The Under-Appreciated Honey Bees and the Ecosystem Service they

ProvideSamantha Dinwiddie

Objectives

Educate Appreciation

Roles, and the making of a queen

Navigation & communication

Honey bees as pollinators

The current, unstable security of this species and what to do about it

Worker beesTake care of larvae, building/maintaining hive, foraging, making honey, make a queen

Drone beesLeave nest to mate, then die

Queen Bee• Lay eggs

Bee GPS

• Solar Compass – compound eye can see polarized light

• Internal Clock – length of flight and sun movement

Communicating through Dancing

Round Dance

Waggle Dance

Direction, Speed

The Making of a

If the hive becomes overcrowded, the workers, who are all

female, will raise a new queen by feeding her royal

jelly

Pollination

A vital interaction that allows the transfer of

genetic material critical to the reproductive system

of most flowering plants

In addition to the food that we eat, pollinators support healthy ecosystems that clean the air, stabilize soils, protect from sever weather, and support other

wildlife

Honey Bees as Pollinators

http://audreelapierre.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/honeybees-infographic.png

http://audreelapierre.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/honeybees-infographic.png

What’s Happening?Theories

place most blame on

habitat loss and pesticide use

Also looks to global warming and the compromised pollen and nectar of GMO’s

“Honey Bees contribute to global food security, and their extinction would represent a

terrible biological [and economic] disaster”

-Bernard Vallet, Director-General of the

World Organization for Animal Health

Bee Garden

• Choose flowers that bloom successively over the spring, summer, and fall seasons

• Red, blue, yellow

• Large patches of like flowers planted in close proximity to one another.

• No pesticides

• Researchers have found that more bees will be drawn to gardens with ten or more species of attractive plants.

Choose flowers so that garden will bloom

successively

Large patches of like flowers planted in close

proximity to one another.Ten or more species of

attractive plants.

Buy Local Honey

• Supports beekeepers

• Local honey complies with all food standards requirements but is not mistreated to give it a long shelf life.

• Strengthens body’s immune response to local pollen

• China: biggest exporter, notorious for tainted honey, and honey smuggling