Bees are very busy animal pollination is required for over 90 percent of wild plants and 75 percent of the world’s most important crops pollinators are responsible for a one out of every three mouthfuls of our food pollination dependent crops are five times more valuable than non-pollinated crops.
Unlikely Bee Habitats
Bees can be found in a variety of places some of which are surprising let’s take a look at a few marshes shingle sand dunes soft cliffs heath lands wetlands chalk grasslands quarries gravel pits sea walls and even post-industrial land are all examples of natural habitats.
Bee Transport Network
Bees also rely on a transport system to get around consider how difficult it would be to travel around the united kingdom without our extensive road and rail networks consider what life9 would be like if out of every 10 miles of roads simply did not exist bee lines are a creative and lovely solution to the problem of flower and pollinator extinction the bee lines are a network of insect routes that run across our towns and countryside they connect existing wildlife reserves forming a network that will weave through the British landscape like a railway.
Bee Rescue Tips
Bringing a bee back to life if you come across a bumblebee that appears to be struggling it’s possible that it’s merely resting especially if it’s a queen in the early spring if you suspect the bee is having trouble carefully place it on a flower that is friendly to bees if no bee friendly flowers are available make a 50 50 mixture of white sugar and water to give the bumble bee a one-time energy boost by giving the carbs it requires to fly .
Bee Conservation Efforts
Anyone including you can help a bee out we can all help bees by planting flowers in our gardens balconies and windowsills you may also tell your friends and family how awesome bees are and how they can make their wild spaces be friendly by talking about them from march to october plant a variety of blooms in your garden to provide nectar for bees five bees actually have four wings.
Wing Hook Mechanism
When flying the two wings on each side hook together to form a bigger pair and then unhook when not flying.
Honeybee Communication Strategy
The waggle dance is a dance technique used by honeybees it’s not so much a dance move as it is a sophisticated strategy for them to communicate with one another in order to advise their nest mates where to go to find the finest food source the waggle dance took two years for academics at sussex university to interpret.
Bumblebee Brainpower
The brainy bunch the brain of a buff-tailed bumblebee is the size of a poppy seed that’s astounding because scientists have taught them to score a goal in b football in exchange for a sugary treat it’s hard to believe.
Smelly Footsteps Discrimination
They have surprisingly smelly feet may utilize their smelly footsteps to discriminate between their own fragrance the scent of a relative and the scent of a stranger according to researchers from the university of Bristol this means they’ll have a better chance of obtaining food and avoiding blooms that have previously been visited.
Queen Replacement Process
A dinner for queens in a honeybee colony if the queen bee dies the workers can raise a new queen bee they accomplish this by choosing a young larva and giving it specific meal called royal jelly which causes the caterpillar to mature into a reproductive queen.