Here’s the latest buzz about bees

VIC LEIPZIG AND LOU MURRAY

While photographing flowers at Shipley Nature Center the other day,

we noticed a bumblebee buzzing loudly in the sage flowers. It was

mostly black, with what would be hairy yellow shoulders if bumblebees

had shoulders. When we moved on to the wild roses, we saw what at

first appeared to be the same type of bee. But a closer inspection

revealed that this second bee had a yellow face as well as yellow

“shoulders.”

A search of the Internet revealed that we had seen two closely

related species of bumblebees. The bee in the sage was a black-faced

bumblebee (Bombus californicus); the one in the wild roses was a

yellow-faced bumblebee (Bombus vosnesenskii). Both species have

yellow on the front of their thoraxes, which is the insect equivalent

of our chests. They both have black abdomens with a narrow, yellow

band near the end, although the yellow band on the yellow-faced

bumblebee is closer to the tip of the abdomen. But the main

difference, of course, was in the face.

The more we read about bumblebees, the more fascinated we became.

We learned that they live in underground hives, usually in small

colonies of 50 to 200 individuals. In contrast, honeybees live in

colonies of 10,000 to 50,000 individuals. Like honeybees, bumblebees

can sting, but they seem to be better-tempered than honeybees. They

rarely become provoked enough to use their stingers.

Each bumblebee colony exists for only one year. In the fall, all

of the bees die off except for queens that have mated. The queens

hibernate underground through the winter. In early spring, the queen

emerges and flies low over the ground, searching for a suitable place

such as an old rodent nest, where she will lay eggs and begin a new

colony. Each colony includes sterile female worker bees, male bees

and a few new queens.

Bumblebees play an important role in the ecosystem because they

pollinate flowers, just as honeybees do. Plants need pollinators to

help them set seed. Insects such as bees often do this job. In fact,

two-thirds of all plant species depend upon insects for pollination.

Bees pollinate a third of the food crops that humans depend upon.

Bumblebees get a lot of competition in this job from honeybees. The

latter are especially important in the pollination of fruit and nut

trees.

Sadly, bees and other insect pollinators are in sharp decline

throughout the world. Managed honeybee populations in the U.S. have

fallen to one-third of what they were in the 1960s. Wild bee

populations have declined as well. Scientists attribute this loss to

a variety of factors -- mortality due to pesticide use, introduction

of competing species, disease, and alteration of habitat.

Two epidemics of mite infestation nearly wiped out local

honeybees. The arrival of Africanized honeybees put a further damper

on raising honeybees in Orange County. Many beekeepers got rid of

their hives because of the aggressive nature of the hybrid bees.

Others are fighting the Africanization of their European honeybees by

introducing artificially inseminated European honeybee queens every

few years. Don’t ask us how they artificially inseminate a bee. We

don’t want to know.

Bumblebees aren’t as numerous as honeybees, but they are the

primary pollinators of squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, eggplants,

cucumbers, chili peppers, strawberries, cranberries and blueberries.

They are the exclusive pollinator of potatoes. Like these food crops,

bumblebees are native to the Americas. They co-evolved as the best

pollinators for these plants.

The reason that bumblebees can pollinate these plants better than

honeybees is that these plants require what is called “buzz

pollination.” The heavy vibration of a buzzing bumblebee’s wings

causes the anthers of these plants to release pollen. Bumblebees have

the right buzz for these plant species; honeybees don’t. Knowing

this, some farmers deliberately bring in bumblebees to pollinate

their crops, especially hothouse tomatoes.

Honeybees were brought to America from Europe during Colonial

times. Over time, the European honeybee displaced native bees. Now

the European honeybee is in decline. It’s time for native bees like

bumblebees to regain their rightful place in the ecosystem. But to do

that, bumblebees need places to build their colonies.

Look around your yard. Are there any places where you would permit

a bumblebee colony? Most people would probably answer no. This is one

more reason why conversion of natural habitat to homes and businesses

destroys the ability of wildlife, even insects, to survive.

We can all help promote healthy bee populations by reducing

pesticide use, by leaving at least a portion of our home landscape in

a relatively natural state, and by planting shrubs and flowers that

are native to the Southern California ecosystem. Bumblebees

particularly like gathering pollen and nectar from sunflowers,

lupines, clovers, buckwheats, penstemons and phacelias, so planting

these flowers is good for bumblebees. And if you really get into

promoting bumblebees, you can find instructions on the Internet for

making subterranean bumblebee nesting boxes using insulation stuffed

into a wooden box.

Somehow we need to become more aware of the tiny components of the

natural world around us. We need to find a way to co-exist. Our food

crops, as well as natural ecosystems, depend on it. If we create a

backyard sanctuary where there are no mowers and blowers and things

that spritz and spray, the insects will benefit. And ultimately, so

will we.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at [email protected].