Bees

You may also be looking for the similarly-titled episode."'There are no bees on Typhon, Dr. Young. I like to repeat that fact. It should ever serve as a warning to humanity.' — SAYER, Episode 39: 'Colony Collapse'"There are no bees on Typhon, and this is a fact that SAYER likes to frequently remind all residents.

The fate of the bees of Typhon (and, with it, the meaning behind the phrase) is discussed in detail in "Colony Collapse". In attempting to compare Ærolith Dynamics' reluctance to jettison Halcyon Tower into space following a communications blackout, SAYER invokes the idea of colony collapse in beehives. It explains to Dr. Howard Young that many years prior, scientists in Halcyon Tower had a research colony of Apis Dorsata or giant honeybees. It was noticed one day that the hives of the bees had been invaded by a species of small, parasitic flies, which would lay their eggs in the abdomens of the bees. Rather than isolate themselves for the good of the hive, the bees would continue to try to do their duties as normal. When the eggs hatched and ruptured the bees' abdomens, they were then released into the hive to infect even more bees. SAYER summarizes the issue by saying that the honeybees were not prepared to adapt to a new threat, even though they were intelligent and had a complex society. It remarks that it finds humans to be much the same way.

Mentions

 * In "There Are No Bees On Typhon" after explaining Resident Gorsen's thought password, which heavily features bees, SAYER explains that there are no bees on Typhon.
 * One of the side effects of Resident Gorsen's extended period of time in Chronostasis Quarantine is auditory hallucinations, specifically buzzing. SAYER reminds the resident that there are no bees on Typhon.
 * In "For Science" after Resident Gorsen's first clinical trial, in which he discovers he is allergic to apitoxin, SAYER assures that he need not worry about swarms of weaponized bees because there are no bees on Typhon. In the original version, it states that "never ever have there been bees on Typhon".
 * Bees play a minor role in the story told in the bonus episode "The Rose Elf".
 * In "Not Fit For Reuse", SAYER informs Resident Coruseau that the researchers whose bodies they are disposing of were studying insects of the order Hymenoptera, but that they are wasps (sub-order Apocrita), not bees.
 * In the bonus episode "Reasoned Advice", Dr. John Caulfield asks if it is possible that someone has smuggled bees onto Typhon.
 * In "Delicious" SAYER notes the irony that Resident McClintock is issued flying insect poison designed to kill wasps and bees, and that "while there are no bees on Typhon, there are giant mutant spiders."
 * In "We See You" SAYER compares the residents of Halcyon Tower to the Japanese honeybee because of their signals to adjacent realities, similar to how the bees signal to the Asian giant hornet that they are aware of predators. It expresses the danger of these alternate realities by adding that "Sometimes you are the hornet, but more often—much more often than Ærolith Dynamics is comfortable with—you are the honeybee."
 * There are still bees on Earth, as shown when one stings Recruitment Technician Ferrell in "Here There Be Monsters".
 * In "Colony Collapse", SAYER tells the story of the honeybees of Halcyon Tower to Dr. Young.
 * The weapons development facility near Aegis Tower, Aristaeus, is named for a Greek god credited with the invention of beekeeping.

Plot Inconsistencies

 * Following Resident Gorsen's first clinical trial in "For Science", SAYER states that "never ever have there been bees on Typhon". However in "Colony Collapse" we learn that many years ago scientists within Halcyon Tower had a healthy and flourishing hive of giant honeybees. As of the remastered version, this contradiction has been resolved.