Since all of my pumpkin sites are blooming I have started sampling for bees. I have found many Melissodes bimaculata in our bee bowls. All black, with two whitish marks on their abdomen, a light-colored face patch and shocking white leg-hairs, they are an important pollinator of sunflower plants. They are related to the squash bee, as they are both long-horned bees with long antennae and fly early in the mornings! However, while the male squash bees sleep in safe, plush pumpkin flowers that close up around them at night, male M. bimaculata just finds a plant and hangs on all night by its mandibles and legs. I'm not totally sure, but I've heard this is how Chuck Norris sleeps, too.Today we are saying goodbye to one of our student workers, Jared Power. He is taking a much-needed break before returning for his last year of high school. Good luck, Jared!
Love the Norris comment and the photo is fascinating. Do these bees "sting?" Do most bees sting or do most not sting? ("To sting or not to sting . . ." ;->)
ReplyDeleteGood luck to Jared, and what a fabulous experience for him to work with you guys!
Andy
Also, one other thing came to mind. Is Colony Collapse Disorder still an issue? Or, was it short-lived and all is well with bees? It sounds pretty scary.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Andy
Andy,
ReplyDeleteCCD is still being studied, and farmers are continuing to tell me that some of their hives don't survive. I am not sure how bad it is, or if it was a media-driven campaign to raise awareness. In any case, scientists around the world have been given a great chance to study how native bees contribute to pollination. Do they make hives like honeybees? Will they collapse too? No one really knew about the life histories of native bees before, which leads into the answer for your sting question.
It is safer to assume that most bees that you will encounter will sting you if you bother them too much. Stinging was developed as a way to protect the nest. That is why all honeybees you encounter out in the garden can sting you. The ones that stay inside and tend to the eggs cannot. However, the species of bees above are considered solitary bees because they do not nest together (though the males may share a plant to hang on to). Female solitary bees either dig nests in the ground, or use holes in trees or stalks of grass to lay their eggs. The males don't have anything to protect and cannot sting, but the females have an important job building and protecting her nest, hence their ability to deliver a painful sting. The tough part is telling those apart! Females tend to have more hairs on their rear legs for provisioning their nests, but males have longer antennae. Good luck, and be safe!
Thanks for the explanation, Ben. Good stuff and I appreciate your knowledge.
ReplyDeleteAndy