Licking bees and pulping trees: The reign of a wasp queen - Kenny Coogan

譯者: Clement Fu 審譯者: Bruce Sung

As the April sun rises on a pile of firewood,

四月天，柴堆上煦日初升

something royal stirs inside.

深宮內「黃」室預備起駕

This wasp queen is one of thousands who mated in late autumn

黃蜂蜂后如上千「黃」姊「黃」妹

暮秋時相親交配後便冬眠過冬

and hibernated through the winter.

Now she emerges into the spring air to begin her reign.

待春風重臨再建立新「黃」國

Most of her sisters weren’t so lucky.

「黃」姊「黃」妹卻多逢不測

While hibernating in compost piles and underground burrows,

在堆肥和地洞中冬眠時

many sleeping queens were eaten by spiders.

許多睡「黃」后被蜘蛛吞噬

Warm winters caused by climate change led other queens to emerge early,

氣候變化讓冬天和暖

許多蜂后提早甦醒卻找不到食物

only to find there was no available food.

And some queens that survived the winter fell victim to the threats of spring,

也有些熬過寒冬卻落入春日陷阱

such as carnivorous plants, birds, and manmade pesticides.

如食蟲植物、雀鳥、農藥及殺蟲劑

Our queen is the lone survivor of her old hive, and now,

昔日的蜂巢早已荒廢，只餘下蜂后

she must become the foundress of a new one.

孤獨「黃」后如今要另闢「黃」國

But first, breakfast.

但糧草先行：早餐

The queen heads for a citrus grove full of honeybee hives.

黃蜂后飛到柑橘林，入目皆蜜蜂巢

The bees can be dangerous if provoked,

蜜蜂招惹起來十分危險

but right now they’re paralyzed by the morning cold.

但在晨寒下卻麻木不動

Their hairy bodies are dripping with sugar water from an earlier feeding,

毛茸茸的體上垂著上次餵食的糖水

and the resourceful queen licks them for a morning snack.

多謀「黃」后親舐一下作早點進補

Newly energized, our queen searches for a safe nesting area.

精力充沛後「黃」后尋覓築巢好地

This tree hollow, safe from rain, wind, and predators, is ideal.

這樹洞風兩不侵天敵遠離是個福地

She chews the surrounding wood and plant fibers

她嚼下周遭的木和植物纖維

to make a paper-like pulp.

釀成紙類木漿

Then she builds around 50 brood cells that comprise the beginning of her nest.

築起約 50 個巢室成為蜂房的雛形

Using sperm stored from last fall,

利用暮秋時儲下的精子

the queen lays a fertilized egg into each cell,

「黃」后在養育巢室各產一受精卵

producing as many as 12 in 20 minutes.

20 分鐘可產下多達 12 顆

Within a week, these will hatch into female larva.

蜂卵不用一週便會孵化成雌性幼蟲

But until then, the queen must hunt down smaller insects to feed her brood,

在那之前「黃」后須獵小蟲餵飼

all while expanding the hive, laying eggs, and defending against intruders.

並兼顧擴建蜂巢、產卵和抵禦外敵

Fortunately, our queen is well prepared.

幸好，「黃」后有充分準備

Unlike bees, wasps can sting as many times as they need to.

黃蜂尾後針有別蜜蜂可刺螫無數次

With such a busy schedule, the queen barely has time to feed herself.

「黃」后「日理萬機」幾乎忘食

Luckily, she doesn’t have to.

不過也不愁肚子空

When she feeds an insect to her grubs,

為幼蟲餵食昆蟲同時

they digest the bug into a sugary substance that sustains their mother.

幼蟲消化昆蟲成含糖物質為母后維生

By the end of July, these first larva have matured into adult workers,

七月末，最先的幼蟲已長成工蜂

ready to take on foraging, building, and defense.

可以肩負覓食、築巢和防禦

The queen can now lay eggs full-time,

蜂后現在可專心一意產卵

sustaining herself on her worker’s spoils and their unfertilized eggs.

依靠工蜂的食餘和未受精卵維生

Although each worker only lives for roughly 3 weeks,

雖然工蜂壽命只有約 3 週

the queen’s continuous egg-laying swells their ranks.

蜂后持續產卵讓「國民」數目膨脹

In just one summer, the nest reaches the size of a basketball,

一個夏天間，蜂巢就長到籃球大小

supporting thousands of workers.

供著數千工蜂

Such a large population needs to eat,

如此龐大的族群需要食物

and the nearby garden provides a veritable buffet.

鄰近的菜園即是盛筵

As the swarm descends, alarmed humans try to swat them.

蜂群從天而降驚動人們用蚊拍撲打

They even fight back with pesticides that purposefully poison wasps,

甚至施放專治黃蜂的殺蟲劑還擊

and inadvertently impact a wide-range of local wildlife.

無形中波及一系列廣泛的野生生物

But the wasps are actually vital to this ecosystem.

實際上，黃蜂對生態系統非常重要

Sitting at the top of the local invertebrate food chain,

在當地生態無脊椎動物食物鏈頂層

these insects keep spiders, mites, and centipedes, in check.

黃蜂平衡著蜘蛛、蟎、蜈蚣的數目

Wasps consume crop-eating insects,

黃蜂也捕食莊稼害蟲

making them particularly helpful for farms and gardens.

對農田和菜園尤有裨益

They even pollinate fruits and vegetables,

黃蜂也助水果蔬菜授粉

and help winemakers by biting into their grapes

咬下葡萄時順水推舟促成發酵

and jump-starting fermentation.

變相助釀酒師一把

This feast continues until autumn, when the foundress changes course.

盛宴直至入秋，「國后」政策轉向

She begins grooming some eggs into a new generation of queens,

開始培育一些蜂卵成為新一代蜂后

while also laying unfertilized eggs

同時，一部分產下的未受精卵

that will mature into reproductive males called drones.

也將發育成專事交配的雄蜂

This new crop of queens and males requires more food.

這批「金童玉女」需要更多食物

But with summer over, the usual sources run dry,

但夏日遠去一貫食物來源大多枯槁

and the foraging wasps start taking more aggressive risks.

負責覓食的黃蜂 開始兵行險著更冒險進取

By September, the hive’s organization deteriorates.

到九月，蜂巢組織日漸頹靡

Hungry workers no longer clean the nest and various scavengers move in.

工蜂捱餓不事清理，食腐昆蟲進據

Just when it seems the hive can no longer sustain itself,

蜂巢萎靡不振、無以為繼之際

the fertile queens and their drones depart in a massive swarm.

新一代成熟蜂后及雄蜂便蜂湧離巢

As the days grow colder, the workers starve,

天氣日寒，工蜂餓的餓、死的死

and our queen reaches the end of her lifespan.

「黃」后也到垂暮之年，陽壽將盡

But above, a swarm of reproductive wasps has successfully mated.

抬頭看，一群成熟黃蜂成功交配

也總算功德圓滿

The males die off shortly after,

雄蜂交配後就會壯烈犧牲

but the newly fertilized queens are ready to find shelter for their long sleep.

剛受孕的蜂后就要找個安身之所過冬

And this woodpile looks like the perfect place to spend the winter.

似曾相識的柴堆，看來是冬眠好地方