Introduction Islands are widely used to achieve controlled matings of virgin queens because queens and drones are not expected to cross open water during mating flights. However, uncontrolled matings on island mating areas have repeatedly been reported for many islands in close proximity to mainland shorelines (c.f. Neumann et al., 1999b). With increasing distance between island and mainland on...

Technology has destroyed all the good metaphors about the grand cycles of life. With our global connections, we can’t say that the harvest has passed and summer is over because we know such a statement isn’t universally true. One part of the globe might be gathering grain into its barns while another is preparing to hit the beach. Although technology has taken away the metaphors of natural seas...

Drone technology has developed significantly in recent years. Lightweight quadcopter drones with quality cameras are now very affordable. The UK AAIB has been operating drones at aircraft accident sites for over 2 years and has used them at 23 different accident sites varying from fields to major airports. This paper presents some examples of images obtained by AAIB-owned drones that would have...

Africanized drone honey bees (Apis mellifera) migrate into European honey-bee colonies in large numbers, but Africanized colonies only rarely host drones from other colonies. This migration leads to a strong mating advantage for Africanized bees since it both inhibits European drone production and enhances Africanized drone production.

In 1984, the volcano Mauna Loa erupted in Hawaii, sending ribbons of lava winding down its slopes. Geologist and former pilot David Pieri of the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory wanted to get measurements and observation of every part of the lava flow to predict its ultimate route and length. However, he only had one way to see the lava: with a helicopter. “I remem...

The 2014 Pacific hurricane season was the fourth most active on record. Iselle was the strongest storm to make landfall in the County of Hawaii. It originated in the Eastern Pacific, intensifying to a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph as it approached the Hawaiian archipelago. Downgraded to a tropical storm, it made landfall at 2:30 AM on Friday, August 8, 2014. Sustained...