is cut
down for pasture are estranged from their natural pollinators, but the exotic
bee is stepping in to do their job.
Christopher Dick at Harvard University traced the parentage of seedlings of
Dinizia excelsa using DNA fingerprinting techniques from forensics
(Proceedings of the Royal Society B, vol 268, p 2391). His analysis
revealed that tree pollen was travelling up to 3.2 kilometres—far…
