Why we should be buzzing about bees
Bees. Plump, furry black and yellow insects with wings and a painful stinger right? Actually, most bees are so incredibly different from this traditional image, that when you see, say, the Fabricus’ Nomad Bee, you wouldn’t even be able to identify it as a bee. It’s worth looking at just how diverse bees are – and worth going back in time to see how bees evolved, and how we can protect them.
Bees are mainly identified by their anatomy. First up, they have 5 eyes. You can only see two, giving the illusion they have only two, but they have 3 tiny ones on their forehead. The ones you can see are their compound eyes, which allow them to see patterns on flowers and use polarised light to fly around on a cloudy day. Below the head, they have a tube called a proboscis, which enables them to suck up nectar from deep inside flowers. Then, we get onto the legs. Bees have six legs, two of which are used to push pollen off the abdomen and onto the four hind legs, which are used to store the pollen for transportation. At the back of the bee lies the stinger. Only a small fraction of bees have stingers, and only females have them as it is part of their egg-laying apparatus. Bee hairs are specially adapted to hold pollen, and they often carry an electrical charge. Bees have 2 pairs of wings made out of a thin layer of chitin and joined together by a series of hooks. Finally, the thorax is split into 3 parts, each containing a pair of legs and on the rear parts, a pair of wings. Inside the thorax lie all of the bee’s muscles.
Bees first appeared 100 million years ago, evolving from a wasp species which had gone vegetarian. 10 million years later, the first bumblebees and honey appeared, evolving from this first family of bees. 55 million years ago, a bee species started adapting a different form of social living, starting to turn into the social structure we find in today’s hives. 20m years later, the species of honey bee seen on most hives today evolves into existence and 10 million years after that, the now world-renowned buff-tailed bumblebee appears. Today, there are over 20 million bee species, all unique and different.
As great as this all sounds, bees are declining at a fast rate, mainly due to the number of diseases out to get bees and habitat loss caused by us. If we were to lose bees, then we would become extinct too. Bees pollinate half of the crops we live on, and around 90% of the crops most animals depend on. Therefore we all need to do our bit to save the bees.
Firstly, we can make sure to have flowers in bloom all year round, because bees need those winter flowers to keep them alive when most others die. You can also provide habitats for bees to nest in, such as dead tree branches, or bee hotels. Another great way to help bees is to join a conservation campaign. Citizen science is a great way to help, and you can meet other bee enthusiasts along the way. Or, even better, you can keep bees. If you choose this, you must remember to regularly check your bees for diseases, not to pressurise them into making honey (you can do this by not taking every drop of honey as soon as the bees make it) and remember to respect the bees and their home. One final thing you can do is to write to your local MP and tell them to speak out against climate change. This is a great way not just to help bees, but the environment and all animals.
Bees are mainly identified by their anatomy. First up, they have 5 eyes. You can only see two, giving the illusion they have only two, but they have 3 tiny ones on their forehead. The ones you can see are their compound eyes, which allow them to see patterns on flowers and use polarised light to fly around on a cloudy day. Below the head, they have a tube called a proboscis, which enables them to suck up nectar from deep inside flowers. Then, we get onto the legs. Bees have six legs, two of which are used to push pollen off the abdomen and onto the four hind legs, which are used to store the pollen for transportation. At the back of the bee lies the stinger. Only a small fraction of bees have stingers, and only females have them as it is part of their egg-laying apparatus. Bee hairs are specially adapted to hold pollen, and they often carry an electrical charge. Bees have 2 pairs of wings made out of a thin layer of chitin and joined together by a series of hooks. Finally, the thorax is split into 3 parts, each containing a pair of legs and on the rear parts, a pair of wings. Inside the thorax lie all of the bee’s muscles.
Bees first appeared 100 million years ago, evolving from a wasp species which had gone vegetarian. 10 million years later, the first bumblebees and honey appeared, evolving from this first family of bees. 55 million years ago, a bee species started adapting a different form of social living, starting to turn into the social structure we find in today’s hives. 20m years later, the species of honey bee seen on most hives today evolves into existence and 10 million years after that, the now world-renowned buff-tailed bumblebee appears. Today, there are over 20 million bee species, all unique and different.
As great as this all sounds, bees are declining at a fast rate, mainly due to the number of diseases out to get bees and habitat loss caused by us. If we were to lose bees, then we would become extinct too. Bees pollinate half of the crops we live on, and around 90% of the crops most animals depend on. Therefore we all need to do our bit to save the bees.
Firstly, we can make sure to have flowers in bloom all year round, because bees need those winter flowers to keep them alive when most others die. You can also provide habitats for bees to nest in, such as dead tree branches, or bee hotels. Another great way to help bees is to join a conservation campaign. Citizen science is a great way to help, and you can meet other bee enthusiasts along the way. Or, even better, you can keep bees. If you choose this, you must remember to regularly check your bees for diseases, not to pressurise them into making honey (you can do this by not taking every drop of honey as soon as the bees make it) and remember to respect the bees and their home. One final thing you can do is to write to your local MP and tell them to speak out against climate change. This is a great way not just to help bees, but the environment and all animals.
