Antibiotics, Honey Bees and Resistance

A group of scientists at Yale University led by Dr.Nancy Moran, have discovered that bacteria in the guts of honeybees are highly resistant to the antibiotic tetracycline. This specific antibiotic, which is good in itself,  was  used for  decades in the United States as preventative medication in domesticated hives. As a result, the "good" and "healthy" bacteria that live in  honeybees' guts, have been altered, and slowly became resistant or used to the medication. Researchers have identified 8 different tetracycline resistance genes among American honeybees that were treated with this medicine. However, those same genes were almost absent in bees, in countries where this specific antibiotic was banned, (and still banned today).

Therefore this prevention (giving the tetracycline in case the bees become sick) may have been detrimental to the honeybee well being in the long run. Like us, honeybees have a lot of beneficial bacteria that live in their guts.  A healthy intestine with healthy living bacteria  play  important roles in neutralizing toxin's in the bee's food for instance, and also in defending the bee against pathogens, or diseases.

By wanting to prevent diseases and strengthen the colonies this automatic long term  treatment may have actually weakened the honeybees internal system making them more susceptible to be sick, and perhaps decline.


From: Journal of the American Society for Microbiology ; Long-Term Exposure to Antibiotics Has Caused Accumulation of Resistance Determinants in the Gut Microbiota of Honeybees, Nancy Moran      (http://mbio.asm.org/content/3/6/e00377-12)

Violins and Bees

I have talked about propolis, a natural plant resin that the bees collect and use in their hives, mainly to coat the interior of their house. This habit serves them well! It helps to prevent wind drafts in the hive by applying the propolis on the wooden ware. Also, known only recently, scientists have discovered that the honeybee will eat the propolis when she feels sick.

Combining beeswax and propolis together makes the new substance more plastic and very strong. During the antiquity, people from the Mediterranean would use a concoction made of honeybee wax melted with some plants resin that they would then apply to hot to the hulls and decks of their  ships as protection again the salty water and natural elements. Early on, it was "discovered" that hot beeswax would penetrate the wood and the resin would harden the wax into a strong varnish-like coat. This layer was virtually waterproof.

Later, mineral pigments were added to the hot wax/resin mixture. This new colored substance was then used to paint Greek warships. This technique evolved to the known encaustic painting which was used on wood, canvas and even marble statues.

Furniture-makers in Europe used also a combination of beeswax and resin to protect their work. Today, this extraordinary mix not only dries to a resinous coat, but remain plastic and blends with the original varnish that was applied many years ago.

Stradivarius mixing oil, beeswax and propolis

Varnishes were also use to coat string instruments like violas, cellos and violins. However this guarded secret substance, needed to be in a liquid form in order to be brushed on instruments. Different formula were concocted, and never to be revealed. Those varnishes were made of plant resins combined with oils like linseed, honeybee propolis, gums and other oils. The usage of beeswax was commonly added to the mix to decrease the brittleness of the resin. This type of "flexible" finish was need not only to protect the string instrument but also to preserve its resonance. This type of varnish had a higher proportion of resins, and a hard, shiny surface.

The great violin Master, Stradivarius knew these secret unique blends of oils, resins, beeswax and propolis. He used them in a way that only him knew the correct proportion of each natural product creating the secret varnish formula for his high prized string instruments. Obviously, we know now that the amount of heat applied to the mixture causes specific chemical reactions affecting the properties of each "ingredient" in the finish product. Thus was this the secret?

Bibliography:
Stradivarius in the Jungle, Human Ecology, April 2008 A.M. Stearman

Beeswax...the Magic

Beeswax (white scales) 

In the insects kingdom, many of them  secrete wax from glands. It is usually to protect themselves against the natural elements, like rain, or dryness. However, honeybees over time have developed special glands in the worker bees. They actually have 4 pairs of wax glands which are located on their abdomen (see picture). Queens and drones do not possess these glands, therefore they cannot produce wax. What I found extraordinary is the fact that each little white scale is unique...just like snowflakes...
To produce the wax, a worker bee has to be about 3 weeks old. This wax is used to build honeycombs. Later in life when the bee becomes a forager, she looses the ability to create wax. Beeswax is a complex substance that Man cannot replicates. The chemical formula of beeswax is: C15 H31 CO2 C30 H61!

"Beeswax is a very stable material. Researchers and archaeologists have discovered beeswax thousands of years old (in pyramids for example) and pointed out very little deterioration, being nearly similar to beeswax that is produced today. Beeswax is insoluble in water, in fact it's been brought up from ship wrecks after years under salt water and is still in good condition."


The production of beeswax in the United States is about 1 to 2 pounds (1 to 1.5 kg) of beeswax per 100 pounds(45kg) of honey produced!

Pouring warm wax in molds

Beeswax for candles was used exclusively during church's ceremonies and were very expansive, because of its rarity. "Since the 4th. century AC, it was required by the Roman Catholic Church that only beeswax candles should be used in church." (Crane) It was therefore  a major improvement in Europe when beeswax candles were used at last by Royalty during the XIV century, and later by the end of the XV century by some nobles, and grand merchants. No wonder those higher classes liked the beeswax better... it burned pure, clean with a gentle sweet aroma without any smoky flames, foul and acrid odor!






During the Middle Ages, most early western cultures in common households used candles rendered from animal's fat. They were called tallow.  
There were 4 types of candles available for purchase at that time:
The tallow, the cheapest was made using one type of animal; cow suet.
The tallow mix fat, cheap, 2/3 cow suet and 1/3 lamb suet or cattle and sheep.
The tallow mix with beeswax, mid-range expansive.
The candle made with beeswax, the most expansive.

Fat simmering!

Candle-making was a great booming business during the Middle ages. The candle makers ( making tallows ) went from house to house, making candles from the kitchen fats saved for that precise purpose. They also made their own, and sold them from small candle shops. Wicks were usually made 

Making candles

of linen threads 3-5 twisted together.  

Candle shop

The chandlers (making beeswax candles) went from church to church, manor to manor , and to castles...  beeswax at that time was so precious that the clergy, nobles and Royals had hives of their own, where they lived. They feared "some" would steal their wax. 


By the end of the XIII century, this candle making boom in England and France became so important that the candle makers and chandlers decided to form a guild. Prices, weights and techniques were set and heavily regulated. For instance, under Louis XIV in France, one candle made of beeswax was 2.5 livers, which was at the time the salary of specialized journeyman! So only the very wealthy could afford such a luxury. 

Tallow's and beeswax candles were used until the XVIII century in Europe and America, until the whaling industry developed  the "spermaci wax". This was a wax obtained by crystallizing sperm whale oil. 

Whaling

I love my bees and all they give us, but I am thankful for Humphrey Davy, an English scientist who invented the first electric light bulb in 1800. He first invented an electric battery, which wires were  connected to a piece of carbon; the carbon glowed...producing light!
I love my bees and all they give us, but I am thankful for Humphrey Davy, an English scientist who invented the first electric light bulb in 1800. He first invented an electric battery, which wires were  connected to a piece of carbon; the carbon glowed...producing light!I love my bees and all they give us, but I am thankful for Humphrey Davy, an English scientist who invented the first electric light bulb in 1800. He first invented an electric battery, which wires were  connected to a piece of carbon; the carbon glowed...producing light!

Humphrey Davy

First light bulbs!

Citation/Bibliography:
Crane, E. The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting, 1999
Sim, A. The Tudor Housewife, 1996

 

The Last Chore...

Ben placing a waxed cardboard over hive

Our 2 colonies in Shakopee

What a beautiful day to say good night to our bees...it was 64 F (17C) on Nov.10 2012! Later on it was 72 F (22C)! It felt very strange, to remove all the pails left 4-5 weeks ago; it was not cold. We even saw a good amount of bees flying around, looking suspicious at us. We did not think that we needed to use our smoker because usually the honeybees are all inside their house and don't pay attention at us at this time of year. But indeed they were curious, as Ben was making the lower entrance larger and stapling a screen over to let the bees and air flow, but to prevent the mice to set foot in what they would consider a golden heaven...Heated,




and food for the whole winter!

So, I went back to the car, and got the precious smoker fired up, one last time! We did not move any boxes because in the last month or so, the bees too prepare their hive for winter. For instance, they "patch" any space where the wind could finds its way inside the hive. This task takes many days to do and a lot of energy is required from the little ones. They also build wax combs between each box like a bridge, to help the honeybees to move up and down during winter, from nest to food.

Moisture board on top of hive in Chanhassen

We do know that each colony has bees and we could see from above that they had been in a cluster, thus ready for winter. After placing a "moisture" board on top of the hive, which absorb the moisture that  bees will make during the cold months just by living. If it is wet in the hive, the bees have no chances of surviving...they will freeze to death. 

Adding the waxed cardboard cover

Replacing the telescopic top

We plugged all the circled entrances, except the top one. With the larger opening at the bottom and the circled opening at the top, it will be enough to ventilate the whole colony. 

Before leaving, we looked at the hives one more time...gave them three gentle pats and said the beekeepers' prayer : "Good night little ones, have a safe winter and see you in the spring" We know that the honeybees did their best to be ready to again face a certain harsh Minnesota winter. We also know that WE did our best to prepare the bees since last spring using  the best ways we know. However, somehow every year, I feel the same way... a bit sad that I won't see my honeybees for many months, and wondering about them until spring. But I have to remind myself (often!) that  it is nature; and nature rewards the fittest. So, we will see in March 2013!

All wrapped up for the long winter: Hives in Chanhassen

To anyone who reads this blog, I  wish you a good and safe winter.
Thank you,
Karine  

Nothing Much Happening...Waiting for Winter

  I am trying to be a smart beekeeper....so I let the honeybees be bees...most of the time! I try not to disturb them often. After all, they were roaming this beautiful Earth before us! Last time I saw them was about 3 weeks ago. They were preparing for the cold, applying propolis and wax in holes and crevices.The hives all had pails with sugar syrup, and they were drinking slowly. Of course since then, the temperatures have been low; as low as 21F! And this is a powerful signal to the bees that it is time to gather around the Queen, and to keep her warm.
  During this late-fall, the Queen has almost stopped laying eggs, the workers then don't have much brood rearing to do, but keep themselves and her Majesty warm and fed. Their only goal until spring is to survive with using minimal energy and food stored. The honeybees have to assess how much reserve they have and act consequently, otherwise they will all perish before the winter is over.
  As temperatures continue to drop, the bees are forming what is called a cluster, it is located over the  brood area which at this point very small, on purpose. The bees don't want to feed more mouths than they need.
  When the outside temperature is below 57F (14C), the cluster becomes tighter, more compact. By this "simple" ingenuity of clustering, the social honeybees are able to generate and conserve enough heat to survive the harsh weather, if they use their food wisely, and if they have enough supply.
   If you could insert your hand inside the cluster per se, you could feel the warmth radiates. The honeybees can maintain a temperature of 90F (32C) range regardless of the outside temperature! They have this gift of temperature "auto-regulation". They actually don't heat their hive, like we do for our house... no they use their bodies to generate the needed warmth for the whole colony of bees.
In addition to this extraordinary feat, overwintering bees are "different" physiologically than summer bees: they have more body fat reserve (not that I can see!), they live longer, they have little brood to feed, and are not has active either. They also possess larger hypopharyngeal glands (HG), those are long glands coiled in the sides of workers' heads producing proteins.

The winter bee cluster has a specific structure, it looks like the Russian wooden doll sets, which nest each doll in each other.




Left diagram: winter bee cluster viewed as if I opened the top cover and looked down.
    The orange center is at 26C/ 78.8F, this is were the precious queen is kept, as well as the small brood, enveloped by worker bees. Those bees are protected from the  harsh element at all time. They are warm and toasty, and can move about. Their job is to perform routine comb maintenance . The movement of the workers and the brood's generate enough warmth that they will use only a very small amount of winter stores.
  The yellow "ring, 14C/57.2F is where the bees generate the heat by moving their flight muscles, shivering.
The blue outer layer which is the zone for the insulating bees, reaches only 5C/41F. Those bees act as a blanket for the rest of them. It is about 2.5-7.5 cm/1-3" thick. The bees are very ingenious because they learned how to fill every space available to make a uniform thick protective shell. So they gather very, very closely, even occupying some empty cells, filling the spaces that are between frame as to make a homogeneous layer. Those bees are very cold and don't move but if disturbed could use all their energy and sting.

Another interesting point (well I think  it is anyway!) is the fact that the entire cluster will move upwards where the honey is located as the winter progresses. That's how well they communicate, they move as a big "mass".  At all time, a portion of the cluster has to be in contact with the reserved honey because this is the essential fuel eaten and needed to move their hind muscles generating the necessary heat.
Remember, their hive/house is not warm; only the ball of bees inside the first layer. Because bees are social insects, they all participate in the life of a colony (except the Queen...of course...some have to be privileged!) Therefore the outer bees rotate position, and actually go deeper inside, gathering warmth and a bit to eat; before resuming their insulating duties again. Bees never sleep; they rest, conserving all the energy they can in order to survive. How fascinating they are ;)

In the figure at right simply show how cold it is all around a cluster. Here you noticed the cluster is all the way up. This is when Spring is approaching and the reserved honey is almost all eaten. In the winter, the bees start on the bottom box, with honey-reserve on the upper box or boxes.

I still have one more visit to do before the end of November. In the meantime, stay warm!

Last Warm Days of Fall

Both September 22 and September 29 weekends' have been dedicated to feed the bees sugar syrup. They are still drinking a lot, and storing it for winter. In my car I have 10 gallons of sugary solution...6 white pails and 2 Jerry cans!

It is still very dry, and relatively warm. Most flowers are spent; few asters and goldenrods can be seen along the roads among the desiccated flora. 

 We are in a strange transitional weather pattern, with many fluctuations. But the honeybees seem to live their lives and continue to gather pollen, and some floral nectar. The drone ares still home but are  roaming a bit more... they may fell that their days are counted. The foragers are collecting their last food of the season. The "winter" bees will be born soon and will live until spring. The queen is laying fewer eggs as the cold and shorter days are approaching. All must be ready, and final touches are underway.
I will check their syrup levels again at the end of the week. It is supposed to be colder with a couple of nights in the 30's. That means the bees will form a ball to keep warm and will stop drinking the sugar solution.

This bee seemed to have fun in the sun...flower! She will bring all that bounty home.

Honey bee gathering pollen Photo: L. Vogel

Extracting the Harvest!

Uncapping the frames of honey with hot knife

Saturday September 8, 2012

Around 11:00 am, we started extracting our honey. Each frame has to be uncapped: removing the fine layer of wax that the bees diligently placed on every cell full of ripe honey. Ben uses a hot knife which melts the wax,opening the cells and  exposing the honey.                                                                                                                                                             

                                            

      

Uncapped frames are lined up in the extractor

Then the frames are placed vertically in the extractor. This machine uses centrifugal force, so the honey is "ejected" on the side of the extractor gliding to the bottom of the cylinder.

Working hard!

Ben has  a helper:Jamison

  

Soon the honey starts to trickle slowly into our large bucket. We use a double filter, to strain. This keeps the debris and  most of the bees legs and wings out!

It was a rather cool day, so the honey was not flowing so well. Liz got the solution...more heat was  needed. Since she is raising a few chickens, she has those heat lamps and an electric heater. After plugging everything...the fuse could not handle all that power! We had to scale down after tripping the fuses twice! Finally the garage was warm enough, and the honey was percolating nicely.

We collected 185 lb (84kg) of honey, and 1.28 lb (578g) of wax. The honey is still in huge buckets, we will bottle later.
 We had a wonderful day, and were happy to see our friends  Jamison and Liz.

Honey Harvesting: Day One and Two

Set up in the garage

As fall comes,   harvesting our honey was our ritual the weekend of September 6,7,8 2012. Friday 6, we set up our extraction station in the  garage.... until we can have a proper honey house! One day:)

Saturday 7th. We headed to Shakopee with our friend Liz. Peter, the farm owner got his ATV ready for us. Ben was happy  and had fun driving  all the way to our 2 hives at the end of the field. We had to clear the squashes, and vines before driving on the made up path.

Once at the hives we had to take each frames from each box (super) and brush gently the bees off. The honeybees were good but a bit sneaky...finding their way back to the cleaned frames from time to time.

Happy beekeeper!

Brushing the frames

Carrying the "bee" free honey supers

Beautiful frame of capped honey

Honey bee drinking the nectar on a frame

Our ride is almost ready to go!

While Ben and I were brushing, Liz was ready with a towel to cover the frames so the bees would not settle again on them. We had to work fast but with grace and slow movements. No need to upset the honeybees unnecessarily! In all it went very well, we got only a handful of bees in the car while driving home. And no we did not wear our veils all the way home... that would have been suspicious! Thanks to Liz who took all of the pictures to document this blog post. Next harvesting day.

New Research about CCD (Colony Colapse Disorder)

A new research on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) lead by Dr. Jay D. Evans from the Bee Research Lab (ARS) in Beltsville, Maryland  was just released on August 21, 2012. Here's the link to the article: http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2012.08.24.13.30.archive.html

Today I will try to explain what I have read and understood from this new release. As you have probably heard the honey bees are "disappearing"(remember it happens to one of my colony.. ..most of my Russian bees were gone without any traces, leaving the queen, a little brood and a handful of workers), at a rate around 30% of colony loss or about 400,000+ colonies each winter in the USA alone! That is tremendous! This decline has been going on for about 6 years now and the implications are substantial to our economy as well as to our well being.

In the article "Pathogen Webs in Collapsing Honey bee colonies" recently published, the new study seem to indicate that the collapse of honey bees in the United States differs from one region to another. However pathogens were in greater abundance  and incidence in colonies showing CCD than healthy controlled colonies. Colonies affected seem to be more susceptible to a diverse set of pathogens, the co-infections acting together in synergy producing a rapid reduction in worker bees a characteristic of the disorder.
The scientists also showed that  individual bees can have this "mix"and interaction  of pathogens without affecting the colony as a whole. This shows that pathogen interactions is an important factor of bee disease. Many microorganisms affect honey bees in general, and/ or the colony entirely but  their effects is not well known today.
One thing is clear from this paper: CCD colonies did have more pathogen species present than did non- CCD colonies. However these pathogens are also present in non-CCD colonies but not at the level of CCD hives. Some specific viruses have a higher incidence as well as gut parasites N. apis, and C. mellificae. N.apis...some 20-fold higher! In addition, what is remarkable is that it is a certain combination of viruses is needed to show the symptoms of CCD.
Conclusion:

• Honey bee pathogens exist in healthy colonies as well as those affected by CCD
• Many honey bees can be infected with pathogen loads but without affecting the colony as a whole
• Higher pathogen loads is a hallmark of CCD but not necessary the colony's size.
• A specific set of pathogens, in a certain amount working together show symptoms CCD colonies
• No single pathogen or virus is responsible for CCD
• Novel strains of virus (LSV) "provoke" a shift in the composition of gut bacteria: may be a bio marker for CCD detection

However, having observed and quantified scientifically the role and relationship between pathogens, honey bees and the tremendous decline all over the world...the cause of CCD remains ambiguous. Researchers will continue their quest to find an answer which perhaps will save our honey bees.

The USDA now estimates that every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent upon honey bee pollination. In the US alone, the total contribution of pollination in terms of added value to fruit crops exceeds $15 billion per annum (Kaplan, http://www.ars.usda.gov/IS/pr/2007/070906.htm 2007). CCD-related losses (direct and indirect) have been estimated at $75 billion (Swinton et al., Ecological Economics volume 64, pages 245-252; 2007). (taken directly from Beelogics.)

Honey bee Pollination Helps!

Harvest in Chanhassen!

September 2, 2012
Look at the beautiful vegetables, melon and eggs! All harvested from the Chanhassen apiaries where Liz and her Mom have a huge garden. Today, I am making a big salad for lunch using these veggies and eggs. For dessert a slice of melon! I have to believe that our bees helped a little in pollinating some of their crops. Liz and Gayle tell me that they see honeybees foraging all the time in their garden....That makes me very happy!

Friday morning Liz helped me with the Fall bee "chores". From the four hives at this location, we removed the supers that were empty: the bees did not give us a surplus this year. They worked mainly on building their hive, caring for the young bees , gathering pollen and nectar, and keeping the queen healthy. Together we placed in each brood box 2 cardboard strips that were soaked in  natural hop and food grade products mixture, it is called Hopguard. It is highly effective against Varroa mites, the number one enemy of honeybees.

Hops female flowers

Hopguard strip (picture: Beta Tech Hop Products)

Hop plants belong to the Cannabaceae family which include the well known Cannabis (hemp) and less known Celtis (hack berries). You may know about this plant as it is use in flavoring and stabilizing  beer! To make this natural medication, only female flowers or cones are used, the species is Humulus lupulus. Now you know everything :)

At this time of year, honeybees are very protective of their nest (hive) because they have gathered a lot of food since Spring which will be their reserve for this winter. So, when we started moving boxes and adding the hop strips a couple of colonies were really mad. We were in a cloud of terrified bees, hopefully Liz was there to "puff" the smoker around us! As soon as we were done, they would calm down...but it can be unnerving to work in this situation. Liz did an awesome job! I was glad she was by my side.

We refilled the water pans that I had set up in July when the temperatures were 80-100F . In two weeks, I will do it all over again...hopefully the bees will remember that I am not a horrible intruder, I just want to protect them against the big bad mites!

Goldenrod

A honey bee on Goldenrod in my garden!

August is the month of Goldenrod (Solidago) in Minnesota, one of the last flowers the bees will enjoy before winter arrives. As I drove to Shakopee through Chanhassen this weekend, I could see the golden flowers dancing in the light breeze. This plant attract so many bees/pollinators, it is incredible! When I was taking this picture, I saw a sweat bee, a carpenter bee, a wasp, a bumblebee and a honey bee...all that in 3 minutes!

Many beekeepers say that when the honey bees collect pollen and nectar from the Goldenrod, the whole hive smells like old sweaty socks! That's our signal that the bees have visited those plants. To me it is the signal that summer is coming to an end.

Our bees are all doing well, even the Russian bees have recovered. The queen is laying many eggs and "everyone", from nurse bees to foragers seem to have found a job to do. I am relieved and happy for them. I really wanted to save them :)

Benoit and I will watch carefully for the next few weeks, to make sure they are still bringing the necessary nectar and needed pollen as a reserve for the long anticipated winter months.

2 honeybee colonies in Shakopee

We will harvest our honey sometimes in September with the help of a friend. Our most productive colonies are in Shakopee with 4 and 7 supers respectively! However they are more difficult to access. I don't know if we will be able to drive in the pumpkin field this year. I will keep you posted...can be an adventure!

A reminder that a super (box) full of honey can weigh about 40-60 lb. ( 18-27 kg); walking with one...the whole length of the field can be challenging!

Our five new hives will not produce enough honey for us to harvest. This was expected because those bees were from new packages this spring, younger-lived than our other honeybees. What we are seeing right now in the colonies would be for the honey bees to eat. We only harvest the surplus nothing else.

Enjoy the beautiful, cooler days of summer!

Pollen

Pollen

Ben had notice last week that the honey bees were not bringing as much pollen as we were used to see in the past seasons. We started thinking about why this would be the case this year. I thought that it had been really hot for us in Minnesota, and thus maybe the honey bees preferred nectar? However, it has been relatively humid, so plants have both nectar and pollen. Maybe the bees are busier cooling the hive? I know that when it rains, the pollen is washed down from the flowers and lands on the ground,  honey bees don't collect from the ground. So? I was curious and looked into it! This is what I found.....fascinating!

First a good definition of pollen is needed. Of course everyone knows that it is the powdery stuff inside a flower but actually there is more to it! It is really the male germ cells produced by plants. When male pollen is brushed with female pollen, there is pollination. We know that! Pollen is a very important source of protein, vitamins and fat.

Bee pollen has been considered to have the following nutrients:


Vitamins: Provitamin A, B-1 Thiamin, B-2 Riboflavin, B-3 Nancin, B-5, B-6 Pyridoxine, B-12 (cyanocobalamine), Pantothenic acid, Vitamin C, F, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin H, Vitamin K, Vitamin PP, Folic Acid, Choline, Inositol, Rutin.

Minerals: Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Iron, Copper, Iodine, Zinc, Sulfur, Sodium, Chlorine, Magnesium, Manganese, Molybdenum, Selenium, Boron, Silica, and Titanium.

Other: Amino Acid, Carbohydrates, Fatty Acids, Enzymes & Co-Enzymes, Fats.

Bee Pollen contains at least 22 amino acids, 18 vitamins, 25 minerals, 59 trace elements, 11 enzymes or co-enzymes, 14 fatty acids, 11 carbohydrates and approximately 25 % protein. Bee pollen is extremely rich in carotenes, which are metabolic precursors of vitamin A. It is also high In B complex and vitamins C, D, E and Lecithin. Bee pollen contains over 50 % more protein than beef, yet its fat content is very low. It is also an excellent vegetarian source of protein typically possessing more of the essential amino acids, pound for pound, than animal proteins like meat, eggs, and dairy products. (Enviro Bee Products Disributors)

Who  eat pollen? Very young bees eat the largest amount, although some adults will consume some. After the third day in the life of a "bee egg", the larva is fed mostly pollen and honey.

Honey bee larvae in royal jelly and eggs

Who collect pollen? Forager bees have this duty; they are the oldest members of the colony. As they are more experimented, they fly out every day relentlessly until their death.

Notice the heavy pollen load on legs!

While foraging, the bees become sometimes completely dusted with pollen. The grains stick to their hair by static electricity!

                                                                          

                                                                                            All covered in pollen!

Digging for pollen

Pollen well organized in hive

To pack the pollen in their "baskets", the bee sticks her tongue out spitting some of the nectar she had collected previously and applies it to her forelegs. Then she starts brushing/combing her



head, antennae, and front thorax to clean up the pollen. The back of her thorax is cleaned by her middle legs! She cleans the rest of her abdomen with her hind legs, just like a dog scratching his belly. This  specialized set of legs helps also pack, shape and mold the pollen grains into a little kidney bean shape. So helpful to have 6 legs!

However the honey bee is not done. Now that she has gathered her pollen, she needs to fly back to her colony. She will have to be brave. In her flight back home, many dangers lurk: she could be eaten by a bird or hit by a truck.

After arriving at the hive, she grooms herself, and starts looking for a cell to deposit her loot. The cell can already have some pollen, or be  empty.  After finding the right spot, she lowers herself backward, and with her middle legs she dislodges the pollen. She also remove any pollen grains that are still on her tiny body...wasting nothing. Another bee  pushes and packs the pollen with her little face and front legs. Some enzymes and other substances are added helping the pollen to go through a lactic acid fermentation period. Before leaving again to gather more, the forager bee looks for another bee to give her some honey (carbohydrate) before returning to the flowers. As you can see the foragers are working extremely hard, from sunset to sundown. It will be their last task before perishing of exhaustion.

Now to come back to our question: Why our honey bees don't seem to collect a lot of pollen? I found an explanation. Pollen collecting is driven by the colony's needs! Is it not fabulous? " A correlation exists between the amount of brood in a colony and the number and proportion of pollen foragers, also pollen foraging increases with higher egg-laying rates of the queen. " (The ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture). It is speculated that the queen's pheromones play a role in this event.  So now we know!

Next time you see a honey bee, just smile!

Native Bees Survey in North Dakota

Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge, ND one of the 18 sites!

They were very long days. Starting at 5:00am wake up call, a very large breakfast by my standards, then driving to 18 sites twice a day (morning and afternoon surveys), trying to catch as much native bees as possible with hand nets! In addition, we had to survey the plants in a 1 meter square...and count every flowers on each species...do you want to know how many flower are on a Sweet Colver? No you don't! 750 and +. We would come back to a home with no AC around 8:00pm each evening,(inside temperature:85F).  We would cook together, and eat. Then we would try to ID some native "weeds" that were not easy to distinguished, or get ready with paperwork and equipment for the next day.We were hot, sweaty, and dusty but I enjoyed every minute. Needless to say that on average each of us  would catch 3-4 native bees per day, and release all other insects!

Honey bee on Yellow Sweet Clover

Karine "at work"!