Bee-ginning B’s

Bees are some of our most prolific pollinator species.  In fact, there are over 4,000 species of bees in North America.  Some of these can be observed in your own backyard.  Bees have four wings, two long antennae, a thick-set body, eyes on the sides of their heads, and hair on the belly and rear legs for collecting pollen.  Not all of the flying insects we see among the flowers are bees; some are wasps.  They can be distinguished from bees by their skinny bodies with narrow waists, with no hair on their body or legs.  Others are flies; they have two wings, short antennae, no pollen-collecting hairs on bodies or legs and eyes that are situated on top of their heads.

Bees typically live for only one year, although some species in our area, including honeybees and bumblebees may live longer.  A majority of their lifetime is spent inside a hive or nest growing from an egg to a larva to a pupa to an adult.  The bees that we observe in our gardens are the adult stage which typically lasts for several weeks. 

Most bee species in North America are solitary: the females live alone, building their own nest, laying eggs, and providing food for their offspring’s development over the winter.  The adults do not survive to see their offspring born.  Other species, including honeybees and bumblebees, are social species.  These bees live together in one nest and share all nest maintenance and parenting duties.  In social colonies, especially those that are human managed, adult bees may live quite a bit longer.

All bees collect pollen from flowers, and they have developed several unique adaptations for this process.  Stiff hairs or hairs tipped with hooks on all parts of the body will collect the pollen when it is brushed against as the bee visits each flower.  The bee will move the pollen into the hairs along the lower abdomen and hind legs for transport back to the nest.  Bees also eat nectar from the flowers.  Adults eat a lot of nectar and a little pollen, but they bring some of both back to the nest.  A food packet consisting of a little nectar and a lot of pollen is placed with each egg to feed the developing offspring. 

When a bee carrying pollen visits a flower looking for nectar and pollen, the bee must push past the stigma and through the anthers to get to the nectar found at the base of most flowers.  The bee will collect more pollen from the anthers.  But the stigma has sticky surfaces that will pull some of the pollen off the bee as it passes, and this will be used by the flower in its reproductive cycle. 

Many fruits and vegetables we enjoy, as well as several beverages, all come from plants pollinated by bees.  More than 70% of flowering plants are insect pollinated, and bees comprise a majority of those insects.  Bees are struggling, though, and populations are in decline.  Reasons include habitat fragmentation, an increased use of pesticides, and new diseases in bee populations.  A majority of bees nest underground, and these habitats are becoming harder to find as we develop and pave over more places.  Bees require many large groupings of flowers, a habitat also being lost to development.  The latest farming practices often leave a monoculture of only one crop covering immense areas.  Supporting backyard gardens and community development of both flower and food gardens will help to replace some of this lost habitat.