Is He Stuck or Just Sleeping?

I found this tiny bee who looked to be stuck to a thorn on my Bois D’Arc tree this afternoon. At first glance, I thought perhaps a March fly, and a dead one at that, but it turned out this is a most likely a “he” Nomad bee, and he wasn’t stuck at all, but just sleeping.

Nomad Bee – Stuck or Just Sleeping (March 26, 2022)

I learned something new today about bees that I did not know. My friend, Eric Eaton’s wife (link to Eric’s book about wasps in my Read More section) , shared with me that some bees will often sleep in this manner, attached to a substrate like this thorn or a twig, by their mandibles. Thanks Heidi! 🙂

Nomad Bee – Stuck or Just Sleeping (March 26, 2022)

Nomad Bee – Stuck or Just Sleeping (March 26, 2022)

Nomad Bee (March 26, 2022)

My bee was definitely gripping the end of the thorn with its mandibles. Before I found out my bee was only napping, I wasn’t certain what was going on. I worried maybe the bee had fallen victim to some weird fungus and was now locked in a death vise. Worries unfounded! The little bee released his grip as I was about to clip the end of the twig (with bee attached) and take it into the house to view under the microscope.

Nomad bees are pretty cool. They are cuckoo bees, cleptoparasites of other bees (usually Andrena bees or Melitta bees) and target the nest provisions gathered by the host bees for their own young. Nomad bees will find the nests of host bees using olfactory and visual cues. The fertilized female will lay her eggs in these nests, where her offspring will develop after devouring the offspring of the host bee, and eating the food the host parent had provisioned.

Nomad Bee (March 26, 2022)

Check out the video footage of this little bee as he woke up this afternoon and read more about Nomad bees in the attached links in my Read More section.

Read More About Nomad Bees Here

1. Bugguide.net – Nomada https://bugguide.net/node/view/5211
2. Alexander, B. A. 1994. Species-groups and cladistic analysis of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Nomada (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of Kansas Science Bulletin 55: 175-238. (Full Text)
3. Eaton, Eric. 2021. Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunderstood Insect. Princeton University Press. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211428/wasps
4. Rankin, C. 2021. Introducing the Nomad Bees. Natural History Society of Northumbria. https://www.nhsn.org.uk/nomad-bees/

Thanks for reading!

Cynthia Brast is an independent entomologist living on San Juan Island. Check out her YouTube Channel, Bugging You From San Juan Island to see more amazing 6 and 8-legged creatures found in the San Juans. https://www.youtube.com/user/buggingyoufromsji/featured

Is our fear of murder hornets turning us into the real murderers?

A neighbor sent me this video footage late last night.  She asks, “Why are all the black and yellow bumble bees on the ground dying?”  This occurred locally at an island lavender farm where the bumble bees are LOVED and no one is applying any pesticides.  In the video you can certainly see the bees she refers to.  Why only those?  

The dying bees are the lovely Yellow-Faced bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii.  I personally appreciate these because not only are they avid tomato pollinators, but they have such adorably chubby and fuzzy bodies with a yellow face and a yellow band around their little black bottom. 

Bombus vosnesenskii, Yellow-faced Bumble Bee

Bumble bees are cavity nesters.  Many will select an empty mouse burrow in the ground to create their nest. The fertilized queen overwinters and begins her colony in late March or early April, foraging for herself and the eggs she laid that would soon hatch into larvae needing to be fed.  

Bumble bee nest on San Juan Island, WA 2010

In order to obtain nutrients necessary for survival, bumble bee foragers can travel long distances (up to 11 miles), especially here as our growing season ends in summer.  Right now, they are visiting the lavender in bloom.

These poor bees are most likely victims of pesticide.  The fact that all of them are the same species, at the same location, indicates to me that someone applied pesticide at their nest site, likely a property owner within foraging distance of the worker bees visiting the lavender farm.  The workers dispersed from the nest to try to do what they are programmed to do (forage for food), but simply succumbed to the toxic residues that some fearful homeowner applied.  

“I can’t have bees in my yard!”  “I’m allergic.”  “I have pets.”  “I hate insects.” “It could be murder hornets.”  

Do you want to have food? 

If you, as a homeowner, continue spraying your yard every time you see a bee and can’t learn to live with them, you are going to be the end of all of us.  Bumble bees are some of our most important agricultural pollinators.  More important than honey bees!  

The dying bees in this video are native bees.  “Native” means they are adapted to this environment.  They have the ability to survive here better than European honey bees (Apis mellifera) which are not native.  Honey bees were transported to North America by Europeans who brought sheep, cattle, swine, and other domesticated species to this continent.  

Back to the over-sensationalized “murder hornets.”  This term makes me angry!  😡 The media hype is much like the hype over the mantids that are going to eat our hummingbirds !  Just because it is printed in the paper doesn’t mean it is the whole truth or entirely accurate.  The primary reason the Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia) is of concern is their ability to kill European honey bees (Apis mellifera), an agricultural commodity.  To read some of the news stories, you’d think we were dealing with Africanized Bees…remember those? 

It is possible Vespa mandarinia will not survive here.  They aren’t native.  They will be susceptible to parasites, and viral, bacterial, and fungal diseases (not unlike the same problems our non-native European honey bees face) potentially making it difficult for populations to establish themselves.   We could also, as many Asians do, learn to eat them. Yes, do read the publication about them in my references section!

Please put that can of pesticide away.  Don’t spray.  If you are truly afraid of bees, then educate yourself about how to live alongside them.  First off, don’t wear shades of blue or black colors when you’re near an area that has bees.  Bumble bees and honey bees are attracted to these colors.  Avoid wearing fragrances.  Wash your clothing in unscented detergent and avoid using those noxious, heavily scented dryer sheets.  Finally, if you do see an insect that you believe is the Asian Giant Hornet, take a photo or collect the specimen if it is already dead and contact WSU following these guidelines. 

In Washington State only, people should report potential sightings of the AGH through the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s website. Outside of Washington, contact your state apiary inspector. If it is safe to do so, take a photo or collect a dead specimen of the pest to help experts identify the insect.

In the meantime, please don’t fall victim to media hype and do your best not to murder innocent bumble bees!   

References and further reading: 

Bombus vosnesenskii. Bugguide.net https://bugguide.net/node/view/19538

John M. Mola, Neal M. Williams. (2019) A review of methods for the study of bumble bee movement. Apidologie 56. 

Jha, Shalene, and Claire Kremen. (2019) Resource diversity and landscape-level homogeneity drive native bee foraging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. 110,2: 555-8. doi:10.1073/pnas.1208682110

Sujaya Rao, George Hoffman, Julie Kirby & Danielle Horne (2019) Remarkable long-distance returns to a forage patch by artificially displaced wild bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Journal of Apicultural Research, 58:4, 522-530, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2019.1584962

(Vespa mandarinia) Asian giant hornet. New Pest Response Guidelines. (2020) USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Plant Protection and Quarantine. https://cms.agr.wa.gov/WSDAKentico/Documents/PP/PestProgram/Vespa_mandarinia_NPRG_10Feb2020-(002).pdf

All Wet! April 26, 2018

A water trough and cool morning temperatures equate with a desperate situation if your wings are wet and they aren’t the inflatable kind that keep you afloat.  I rescued two, soon to be drowned, little specimens yesterday morning and can tell you, they were “happy” to  dry off in the sunshine ☀️ .

The first rescue was a delicate, Green Lacewing in the family Chrysopidae.   Lacewings are in the insect order Neuroptera which means nerve-winged insect.  It is named for the intricate, sheer, net-like pattern of its wings.  They are valued because they prey on garden and orchard pests insects like aphids.  The intriguing thing about this specimen (make sure to pay close attention to frames 0.22 and 0.24 in the video) was its reaction to my voice when I stopped Millhouse the cat from interfering with my cinematography.  The Lacewing appears to have a look of surprise when it hears me.

The second rescue from the water trough is the beautiful, iridescent green cuckoo bee you see in the video below.  Cuckoo bees are actually wasps in the insect order Hymenoptera, and family Chrysididae.  While they are pollinators in that adults seek out nectar for food from flowers, they are named, like the cuckoo bird, after their habit of seeking out nests of other wasp and bee species to steal food, or the life of developing larvae as a host for their own young.   Never-mind that part of the life cycle of this bee.  It is truly a gem, glittering in the sunshine…a jewel worn by a new spring blossom in the garden.

 

 

 

Blue Orchard Bee ~ Osmia lignaria

Sighted April 12, 2018, San Juan Island, WA.  Blue Orchard Mason Bee (Osmia lignaria).   These are important early (native)  pollinators.  Adults hibernate overwinter and emerge from March to May.  Blue Orchard Mason Bees are being managed as orchard pollinators as they are excellent at pollinating fruit trees such as pear, cherry, plum, and apple, as well as quince and others, including blueberries.   Blue Orchard Mason Bees and other solitary bees in the genus Megachilidae (like leaf-cutting bees) carry pollen on their bellies instead of special baskets on their hind legs like honey bees.  The Blue Orchard Mason Bee use tubular cavities for nests, partitioning each brood cell with a wall of mud.   Although similar in size, Blue Orchard bees are easy to distinguish from honey bees because they are metallic in coloring, often dark blue or blue-black.

Family: Megachilidae, Genus: Osmia (Mason bee)Osmia ligaria – Blue Orchard Bee

Family: Megachilidae, Genus: Osmia (Mason bee)

Osmia spp. (Osmia lignaria) mating ~ April 15, 2017

Read more about Blue Orchard Mason Bees (Osmia lignaria) here:  

https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/mason_bees.shtml

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/MISC/BEES/blue_orchard_bee.htm

 

Hiving the Bees!

Hiving my First Bees

 

    by Cynthia Brast

San Juan Island, WA

  

They’ve arrived!

The bees came today – April 11, 2012, after shipping from Oroville, CA on April 9.  I picked them up this morning at the Friday Harbor Post after they called at 07:30 a.m. to let me know the bees had arrived.

My package of Italian bees was calm and quiet when I put them into my vehicle, but I noticed more activity as I drove the 12 miles to my house.  Upon arriving, I sprayed the package with a mist of sugar water in a 1:1 ratio.  I was mesmerized by the energy coming from the package.  There was a natural heat radiating from the box, and a rhythm…almost like a heart beating.  I also noticed a sweet, fragrant, bees-waxy smell diffusing from the package.

My plan is to hive the package today after 4:30 p.m.  I am waiting for my daughter to come home so she can observe…and take photos!  The bees have spent the afternoon in the basement area of my house where it is about 60 degrees and quiet.

Unfortunately we’ve had some rain here today.  Outside right now at 4:13 p.m., the temperature is at 50 degrees.  We have a light drizzle.  I misted the bees again about an hour ago.

My hive site is actually up against my house.  Partly for convenience for me and partly because that spot has a good overhang from the roof where the hive will stay dry and also to help the bees stay warmer since we are in the Pacific Northwest.  The added heat will be especially helpful in the cold winters here.

To prepare for my installation, I have one deep super with 9 frames inside.  I am going to mist the frames lightly with the sugar water solution beforehand.  When I am ready to start, I’ll mist the package of bees, turning the box carefully to make sure I’ve covered them.  This will keep them from flying out and also distract them as they will be eager to clean the sugar water mist off themselves.  Then, I will remove the can of sugar water in the package and take out the queen.  I definitely want to check to make sure she’s healthy and look for her mark.  I have a cardboard piece to cover the hole left in the package after I remove the can of sugar syrup so the bees don’t start to escape before I’m ready to put them in the hive.

So, after the queen is out and checked, I am going to take out the cork that seals her queen cage and stick a marshmallow there to allow the workers to release her on their own.  Having the marshmallow there allows the rest of the bees to “accept” the queen while chewing through the marshmallow.  In a couple of days, the marshmallow will be removed by the workers, giving them time to get acquainted with the queen inside and set her free.

The queen cage will need to be hung, marshmallow end up between two of the frames in the deep super.  There is a metal strip that I can bend over the top of the frames, providing a nice, secure hook.  Then, my plan for the best release given the wet drizzle outside is to stack two empty shallow supers on top of the deep and gently turn the box of bees upside down over the bottom deep super.  The shallow supers will allow me to leave the packaged bee box inside the hive overnight and will be kinder to the bees than shaking them out where some may try flying off in the wet weather.  I also plan to put my Boardman feeder jar inside the hive, placing it on top of two wood strips over the deep hive frames.  This is so the bees won’t have to crawl down through the deep super and into the Boardman feeder at the hive bottom tonight, and will make it easier for them to access the sugar syrup after their transition from the package.  I also have a 2^nd jar feeder that I am going to place along with the other, giving them plenty of food for the night.

Did I mention???  The bee suit I ordered still hasn’t arrived.  I have a pair of gloves and a veil.  That’s all the gear I will use this evening.  Hopefully the bees will bee-kind!

 

 

How it went!

 

Hiving the package went surprisingly well for me as a new”bee.”   I encountered only one small hitch in the process and actually could have installed the bees sans the veil.  There was quite a hum from the package, but the bees must have sensed the evening was upon them and had clustered pretty well together.

I had all my equipment/supplies at hand:  spray bottle of sugar water, hive tool, the hive supers, a small nail, marshmallow, cardboard, and a small screwdriver.   After misting the bees, I carefully opened the package.  The tape was cumbersome and I took care to peel all of it off the box.  I used the small screwdriver to pry the edge of the feeder can up and carefully removed it, covering the opening with my piece of cardboard while I set the can aside.

Next, I removed the queen.  Her wooden cage was hung in the package with a small metal extension that hooked into a groove at the top of the package.  I slid the metal through the groove and then removed the cardboard makeshift cover over the top to allow me to bring the queen cage out.   I replaced the cardboard over the package opening and set my hive tool on top to hold it in place while I checked the queen.

The queen was in the cage alone with no attendants.  She was active and looked to be healthy.  My “hitch” in the installation came at this point though as I realized she was not marked.  I also did not have my reading glasses on under the veil and it was impossible to see if she was clipped.  I should have taken the time to remove my gloves and veil and go into the house to get my glasses.  It was raining and the gear was cumbersome, the porch had become slippery because some of the mist from the sugar water drifted, so in hindsight, I should have just made sure my glasses were outside and handy.  This is good information for me as the next time I will feel more confident in the process and probably ditch the veil if not the gloves.

I went ahead with the queen installation and removed the cork from her cage using my small nail to pry it out and carefully replacing it with a marshmallow, so the bees will be able to release her themselves.   I hung the queen cage over one of the 9 frames I had spaced in the deep super except that I hung her with the marshmallow side down.  This shouldn’t be a problem as there were no attendants inside her cage to block any exit if they died.

Next came the bees.  As outlined earlier, I had two empty shallow supers I set on top of the deep and I inverted the box, slid the cardboard covering the opening away and the bees were able to come out onto the frames.  This went really well.  There were a few fliers, but I gently misted the bees again to keep them from escaping.

After positioning the package so I could leave it in the hive overnight, I then set the jar feeder I had prepared next to the package.  The jar feeder I inverted and set on two small wood pieces that would elevate the jar just enough to allow the bees easy access.  This also went extremely well and I was able to complete the installation by placing the inner and outer cover on the hive.

My last steps were to take my extra Boardman feeder jar and place it on outside holder of the hive.  Originally, I had intended to put both feeder jars inside the hive, but changed my mind in the process.  I had trouble getting the Boardman holder to stay in position and had to wiggle it in next to the entrance reducer.  At first, there were some bees coming out under the Boardman feeder and this allowed me to see that it wasn’t pushed in all the way.  With that corrected and my entrance reducer in place, I had finished and the bees were ready for their first night in a new hive.

Photos

My daughter was great and assisted me in the installation by handing me equipment as necessary, but most importantly, she documented the process by taking photos and video.  Some photos can be found below and are also available to view on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thephotobug.

With Yvonne at the Friday Harbor Post Office

San Juan Island, WA 98250

 

Donning my gloves!

Removing the Queen Cage

The Queen!

Putting the package of bees into the hive.

Inside view

All Done!

The End!