Saturday, November 13, 2021

Vermont Wild Bees; Will We Heed Their Call?

 

This Tricolored bumblebee (Bombus ternarius) seems to be reaching out to us.        Will we heed the call?


With over 300 Vermont species of wild bees, perhaps it is time to name a VT State bee. Students, what do you say?


Vermont designated the honeybee as the official state insect in 1978. With no Vermont wild species represented, might we request the Legislature to create a State Bee designation?


Perhaps a Vermont wild bee species might be chosen to be the official VT State Bee. There are over 300 Vermont wild bee species to choose from. 


With over three hundred species of bees in Vermont potentially on the ballot, which would you vote for?



Why is this important? 
  • Encourages us to get to know our wild, native bees as well as to understand their importance to our well-being and what we can do to help them survive if not thrive. To know them is to love them leads to protecting the bees and their habitat. (Educate ourselves about the many different species of wild bees in Vermont, their different behaviors (some social some solitary), their different accommodation needs, varying feeding sources.) 
  • Knowledge of bees can help remove the fearful stigma that we sometimes erroneously attribute to them. 
  • With an understanding of the many species of bees, comes appreciation, and even admiration. Observing their lifestyles and behaviors as well as their physical attributes can astound and amaze us. Though all bees have much in common, there are many adaptations amongst each species, making them each uniquely interesting and of specific value.
  • “Wild bees perform the majority of all pollination on Vermont farms, whether or not managed honey bees* are present,” said Leif Richardson, an ecologist with UVM’s Gund Institute for Environment and Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. “As an ecosystem service, pollination is worth millions annually. But we don’t know how the loss of native bee species will affect our food supply or overall environmental health.” UVM Gund Institute
  • Between 60 to 80 percent of wild plants in our state are dependent on animals, mostly bees, for the 'ecosystem service' of pollination. Whole communities of flowering trees, shrubs, and herbs benefit from their activities—including blueberries, blackberries, and apples. VTF&W
  • VT pollinators are in peril. Pollinators are facing the loss of their habitat, particularly wildflowers, to single-crop farming and development. They also face disease epidemics brought into the state by nonnative species. And pesticides, particularly neonicotinoids, are killing pollinators even though they aren't the insects being targeted. VTF&W
*The Western Honey Bee or European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) is a domesticated bee from Eurasia. Disclaimer, I, like many of us like honey and have high respect for those individuals in Vermont that manage the hives of honeybees. 

*Barnard Central School students championed the honey bee (Apis melifera) at legislative hearings, arguing that it made sense to honor an insect that produces honey, a natural sweetener, similar to Vermont's beloved maple syrup. Governor Richard Snelling signed the bill that designated the honey bee as Vermont's state insect in 1978. ThoughtCo

* Nineteen other states have the honeybee as a state insect. Some states have more than one state insect. Alabama has a state insect, a state agricultural insect, and a state butterfly. Wikipedia   The VT state butterfly is the Monarch. 


What do we know about our Bees in VT?
Where they live, how they spend the winter, what they eat, habitat preferences. 
Info. from The Bees in Your Backyard by Joseph Wison & Olivia Carrill, & the National Wildlife Federation unless otherwise noted.

Bees' bodies are divided into three parts; head, two antennae, a thorax with six legs, and an abdomen. They have branched hairs and two pairs of wings, a fore and a hind wing on each side. Six legs consist of the foreleg, mid-leg, hind leg on each side. Below the antennae are compound eyes, then cheeks, (malar space), mandibles, tongue, a clypeus - broad plate at the front of the insects head (think the nose area); followed by the thorax, followed by abdomen that is numbered (for identification purposes) with terga/"T", one through six (seven for males). View photos with bee body parts named here. 

Five eyes: Bees have two types of eyes, simple (ocelli) and compound. Three simple (each has just one lens) near the back of the head, are used for orientation. The two compound eyes, one on either side of the head are each comprised of thousands of individual lenses.  

Bees can be separated into two groups, long tongue and short tongue (proboscides) which in most cases relates to which flowers (and which flower shapes) they can and do feed from and pollinate.


Pollination

It might take a hive of (many thousands) honeybees, yet only about 250 female blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria) to pollinate an acre of apples. USDA. Bumble bees can pollinate more flowers per bee than honey bees. Bumblebees Behaviour and Ecology; Prof. Dave Goulson; citing Poulson 1973; Free 1993)."  

"Bees are the most important group of pollinators. With the exception of a few species of wasps, only bees deliberately gather pollen to bring back to their nests for their offspring. Bees also exhibit a behavior called flower constancy, meaning that they repeatedly visit one particular plant species on any given foraging trip." Xerces Society

To aid in the gathering of pollen (for their young), bees are usually hairy and the pollen sticks to their hair which the bee moves to the back of their body onto their legs or belly (scopa. - pollen-collecting hairs or apparatus). Bumble bees have a pollen basket (corbiculum) on their hind legs. Some bee mothers also carry nectar in their crops. 

Defense

Though all female bees can sting, they only do so when threatened. Honey bees are more likely to sting than wild (Solitary native bees). The stingers of some bees are too small to penetrate our skin. 
 
General Life Cycle

Egg to larva to pupa to adult. Adults: Most male bees emerge from the nest before females waiting for the females to emerge (for mating). Bee mothers decide whether each egg they lay will be a male or a female bee (releasing stored sperm onto the egg results in a female bee, an egg only results in a male bee). Eggs are placed in individual cells along with pollen and nectar for the larva to eat when they hatch. Most bee species eggs hatch after a few days after being laid. Next, the bee enters its larval or grub stage, molting five times getting bigger each time. The next stage is the pupa, where they look like an adult but without wings. A short time later they emerge as fully developed adults. 

"Queen bumble bees can live for a year and workers for a month. Solitary bees also live for about a year, with the majority of that time spent developing in their nesting chamber where they hatch, pupate, and often overwinter. Their adult lives, during which they are active, last approximately three to eight weeks. Females tend to live a bit longer, as they need to build a nest and lay eggs." NWF

Where do bees live?

Seventy percent of bees nest in holes in the ground. Others use preexisting holes in branches, plant stems, abandoned rodent or beetle burrows, crevices in rocks, tree stumps, and small holes in other materials like bricks. Some use materials like mud to partition and separate the egg cells. They usually choose sunny south or east-facing area. 

However, some species do not build nests at all. These “cuckoo bees" will lay their eggs in nests built by other species. Cuckoo bees will sometimes kill the host species’ larvae to ensure their own eggs will have enough food to grow to adulthood. National Wildlife Federation


"Most native bee species will spend the winter in the nests that their mothers provisioned (a notable exception is the cuckoo bee). In fact, just like bears, many pollinators hibernate through the winter—and they may need a little help to survive until spring." Xerces Society

Bee Sociality

Honey bees and bumble bees are highly social. They have queens and workers that divide up the work. Most N.A. bees are solitary where each mother bee builds the nest, gathers food for her offspring, and lays the eggs. Some solitary bees have cooperative behaviors while remaining solitary otherwise. 

What do bees eat? 

Bees, unlike wasps from which they evolved, feed exclusively on sugary nectar and protein-rich pollen from flowering plants. Adult bees eat a lot of nectar and a little pollen; bee larvae eat a lot of pollen with a little nectar. 

"Some bees are generalists and will use pollen from a wide variety of flowering plants. Bumble bees are generalists as they depend upon a succession of plants flowering from early spring when the queen emerges to late summer – early fall when the colony dies. Other bees have some degree of specialization in foraging; they resort to using pollen from only one or two families of flowering plants. Fortunately, plant reproduction has redundancy in floral visitation already built-in. Each flowering plant species usually has a small guild of bees and other pollinators which coevolved with them to ensure their pollination. Typically, bees collect nectar from a wider range of blossoms than they visit for pollen."  USDA Forest Service


Pollen Specialist Bees

According to Jarrod Fowler and Sam Droege (2020) "Roughly 25% of the ~770 species of bees native to the Eastern United States are pollen specialists. Pollen specialist bees coevolved a continuum of generic and specific associations with flowering host plants or pollenizers (Cane & Sipes 2006; Hurd et al. 1980; Linsley & MacSwain 1958; Robertson 1925; Wright 2018). 

Pollen specialist associations can mutually benefit both bees and flowers from improved foraging effectiveness and efficiency, pollen digestibility, and pollination rates, but foraging restrictions may create greater susceptibility to harm from pollination or pollenization shortages due to habitat degradation or loss, pesticides, invasive species, and climate change (Minckley et al. 1994; Packer et al. 2005; Rafferty et al. 2015). 

Therefore, contemporary anthropogenic threats in the Eastern United States potentially imperil native pollen specialist bee species and their indigenous host plants with population declines and extinctions through loss of species diversity."  Pollen Specialist Bees of the Eastern United States, Fowler & Droege. Click on the hotlink to see a list of specialist bees and the host plant(s) they utilize.

Plant it and they will come. If we plant the species of native plants that a particular specialist bee utilizes we may have the opportunity to observe a specialist (sometimes common or even rare) specialist bee. 

Identifying Bees 
Vermont Wild Bee Guide 

There are a number of ways to help you identify a bee. First, take a photo. Rule out, look-alikes. Note the general body characteristics, abdomen, face, and wing detail. Pick the group that the bee seems closest to from this list. Click on hotlinks for more details.
 
  • "Hairy Bees This group includes the two most familiar genera - bumble bees and honeybees, plus several similar genera. 
  • Little Black Bees Nearly half the bee species in Vermont are small and dark. Bees in this group could easily be mistaken for gnats, small flies, or wasps. 
  • Black and Yelllow Bees  A few genera of related bees are boldly patterned with yellow and black. The two most common species in this group are both non-native and found in urban gardens. 
  • Green Bees These bright green bees are distinctive as a group. Included are four genera with a total of seven species, several of which are frequently encountered. 
  • Bluish Bees Though not as bright as the green bees, a small number of bees in Vermont have a distinct blue tinge. This group includes two frequently encountered genera, with most species being relatively small. 
  • Colorful Bees This group includes a wide range of shapes and sizes. All are cleptoparasitic genera that usurp the nests of other bees (think cowbirds). Most species either have large areas of red and yellow or have very short white hairs forming distinct bands or spots."  

The Bees in Your Backyard (North American Bees) book separates bees by the following. Bees that are: 
  • Yellow and Black
  • Metallic Green or Blue
  • Black Thorax (back) Red Abdomen (Belly)
  • Long Antennae
  • Black with Bright White Stripes of Hair on the Abdomen
  • Completely Red
  • Triangular or Pointy Abdomen
  • Yellow or White Stripes on the Abdomen Itself (not hair bands)
  • Extremely Large (bigger than the top of the thumb)
  • Gnat-Sized
  • Dark Wings
  • Really Fuzzy
  • Small, Shiny, and Black


Which bees can we expect to see in Vermont?
  Let's start with Bumble Bees found in Vermont.

According to the Vermont Center for EcoStudies Atlas of Vermont, there are seventeen bumble bee species that have been recorded in Vermont. The information below is from the VCE website. Click on the common name hotlinks to view the VCE page listing the plants each bee feeds from, where they nest, time of the year when they are flying about, and more information about the bee species selected.
  • Rusty-patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis), Endangered and Extirpated in VT. Last observed in Vermont in 1999. "Although the exact cause of this crash is uncertain, introduced parasites from imported colonies and pesticide use appear to be two major culprits. Even small amounts [of pesticides] used on lawns and in gardens can negatively impact entire colonies." iNaturalist postings.
  • Yellow Bumble Bee also known as Great Northern Bumble Bee (Bombus fervidus) Uncommon in VT, and possibly on the decline. Usually found in open fields and meadows. iNaturalist postings
  • Brown-belted Bumble Bee (Bombus griseocollis) Fairly common in VT. Can be found in many habitats including meadows, urban gardens, and agricultural settings. This bumble bee has a short season with queens emerging in May. Colonies sometimes persist into September, but often die by August. iNaturalist postings
  • American Bumble Bee (Bombus pensylbanicus) Once one of the most common Bumble Bee species in the east, but is now uncommon and in decline. The last known record for this species in Vermont was in 2000.  
  • Confusing Bumble Bee (Bombus perplexus) While this species has shown a slight decline in Vermont, its populations appear stable in other parts of its range. 
  • Sanderson's Bumble Bee (Bombus sandersoni) While there is no evidence of decline for this species, B. sandersoni is very difficult to identify (often confused with B. vagans), uncommon in Vermont, and little is known about its ecology. iNaturalist postings
  • Tricolored Bumble Bee (Bombus ternarius) This is one of the most common and widespread bumble bee species in Vermont.  B. ternarius is often found in urban settings and gardens and is one of the few species of bumble bee that is easy to identify. iNaturalist postings
  • Yellow-banded Bumble Bee (Bombus terricola) Once common and found throughout the northeast and south, into Georgia, B. terricola populations have experienced a dramatic decline over the past 15 years, and this species was recently listed as Threatened in Vermont. iNaturalist postings
  • Half-black Bumble Bee (Bombus vagans) B. vagans is by far the most common bumble bee in Vermont. This species is found in several different habitats including meadows, roadsides, urban gardens, and it is one of the few species that will readily forage in shaded areas within forests. iNaturalist postings
  • Ashton's Bumble Bee (Bombus ashtoni) B. ashtoni is a rare bumble bee and its populations are declining. It is a social parasite and lays its eggs in host colonies to be raised by that species’ workers. As its host species, B. affinis and B. terricola, have declined, so has this parasitic species. This species has not been found in Vermont for over 15 years (1999) and is thought to be extirpated from the state. 
  • Fernald's Bumble Bee (Bombus fernaldae) B. fernaldae is an uncommon species. Though its hosts are not rare in Vermont, there are few records. 

  • Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xlocopa virginica) This large, shiny bee is often mistaken for a bumble bee, but is a member of an entirely different genus. Common and widespread. Can be over an inch long. iNaturalist postings



Read about my close-up and personal meet-up with a bumble bee at Touching Life: How I came to pet a bumble bee.

Read more about Bumble Bees at What Bumble Bees Need by Judy Sefchick, Wildlife biologist, Missisquoi NWR


The Bees in your Backyard:
Bees recorded* in Jericho, VT 
* ~46 of ~313 known to be recorded in Vermont. 
* not all native to VT

Link to V.A.L. description -  Link to iNaturalist post - Relative abundance






















Peponapis pruinosa - Pruinose Squash Bee - Common











Apis mellifera - Western Honey Bee - Cultivated











Osmia lignaria - Blue Orchard Bee - Fairly Common


Sphecodes ranunculi - Buttercup Cuckoo Sweat Bee - 


Read about recent first in Vermont bee observations at New Bees Discovered in Vermont with Worldwide  Teamwork. 


***Vermont Bee Species - View the list of 300+ Vermont bee species with information on each. 



Visit these links to learn more.

  • ***PBS Video “ My Garden of A Thousand Bees” filmed in Bristol, England. If you thought bees behave only by instinct think again. The filming is incredible. See bees like you never have before - an up-close and intimate look at their behaviors and everyday lives. 
  • The Bees in Your Backyard - A Guide to North America's Bees by Joseph Wilson & Olivis Carril
  • Bumble Bees of North America (book) by Paul Williams, Robbin Thorp, Leif Richardson, & Sheila Colla. 

Guest posts about Vermont wild bees from students and others are welcome.

Bernie
Observing life in nature.
Connecting Vermont's historic habitat and wildlife, with our community.
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