Life of a Honey Bee
Insects are easily one of the most overlooked animals in the world. We humans are drawn more to the charismatic animals such as lions, pandas, and sharks. We often forget that insects are in fact crucial to the balance of our ecosystems. Honey bees, for example, are an important part of the food chain, being a food source for multiple predators such as birds, and hornets. They are also tremendous pollinators, responsible for many of our plants being able to reproduce.
This portfolio showcases the intricate details around the life of a honey bee. The photographs and captions portray the skills needed to survive and the many challenges they must face on a daily basis. The intention here is to inspire people to see not only honey bees, but all insects, under a new light and realise what they do for our planet.
Life of a Honey Bee Project
The Honey Bee
The honey bee is a social insect that lives in a colony reigned over by an all-powerful queen. Drones and worker bees, like this one, will do anything to satisfy the needs of the hive. They may be small but they are incredibly smart, even going as far as creating their own dance: the waggle dance. This dance is their way of communicating to the colony where the flowers with the most nectar and pollen are located, thereby optimising their collective productivity.
Wings are made to fly
Would you believe a colony of bees will collectively fly the equivalent distance of the Earth to the Moon in a single day? Their speed varies from 15-20 mph heading to their food source and they will beat their wings 200 times in one second. This is a vital task as they must collect nectar from 2 million flowers just to make around half a kilo of honey, keeping in mind that a single bee will produce less than a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.
Pollen for home made bread
Bees use pollen to make what is called bee bread. This particular pollen is the one of the 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘶𝘮, a species of bindweed. Pollen is a main source of protein for the colony providing fats, minerals and vitamins. The pollen is transported by the bee in pollen baskets located on their back legs. This bread is everything that young bees require to be healthy.
One of the beekeeper’s worst nightmares
The varroa mite is a tiny parasite no bigger than 2mm in diameter. It may be small but can cause huge problems. It will attach itself to a bee or larva to reproduce or feed off of it. In doing so it will transmit any viruses it was carrying to the bee. The most common one is deformed wing virus. This causes wing malformation and renders the bee incapable of flying. Ultimately, if the hive isn’t treated, the consequences could be catastrophic leading to the whole colony being wiped out.
Importance of Ivy
In Autumn, bees will face a different kind of struggle. Most plants and flowers will have started to die back and with them the food that the bees need to survive. Even though the bees have been collecting supplies for the winter, they will need to continue this throughout the year in order to attend to the needs of the colony. Ivy is a stable food source for bees as unlike other plants it will provide an abundance of pollen and nectar throughout the cooler seasons. This not only helps bees but also butterflies, wasps, and hoverflies. Next time that you are considering getting rid of ivy in your garden, think again. You could single-handedly help the pollinators.
The thief
The common wasp is a fierce predator that is always on the look out for a weak hive. It is in search of the nectar and pollen stocks hidden inside of the hive. Unfortunately, the European honey bee has no way to defend itself. It is down to the beekeeper to try new techniques to deter the predators. However, some honey bees, like the Japanese honey bees, have developed a defence strategy that involves gathering in a ball around the wasp and vibrating their wings in order to create temperatures of about 46°C. They are effectively roasting the wasp. It has no chance of survival.
There will be blood
We shouldn’t underestimate how bees, just like any other insect, play a vital role. Recently insect numbers have been in decline, and with their extinction, our ecosystems would crumble. It is estimated that within 50 years of insects disappearing, life on Earth would end. How? Many of the world’s plants depend on pollinators, such as our vegetable, fruit and some cereal crops. We would no longer be able to eat any of those foods nor feed them to the animals that we ourselves consume. Chaos would reign and politicians would have no power left to preserve the environment. Ultimately this would lead to a crisis: a race for resources and perhaps global warfare. Having covered the challenges that the bee colonies face, we must consider the impact of their decline on our own safety. The cracks in our society will start to show and in order to avoid the spilling of human blood we need to act now. Begin today by avoiding the use of pesticides and start planting trees and plants in outdoor spaces. Give your support to local wildlife causes. Next time you see an insect you may appreciate its true value.