Spring has finally arrived in the U.S., bringing its bright spectacle of budding trees and migrating birds, along with more subtle but equally important changes—among them, the first emergence of native bees.
But “native bees” doesn’t actually include the insect most of us picture upon hearing the word “bee.” That yellow-and-black-striped, hive-living, honey-making critter—formally Apis mellifera—hails from Europe. Farmers rely on these tiny imports as, essentially, livestock animals that pollinate food crops and produce honey. But their wild, native counterparts are something completely different.
“Take the majority of what you know about honeybees and throw it away,” says Sydney Shumar, a biologist and manager of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bee Lab. “It does not apply to our native bee friends.” To celebrate spring, Scientific American spoke with Shumar about North American native bee species’ variety, differences from honeybees, and importance in their ecosystem.
Do I have this right that there are more than 4,000 native bee species in the U.S.? How is that number so big?
The reason why there are so many native bees is you have all these different little things evolving to pollinate groups or species of plants. So they all have very different characteristics. When you look at pictures of our native bees, they look totally different than a honeybee, and you have huge ranges of color, size, how they collect pollen and how they nest.
There are no native bees in North America that live in a hive or produce honey. Most of them live in very small family units, or you could think of it as more like an apartment where you might have families aggregating together.
“If you go anywhere in the United States, you are bound to find some native bees.” —Sydney Shumar, biologist
None of them produce honey; none of them produce wax; none of them make big structures like you would think of with a honeybee. Some are stem-nesting; most of them are ground-nesting, so when you’re walking around in the winter, you are walking on top of millions of ground-nesting bees that are just laying low until it’s time for them to come out with spring.
Is this true even in cities? Do they have preferences or types of ground that they need?
A lot of our native bees are specialists, so they do like a particular type of soil; we have a couple that particularly like sand. In cities and more urban areas, you have a lot of impervious surfaces, so that is going to make it harder for them. But if you have loose soil, if you have native plants, you’re most likely going to find native bees.
Are there any U.S. ecosystems that don’t have native bees, such as deserts or something?
No, we worked on a project on xeric habitat, and when you think of xeric, you think of dry; you think of nothing blooming, just arid—and the researchers caught hundreds—hundreds—of bees. If you go anywhere in the United States, you are bound to find some native bees.
Are there any species or groups that you find particularly cool?
Besides all of them? I am very fond of this group that’s called squash bees. They’re medium-sized; they’re very cute and fluffy. But as you’d guess, they are squash specialists. They come out super early in the morning; you have to get there at first light. And if you have squash plants, then you most likely have them. The scientific name of the most widespread species is Peponapis pruinosa, and you’ll find them just relaxing in the big squash bloom, usually early in the morning.
.
A Martinapis luteicornis bee found in the desert in Cochise County, Arizona.Amanda Robinson//USGS Bee Lab via Flickr
In the world, human beings are facing various problems. People who are full of greed, anger, and ignorance are seen to be fighting with each other in words and deeds. As the fighting continues, various problems such as civil wars, wars of aggression, and wars of aggression are occurring. As world peace is being destroyed, humans are facing unbearable problems. Innocent children and women are not getting the rights they deserve and deserve. I can't think of one thing every time. What is it? The United Nations. If we look at the responsibilities and duties of the United Nations, I think it is not suitable for solving the problems that are happening in the world today. In fact, the United Nations and the World Security Council, such an organization must rule the world, must be able to give orders, and must have various ways to obey orders. There must be no organization that can influence more than that organization. There should be experts from each country. They can even dominate the superpowers like the US, China, and Britain. Only then will global peace be achieved quickly. Now, if a country with power develops more militarily, economically, or socially than its own country, then powerful countries will jealously seek out enemies and wage war. Or they will attack with fighter jets. In this, innocent people are losing their lives. No one understands the value of a life. You should think about how to achieve global peace by controlling these. If the US continues to be the permanent president of the UN, world peace will never be achieved. If you think carefully, no one sees that they are working for the common good, but for their own benefit, for the benefit of their own country. The permanent president of the UN and the Security Council has rejected this, As a young Rohingya, I have come to realize that only by electing the president and secretary from among the countries in the world through a secret ballot system and governing the world fairly can we achieve global peace. The United Nations and the Security Council are organizations in which any country must govern, give orders, and make them obey their orders. For example, only when a defendant is tried in court can we hold the leaders of the countries in check and control them, can we achieve global peace smoothly. Otherwise, it will not be easy for powerful countries to use various excuses to end this war every year, every year, for the benefit of themselves and their countries. No country's leaders pay any attention to the words of the United Nations and the Security Council. If we look at it in practice, look at the Rohingya issue. Myanmar is a small country. Even that country has been under siege for 8 years. What action can be taken? Why is the UN and the Security Council Powerless? Without such Power, how can the organization bring about global peace? Everyone should think about it. Whether there is a veto or a strong one, all countries in the world can only achieve global peace if they are subject to the UN and the Security Council. Seek peace in the quiet embrace of nature. Peace is an indispensable need of the human race. It is not as if one person can kill another person, and it is as if one country can attack another country, but instead of trying to build peace, we must try to destroy the peace now, and the world is getting hotter and is on the verge of collapse. I especially appeal to all the world experts to urgently try to bring about peace in all parts of the world. Mr, Noor Muhamed Arkhan Rohingya Youth Myanmar
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
Leave a Reply