Two weeks ago I introduced some of the members, parts, and jobs in a honeybee hive. Ed Knittle gave me the opportunity to observe the hive’s structure and the amazing members and activity of a hive. This week I’ll add more information about the honeybee and some of the challenges they face. Remember, honeybees are one of the most important insects that live in the Times News area and the world.

Throughout this column remember I will use the terms she/her since almost all hive members are female bees. Nature has “designed” honeybees’ bodies so efficiently. Their head holds two different sets of eyes, the large compound eyes, like you see on houseflies or dragon flies, and 3 small simple eyes (ocelli.) The ocelli are the light detectors for bees.

Honeybee legs are designed to store pollen in structures called pollen baskets. (Bumblebees also have them.) Once in the hive, the pollen is scraped out for feeding the larva. Also, luckily for us, honeybee bodies are rather hairy allowing pollen to stick to them. This inadvertently allows a honeybee to carry pollen from flower to flower allowing pollination to occur. Also their abdomens have wax glands producing wax they later scrape off to shape the 6-sided cells in a hive.

Note: Pollen is produced by the stamens (the “male” part of a flower) which are often longer than pistils (the “female” part.) Nectar is found in the base of pistils and that is the target of the field bees. As the bee seeks out the nectar, pollen is deposited on the pistils. A future column will address this. Honey is the product of the hive we enjoy but bees roles as pollinators is immeasurable. Because of their importance, much research is ongoing to see why so many bee hives are failing. One major factor is our overuse, or misuse of pesticides. Orchardists are very careful not to spray when the fruit trees are in bloom. However, not all bees get nectar in the orchard. Hay fields and lawns abound with clover and here is where the greatest risk of pesticide exposure occurs.

One of the greatest threats honeybees face are mites. (Mites are very tiny spider relatives so small that one mite species, called follicle mites, can live in your eyelids.) Their tiny size does not make them less dangerous to honeybees. A parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, gets into honeybees where they feed on fat bodies there. This weakens bees and they die from viral infections or succumb more easily to a less lethal pesticide dose than before mite infestations. Alarmingly, about 40% of hives are lost to this mite infection each year. Biologists have studied them extensively and once referred to them as “just parasites,” they now with more knowledge, refer to them as “werewolves.”

A more destructive mite has been discovered in hives in China and Southeast Asia. The fear is that they will spread as rapidly as the spotted lanternfly has done in our region. If that isn’t enough, research has revealed another source of concern. It appears that EMF (electromagnetic fields) from microwave towers, cellphones, 5G networks, etc. are altering the hives production and even disorienting bees. We have to hope that the bees can overcome all these obstacles.

Remember how amazing honeybees are, with making their own nearly perfect 6-sided cells, changing nectar to honey, gathering pollen to eat, and lucky for us, pollinating flowers at the same time. Their hives are a great functioning society and let’s hope we can find ways to insure they are always here for our benefit.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: In the 17th century, European settlers brought European honeybees to this country to add to the _____ bee species already here. A. 4,000 B. 1,000 C. 200 D. 50

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: When a honeybee takes her direct route back to the hive with nectar and pollen it is called a beeline.