Sunday, October 16, 2016

The Sweet Science of the Honey Bee

           


            Last weekend, I had the opportunity to experience something magical. Normally, I don’t like to use that word because, well, that’s not very scientific; but there’s no denying the enchantment that I felt as I stood in the midst of several thousand honey bees. Though I felt their presence, the bees were too hard at work to notice me. Luckily, local science teacher, beekeeper and owner of Dancing Bee Honey Farm, LLC, Dan Curran was there to translate the magic of the bees and what it is that makes these amazing insects such an integral part of our society.          

Beekeeper Dan Curran explaining the magic of the bees

Life in an Apiary:
            Down a rolling hill, past a wooded area, right on the edge of a farm sits an enchanted apiary. Home to more than 50,000 bees during the summer months, this apiary is strangely peaceful. Only the low humming sound of the bees can be heard. It’s a beautiful sunny day in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin and standing in the midst of the bees, there’s a feeling that I’m witnessing something truly magnificent.
            The warm, woody smell of smoke is in the air as beekeeper Dan Curran tends to his colonies using a smoker. This device, which simply emits a bit of natural wood smoke, helps to mask the bee’s natural alert pheromones, which could be triggered, even by Curran’s gentle inspection.
The golden bees are a mix of Italian (Apis mollifier ligustica) and Carniolan (Apis mellifera carnicaare), both of which are, by nature, fairly unaggressive. Though each of the seven recognized subspecies of honey bees has their own unique set of skills, Curran feels that the Italian and Carniolan allow for a good mix of attributes. Regardless of their origins, Curran has created a beautiful home for these bees where several colonies live in peace. Curran, who regularly visits the apiary to ensure that the bees are disease free and have enough food diligently looks after each colony, which is the term for a group of bees living in a hive.
 Living in Southern Wisconsin, the bees have access to plenty of pollen during warmer months, which helps with the overall health of the bees. Though there are occasionally cases of disease or “honey robbery” between colonies during times of famine, Curran is able to limit these types of issues in his hives by placing his apiary in an area with many sources of nectar. In fact, the mixture of suburban and rural foraging area near Blue Mounds allows the bees to collect nectar from sources such as basswood, black locust, clover and alfalfa. This results in a lightly colored summer honey with a sweet, floral flavor. As the nectar decreases in the area, a darker honey will become present in the fall. This can also be harvested, but Curran chooses to leave this for the bees in order to ensure their survival through the winter.
            Of course, as anyone who has lived through a Wisconsin winter knows, the weather can be brutal. Luckily, thanks to the bee’s natural instinct and Curran’s vigilant care, the hives have successfully thrived for over ten years.

So what is it that makes bees so uniquely resilient?

All for One and One for All
            The simple answer is evolution and teamwork. In terms of evolution, bees are perhaps one of the most efficient beings on the planet. Their entire lifecycle is perfectly timed to allow for their survival under a range of conditions. A part of their efficiency is also their social structure. Honey bees are social beings that rely on each other to survive. Each member of the hive has his or her own role, all of which are essential to the survival of the hive. Essentially, there are three types of bees in a hive at any given time during the warm months.
At the top of the social structure is the queen bee. The other bees fiercely protect her so she is generally hard to see, but if you spot her you will note that she is slightly longer and larger than the other bees in the hive. Though she is, in a way, a leader, her main role is to reproduce since she is the only sexually mature female in the hive. In the case of managed bees, a queen bee is generally purchased when a new colony is started. Honey bees are, however, able to raise their own queen as well. In fact, a queen bee only lives about three to five years. So, when a colony is in need of a new queen, the worker bees know just what to do.
            Workers, which are the bees you generally see pollinating flowers, are the caretakers of the hive. They are responsible for gathering pollen and nectar, making the honey to feed the hive and rearing the brood, or baby bees. So, when the worker bees find that they need a new queen, they simply select one of the fertilized eggs that the queen has laid and feed it something called royal jelly. They will also construct a special cell around the queen egg, which is quite different from the hexagonal shape that is so commonly associated with honey bees.
Of course, in order to develop this queen, the worker bees need a fertilized egg. Since worker bees are all female, drones, or male bees are needed to complete the cycle.  So, when spring arrives and the queen is ready to mate, the worker bees raise drones, which are essentially unfertilized eggs. Drones can be easily picked out in a hive because they are darker, have slightly larger heads and do not have stingers. Though each hive has a number of drones, Curran says that the queen will generally avoid mating with her own drones to avoid inbreeding.
Instead, when a queen bee is ready to mate, she flies to a place where drones are congregating. It seems that how they all end up in the same place is not well understood but it is likely related to pheromones. In any case, once they arrive at the breeding location, the queen flies as high as she can in the sky with the drones following close behind. In theory, the fittest drones are able to reach the queen and mate. During this time it is estimated that each queen mates with approximately 15 drones, which allows her to return to the hive and lay thousands of fertilized eggs over her lifetime.
                                A close-up of the brood, notice the brown capped cells

Tenacity and Teamwork:
At this point it’s probably quite clear that the lifecycle of the bee is completely dependent on the teamwork that results from their social structure. So, it’s not surprising that this teamwork is also what allows the bees to survive harsh winters or times of famine. Applying their famous efficiency, bees begin preparing for the winter months as soon as the temperatures and the nectar and pollen sources begin to drop. Of course, this preparation includes the storage of that dark honey we discussed earlier but it also means the bees begin to reduce their population. Sensing the impending food shortage, the worker bees minimize the brood to keep the population down. During the summer months a high population is needed since the physically demanding life of a worker bee means they only live for a few months at best. During the fall and winter, however, foraging will come to a halt and many workers will not be needed. Keeping the population is also more efficient in terms of food use and as we’ve discussed, bees are nothing if not efficient. Finally, in a unique attempt at efficiency, the worker bees will begin ostracizing the drones from the hive. As we discussed above, drones do not contribute to the food supply, and in fact, are said to eat quite a lot. Additionally, they are really only needed for reproduction, which does not take place in the winter months. So, overall, it is by a natural efficiency in evolution that the drones die over the winter and replaced by a new group of males in the spring when the hives become more active.
Perhaps the most amazing story in terms of the bee’s teamwork and tenacity however, is their ability to survive a Wisconsin winter.  A single bee, like many insects is essentially exothermic, or cold-blooded meaning that it has a slim chance of surviving winter. But, when a colony comes together in a cluster, they are able to create and conserve heat. Here’s how it happens…
Curran says that as the temperature drops bees become torpid. This is a state similar to hibernation, but the bees are able to eat or leave the hive to defecate as needed. The benefit of this state is that it conserves energy, which allows food supplies to last long. During this state the bees also need to stay warm so they cling together in a cluster within the hive, slightly moving their muscles in order to generate heat. An honorary member of the apiary, Curran also puts a special cover over each colony that helps to insulate the hive so that, ideally, when the temperatures rise and the flowers bloom, the bees will be at it again.

                                A group of bees hard at work preparing for the winter

Part of the Team:
Walking away from the apiary that day I was reminded of a quote I have posted in my office from the writer Flannery O’Connor. It says, “It's not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised. The mosquito is swatted.” There is something so very selfless, yet meaningful about the work of the bee. Perhaps it is that work ethic or perhaps it’s their loyalty to the hive that has inspired humans for centuries. Or, perhaps it’s that they’ve allowed us to become a part of their team. From their role in pollinating our crops to the connection between a beekeeper and his or her bees, there’s no denying that bees have become our muse and our partner. And, certainly, there’s something magical about that.

                                 

Where Can I Learn More?

Dane County Beekeepers Association: www.madbees.org

Dancing Bee Honey Farm, LLC:  http://www.dancingbeehoneyfarm.com

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