At this time of year, honeybees are venturing out looking for nectar and consequently pollinating all the beautiful flowers we can see from our windows or as we walk around our village and local countryside. Please be aware that in the spring and early summer, the buzzing you can hear will most likely be honeybees and not wasps, which tend to emerge a little later in the summer.
Our little friend the honeybee is not a protected species but really should be. It is said, if the honeybee disappears from the planet, we humans would find it exceedingly difficult to survive.
What honeybees do for us?
An illustration of what all honeybees, and what a colony of honeybees, do for us in the UK each year. However, pollination is from all invertebrates, of which honeybees are a significant contributor.
Pollination and food production Pollination is the vital process in flowering plant reproduction involving the transfer of pollen grains from the anther (or male part) to the stigma (or female part) of the same, or another plant of the same species. The fertilised egg cells grow into seeds which are then spread in the many fruits and vegetables that we all love to eat.
This transfer of pollen can be done by the wind, birds, bats, mammals and of course insects; one of the most important of these are the honeybees that pollinate on a huge commercial scale. All sorts of fruit and vegetables are pollinated by honeybees, such as broccoli, squash, apples and almonds.
Pollination is not just important for the food we eat directly, it is vital for the foraging crops, such as field beans and clover, used to feed the livestock we depend on for meat. Just as importantly, it helps to feed many other animals in the food chain and maintains the genetic diversity of the flowering plants. (source https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/would-we-starve-without-honeybees/zkf292)
The importance of honey
As well as being pollinators, honeybees, Apis mellifera, also produce honey. This sickly-sweet golden liquid (obviously a matter of personal opinion!) is a valuable product not only for its saccharine taste, but also due to its medicinal properties and the fact it is so energy dense.*Tip: local honey contains ingredients from local flowers; therefore, should you suffer from hay fever or any other allergies at this time of the year, try and locate some local honey (the BBKA website should be able to advise) which should really help!
Why are honeybees disappearing?
Honeybees are in decline on a global scale as they face many threats, from habitat loss due to the use of toxic pesticides. Many of the threats to honeybees share parallels with the threats to trees and woodland, so saving honeybees goes hand-in-hand with saving trees. If these threats aren’t brought under control, we could be looking at a future without honeybees.
Habitat loss
An increase in urban developments and invasive farming methods has meant that many of the areas honeybees once called home no longer exist. These developments are as much a threat to honeybees as they are to trees and woodland. In the wild, several species of honeybee nest in hollow trees, so as more trees are destroyed so are the homes these honeybees live in. Wildflower meadows and other areas abundant in flowering plants are also in serious decline, meaning that honeybees lose an important food resource.
Use of pesticides
One of the main threats to our beloved honeybees is the use of toxic pesticides. Whilst pesticides are designed to kill pests, due to their intense toxicity they are having an adverse effect on other insects too, including honeybees. Neonicotinoids ( a new type of nicotine based insecticide) in particular cause honeybees a great deal of harm, as when they are sprayed onto plants they are absorbed. So, when a honeybee comes to pollinate said plant, it will ingest this pesticide. This can seriously damage the honeybee’s central nervous system.
Climate change
Climate change and the extreme weather it often causes is another contributing factor in the decline of honeybees. It disrupts honeybee nesting behaviour and alters the normal seasonal timings, meaning flowers may bloom earlier or later than expected. Whilst the planting of more trees is helping
to mitigate some of the effects of climate change, it is still a serious issue that could prove deadly for many of our honeybees.
Parasites and diseases
Parasites and diseases are another big threat to honeybees. The varroa mite, Varroa destructor, is a parasitic mite which clings to the back of the honeybee, passing diseases and viruses to it and gradually draining its strength.
Invasive species
Non-native species can pose another threat to honeybees. Some species in particular can cause havoc for native species – the Asian hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax, eats honeybees and so poses a huge threat.
How you can help honeybees
It’s not too late to help save honeybees from extinction. Many of the things you can do to help protect these important creatures can be done from the comfort of your own garden.
Fill your garden with honeybee-friendly flowers - one of the easiest ways to help out honeybees is by planting lots of honeybee-friendly flowers in your garden. Honeybees favour a wide range of flowering plants, including foxglove, birdsfoot trefoil and red clover, which you can grow easily with a seedball honeybee mix. Simply scatter the seedballs in a location of your choice and watch them sprout! (Our own post office here in Shrivenham sells a range of seedballs.)
Stop using pesticides - pesticides are one of the key threats to honeybees, and so one way to help honeybees is to stop using them in your own garden. Some pests provide food for crucial pollinators, so leaving them to be controlled naturally is the best choice if you want to help save honeybees.
Help a honeybee in need - often during the summer months you may spot a solitary honeybee sitting unmoving on the ground. Whilst it is easy to presume it might be dead or dying, chances are it is actually exhausted and in need of a quick pick-me-up. You can help out a tired honeybee by mixing two tablespoons of white, granulated sugar with one tablespoon of water, placing it near the honeybee so it can help itself to this homemade energy drink.
If you come across a swarm, they are most likely homeless and looking for a permanent spot, please do not disturb them and DO NOT call a pest controller as they are NOT pests!
Honeybees are important to our environment and unless your local pest controller is a honeybee expert, they will most likely advise you to call the British Beekeepers Association. The BBKA website has contact details for beekeepers in the local area who are happy to help with advice or to come out and professionally remove the swarm humanely, usually to an area where they can colonise in safety.
The beekeepers association website is as follows: www.bbka.org.uk The site contains a lot of useful information, as well as showing how to recognise the many different varieties of honeybees, wasps & hornets.
A case of wasps is something pest controllers are happy to come out and treat. If you have a problem with wasps, I am happy to recommend a local company (I work for them!) Call Vermtek on 01367 710697 or email us on service@vermtek.com or visit our website www.vermtek.com
Finally.........Do Honeybees sleep?
Yes, they do sleep, and we know this because of the efforts of a researcher called Walter Kaiser who in 1983 observed bees in his hive stop moving and made a new discovery: that honeybees slept.
As he watched, Kaiser noted how a bee's legs would first start to flex, bringing its head to the floor. Its antennae would stop moving. In some cases, a bee would fall over sideways, as if intoxicated by tiredness. Many bees held each other's legs as they slept.
Fascinating facts
It was the first record of sleep in any invertebrate.
Honeybees sleep between 5 & 8 hours a day.
More rest at night when darkness prevents them going out to collect pollen & nectar.
Some solitary bees have been photographed sleeping in flowers
(source https://www.bbka.org.uk/)
Sleeping Bees
