The Bee Cause – some bee facts and stats
April 2012
General information
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/European_honey_bee#p007vclp – bee videos
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-bee-facts.html
Honey bees have 6 legs, 2 compound eyes made up of thousands of tiny lenses (one on each side of the head), 3
simple eyes on the top of the head, 2 pairs of wings, a nectar pouch, and a stomach
The bee's brain is oval in shape and only about the size of a sesame seed, yet it has remarkable capacity to learn and
remember things and is able to make complex calculations on distance travelled and foraging efficiency
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa
In Ancient Greek, priestesses of the goddess Demeter were called Melissae ("bees")
Melissa (or Mellisa) is a given name for a female child. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (melissa),
"honey bee" (Apis Mellifera) and from μέλι (meli), "honey"
St Valentine is the patron saint of bee-keepers
http://www.pestworldforkids.org/bees.html
Bees store their venom in a sac attached to their stinger and only female bees sting. That is because the stinger,
called an ovipositor, is part of the female bee’s reproductive design
Bees see all colours except the colour red
http://www.bbka.org.uk/local/newcastle/facts/index.shtml
Bees have 5 eyes and can see ultra violet light
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/12/10-amazzzzing-bee-facts-infographic/
It would only take about one ounce of honey to fuel a honey bee to fly around the world
Bees can fly for a kilometre or more collecting nectar. Some species of bumblebee can travel up to 3 kilometres a
day
19 species of bees make honey
12 honey bees work their whole life (a month to 3 months) to make a teaspoon of honey
There are 19,500 bee species worldwide
Bees know if the Queen has died as they can no longer smell her pheromones
Bees' wings vibrate 11,400 times a minute - that's why they buzz.
http://www.abfnet.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=14
Pollination and the value of bees
The honey bee (Apis Mellifera) "is arguably the most important pollinator of agricultural crops" (Klein et al 2007)
As honey bees gather pollen and nectar for their survival, they pollinate crops such as apples, cranberries, melons
and broccoli. Some crops, including blueberries and cherries, are 90-percent dependent on honey bee pollination;
one crop, almonds, depends entirely on the honey bee for pollination at bloom time
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_bees
Of the 100 crop species that provide most (90%) of the world's food, over 70 are pollinated by bees
About 84% of plants & 76% of food production in Europe depends on pollination done by bees
The 'ecosystem services' provided by bees are worth €15 billion per annum
World-wide the value of the pollination of trees and crops has most recently been put at $190 billion a year
In UK alone crop pollination is worth £440 million a year (according to the Government’s Natural Environment White
Paper, June 2011, page 9). Further, if the UK has to replace the pollination services of bees, “The cost of replacing
bee pollination with hand pollination is greater than the total market value of the crops at over £1.8 billion per year”
(Friends of the Earth research by University of Reading, April 2012))
Honey bees contribute over $14 billion to the value of U.S. crop production
It is often said that one in every three mouthfuls of our food we enjoy is thanks to bees pollinating crops NB: Friends
of the Earth tends not to use this because, strictly, much of our diet is meat and fish which are either indirectly or
unconnected to bees and pollinators.
34% of the pollination is by honey bees and the rest by bumble and solitary bees and other pollinators. (Ref:
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR367212.aspx)
British bees
There are over 250 species of wild bee in the UK (25 bumble bee species and over 200 species of solitary bee – so
called because they do not live socially in colonies)
3 species of British bumble bee have become extinct since 1800
About 23 species of bee are on the official list of threatened species
British bumblebees
Britain had 25 species of bumblebee but 3 of these (the Apple, Cullens and the short-haired bumble bee) are already
extinct and others are threatened
There are 6 common types of bumblebee commonly found in British gardens - the so called 'Big Six'
Unlike honey bees, bumblebees have short-lived colonies and a nest typically lasts only a few months.
At the end of the cycle young fertile females (queens) go into hibernation underground, and stay there for many
months, to emerge the next spring when each will found a new colony.
Normally the last of the 'big six' to be seen in garden in the autumn is the ubiquitous 'Common Carder Bumblebee'
(Bombus pascuorum), a relatively small species, gingery brown, which can be seen in the South until early November
if the weather remains favourable.
Then there should be a gap of at least three months until the earliest emergence of young bumblebee queens from
hibernation the next spring.
One of the consistently early species in the spring is unsurprisingly called the 'Early Bumblebee' (Bombus pratorum).
This species is also relatively small, with two yellow bands and an orange tail. Several other species will also make an
appearance by March or April.
These include the very common 'Buff-tailed Bumblebee' (Bombus terrestris ssp. audax). Queens of this sub-species
tend to be large and wide, with a pale peachy-buff coloured tail. Workers have a white tail. Sub-species audax is
confined to Britain and Ireland. If you cross the Channel you will find that in Northern France B. terrestris queens
have a white tail.
Foraging from Winter-flowering garden plants: Evidence from the last decade or so suggests that in some areas of
the UK the Buff-tailed Bumblebee is able to maintain winter colonies in addition to its summer breeding cycle. It
relies on autumn and winter-flowering plants growing in gardens as a forage source. Prime amongst these are
Arbutus, and Clematis cirrhosa, from the Mediterranean area; Mahonia and winter-flowering honeysuckles such as
Lonicera fragrantissima, from Eastern Asia; and Erica carnea, a winter-flowering heather from the European Alps.
There are very few wild British plants that flower in the winter, and it seems that those that do (e.g. Gorse) do not
provide sufficient or suitable forage to support winter bumblebee colonies. For this reason it is unlikely that winter
colonies will survive in the open countryside away from gardens.
Favourite flowers of bumblebees in autumn and winter:
- Arbutus unedo (Strawberry Tree) in October
- Lonicera fragrantissima (Winter Honeysuckle) in January
- Erica carnea (Winter flowering Heather) in February
- Mahonia hybrid in January.
Interestingly, there are many conspicuous winter-flowering plants that the bees do not seem to use as a regular
forage source, or only visit as a last resort. These include:
- Viburnum x bodnantense
- Chimonanthus praecox
- Jasminum nudicaule
- Cornas mas
- Iris unguicularis
- Winter bedding plants such as pansies and polyanthus.
The fact that they do not seem to visit these may be because these plants do not produce suitable nectar or pollen,
or possibly it is inaccessible to the bees.
Where do bees go in winter?
Bumblebees: Colonies die out at the end of the summer. Only young fertile females (queens) survive the winter, in
hibernation in nooks and crannies under the ground, in a deep sleep. The winter-active bumblebee colonies
described are an exception to this rule and seem to be a recent phenomenon in the UK involving only 1 of our 24
species.
Solitary Bees: All adults die as soon as their period of mating and nest building is over. For most species, this period
is a window of activity lasting couple of months or so in spring or summer. Different species are active at different
months, usually coinciding with the flowering of their main forage plants. Solitary bees' offspring survive the winter
as mature larvae, pupae, or as dormant young adults (depending on species) in a state of suspended animation
inside their nest cells. Again depending on species these can be holes or tubes in wood, dead stems, holes in sandy
cliffs or in crumbly mortar, or holes or chambers underground.
Honeybees: These are a domesticated species and in the UK are now almost wholly dependent on human
intervention. Colonies survive intact inside beehives and can last for several years with help from a beekeeper. Feral
colonies left to their own devices (e.g. in hollow tree trunks) can also survive the winter but at present many of them
seem weakened by the Varroa mite and less able to survive in the long term.
Good plants and trees for bees
“Have no plant in your garden that you do not know to be useful to bees or believe to be beautiful.” William Morris
RHS Perfect for Pollinators - list of plants season by season:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Sustainable-gardening/pdfs/RHS_Pollinators_PlantList
British Bee Keepers’ Association leaflets:
http://www.bbka.org.uk/files/library/bbka_trees_for_bees_3-way_1306864371.pdf
http://www.bbka.org.uk/files/library/bbka_shrubs_for_bees_3-way_1306864579.pdf
Also:
http://www.helpthehoneybee.co.uk/plants/plants.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_honey_plants
Paul’s top tips for planting
There's no shortage of good advice out there, books and gardening tips.
So I thought I'd boil it down to 5 top tips
1. Back British: Try to sow and grow native British seeds and plants and wildflowers.
Not all garden centres sell chemical free seeds but they are readily available by mail order from places like: Garden
Organic (based near Coventry), Laura's Organics, The English Cottage Garden Nursery Ltd, FlowerScapes for urban
sites; Habitat aid (where we have obtained our seeds for The Bee Cause campaign) and Sutton's Seeds who now
have a limited organic range.
2. Bee choosy: not all plants are the same; bees love plants with lots of nectar and easy to access single (not
double) flower heads.
Many popular plants sold in garden centres are bred so much that they no longer produce much nectar or pollen for
bees to collect. So they are pretty useful in the natural cycle of pollination and sustaining bees' role in a functioning
natural environment.
3. No fuss: Try to avoid popular but fussy hybrid plants like double-headed begonias, busy-lizzies and bedding
geraniums.
These may impress but they have been bred so much that they have little or no nectar or pollen for bees.
Look for plants on the RHS ‘Perfect for Pollinators’ list:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Sustainable-gardening/pdfs/RHS_Pollinators_PlantList
4. Mix it up: Like us, bees need food all year round. Help by sowing and growing flowers, herbs shrubs and trees
that create a ‘succession’ of nectar and pollen - for instance, low growing crocus in winter, single-headed dahlias,
common lobelia and angelica in summer and Ivy in autumn.
A simple guide to planting by Maureen Little is here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/beekeeping/9176670/Planting-plans-for-a-bee-garden-Put-a-buzz-in-yourbeds.html
5. Trees for bees: Look up and see the bees on the tree. Many trees we pass by are great for bees and other
pollinators.
Willow, hawthorn, hazel and horse chestnut are also great. And don’t cut down your mature Ivy - it’s a vital autumn
food source. So when you see trees, think bees.