HMC Bee Lab: Honey bees: Sweet or Not?

We have all heard “Save The Bees!” at one point or another. It is a powerful statement that has called many people to action. It is an important, urgent cause, because the bees are in danger. But which bees?

When people hear “Save The Bees,” they often think of honey bees. Honey bees are vital pollinators for agriculture, and about one third of the food eaten by Americans comes from crops pollinated by honey bees. However, honey bees are not native to North America. In fact, they are an invasive species that compete with native bees for resources.

[1]: Honeybee on an almond flower

Honeybees were introduced to North America from Europe in the 1600s, and they spread to California after the Gold Rush in the mid 1800s. Honeybees are a domestic livestock animal, much like sheep or cattle, and honey bees in the wild are domestic bees that have become feral. Honey bees are an incredibly successful invasive species, and they can crowd out native species and compete for pollen and other resources. Part of the reason that honey bees are so successful is their communication abilities. Unlike bumblebees, social bees that are native to North America, honeybees can communicate distance and direction of a food source using a sophisticated waggle dance, allowing them to monopolize the most abundant food sources. Bumble bees can also communicate information about a worthwhile resource, but they cannot communicate distance and direction in the same way.

Unlike honey bees, many bees native to North America are solitary bees. Most of these species do not live in hives, but instead live alone in nests in the soil or in wood. They are often very small and do not have queens or produce honey. These bees are also much less likely to sting since they do not have a hive to defend.

[a]: leafcutter bee [b]: carpenter bee [c]: ultra-green sweat bee

[2]: Some bees native to North America

Bumble bees are North America’s social bees. Like honey bees, bumble bees are an important pollinator for agriculture. Bumble bees are especially important for crops like tomatoes, sweet peppers, and strawberries, as honey bees cannot easily access the pollen in these plants. Bumble bees are also very important for pollinating many native plant species.

[3]: Bumble bee

In the past two decades, American bumblebee populations have dropped by 90%. Pesticides, habitat loss, and climate change are threatening these bees’ existence, spelling disaster for the ecosystems that depend on them. There are signs that competition from honey bees has played a part in the declining bumble bee populations. Honey bees can also spread diseases to native bees, as seen from the fact that native bees near apiaries suffer more from common diseases that afflict honey bees. Recently, honey bee hives have experienced losses, but globally honey bees are one of the most successful species, while native bee populations continue to decline.

Honey bees remain incredibly important for agriculture, as many of our staple foods could not grow without them. Also, measures like regulating pesticides help both honey bees and native bees. However, in general, helping honey bees and helping native bees is not synonymous, and initiatives around helping bees need to take this into account. For native bees, the best thing we can do is focus on conservation and habitat protection.

HMC Bee Lab

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Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Honey bees: Sweet or Not?

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