The Plight of Honey Bees
Guide for Assisting Pollinators: Steps to Aid Honey Bees in Your Environment
Buzzing around Ohio's picturesque landscapes, honey bees are the unsung heroes pollinating crops that range from pumpkins and apples to raspberries and blueberries. These hardworking insects are like mobile pollination units, transported from farm to farm to lend their services. Honey bees hold a key role in America's modern farming systems.
Although they may seem a natural part of North America today, honey bees were actually introduced by European settlers back in 1610. For centuries, feral honey bees made their homes in tree cavities and human-made structures. However, their numbers took a steep dive in the 1980s with the arrival of Varroa mites, causing widespread destruction of feral colonies and significantly impacting managed colonies. Today, honey bees thrive primarily within the care of skilled beekeepers, as their habitat has shrunk primarily to managed hives. Besides Varroa mites, honey bees face other perils such as a lack of forage, pathogens, pesticides, and other pests like small hive beetles.
The Inner Workings of a Hive
Honey bees are social creatures, led by a queen, surrounded by thousands of female worker bees, and a few male drones. A colony can house up to 50,000 to 90,000 bees at the peak of the season. In her role as ruler of the hive, the queen lays up to 2,000 eggs each day. Meanwhile, drones primary responsibilities are mating with virgin queens. Workers are busy foragers, gathering food, building the comb, cleaning the hive, producing honey, feeding immature bees, tending the queen, and protecting the hive. Honey bees are strictly vegetarian, subsisting on pollen and nectar. That corbicula modification on a worker's hind legs lets them handily transport pollen back to the hive. With their long tongues and honey stomachs, they scoop up nectar from flowers as they buzz from one to the next.
Honey bee dusted with pollen. Photo by Karina Weatherby.
Preserving the Humble Honey Bee
Gardeners play a pivotal part in keeping honey bees buzzing. By providing diverse plants that bloom from spring through fall, creating clusters of sunlit flowering plants, and adapting gardening practices to protect pollinators, people can make a positive impact on these important insects. In addition to flowers, bees appreciate weeds such as clover, dandelion, and goldenrod. To ensure they stay hydrated, a water source like a shallow dish or birdbath with stones or sticks can help, keeping water accessible without posing a drowning hazard. For a more natural haven, a small wildflower meadow or prairie patch can provide food from spring through fall. In gardens and natural spaces, minimize the use of pesticides on plants that attract bees, and try an integrated pest management approach to reduce pest pressure on bees. Lastly, support local beekeepers by purchasing honey, beeswax candles, and other hive products. Educate yourself about bees and beekeeping by visiting local bee clubs and organizations.
What Makes a Bee-Friendly Garden
When it comes to ideal plants for honey bees, trees that shine include black locust, crabapple, linden, maple, and tulip. Shrubs that draw bees are diervilla, holly, raspberry, sumac, and viburnum. Perennials like aster, bee balm, hyssop, milkweed, mountain mint, and oregano appeal to bees too. Annual options for happy buzzing are cosmos, phacelia, pot marigold, sunflower, zinnia, while herbs such as borage, catmint, lavender, and thyme delight bees. Other bee favorites include buckwheat, goldenrod, mustard, sweet clover, and white clover.
Beekeepers tending hives.
Keeping Up with the Buzz
Adult bees feeding bee larvae.
More Resources to Explore
An apiary, also called a "bee yard."
- Bee Informed Partnership
- Pollinator Partnership
- The Ohio State University Bee Lab
Snapshots of vibrant blooms courtesy of Denise Ellsworth.
Unseen Enemies of the Honey Bee
Honey bees are faced with a host of hidden adversaries affecting their well-being and colony health:
Local honey supports local beekeepers. Photo by Karina Weatherby.
1. Varroa Mites and Associated Viruses - The Varroa destructor mite, a parasite that feeds on honey bees' bodily fluids, weakens bees and can transmit deadly viruses such as Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) strains A and B, and Acute Bee Paralysis Virus, which have been found in high concentrations in collapsing colonies throughout the United States. - This tiny mite has developed resistance to common miticides like amitraz, making control increasingly challenging, causing catastrophic losses for over 60% of commercial colonies in recent years.
2. Pesticides - Neonicotinoid pesticides hinder honey bee health by impeding their ability to forage for pollen vital for brood development. Although these pesticides may not directly increase bee mortality, their sub-lethal effects slow down foraging efficiency, impacting colonies over time. - Continued exposure to such chemicals aggravates the decline in bee populations, putting a strain on essential pollination services for global crop production.
3. Lack of Forage and Poor Nutrition - Limited access to diverse and nutrient-rich forage sources weakens honey bees' immune systems and contributes to their overall vulnerability to environmental stressors such as pathogens and pesticides.
4. Pathogens Beyond Viruses - Beside viruses spread by Varroa mites, honey bees face other pathogens that include bacteria and fungi, which can further contribute to declines in colony health.
Sunflower, borage and butterfly weed: a few honey bee favorites in summer.
5. Small Hive Beetles - Small hive beetles are invasive pests that can damage honey bee colonies by consuming brood, pollen, honey, and other hive contents, causing stress and reducing productivity.
These hidden adversaries often work in combination to endanger honey bee colonies, causing unprecedented losses that pose a threat to both beekeeping and global food security reliant on pollination.
- To ensure the survival of honey bees, gardening practices that promote a diverse range of blooming plants from spring through fall can provide essential forage sources.
- Integrated pest management techniques, which aim to minimize the use of pesticides on plants attractive to bees, can help protect honey bees from chemical threats.
- In addition to flowers, weeds like clover, dandelion, and goldenrod also serve as valuable food sources for honey bees.
- By providing a water source like a shallow dish or birdbath with stones or sticks, gardeners can help honey bees stay hydrated without posing a drowning hazard.
- Supporting local beekeepers by purchasing honey, beeswax candles, and other hive products not only helps sustain local beekeepers but also educates the public about the importance of honey bees and beekeeping.
