Study discovers Bumblebees sense electric flower signals

26/05/2013

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Bees are amazing little creatures that busily help keep our world alive. If bees vanished the Earth would be in deep trouble.

Scientists study much of our world. Research into living creatures can help us understand the planet better and help us learn how to protect it. The next time you swat a bee consider how important this tiny creature is to mankind and the environment. As bees busily buzz from one plant to another they pollinate at a rate which would be difficult for humans to achieve.

The latest scientific research into Bumblebees, officially named "bombus terrestris", has shown that they can detect flowers' electric fields, reports the BBC. The study found that flowers have electric fields which the bees use to discriminate between flowers. Clever little Bees. Flowers use various "cues" to attract bees. This has been known for sometime. Just as an advertising guru will try to entice you to buy, by using sophisticated methods to suck you in, flowers tempt the bees to pay a visit. The colour and scent of flowers are prime examples. The latest study of electric fields adds one more cue.

The study was undertaken by researchers at Bristol University in the UK. According to Prof Daniel Robert who led the study, "This doesn't throw away any of the previous work on cues that flowers are using, it adds another layer on top of that. What the pollen needs to 'know' is when to 'jump' onto the 'vehicle' - the bee - and when to get off it. So it's a selective adhesion type of question.

We looked at [existing] literature and realised that the bees were being positively charged when they fly around, and that flowers have a negative potential. There's always this electrical bias around. As a sensory biologist, suddenly I thought: can the bees sense that?"

Apparently the answer is, Yes they can. The study involved the use of "fake" electric flowers which the bees soon realised were not the "Real McCoy".

Discovering that bees use these electric fields is just the start of the research. The scientists know that there is still a lot to learn and understand about bees. The population of bees in declining but with an increase in our knowledge of bees perhaps that can be halted.

Full details of the research and its findings can be found at the online publication the Science Express.
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Demise of UK bees

19/03/2013

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What do you do if a Bee buzzes around your head? Do you flap and swat the poor creature or think thank heavens we still have Bees? If you live in the UK you should definitely be doing the latter, but perhaps no mater where you live this should be your stance.

Wild Honey Bees in the UK have all but gone. They are to all extents and purposes extinct. If we do not treat our environment with a little more respect even honey bees in managed hives in the UK will vanish. Already their numbers are dwindling.

There are many reasons for their demise but a notable one is the use of pesticides.However in the UK the urban spread has not helped. Add to this the Brits love affair with their cars and you have double trouble. In cities residents, even those with garages, have willingly ravaged their gardens and block paved, laid concrete and more in order to provide off road parking. Similar has been done to make gardens low maintenance. The result has been a move back to a concrete jungle.

It is of course possible to block pave areas and still have some trees and shrubs but it needs careful consideration and thought. The UK government said at one time it would halt some of the paving to small terraced gardens. This was deemed necessary as those changes had added to potential flood problems. In most cities nothing has changed.

We can all do our bit to encourage Bees and enable them to thrive. Plants such as Buddleias, Lavender, wild flowers, herbs, shrubs and trees will all encourage bees into your garden. The bonus is they will attract birds also plus they look and in some cases smell good..

Researchers had worked out the labour intensive work and cost of hand pollination, should the number of bees dwindle excessively. Working on the assumption that only the minimum wage would be paid, the mailonline reported that, "Using humans with paintbrushes to pollinate crops including apples, pears, strawberries, oilseed rape, field beans, courgettes, peaches and plums would cost £1.8bn - the equivalent of 60,000 teachers or nurses. The shocking figure comes just a week after two studies last week found pesticides are stopping bees finding their way home.

University of Reading, researcher. Professor Potts said: ‘It’s a very high figure and just rams the point home of the economic sense of protecting wild pollinators which do an incredible job. ‘It’s a no brainer. We need to take action, and the government is just starting to wake up to that.’ 

Full story here

Tags: Honeybees, Bees, demise of bees, dwindling bee numbers, wild honey bees extinct, UK bees, use of pesticides
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British Honey yields down

30/10/2012

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Weird weather has affected many things in 2012. One cause for concern could be food shortages. Wheat crops have been depleted with obvious effects. In the UK drought followed by torrential rain over the Summer hit crops hard. Fresh fruits and vegetables will be less abundant and so more costly. Now it seems the British weather of Summer 2012 has reduced honey stocks.

British Beekeepers have experienced amassive drop in honey production this year. Compared to 2011 stocks are down by 72%. Information on the poor production of honey this year has been gathered from survey information. Each year the British Beekeepers Association contacts bee prodcuers and assesses the information. Today October 30 the BBKA has issued a press release of their findings. It can be found here.

In general the culprit for the poor honey yield is cold, wet weather. It has been an extremely wet summer in many parts of the UK. Temperatures stayed down and the conditions persisted for weeks or months. The 2012 survey includes these key ponts:

• Average annual honey crop per hive down by 72 per cent compared to 2011
• Just eight pounds of honey produced per hive, compared to annual average of 30 pounds
• Unprecedented mid-summer starvation warning issued by the BBKA to keep honey bees alive
• Rain and cold weather cited by 88 per cent of beekeepers as main factors affecting poor honey supplies
• Poor summer may have longer term detrimental impact with new queens unable to produce sufficient
brood to see colonies through to next year

People need Bees. They provide essential work on pollenating plants. Without them mankind could probably take over these days by artificial means but it would be extremely costly and time consuming. Better to protect Bees and ensure our future.

It is not just that lovely sweet syrup that is honey which could be in danger.
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Psychedelic coloured honey resolved

06/10/2012

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There have been reports of strange looking honey in some regions this year. Purple and green may look cool, but when it is honey produced in France which should of course be honey coloured, it is puzzling.

Each batch of honey has its own unique taste and colour. It may normally only have slight variations but they are there for the discerning palate and eye.  Honey is after all dependent on where the bees have been in their seach for pollen.

The latest puzzle was solved however when the source of the colouring was found. It turned out to be the contents of various waste disposal units. One offender has been identified as M&Ms. You know those brightly coloured chocolate sweets or candies covered in a hard sugar shell. They are yellow, red, green and more. Now it seems they are responsible for tainting the honey. Bees thrive on sugar and it appears are not as selective as we may have thought. Rotting sugary products are just as tempting as brightly coloured blooms.

The strangely coloured honey is said to taste fine but is unsaleable. We would have thought that it could be marketed as a "cool" looking honey and have done a roaring trade. However it will probably not pass rigorous health and safety testing.

In France where the M&M contamination took place the problem has been identified and resolved. A nearby company which was turning organic waste and food industry residues into gas fuel has moved its previously uncovered storage tanks indoors. The bees have now returned to flitting from flower to flower instead.

We should never underestimate the power of bees. We rely heavily on them to survive. Apart from producing deliciuous honey they pollenate plants in a unique way. If there were suddenly no more bees the process would be a nightmare for scientists. Yes it could be done synthetically but at a huge cost in time and money.

Next time you swat at a bee consider its huge value to this beautiful planet of ours. Instead of a swat salute it as it goes about its vital work.
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