Bees Are Cool Bees Sting Many people are afraid of bees, but that is because they don t understand them. Bees are pollinators and without pollinators a flower could not make a seed. So you think you could get by without seeds if you didn t have to put up with bees? Wrong! Pollinating bees supply 30% of all of the food we eat including all the fruits, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Also, florists and nurseries would be out of business because most plants come from seeds. Bees are important. Bee First Aid As a naturalist, I work outside a lot and I am very allergic to bees. When I am walking around in the weeds, most of the stings I get are from ground nesting bees trying to protect their nest. It is a good idea to stay on trails for the most part and be aware of where you are walking. So I watch carefully, for a bee flying out of a hole in the ground, If I see more than one flying out of same spot, the chances are that there is a bumblebee or yellow jacket nest there. Also, I try not to get to close to bees when they are on the flowers because they are working and they can get cranky when someone gets in their space. I carry a bee first aid kit with me. I carry a suction plunger called the Extractor that sucks out the venom in the sting. The Extractor works best if the venom is removed in the first minute after the sting. I also take a homeopathic pill called Apis (purchase at the health food store) or I take Benadryl to reduce the histamine reaction of my body. I add dried clay with water and slap it on the bee sting. I also find some plantain (a weed), chew it up for a few seconds and then mix that with the clay. The clay and plantain are old time bee sting remedies that draw out the poisons. If I have some ice, I put that on too. How to get to know and love bees: Bees are most active from June to the first frost. Before you go into the field and searching for bees, read Random Facts about Bees. Also, make some notes about individual species of bees on the bee page (Bees, Wasps, and Flies). Yellow jacket are very unpredictable during the late summer and fall, since they change their diet from pollen to sugar and meat. Yellow jackets are very aggressive during this time of year. Important things to think about in regards to yellow jackets: If you are having a picnic, watch out for yellow jackets especially near garbage cans. They have also been known to fly into open pop cans. If you have fruit trees and fruit is on the ground, watch out for testy yellow jackets. On your paper (Bees, Wasps and Flies) make a sad face next to the yellow jacket. Color the body of this bee yellow.
Paper wasps are thin bodies bees that will not harm you if you do not get too close to them or try to swat them. Do not go near their nest. If you get too close a worker will come out to protect the nest. Nests are made of paper and are often in the eaves of a building. Color the body yellowish brown and draw a happy face by it on your paper (Bees, Wasps and Flies). Bald-faced hornets are known to have the most painful sting. They are black and white and have a thick body. I have been around 100 s of these bees and have never had any problems with them. However, watch out for their large grayish nests hanging from a tree. I have seen cartoons on television where a rock is thrown at the nest. That is a dangerous thing to do and disrespectful to the hornets who have built the home. In fact, it is not safe to get within 20 feet of the nest till the temperature has dipped to 20 F. The body is black and white and is already colored on your sheet. Draw a happy face by the Bald faced hornet on your paper (Bees, Wasps and Flies). Bumblebees are the largest bees. A newborn queen is very large (size of a quarter) and even has a hard time flying. Bumblebees are furry and slow to anger. I have heard of naturalists encouraging students to pet bumblebees In my world, it is disrespectful to touch and animal just because you think you can get away with it. Color the body yellow and draw a happy face by it on your paper (Bees, Wasps and Flies). The honey bee is the calmest bee and rarely stings unless you are barefoot and step on one that is pollinating clover on your lawn. Honeybee populations have dropped almost 50% percent in the past 30 years. Populations are down because of a blood-sucking mite that spreads disease in a honeybee colony. Honeybees have barbs on its stinger and it gets stuck in your body and then the bee dies. Most other bees, bumblebees and wasps can sting multiple times. Make a happy face beside this bee. Mix yellow and brown for this bee. The bee fly is not a bee at all and can t sting. They are pollinating flies that mimic the coloration of a bee to try and protect themselves from predators. This bee often hovers when it is pollinating a flower. Make a happy face on your paper and mix yellow and brown for this bee.
Random Facts about Bees The stinger of bees and wasps is a modified female ovipositor. The ovipositor is a pointed object that is at end of the thorax and used by insects to lay eggs. As a result, only female wasps and bees have stingers. Don t get too excited, because most of the colony is made up of workers are sterile females and a queen. Bees are very hairy on part of their hind legs. The hairs trap large amounts of pollen and is called a pollen basket. The pollen is transferred from one plant to another and helps the plant make seeds. Bees eat the nectar for carbohydrates and they eat the pollen for protein. Honeybees use the nectar from plants to make honey. It takes about 40,000 bee loads of nectar to make a single pound of honey. As the name worker implies, they do all the work at the hive and after sixty days most of worn out and die. Besides making honey, they make wax and mold it into cells for the bee larvae. Workers take care of the queen and the young larvae in the hive. They use their wings as fans to keep the hive cool on hot days. In winter, the workers bunch together to create warmth in winter using the heat in their tiny bodies. Colonies of bumblebees, wasps and hornets do not live through the winter like honey bees do. The workers die when the temp dips below 20 F, while the female hibernates under a log. In the spring, the surviving queen must find nectar from flowering plants or maple sap. Adult wasps and hornets feed on nectar, while the growing larvae in the hive are fed insects that are killed by workers. Wasps and hornets kill thousands of harmful insects to feed their young. Adult wasps and hornets make their nests out of paper. They chew up wood and make a type of paper mache that they use on their nests. I have seen red nests that hornets have made from red paper that was littered on the ground.
What to do: Identify individual species of bees. Make tallies on your paper for each bee you see. (Safety: You must not get closer than three feet to the bees. No candy or gum is allowed. It is best not to wear bright clothing or use strong perfume). Name Bees, Wasps and Flies Bald-faced Hornet Tallies Paper Wasp Bee Fly tallies Tallies Bumblebee Tallies Yellow Jacket Tallies Honey Bee tallies
What to Do: Using the bee data sheet count the number of each type of bee found and create a bar graph below What is the Most Common Bee? 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Bee Fly Bumblebee Bald-faced Hornet Paper Wasp Yellow Jacket Honey Bee 1. What is the most common type of bee? 2. What is the least common bee? Honey bees were once the most common bee. Based upon what you found today, what can you say about the honey bee population in your area?
Bee Homes Bees are masters at creating beautiful structures for their hives. Many of the homes are made of paper. The paper is created by chewing leaves or bark and then reprocessed into paper. Most hives have a series of brood cells which are used to raise the larval bees. Types of Bee Homes A. Paper Wasp The hive may hang from the aves of the roof of a house. It is made of paper and it made of one set of brood cells. B. Bumblebee The bumblebee is a ground nester, often using an old mouse hole to create its nest. It makes a honey pot to feed the young. C. Bald-faced Hornet the hive hangs from a tree, and is made of paper. It is an oblong-shaped (football shaped) and may have numerous horizontal brood cells in it. D. Yellow Jacket The yellow jacket is a ground nester and may have numerous horizontal brood cells in the nest. E. Honey Bee May make a hive in a tree hole or attached to a home. The honey bee may have numerous brood chambers made of beeswax. Workers form the brood chambers with their mouths. What to do: Match the description of the bee nest at the top of the page with the pictures below: 1. 2. 4. 3. 5.