2013 Summer – Small Things Considered

The secret to vibrant business travel is looking for local treasures. A recent detour for me was a visit to the Worcester (Massachusetts) Art Museum to explore an exhibit called “Kennedy to Kent State: Images of a Generation”. Iconic photographs of Marilyn Monroe, JFK’s assassination, Vietnam protests, and videos of MLK Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the 1969 moon landing triggered abundant memories of my youth. Ambling through the galleries in a nostalgic fog, I became engaged in conversation with a museum employee, which somehow segued into beekeeping. His passionate description intrigued me to dig deeper and, although no honeybee boxes grace my backyard (yet), here are a few details I discovered about these incredible insects.

Workin’ for a Livin’

Humans have raided bees’ nests throughout history to enjoy the benefits of honey, including culinary use, medicinal and cosmetic properties, beeswax, and as a component of wine (mead). Smoking pots and bee paraphernalia discovered in archeological sites indicate that bees and honey were valuable goods in the commerce of ancient Greece, Egypt and China; jars of honey were found in King Tut’s tomb.

Fast forward to the 18th century where the science of microscopy allowed European natural philosophers to understand the finer details of natural phenomena including bee culture. Curiosity and improved scientific tools fueled investigation about the insects’ physiology and colony hierarchy. Inquisitive minds focused on the specialized duties of sterile workers (females) and drones (males). One scientist, known as the father of modern bee science, Francis Huber, is credited with cracking the mystery of how queen bees become fertilized (in the air!). When colonies become crowded, new queens and males are produced and the group swarms to a new site. During the swarm, one of these new queens breaks away to join the mile high club by mating with a number of drones. More of a job than a pleasurable experience, drones suffer the loss of their genitalia in the process, and ultimately death. The now-impregnated queen flies back to the old nest to lay eggs, and although she may eventually leave again to swarm, she never mates again.

Closer understanding of bee colony structure led naturalists to start devising sustainable beekeeping methods rather than the traditional practice of total nest destruction and death of bees to harvest honey. Hive construction (artificial nests) included building frames with parallel bars arranged close enough for bees to attach combs and deposit nectar, pollen, and honey, but with enough distance between for “bee space”, allowing healthy hives to flourish and bees to overwinter.

Fish Gotta Swim, Birds Gotta Fly

Bees gotta pollinate!  Every garden needs pollinators and bees rank right at the top. Without them, the harvest of flowers, fruits and vegetables would be limited. Bees are efficient; one colony can visit 50,000 blossoms in a single day searching for nectar and pollen. Nectar, loaded with sugars, is their main source of energy.  Pollen (aka bee bread) provides a balanced diet of proteins and fats. Communicating food sites is a fascinating aspect of colony behavior. Dances are performed by a worker bee on the return after discovering an abundant site of flowers as means to recruit help from fellow workers.

The late zoologist Karl von Frisch and his University of Munich students identified and named the specific dance movements used by foragers to signal two things to sister bees: distance and direction to a verdant food source. Dance steps indicating the distance to the booty are straight-forward and identified as “round, sickle or waggle runs”.  Directional indications, on the other hand, are according to the sun’s position (not compass directions) so they change with time of day and geographical location. Some skeptical scientists agree that bee communications via dance movements happens, but that floral odors on the forager’s body are the primary source of recruitment. Both camps agree that foragers exhibit specific dances on the surface of the honeycomb to recruit help in gathering pollen and nectar. 

Unfortunately, the process of flower hybridization to enhance traits favorable to commercial flower production (disease resistance, productivity, flower size and color) often results in pollen-less blooms and reduced nectar production, even sterile plants. Traits that improve blooms for commercial use often render them useless to pollinators like bees and butterflies. Still, there are many species that are especially good at attracting pollinators. This list of native and garden plants is a combination of lists from two Portland garden centers and a handout produced by Matthew Shepherd, Pollinator Conservation Program, Xerces Society, April 2004. (See list below)