Bees

March 12, 2024

Two years ago, I mentioned how the Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) planted by Melissa’s mom had finally returned to the mailbox flower bed.  The hyacinth had been dormant for over a decade.  When they first sprouted, Melissa did not look at them and said they must be one of the many weeds that thrive in the bed.  Since they were weeds, I had torn them up and threw them away.  When they arrived two years ago, I was lax and allowed them to grow.  When they sprouted again this year, I once more let them grow on their own.  They have produced a lush carpet of leaves that have filled the entire bed and the flowers have bloomed this week.  I am always looking for ways to help the pollinators and the hyacinth appear to provide a good source of nectar.  When I went out to get the mail this morning the bed was swarming with bees.     

When I looked online, I found honeybees (also spelled honey bees) are a eusocial flying insects within the genus Apis of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia.  Bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, and humans were responsible for the wider distribution, introducing multiple subspecies into South America (early 16th century), North America (early 17th century), and Australia (early 19th century).  Honeybees are known for their construction nests from wax to hold their large colonies and their surplus production and storage of honey.  Their hives are a prized foraging target for honey badgers (Mellivora capensis), bears (family Ursidae) and human hunter-gatherers.  Only 8 surviving species of honeybees are recognized (with 43 subspecies).  Historically 7 to 11 species are recognized.  Honeybees represent only a small fraction of the roughly 20,000 known species of bees.  The best known honeybee is the western honeybee, (Apis mellifera), which was domesticated for honey production and crop pollination.  The only other domesticated bee is the eastern honeybee (Apis cerana), which occurs in South, Southeast, and East Asia.  Only members of the genus Apis are true honeybees, but other types of bees produce and store honey and have been kept by humans for that purpose.

A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower, resulting in fertilization.  Insects are the major pollinators of most plants.  Insect pollinators include all families of bees and most families of aculeate (stinging) wasps, ants, many families of flies, many lepidopterans (butterflies and moths), and many families of beetles.  Bats and birds are the main vertebrate pollinators, but non-bat mammals (monkeys, lemurs, possums, rodents) and some lizards pollinate certain plants.  Among pollinating birds are hummingbirds (366 species in family, Trochilidae), honeyeaters (186 species in family, Meliphagidae), and sunbirds (151 species in family, Nectariniidae).  These all have long beaks and tend to pollinate deep-throated flowers.  Humans may also carry out artificial pollination.  Western honeybees are often described as essential to human food production and fruits like apples (Malus domestica), blueberries (genus, Vaccinium), and cherries (genus, Prunus), are 90% dependent on pollination by bees, but many crops need no insect pollination at all.

THOUGHTS:  Crops originating in the New World (the Americas) do not rely on honey bees as they are an invasive species, but they do require native pollinators.  However, all pollinators need food and shelter.  Many insect pollinators have a narrow range of plants they can eat.  All pollinators need appropriate nesting sites.  Migratory pollinators require overwintering sites.  During the last 25 years, many species of pollinators have experienced large drops in numbers.  Protecting ecosystems is also protecting our food supply.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.