Secret Life of Bees Eco Take Home

As summer approaches, it is important to focus on different animals around our world, particularly the ones that need help. This Eco Blog will focus on bees, which while small, play a big part in our world. We will cover types of bees, why it is important to help them and what you can do at home!

 Types of Bees

 The three most popular types of bees which are really important for the pollination of crops are the Bumblebee, the Honey Bee and the Mason Bees. 

Bumble Bees 

These bees are seen most often on flowers. They pollinate plants and gather nectar to make honey, but do not make nearly as much honey as honey bees. They are not particularly aggressive while buzzing from flower to flower and are much more interested in the next flower than they are in you. How-ever, they are very quick to defend their nest and will not hesitate to sting if they feel their nest is threatened. They tend to build fairly simple and disorganized nests in dry grass clip-pings, piles of dried leaves, porch furniture cushions, insulation, or other loose “fluffy” material. They can sting more than once because their stingers are smooth and do not get caught in the skin when they fly away. 

Honey Bees 

These are the bees that people most often associate with “bees.” They are also one of the most beneficial insects on the planet. Their role in pollination is vital to all sorts of fruit and vegetable crops. These bees live in very large, well organised colonies. The males are called drones and differ from females in that they are slightly larger, and have bigger eyes. A typical colony of this type of bee consists of 1 queen, 50,000 workers, 300 drones, 9000 larvae (needing food), 20’000 older larvae (needing to be kept warm) and 6000 eggs.

Mason Bees

They are solitary species and are non-aggressive, only stinging if provoked.

Providing an excellent pollination service, these bees are great to have in the garden. They like to nest in narrow tubes made by larva or woodpeckers in trees. They are called mason bees because of how they protect their eggs .The bees lay an egg in the tunnel, along with some pollen for the bee larvae to eat when it hatches. They then seal up the tube with mud to protect the larvae. Young bees stay dormant in the tubes over the winter then leave in the spring.

Bees worldwide are in danger. This is a problem because bees pollinate about 80% of the crops we eat or use. So if bees went extinct, it would effect the supply of chocolate, cotton (for clothes), coffee and tomatoes! Some of these crops are only pollinated by bees so they would become completely unavailable.

Bee numbers are decreasing all over the world. No one really knows for sure why this is, but, it is likely that some or all of these factors are to blame:

v  Varroa mite (a paracite) that lives on bees .

v  Loss of habitat, especially wild flowers.

v  Pesticides that farmers use on crops.

v  Air pollution that stops the bees smelling and therefore finding flowers.

So what can you do at home to help out bees? Bee boxes are the answer!

Bees boxes are for solitary bee species like Mason bees that don`t use hives. They will help young bees survive the winter. All you will need are bamboo sticks, a plant pot and some materials to hang or support it.

1. Cut the bamboo sticks into sections (measure on the pot how long they have to be)

2. Put the bamboo sticks into the flower pot.

3. Sand down the ends of the bamboo sick. If the flower pot has holes at the bottom use a cardboard piece to cover the holes.

Hang the bee boxes outside under an eave or on a fence post, south facing if possible (or north facing if you are in the southern hemisphere).

          It may be a small thing, but it is a large thing that everyone can do to help bring the bees back all over the world. Give it a try with your scouts, in your schools or just at home and let us know how it is getting on. Together, we can do our best to Be Eco.

Tad (US)

Eco Assistant