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Disappearance of bees would have dire consequences for humanity and the environment

Philip Brown image on Unsplash

Bees are pollinating winged insects belonging to the order Hymenoptera. They can be found in more than 16 thousand different species, the most common being the Apis mellifera (European bee). Bees are wasps whose females have a peculiar characteristic: instead of capturing and feeding on insects, as is common with other wasps, the bees collect pollen and nectar directly from the flowers to feed their larvae. Although they do not appear to the uninitiated eye, bees are very similar to other types of wasps, such as apoids. Both build nests to lay their eggs and care for their pollen larvae.

Pollination

Pollination is the transport of pollen from one flower to another. It is through this process that the flowers are fertilized, giving rise to the development of fruits and seeds. It can be made by water, wind and many animals such as butterflies and hummingbirds. But the animal most famous for its ability to pollinate - and it is in fact the most efficient - is the bee, as it is faster, can fly in a zigzag and, after a while with the colony installed in a certain location, can know which is the best time to collect pollen (they observe the flora near the hive and associate it with the intensity of daylight).

Bees have small feathery hairs that are hardly visible to the naked eye. Based on the theory of evolution, it is believed that these hairs were adaptations to facilitate pollen collection. But there are also hypotheses that these hairs evolved to retain water and reflect sunlight, helping to regulate the bees' body temperature.

The importance of bees

Do you like zucchini, watermelon and passion fruit? If the answer is yes, then you like what bees do. These and many other vegetables would not exist or would be very different without the pollination done by these little insects. Eggplants, for example, would be smaller than apples.

Bees are small in size (some species even go unnoticed because they are so small), but of gigantic importance for all life on Earth. Without bees, we would lose 70% of the food that is pollinated by them. In addition, there would be extinction of other animals that also depend on plants pollinated by bees and those that prey on these.

types of bees

Some scientists imagine that bees appeared in the Jurassic period, even before the appearance of angiosperm plants. The famous black and yellow striped is the favorite of beekeepers and the best known by the population in general, because it produces more honey. However, the Apis mellifera it is also a food pollinator, being the main pollinator of pumpkin, for example, and of many other vegetables.

But know that not every bee has a social life and lives in a hive like the European bee. There are bees that live alone all their lives inside small holes inside tree trunks and die before they see their larvae hatch. There are also those that dig nests in the ground (mainly females) and some are so small that you might have killed them with your palm thinking it was some "mosquito" or something.

we are kleptoparasites

Can you imagine what a sad situation it would be to see a little lady putting shopping bags in the car being taken by a total stranger who assaulted her? And worst of all... this stranger is a person who wouldn't need to steal to feed. If you found the fictional scene revolting, be aware that we humans are capable of doing worse. We steal a bee's lifetime "sweaty" food, since even among the most productive bees it takes a lifetime of work to produce just one spoonful of honey! Not satisfied, we also stole the pollen they delicately collected, the propolis and the beeswax. This relationship also happens among other animal species such as the sperm whale, which steals fish acquired by other species. And the hyena, which steals the hunting done by lions. This parasitic relationship is known in biology as "kleptoparasitism".

stingless bees

There are many species of bees that do not have a sting. The main ones are: irapuã, which is also widely used in agriculture; jataí, who is a fan of ornamental flowers; and the child, which strawberry producers take to live in their plantation and prevent genetic deformities in the fruit, because pollination takes genes from one plant to another, preventing inbreeding, that is, the mixing of similar genes between flowers of the same plant, which are like “sister flowers”.

This is not used in honey extraction, but it is essential for growing passion fruit. The fruit rarely develops without pollination and this bee is so closely related to it that it does not recognize transgenic varieties and only accepts “original” passion fruit.

Beekeeping x Meliponiculture

There is often confusion about the different types of bee cultivation. But beekeeping refers to the cultivation of European bees, as already mentioned, the Apis mellifera. This species is not native to the country, having been brought by Europeans for the religious use of their wax and honey for food purposes. Later, around 1956, the African bee was also brought in, which formed a hybrid with the European bee, called the Africanized bee.

The meliponiculture technique, on the other hand, refers to the creation of bees native to Brazil. Brazilian bees do not have a stinger, they defend themselves using their jaws and legs. Among the common species of native bees are jataí, uruçú, mandaçaia, jandaíra, tiúba, tubí, among others.

The stingless characteristic of these bees has facilitated their creation by amateurs. These people cultivate bees because they recognize their environmental relevance and, in some cases, to extract their honey. In São Paulo, an organization that gained prominence for saving bees at risk - such as those nestled in buildings about to be demolished - was SOS Abelhas without a sting. The NGO holds workshops, lectures, courses and makes it possible for bees that need rescue to meet and people willing to take care of them. But ordinary citizens across the country can do their part and provide shelter and food (plants with pollen) for stingless bees. Even a small flowering basil tree in the window can be a feast for these impressive insects!