【趣谈英语】蜜蜂有洁癖-Bees Are Neat Freaks（在线收听）

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

• neat freak: one that is obsessed with keeping things neat and tidy
• forage: to search for food and materials
• debris: loose material
• immaculate: perfect; without any flaws
• groom: to keep one’s body clean
• undertaker: one who prepares dead bodies for burial
• entomb: to wrap or cover the dead
• decompose: to decay

Bees Are Neat Freaks

A single bee hive houses one queen bee, hundreds of male drone bees, and thousands of female worker bees. The male bees exist for the sole purpose of mating with the queen. The female worker bees serve the queen by doing various duties including cleaning, feeding, guarding, and foraging. Keeping the hive neat and tidy is one of the most important jobs of the worker bees. The queen bee checks their work and makes them clean a cell again and again if it’s not immaculate. Not only must they keep the hive clean, they must keep the queen perfectly groomed. The workers clean dust, hair, and other debris off the queen. Bees that die inside the hive are quickly dropped outside the hive. Undertaker bees later move the dried up dead bees to a remote location to prevent pests from becoming attracted to the hive. Some worker bees patch up cracks to prevent air or intruders from getting in. If something large enters the hive that can’t be removed, worker bees coat it in a material called propolis. This entombs the intruder and prevents it from decomposing and spreading disease.