Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
Reddit
Pinterest
Tumblr
Delicious
LinkedIn
StumbleUponPosts Tagged: honey bee
Bee-ing There for the Bees
Apimondia.
No, it's not a rock band or a new dance move or a new Billboard hit.
It's the name of a worldwide bee organization.
The 41st World Apiculture Congress is meeting this week through Sunday, Sept. 20 in Montepellier, France, and the buzz is all about what's killing the honey bees.
Some 10,000 entomologists and beekeepers are attending the conference and they're worried--and rightfully so.
As Emmanuel Angleys wrote in an article published today: "The Western honey bee is a vital link in the food chain, fertilizing nearly 100 kinds of crops."
"Around a third of the food on our plates gets there thanks to Apis mellifera."
Fact is, we still haven't found what's causing colony collapse disorder (CCD), a mysterious malady characterized by bees abandoning the hive. Pesticides? Pests? Viruses? Malnutrition? Stress? Drought and other global weather changes?
CCD could very well be a combination of factors. When bees are sick, they simply don't function well.
Just like us. We don't function well when we're sick, either.
And then there are the ribosomes. The damaged ribosomes.
University of Illinois researchers recently found that bees from CCD hives had high levels of damaged ribosomes (think of ribosomes as protein-making machines within the cells).
We like researcher May Berenbaum's comment: "If your ribosome is compromised, then you can't respond to pesticides, you can't respond to fungal infections or bacteria or inadequate nutrition because the ribosome is central to the survival organism."
Ribosome. Compromised. Central to the survival organism.
It's all about bee-ing there for the bees. We need more researchers like Berenbaum.
Honey Bee on Dwarf Tangerine Bulbine
It's Raining Rain Lilies
It's raining rain lilies in the Carolee Shields White Flower Garden of the UC Davis Arboretum.
The Argentine Rain Lily (Zephyranthes candida), also known as the White Rain Lily, White Fairy Lily and White Zephyr Lily, is drawing a few honey bees, but the bees like the lavender and sage best.
The white Zeph is one of the "Arboretum All-Stars," a list of 100 plants that thrive in the Central Valley and stay attractive most of the year. Most of the All-Stars are also drought tolerant, require little maintenance, and are relatively pest free, Arboretum officials say. A few--about 15--are California natives.
You can find the All-Stars (and other plants) at the Arboretum's periodic plant sales; the next sales are Oct. 3 and Oct. 17.
"Bee there" for bee-friendly plants and other selections.
At the last sale, we picked up some sage and a carnivorous plant.
To be honest, we were happy the carnivorous plant died. It ate one of our honey bees.
The UC Davis Arboretum has been working to develop a list of plants that are specifically chosen for the Central Valley. This list, called the “Arboretum All-Stars,” has been developed over many years using the Arboretum and other research sites to test and trial plant species. The official “roll out” of the program is planned for spring 2009, but the plant species list and other information is available now at http://arboretum.ucdavis.edu. In addition to creating the list, the program plans to encourage wholesale nurseries to grow these plants in large enough quantity to supply an interested public, and to educate the public to look and ask for these species.
All of the 100 plants on the list had to meet the following criteria: they must be attractive most of the year, thrive in Central Valley conditions, and have been tested at the UC Davis Arboretum. Many of them are also drought tolerant, require little maintenance and can reduce use of pesticides by being relatively pest-free and by attracting beneficial wildlife that feed on pests before they become a problem. About 15 of the species are California native plants.
Honey Bee in Rain Lily
Pollen Galore
Two Nectar Robbers
You've probably seen carpenter bees engage in the practice known as "nectar robbing."
Due to their large size, they cannot enter tubelike blossoms such as salvia (sage), so they slit the base of the corolla. They rob the nectar without pollinating the flower.
But have you ever seen a honey bee come along and enter the very spot of a corolla that a carpenter bee has pierced?
We saw a honey bee do just that at the UC Davis Arboretum last weekend.
Maybe this UC Davis bee was "smarter" than the average bee?
Carpenter Bee Robbing Nectar
Honey Bee Robbing Nectar
Gaura! Gaura! Gaura!
Pollen-packing honey bees dangling from gaura (Gaura linheimeri) are a joy to photograph.
Gaura, native to Louisiana, Texas and Mexico, is a long-stemmed plant with a burst of pinkish-white petals that resemble whirling butterflies.
A member of the Onagraceae family (think primroses, fireweed and fuchsias), it's a perennial that needs little care.
Gaura! Gaura! Gaura!
Honey Bee on Gaura
Sipping Away
Sharing a Sunflower
If you're in the right spot at the same time, you may get a double bonus: a non-native bee and a native bee on a native plant.
We took this photo in Healdsburg last week of a non-native bee (the common European or Western honey bee, Apis mellifera) and a native sweat bee (Halictus ligatus) sharing a plant native to the Americas: the sunflower.
A golden moment.
Two on a Sunflower
Close-Up
First story | Previous 5 stories | Next 5 stories | Last story
