All The Buzz
How to support our local honeybees
European honeybees are the most commonly known pollinators and are returning from their hives to our local landscapes as the days lengthen. While not native to this continent, honeybees are beneficial to the environment and critically important to agricultural production. Unfortunately, modern life has placed many detrimental stresses on this insect species. Some regions have experienced a severe loss of honeybees. There are, however, actions homeowners can take to create a honeybee-friendly habitat.
Establishing plants and trees that produce a continuing supply of nectar and pollen attractive to honeybees will support their health and reproduction. In North Florida, with the right selection of plants, productive flowers can flourish for most of the year. Many attractive ornamental plants can serve as both seasonal color enhancers for the home and a source of nutrition for the honeybees.
Removing plants and other substances toxic to honeybees will also help them thrive. Carolina jessamine, which flowers early in the year both in the wild and in gardens, is an example. This plant is commonly known by its small but vibrant yellow flowers. Another helpful practice is the cautious use of insecticides. Most are broad spectrum and will kill any insect which comes into contact with the chemical. If destructive bugs appear on plants and trees, they can be controlled with a staged approach. Hand-remove where practical, and restrict spray treatments to a targeted area. Use insecticides that have a short duration toxicity.
In the early spring, the honeybee colony splitting process will begin. This is normal behavior for honeybees, especially when they have outgrown their current residence. Sometimes the departing swarm will temporarily stop in a home landscape and buzz around anyone venturing too close. Perfumes and colognes will attract additional attention. But not to worry, their presence is just a rest stop to assess the area and not intended to terrorize the vicinity’s human residents. Usually, the swarm moves on in a few days.
Beekeepers, both professional and hobbyist, do their best to keep their hives from swarming to new locations. They do this by moving some of the worker honeybees to empty hive boxes and installing a new queen. It takes several days to ensure the worker bees accept the new queen and the home. In most cases, the honeybees accept a new hive box and stay in their old neighborhood.
All in all, if we practice awareness of our surroundings and show some compassion for the bees, they will continue to thrive in our area and provide us with all the colorful benefits of their presence.
BEE BITS
Settlers brought European honeybees to the American colonies in the early seventeenth century. Advances in apiary technology in the nineteenth century led to their southward movement to Florida.
Each colony contains three “castes,” or sizes. Queen bees are the largest and the only females capable of reproduction. Male bees, called drones, fall in the middle. Worker bees are non-breeding females and they are the smallest of the three.
Austrian ethologist Karl von Frisch was awarded the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in translating the “waggle dance,” a complex language honeybees use to communicate about food sources.
