The Bee Underground & Mistaken Identity

25 December 2014 

 Mining Bee Emerges from the Ground

            What’s a mining bee?  I imagined a bee wearing a light mounted on a hat and buzzing around in a dark shaft.  Beekeepers putting bees to work underground!?  Maybe a way had been found to get bees to mine coal.

            Well, I thought, doesn’t that beat all. 

            It’s not as if bees don’t have enough trouble these days with the abuse they take when trucked all over the country for pollination services.  Not only does the travel take them over bumpy roads that deprive the insects of sleep but, then, they’re starved for a day or so (to make them more aggressive pollinators).  Finally, twice as many honeybees are released into the fields as there are blossoms to pollinate.  That way, all the blossoms get pollinated, but many of bees are left exhausted and underfed.

            Now, bees are forced into the coal mines!?

“SOLD MY SOUL TO THE COMPANY STORE”?

            I had visions of the poor bees being sent to work in the coal mines during the “off season."  Worked long hours, exposed to excessive coal dust, only to earn “company script” that could only be redeemed for food at the “company” honeycomb. But soon, I figured out that this wasn’t a “16 Tons” story after all.

Song: “16 Tons” Sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford – Wikipedia & YouTube

THE BEE UNDERGROUND  

            Bees are called mining bees when the individual bees of a particular species nest underground -- burrowing into the ground to build their nests and raise their young.  And mining bees aren’t a particular species.  In fact, about 70% of all bee species nest underground. 

            The most familiar bees, the honeybee and bumblebee, are among the relatively few species of bees that build nests above ground.  But most bee species can be called “mining bees” and, also, a few less flattering and/or interesting names such as “digger bees,” “ground bees,” “dirt bees,” and “mud bees.”   This inoffensive group of bee-species pioneered underground living. 

LIVING UNDER THE RADAR

            Mining bees are quite inoffensive.  They build their nests individually, but they live in communities with dozens of nests clustered together in an arrangement not unlike a modern human subdivision.  There may be a community in your own yard.  The period of frequent above-ground appearances by these
unaggressive bees is a seasonal event.  Their active season lasts, at most, for few months or as little as a couple of weeks.  You can mow over their nests and walk one top of the community without doing much damage. 

            I've heard it said that there are stories of persons walking barefoot over a very large cluster of some types of mining bees and experiencing some stings.  But I couldn’t find the story of single sting.  In any case, the pain from the sting of the worst of the mining bees could never compare to the pain caused by a honeybee or wasp sting. 

            You’d think with this inoffensive lifestyle, everyone would love these retiring, subterranean bees as they went about their business living quietly “off the grid.”  But, instead, a lot of people are trying to kill them.

DEATH BLOW

            In spite of the value of mining bees in terms of soil aeration, when found in yards and gardens, many people go to great lengths to exterminate these retiring bees.

            But why?

            In the post Let Mining Bees Be, Rusty of Honey Bee Suite introduces us to mining bees and goes on to suggest that many people have a mistaken fear of all bees and bee stings.  People confuse the retiring mining bees with the honey and bumblebees – both of which have a much more powerful and painful sting.  Fearing actual injury, pesticides are used to wipe out whole colonies of mining bees – really for no good reason.

            I wondered if that could be true.  But I was suspicious.  Sometimes, there are misunderstandings. But, you know, where there’s smoke there’s fire.  These “apparently harmless” bees must “be up to something.”  So, I started digging, myself -- digging to get the real story.  And the real story was a real surprise.

IDENTITY THEFT!

            Not only is Rusty giving us the straight story, but there’s something sinister going on in the background.  Mining bees are the victims of identity theft.  People mistake them for other stinging insects.  And, while the other insects often escape unharmed, the mining bees get exterminated – for stings they didn’t commit!

            One instance provides an excellent illustration of how it works.  A gardener noticed a mining bee community nesting in, or around, his garden.  The following weekend, while working in the garden, a large yellow and black flying insect suddenly crawled out of the ground and stung him.  The sting really, really hurt.  Then, a large -- almost 2 inch long – prehistoric-looking yellow and black flying insect emerged from the ground.  By now, the disabled victim of the unbearably painful sting suspected that the first bee had just “softened him up.”   Now, it's really big older sister would come out of the ground and . . . “finish the job.”

            But there is a problem here.  The gardener wasn’t stung by a bee at all.  The stinging yellow and black flying insect was a true “yellow jacket.”  Some call bumblebees “yellow jackets,” but the name properly belongs to a large wasp. 

            The “yellow jacket” wasp doesn’t have any relationship to the mining bees.  And these wasps are dangerous.  They are responsible for most of the so-called “bee sting deaths” in the United States during each year.

            But, wait, what about the giant prehistoric looking yellow and black bee that crawled up out of the ground after the “yellow jacket” gave the gardener that painful sting?  Well, that wasn’t a bee either.  It was a cicada-killing wasp.  These two-inch long monsters never sting people.  They just climb up out of the ground, from time to time, to scare the living daylights out anyone who happens to see them.

            Unfortunately, “yellow jacket” stings and cicada-killing wasp sightings probably result in most mining bee extermination.  With the neither of the wasps being touched by the extermination effort.  Terrified landowners take substantial measures to wipe out the offenders.  Unfortunately, more often than not, the innocent mining bees are wiped out and “yellow jackets” are left to go on stinging.

Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

About the Author

When Good Bees Go Bad – Again! Car-Jacking Swarm Goes Free!

18 December 2014 

 Honeybee Gang?

            As a 21 year-old student, George Neal, parked his car in the law-abiding community of Hampshire, U.K., he was suddenly overtaken by car-jackers.  But these weren’t your typical organized criminals or desperate individuals.  These were honeybees!

            But honeybees are insects. 

            How could they steal a car?

            Well, what they lack in size, they make-up for in numbers.  20,000 bees descended on Neal’s car just after he parked.  What were they planning to do with the car after they “subdued” poor George?  Can bees operate a motor vehicle?

            I don’t know.  Maybe the bees hadn’t thought that far ahead.  Maybe they were planning to force George to drive the car for them!  That would have been a game-changer.  Try adding kidnapping to the car-jacking charge!

            One way or another, this story was headed for a bad ending.  But quick thinking by a friend, Rory Edwards, foiled the bees’ evil plan.  Calling animal control, a task-force specially trained to deal with bee-related hostage situations (a beekeeper) arrived on the scene and removed the bees.

            The criminal bee gang was headed by a bee named “Queen.”  It is assumed that she and her gang of worker bees had just rumbled with a rival gang in a local hive.  Losing the contest, she and her gang left the hive in a swarm and went on a crime rampage throughout the city.  

            Experts noted that this is a common pattern with bee gangs.  It all starts with a rivalry between two gangs in the hive.  Typically, each gang is headed-up by a queen bee.  The gangs rumble. The loser leaves the neighborhood with her swarm of gang members (worker bees).  The swarm goes looking for a new neighborhood where it can establish another headquarters (hive).   From there, the gang can wreak havoc throughout the city. 

ARE WE SAFE?

            Mercifully, George was safe and his automobile intact.  But in yet another – all too typical example of the complete failure of modern criminal justice -- the queen and her gang were out on the street within an hour.  They weren’t out on-bond either.  They were released without any changes being filed! 

            But how could this happen?!  You’ve probably guessed already.  It was one of those -- all too common -- legal technicalities.  It seems that U.K. laws are written to apply to people and not to insects.  So, bees can roam in criminal gangs terrorizing honest citizens with impunity.  What will happen when this swarm lets the air out of my auto tires or covers your home with toilet paper?  Nothing!  They’ll be released to strike again!

            You can bet if you or I let the air out someone’s tires or covered someone’s property with toilet paper, we’d be doing hard time.  But, when Queenie and her gang do the same thing – they walk (or, rather, fly) away free.

WHAT TO DO?

            What can honest citizens do?  Well, establish a neighborhood watch.  Keep an eye out for any neighborhood insects sporting the bee “gang colors.”  What are the honeybee gang colors?    Yellow and black, of course.  If necessary you can get a beekeeper’s outfit complete with head to toe netting. 

            But, maybe, it’s time for more aggressive action.  You can arm yourself with a smoker.  A smoker is a device the shoots large amounts of smoke.  And smoke will subdue even the wildest and toughest bees.  With a smoker in hand, you can boldly confront any swarm of bees as they swagger around your neighborhood.  Just blow a puff in the air to let them know you mean business.  If any try to swarm you, just blow a puff of smoke over their heads.  They’ll get the idea!  

Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

About the Author

Bumblebee Superhero Saves Sister from Spider’s Grasp!!!

11 December 2014

            You’re a bumblebee.  Flying along and minding your own business.  As you look for the next flower, suddenly, you’re stopped. You hit something you didn’t see. But, when you try to free yourself, you find you’re caught.  You’re attached to a fine sticky thread.  You can’t break the thread.  You can’t tear yourself away.

            Suddenly, the owner of the thread appears.  Dark black with eight legs, this spider looks hungry.  You, a rather meaty bumblebee, would be a week of food the arachnid. 

            You try desperately to escape, but you can’t get loose.  You try to sting the approaching spider, but the arachnid is nimble on its eight feet and avoids your stinger.  After all, the spider isn’t stuck in a web.  You are. 

            The spider keeps coming.  It can’t sting, but it can bite, and that bite is fatal.  You're sure you’ll never see your nest and sisters again.  This looks like your “final roundup.”  The spider closes-in . . . and, then, . .  “Pow!” . . . “Slam!” . . . “Bang!”. 

            “Holy last-minute rescue, Bat Woman!”

            But was it really Kathy Kane . . .  or . . .  was it Barbara Gordon?

            No, it was your sister bumblebee come to your rescue.  She takes care of that spider in short order.  In seconds, the arachnid is on its back being stung, and you are saved.

  Bumblebee Rescues Sister Bee and Makes Short Work of Spider

            Apparently, there is a genuine sense of sisterhood among bumblebees (most bees are female).  Few would doubt this among honeybees.  The honeybee is the most social of bees. But bumblebees are different.  All bees are social.  But bumblebees come closest to being loner bees.

           

            Instead of building the traditional honeybee hive and living there for years, bumblebees build nests and abandon them, in favor of new nest, every year.  Bumblebee colonies are really quite small.  And, bumblebees don’t hunt for food in groups.  They forage, alone, on wild flowers and grasses in wide open spaces.

            But, when push comes to shove, your sister bumblebee will come through for you – even if you're in the clutches of a large black spider.  When the rescuing bumblebee was caught on video, viewers were surprised.  No one knew that bumblebees could be so brave and loyal.  I guess this loner bee kept its abilities to itself.  You know.  Like Kathy Kane.  

            There’s that name, again.

            Who’s Kathy Kane?

            An ex-circus acrobat turned idle heiress.  But unknown to the world, in her spare time, Kathy was Bat Woman!  In the days just after the end of World War II, being a female superhero wasn’t easy.  The cultural stereotypes were domestic and dependent.  

            Even when Kathy pulled Batman’s fat out of the fire, everyone thought he’d actually done it himself, but given her the credit.  Kathy couldn’t even carry her Bat-gadgets in a utility belt, like her male counterpart. Instead, she had to conceal them as stereotypical contents of the contemporary woman’s purse: lipstick, compact, charm bracelet, and hair net.

            Maybe our rescuing superhero bumblebee has had the same problem. Concealing her dramatic rescues and adventures was necessary because the world wasn’t ready for a bumblebee superhero.  But maybe all that will change.  You know, like it did for Barbara Gordon.

            Who’s Barbara Gordon?

            Batgirl.

            After DC Comics retired Bat Woman, Kathy Kane, it would be almost 15 years before they introduced Batgirl, a female superhero, who was more . . . "in your face."  No idle heiress, Barbara had a PhD and carried her weapons right on her utility belt just like her male counterpart.   

            Like Batgirl, our superhero bumblebee may have no special powers.  But, instead, she may have special training, enabling her to take-out spiders with greatest of ease.  But then, again, this could be a one-time event.  

            Suppose our bumblebee actually does have super powers.  But, maybe, she just got here from . . . “somewhere” else.  You know.  Like Luma Lynai.

            Who is Luma Lynai?

            Superwoman.

            DC Comics' Superwoman, Luma Lynai, came, not from the planet Krypton, but from her own home planet, Staryl.  And this was a problem.  Although she arrived on Earth and stayed long enough to save the planet, the climate wasn’t to her taste. 

            When Superman left the red sun of Krypton, the yellow sun of Earth gave him super strength.  But Luma came from Staryl – a planet with the orange sun.  The yellow sun of Earth made her sick.  

            More tragic, still, was the intense romance that developed between Superwoman and Superman.  Luma wanted Superman to come with her to another planet where they could live happily ever after.  But there were career issues that couldn’t be resolved.

            If most of us decided to go to another planet, we could probably find at least one adequate candidate to take over our job in our absence.  But Superman’s job, defending the Earth against destruction, had a unique job description -- one for which Superman had unique qualifications.  Sadly, he couldn’t leave.

            So, maybe the bumblebee on the video is a “visiting” superhero bee from somewhere else.  But maybe she is braver, stronger and more loyal than your average bumblebee. Then, again, maybe "Super-Bumbles" had super powers and lost them.  But, then, she regained many of her lost special abilities through intense training.  You know.  Like Princess Diana of Themyscira.

            Who’s Princess Diana of Themyscira?

            Well, she used to be a princess with superpowers, but lost her title and powers to become DC Comics' Diane Prince -- operating her own boutique and living in the mortal world.  Blessed by every imaginable Greek god and goddess, she had a bright, royal, and superpower-ed future.  But, then, things got complicated.

            She entered the mortal world with her superpowers intact to become Wonder Woman.  She was helping a mortal -- an intelligence officer named Steve Trevor in his fight for justice, when he was framed for a crime he didn’t commit and imprisoned.  She committed herself to freeing him from prison by proving his innocence.  She knew it would be a long job.

            But wouldn’t you know it.  

            Just when she was getting started, her fellow Amazons decided they would all shift to another dimension.  Even if Diana stayed in this world, her superpowers wouldn’t. 

            But she couldn’t let Steve down.  So, figuratively speaking, she took her lemons and made lemonade.  She found the foremost marshal arts trainer in the world, the blind expert, I Ching.   Under his instruction, she undertook a life of continuous training until she became so good at marshal arts that she might as well have got her superpowers back

            So, maybe our superhero bumblebee doesn’t really have special abilities but, instead, has trained extensively at the nest of a bumblebee teacher who is an expert at defeating spiders.

            No one is really sure if the video shows typical bumblebee behavior.  But if it does, bumblebees are not just social, but far more loyal and brave than anyone expected. Taking on the spider was an act of courage.  Spiders really are particularly dangerous to bumblebees.  

            Being loner bees, we don’t get to see very much of bumblebees interacting with each other.  They do, inside the bumblebee nests.  But these bees don’t leave the nest in swarms.  Rather, they venture out, alone, across the fields of wild grass and scrub brush searching for nectar and honey. 

            These bees are hard workers.  Maybe they don’t have super powers, but they have a special skill.  It’s in the buzz.  With the loudest vibrating buzz of any bee, the bumblebee can buzz even when it’s not flying.  And that strong vibration can free thick pollens from certain flowers in a way that a weaker vibration can't.

            So, bumblebees can pollinate some crops that are a bit of a challenge for other bees – such as tomatoes, cranberries, almonds, apples, zucchinis, avocados, and plums. This bee’s unique style of pollination accounts for about 3 billion dollars in produce each year.

            We already knew these bees were tough, hard workers.  But we didn’t know that, secretly, they fight for justice and rescue the oppressed in their spare time.

Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

About the Author

She Who Would Be Queen – The Virgin Queen Bee

4 December 2014

            A “queen bee” is the “queen” of a colony of honey bees. Honey bees live in colonies and build rather complex structures called hives. A queen is the mother of all of the hive’s population including the (female) “worker bees” and (male) “drone” bees. So, in each colony, there is only one reproductive female. And, again, that female is called the queen.

But, have you ever wondered what it takes to become "the queen?"

Surprisingly, the candidates are selected by the worker bees themselves. I say “candidates” because, although a number of virgin queens will grow to maturity, “[i]n the end, there can be only one.” 

Just one queen to a hive.

The queen’s eggs are cared for by the worker bees. After the eggs have hatched, the young bee larvae continue to be raised by the worker bees.  The members of the brood (young bees of the colony and hive) are raised in a comb -- not unlike a honeycomb.

Their separate “brood comb” is used only to house the young bees -- the members of the growing brood. As the worker bees nurture the brood, they select certain larvae and feed them a diet of a special food. That food causes these larvae to develop into reproductive virgin queen bees.

The young queen bee larvae are, like the young worker bees, sealed into one of those six-sided cells in the brood comb.  But the cells containing the developing queens are fully stocked with pure royal jelly – the food of the “royal” queen honeybees.  There, they develop and, eventually, emerge from their cells as young virgin queens. 

As the virgin queen bees emerge from their cells, the old queen may leave the hive with a “swarm.” The "swarm" is composed of some, but not all, of the worker bees in the hive. Led by the old queen bee, the swarm will find a new location. There, they will build a new hive and form a new colony.

But why does the old queen leave her familiar hive when her own virgin queen daughters reach maturity?
Well, when you hear what happens next, you’ll understand why the old queen wants to “get out of town” as fast as possible.

The first young queens to emerge from their “cells” will hunt down any other young queens and try to kill them. Young queens don’t fight fair. Rivals will be stung to death as they are emerging from the cells of the brood comb. Sometimes, not content to wait for their potential rivals to actually emerge from their brood cells, young queens will burrow into a sealed cell and sting the resident-rival to death.

Although the old queen may have left with a swarm of followers to form a new colony, the process may be repeated with yet another swarm leaving the colony with a few of the recently hatched virgin queens. These young queens will get along until the new colony is established. But once the colony is formed, the virgin queens will have the same cut-throat power struggle. They will fight to the death until there is only one left.

But just being the last surviving queen bee in the colony isn’t enough.  The worker bees still won’t recognize the lone survivor as the queen.

Why?

The queen is the only reproductive bee in the colony.  With honeybees, the lone surviving young queen is still only the “apparent heir to the throne" because she is still a “virgin” queen.  When the surviving queen mates, she immediately gives off a pheromone that signals the worker bees that she is a capable of reproduction.  

One can almost imagine a sudden change in the demeanor or the worker bees who, after days of chaotic behavior toward their would-be sovereign, suddenly become still.  Undoubtedly, they begin buzzing the honeybee equivalent of “All Hail the New Queen.” 

And, then, what happens?  Well, the new young queen will begin her reign.  Occasionally, an outside queen can arrive at the door of the hive and announce a challenge to the reigning monarch.  But this is quite rare.

Still, even aristocrats as absolutely "positioned" as queen bees have to “take a measure” of the political winds.  Queen bees must be ever alert for the bee equivalent of a Parliamentary vote of “no confidence.”  This happens when the aging queen discovers that the worker bees are suddenly raising a large group of new virgin queen bees in the brood comb.

Then, the old queen needs to plan a hasty getaway with a few key supporters – unless she is too old or ill to move.  If she remains, she is likely to be the very last victim of last survivor of the new group of virgin queens. 

Because . . . “in the end, there can be only one.”

All Hail the New Queen.

Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

About the Author       

Another Kind of “Buzz” - the Honey Comb and . . . the Bar Comb?

27 November 2014

THE BEE’S LIFE

            Honeybees really do have it tough these days.  Working bees with commercial beekeepers do get pushed to the limit to produce honey -- if they are lucky.  If a bit less lucky, their service as “pollinators” is rented out to farms and orchards. 

            The “pollinators” are transported sometimes hundreds of miles from large farm to large farm.  The roads can be rough and life in the fields rougher. 

            The farms and orchards needing pollinators are big operations.  So, the bees’ services are carefully coordinated. Not only do the bees have to be in the right place at the right time to pollinate the blossoms to the maximum effect, but their release is, sometimes, carefully timed around pesticide and herbicide applications.  Even small mistakes can be . . .  costly.      

            The number of “pollinators” released into the fields is much larger than the number of blossoms available.  The logic is simple.  If you want the maximum number of blossoms pollinated, make sure that there are fewer nectar bearing blossoms than the bees want or need.  The competition for a meal assures that every blossom gets a visit.  To give the whole process an extra boost, the bees are placed on an enforced fast for a while before they are released into the fields.

            This all makes for an army of successful insect pollinators.  I, also, suspect it makes for a lot of stressed-out honeybees.

ANOTHER KIND OF HONEY?

            I wondered how these poor insects bore up under the strain.  Then, I read an interesting article.  Did you know that honey ferments?  That process produces a light alcoholic . . . “refreshment.”  So, you can harvest honey from a hive and let it ferment to produce a kind of “fortified” honey?  Well, yes, you can, but the bees don’t have to.

            I was surprised to discover that the bees, themselves, leave the caps off of honey cells in some of their honeycombs.  What happens when the bees engage in this puzzling behavior?  The honey ferments to produce a weak liquor.

            Oh, excuse me.  This behavior isn’t puzzling at all.  I’ve read that the poor bees are “forced” to do this because of their reaction to temperature variations as winter approaches.  Translation: When the weather begins to get colder, the bees start producing a kind of honey that makes them feel warmer.  Imagine that?

            Of course, I read about this together with stern warnings about “protecting” the bees from “exposure” to the alcoholic honey.  Several prudent advisers warned that alcohol is toxic to all living creatures.  And I, like most, have . . . ah . . . “inadvertently” experienced this terrible toxicity . . . on an occasion or two.

            Of course, I was concerned.  Bees may be different than humans and, maybe, the consumption of even minute amounts of alcohol by a honeybee might have serious negative effects.  But the same advisers, so concerned about the evils of alcoholic honey, cautioned that it may not be healthy for the bees to consume the spirited honey.  The problem, they pointed out, is that the bees do consume it – if it’s available.

 It Starts With Just a Sip or Two . . .

            Another stern warning was given to beekeepers advising them to try to remove these altogether too refreshing honeycombs if possible.  Presumably, this will keep the hive’s bees on “the straight and narrow” . . . and off “the road to perdition.”

            Generally, beekeepers leave some of these “too refreshing” honeycombs in a single hive – allowing the bees to take an occasional “nip of the sweet stuff.”  I was curious to find out just how much of this “hive honey dew” the bees were “sampling” in a typical hive.  I was surprised to find out that beekeepers often allow 10% to 33% of the honeycombs in a single hive to ferment.  That’s really quite a stash. 

            I’ve heard that some hives are “happier” than others.  But, until now, I never understood why.  Now, I have an idea.

            The adviser warned that, sometimes, bee colonies really “go to town” leaving many, many uncapped honeycombs.  And, sometimes, beekeepers remove some of these “too refreshing” combs and harvest the contents, which can accumulate until the keeper is left with barrels of the stuff on hand.  What happens if the barrels are left open and the bees can get to this much “medicinal” honey?

 . . .  And Ends Up Here!

            The adviser concluded the temperance lecture . . . er . . . I mean . . . "article" by cautioning beekeepers not to give their bees access to barrels of alcoholic honey . . .  because, apparently, if it there, the bees will refresh themselves again and again.  Although no one is actually aware of any ill-effects, consumption of that much “happy-honey” just couldn’t be good for the, probably, already-besotted insects.   

Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

About the Author

   

 

Honeybees in Paris: “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm?”

20 November 2014

 

            After World War I, American soldiers, mostly farm boys before the war, came home from Europe.  After such a long stay in metropolitan France, someone had to ask the question.  And those someone’s were songwriters Donaldson, Young and Lewis with their song . . . “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm?”

            The words, in part, go like this:

How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'

                                                 

YouTube: “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm?”

            What does this have to do with honeybees?  Well, . . . same problem, different century. 

            Lately, honeybees have become fashionable guests in the highest circles of high society.  Residing at some of the most exclusive hotels in the world, these working residents produce honey for those same hotels’ finest cuisine.  These guest/resident bees are, also, quite an attraction with guests being allowed limited visits as these bees work and relax in their exclusive accommodations on the highest balconies and rooftops. 

            After a few months enjoying the best views of any of these hotels’ accommodations, well, it’s got to turn the head of even the most “down-to-earth” worker bee.  Bees are residing at the Waldorf in New York.  But imagine the effect of the view from a Paris hotel rooftop. 

 Eiffel Tower

            And a honeybee guest in a Paris hotel would certainly not find themselves alone in the city.  Not only are many, many honeybees also guests in the city’s other hotels, but beekeeping is “all the rage” in Paris this season.  

            Ah, but one might ask – how will these nature-loving, wild insects adapt to the hustle and bustle of city life?  One imagines their beekeeper moving them to the rooftop of a Paris hotel and secretly wondering how his country-bees will fare in the sophisticated and cosmopolitan city.  Do these simple farm-bees really have a chance to thrive and produce the honey they love amid the splendor, but also the decadence, of the any of the largest and oldest cities on earth? 

            They sure do!

            To the surprise of almost everyone, not only have the honeybees in Paris thrived but, in terms of honey, they’re out-producing their country cousins with ease.  If you want productive beekeeping in France, you really must bring your bees to Paris and forget the countryside.

            But the “city”!  Aren’t cities unnatural environments?  Wouldn’t the bees prefer the natural countryside to the sophistication of city life?

            Apparently, not.

            In fact, the best guess is that being “down on the farm” isn’t what it once was.  Why?  Because the farm isn’t what it once was. 

            Modern farming is, in fact, less bee-friendly than it used to be.  With fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides, farms don’t need to leave some of the land fallow (unplanted) anymore.  All the land is planted and, after the harvest, nothing – yes, nothing – is left.  In those fallow fields, wild grasses with wild flowers used to grow.  And the blossoms provided the bees with a source of nectar and pollen. 

             But, no more.

            And modern farms are not only free from the threat of soil depletion and crop disease; they are also free from the threat of insect pests thanks to extremely effective pesticides.  These potent chemicals can, and are, carefully applied to protect bee populations, but any toxin in the environment can still be a hazard for the increasingly marginalized country-bee.

            After that stroll through the battleground of the, once idyllic, countryside, you can guess how you would feel if you were a bee arriving in Paris.  Particularly, if you were one of those privileged bees who was about to make your home on an exclusive hotel rooftop.  Not only will you receive regular, concerned visits from the hotel chefs, but you are a celebrity to the most exclusive of guests who, from time to time, crowd in just to catch a glimpse of you.         

            And if correspondents from the BBC drop by the hotel, they might not be looking for that ambassador, tycoon, or socialite.  They may be checking to see how you are enjoying your stay in Paris.

BBC News reports on bees in Paris

 
M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri

& Belleville, Illinois

About the Author

Zombie Bees in Pennsylvania!

13 November 2014

            Another Night of the Living Dead [but with bees] is upon us.  Zombie bees have been caught in Pennsylvania!  First, zombie bees appeared in California.  It didn’t cause too much commotion because, well, if there were going to be zombie bees anywhere, wouldn’t you expect them to show up in California?

            Then, the zom-bees (I couldn’t resist) moved quietly through Oregon, but splashed into the news cycle when they were discovered in Washington state.  Where next?  Maybe, Canada?  Maybe, Idaho?  Niether.

            South Dakota.

            South Dakota?  What does South Dakota have to do with zombies?  I’ve never seen a respectable (or not so respectable) film about zombies set anywhere near the Dakotas.  But, before I recovered from the shock, the zom-bees were discovered – 28 Days Later – in Vermont.  Well, actually, it wasn’t exactly 28 days.  It was a few months.  How did they get from South Dakota to Vermont?  Who knows?  Maybe they took a plane.  All I know is that zom-bees were confirmed in Vermont.

            But who actually confirms the sinister movements of these evil zom-bees.  Well, just as Count Dracula was followed by the Dutch vampire expert Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, so the zom-bees are being followed by San Francisco State University Professor John Hafernik.  Heafernik, together with a team composed of a few other concerned zom-bee researchers, is fighting this Resident Evil with modern tools.

            If Dr. Van Helsing had the Internet, we wouldn’t have the vampire problems we do today.  So, Professor Hafernick is using the web to canvas the nation for any, and every, report of the appearance of zom-bees.  Together with the like-minded members of his team, Hafernick created “ZomBee Watch” (http://www.zombeewatch.org).  With the help of 2,000 citizen bee watchers throughout the country, the team records sightings and keeps track of the movements of zom-bees.

            Meanwhile, in the peaceful, pastoral fields of rural Pennsylvania . . .

            Beekeeper Sherry Grenzberg lived happily with her beloved bees.  But she knew that zom-bees were moving throughout the country.  She lived, first, in apprehension, then, in fear of the looming danger.  Unable to endure the “waiting” any longer, she moved herself and her bees to a mountaintop fortress to keep them far from the threat of zombification.  Gradually, she relaxed and soon settled into what she believed to be a happy and safe life. 

            Then, one dark night, she heard a “plinking” against her window.  An insect seemed to be seeking the light of her chandelier.  The insect didn’t land or fly away.  It just kept bumping its head into the glass of the window over and over again.  Soon, it was joined by more insects plinking against every window.  To her horror she recognized what, at least, used to be her familiar honeybees -- completely zombified and surrounding her home.  She turned, paused, and let out a blood curdling scream. 

            Well, actually, it didn’t happen quite that way.  Grenzberg had always lived and raised bees on the mountaintop.  And, there was no “fortress” involved.  And, she only saw one bee plinging against the window.  And, no, she didn’t actually scream.  Instead, she went outside, took some photos, gathered a sample of bees, and sent them to ZomBee Watch team-member Brian Brown at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. 

            (Yeah, . . . but . . .  it could have happened the other way!)

            Brown confirmed that her bees had been zombified.  But, it isn’t the bees’ fault.  Just as the Haitian version of the human zombie is controlled by a sinister puppet master called a bokor, so, the zombie bee is controlled by a really sinister fly called Apocephalis borealis.  The fly lays its eggs in an individual honeybee’s body.  As the eggs develop, they actually affect the bee’s behavior.  Stranger still, the bee displays behaviors that seem like those of a zombie.

 Evil Zombie-Making Fly

Apacephalis borealis

            Under the influence of the developing fly larvae, the honey bee abandons its exclusively daytime routine and does something bees don’t do  — flies at night  Just before, and during, this “last flight” into the night, (what Hafernik calls “the flight of the living dead,") the bee begins to move erratically.  It ends its flight in death.  Then, the fly larvae eat their way out of the dead bee to continue their growth to maturity.

            If all this isn’t strange enough, there is a genuine mystery involving the zombifing fly.  The Apacephalis borealis has been around for a long time.  In North America, it’s been recognized, since the 1920’s, as a parasite that attaches itself to bumblebees and wasps.  But it never zombified them.  Stranger, still, the fly had always left honeybees alone until the zom-bee outbreak of 2012.  Then, the fly’s parasitic modus operandi turned into a gruesome process of zombification. 

            Beekeepers are cautioned to keep their hives as healthy as possible.  Healthy hives are most likely to resist or repel potential infection.  Hafernik went on to warn beekeepers to check their hives carefully before the onset of winter to assure the absence of infection before the bees retire to the hive and become inactive during the winter season. 

Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri

& Belleville, Illinois

About the Author








 

Extinction Interrupted: British Black Bees Found Hiding in a Church

6 November 2014

            Over the centuries, a breed of bee developed in the British Isles.  It’s known by the name the “British Black Bee” to its friends.  But, in scientific circles, its formal name is Apis malifera malifera.  This remarkable bee was destined for great things.

The British Black Bee (Daily Mail Online)

            Beekeeping is older than written history with prehistoric cave paintings showing people harvesting honey from beehives.  Good honey-making bees, honeybees, thrived easily in the warm climates of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, but most didn’t fare so well in the cold winters of Northern Europe

            But the British Black Bee was exceptional.  More or less exclusive to the British Isles, the British Bee was a great honey-maker for commercial beekeepers and it easily tolerated rather cold winters. 

            The value of this treasure of British beekeeping was not lost on North American colonists.  Some British Black Bees landed at Plymouth Rock and arrived in Virginia in the 1620’s.  The British Black bee thrived in New England’s harsh winters.

            Then, the British Bee found its way to Germany where it was a great success.  As the British Black bee spread from Germany throughout northern Europe, it got an inaccurate new name: the “German” Bee. 

            But all honeybees have a weakness: disease.  Any serious card-player might tell us that even the best and greatest streak of luck eventually runs out.  The British Black bee enjoyed centuries of dominance in the British Isles, North America, and Northern Europe.  But, in 1919, that same bee drew another card from the deck: the Ace of Spades.

            Beginning in the late 19th century, something called “Foulbrood” disease and a likely version of the “Isle of Wight disease” slowly wiped out almost all the British Black bees in America. 

            But, in the British Isles, the end came suddenly.  Some say that after smoldering for a decade and a half, “Isle of Wight disease” caught fire.  Others blame the swine flu epidemic, which some believe affected not only people, but Black bees.  Over a period of only about three years, what can only be described as the honeybee version of a plague swept over the British Isles killing every last pure bred British Black bee.  By 1919, in the U.K., the British Black bee was extinct.

            During the Black Plague of the middle ages, survivors would gather in churches to pray for their own safety and to honor those who had already passed.  But there was no time for mourning the complete disappearance of this native British bee. 

            The British Black bee was the only bee used by British beekeepers.  Honey production in the U.K. came to a swift, unexpected, and complete halt.  This wasn’t just a disaster.  It was an emergency.  Fortunately, a replacement was found in the British Black bee’s southern cousin, Apis mellifera ligustica, the Italian honeybee.  The yellow and black honeybee – the one you last saw outdoors -- was an Italian bee.  In the U.K., most have never seen anything more than a picture of the British Black bee. Everyone knew that, for the British Black bee in the U.K., the story was over.

            93 years later. 

            In 2012, the warden of the 19th century Whitfield’s Holy Trinity Church in Northumberland found dead bees all over the church.  Recognizing the obvious signs of a nearby infestation he called for assistance.   

Whitfield's Holy Trinity Church in Northumberland (Daily Mail Online)

            Fortunately, he didn’t get a simple exterminator.  Conservation Officer Dorian Pritchard of the Bee Breeders’ Association arrived and traced the bees to the roof of the Church.  Slates were removed using an electric saw.  The area was found to be filled with one or several large, thriving colonies of honeybees.  In spite of the noise and disruption, the bees never became agitated.  No one was stung.  

            The size of the infestation was so great that Pritchard called in experts for advice on the best method of dealing with problem.  Then, he noticed something strange about these bees.  They looked like a type of bee that he would never have seen outside of old photographs.  At least, not in the UK.   He suspected he’d found something . . . impossible: A surviving wild colony of “extinct” British Black bees. 

            When experts arrived to examine the infestation, they agreed.  But almost doubting their own eyes, they captured a sample of a few bees and sent them to yet another group of experts for identification.  Yes, these were British Black bees.  A surviving colony of British Black bees had been found hiding in the roof of a church in . . .  in the U.K.

            There would be no extermination. 

            Plans for the transfer of the bees began at once.  These British Black bees were scheduled to be “repatriated” throughout their native land.  Johnathan Archer, the estate maintenance manager expressed good wishes for the departing British Bees with the hope that these bees “will go from strength to strength with help from experts who know how to take care of them.”

            A side note: U.K. media reports of the rediscovery of this native bee reintroduced into currency the first and “proper" name for this distinguished breed of A. mellifera, the “British Black bee.”

            Let’s all wish these rescued insects the best of luck. 

Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri

& Belleville, Illinois

About the Author