By Amanda M. Ellis
University of Georgia
When a honeybee buzzes the blooms in your garden, give it some
respect. The pollination it and other honeybees are providing is
supplying an estimated one-third of the world’s food.
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In the United States alone, honeybee pollination provides a
$20-billion boost to agriculture. And we may be in danger of
losing these vital pollinators.
Over the past 20 years, some exotic honeybee pests have been
introduced into the U.S.
The most devastating of these is the varroa mite. To a bee, this
mite is like having a basketball-sized tick attached to your
side. You can imagine the damage it causes as it sucks the
honeybee’s blood.
Varroa mites transmit viruses to the bee, too, causing even
greater sickness. These mites have all but wiped out wild U.S.
colonies of honeybees. As a result, the honeybees in North
America are virtually all domesticated, relying on beekeepers to
manage the devastating mites.
Garden pollinators
And just when overall bee health is at its lowest, we need
honeybees more than ever. Honeybees are important pollinators for
gardeners at all levels.
Pollination is the movement of pollen from the male part of a
flower to the female part. It’s vital to plant reproduction. Most
plants need pollination to produce fruit. Some even require
cross-pollination to set more and larger fruit.
Other types of native bee pollinators are out there. But habitat
destruction and urban development have reduced their populations,
too, in many areas.
Honeybees fill the pollination void left by native species.
They’re excellent pollinators because of their generalist
foraging habits and large colony sizes, with 30,000 to 60,000
bees per hive.
Honeybees visit plants to collect both pollen and nectar to use
as food. They use pollen as a protein source for rearing baby
bees. And nectar, which they process and store in the hive as
honey, is their primary energy source.
Bee dancing
To “tell” one another where pollen and nectar-rich plants are,
honeybees use a special dance language known as the waggle dance.
During spring and summer, forager bees work from sunup to
sundown, working themselves to death in only six weeks.
Pests such as varroa mites bring bees’ death even faster, making
this valuable pollinator scarce in many areas.
The honeybee laboratory at the University of Georgia is at the
forefront of honeybee research. The lab’s primary research
emphases focus on controlling bee pests and studying pollination
ecology.
Scientists are making strides in both areas. And just in time.
Honeybee health is at an all-time low.
Honeybees are a vital component not just of a successful garden
but of agriculture, too. So, support and promote honeybees and
beekeeping in your area. After all, honeybees give you one-third
of all the food you eat.
(Amanda Ellis is a graduate student in entomology with the
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.)
