06/24/2016 Every Third Bite

Sweat Bee (family Halictidae) Caddo Lake, Harrison Co., Texas N62.68279 W94.1508 May 31, 2011 Public Domain image by Christopher Johnson Part of the "Insects Unlocked" Project University of Texas at Austin

Does this creature, coming in for a landing, suggest that extraterrestrials have invaded? “Sweat Bee” is the common name of a large family of pollinators that are attracted to the salts in human perspiration (they do not sting unless handled). They are generally black or metallic colored, and some are brilliant green or brassy yellow. Sweat bees are among the most common bee species in Texas. Christopher Johnson photo.

24 Jun 2016 – Every Third Bite of Food We Eat Is Provided by Pollinators

I felt like I was a plant hunter in the jungles of the Amazon.   I hacked tree limbs, chopped through leggy shrubs, cut down weeds, and dug out cannas.  At last, I could see light from the other side….of the Butterfly Garden!

Obviously, it had become overgrown.   I was content to say it was “lush” and that maybe we could wait until fall to work on it.  All that changed when Michelle Trevino, Director of Beeville Main Street, contacted the Garden Club.  “Good news” she said, “Beeville has been approved as a Bee City USA!”

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This photographer captured the moment our tiniest bee species (no common name) landed on the head of our largest bee species, the carpenter bee. Native bees come in a wide range of sizes, life styles, places they frequent, nests they build, flowers they visit and season of activity. They remain unnoticed by most of us and yet they provide valuable services to all kinds of plants, from wildflowers to some important crops. For instance, the Southeastern blueberry bee is a hard working little creature, capable of visiting 50,000 blueberry flowers in her short life and pollinating enough of them to produce more than 6,000 ripe blueberries (worth about $20). Not every species that you see buzzing about earn that much money, but all of them combined keep the world of flowering plants going. Stephen Buckmann photo.

Great, but there was just one hitch:  we were going to have an event at the Flournoy Park Butterfly Garden…in just two weeks.  Uh-oh.  We needed to clear paths, trim vegetation, spread mulch, and make the garden presentable for the designation of  Beeville, Texas, as a Bee City USA on Saturday, June 25.

Initially, we panicked.  Then we got busy.  Garden Club members volunteered to clear out and clean up the Butterfly Garden.  Beeville Parks Department sent in their best men.  Together, we sawed, lopped, clipped, dug and pulled.  It felt like we were on a jungle expedition.  We cut through sheer walls of vegetation.  Eventually we could see the waterfall and the artificial stream that runs through the garden.  We trimmed too-tall plants and spruced up the walkways.   We hauled in mulch and raked it smooth.  The Butterfly Garden was looking good, really good.

Best of all, we again began to see butterflies on Gregg’s Blue Mistflower:  Queens and Gulf Fritillaries and even a Buckeye!   Hundreds of bees were visiting the Queen’s Wreath and Firebush blossoms.  Bumblebees were on the Mexican Oleanders.  The garden was abuzz.

Just in time too, because the designation event coincides with National Pollinators Week (which ends this weekend.)  Things start at 8:30AM Saturday with a Farmer’s Market at Flournoy Park.  There will be vendors, booths with information about bees, butterflies, and pollinator-friendly plants, tours of the Butterfly Garden, and a proclamation from the mayor designating our community as the first Bee City USA in Texas.  A release of 60 Painted Lady Butterflies will finish the presentation.

What does it take to become a certified Bee City USA?  A community must file an application with beecityusa.org and agree to promote pollinator-friendly habitats within the city and its environs.  Pollinator-friendly habitat includes diverse and abundant pollinator food sources (nectar and pollen) from a variety of blooming plants.  These plants need to provide flowers in succession so there will always be something in bloom for the pollinators to feed on.   Plants native to the area are preferred as many of the native pollinators are “specialists.”   Water must be available for drinking, cooling, and diluting stored honey, and for butterfly “puddling” places.  All plantings need to be neonicotinoid and pesticide free.  Areas of undisturbed natural habitat are preserved in the community wherever possible.

Honeybee 1000

Brought to the Americas by colonists from Europe, honeybees are the most familiar insects in the world. Our country is losing these tireless flying pollinators at the alarming rate of 30% per year. Last year was one of the worst, as beekeepers lost almost half of their colonies. Many factors are contributing to colony losses, including the varroa mite, a lethal parasite that can easily spread between colonies. Pesticides and malnutrition caused by changing land use patterns are also likely taking a toll. Wikimedia Commons photo.

All individuals in a Bee City USA are encouraged to provide healthy pollinator-friendly habitat.  Homeowners’ yards as well as public gardens and parks can be sources of blooming plants, water sources, and no pesticides.  Education of the public is another requirement for Certified Bee Cities.  Each community puts on an annual event to promote pollination, urban beekeeping, and raise the public’s awareness of the plight of bees.

You may have heard of the plight of bees in this country.  Honeybees, imported from Europe 350 years ago, are declining at a rate of 30% per year.  Native bees, such as bumblebees, carpenter bees, mason bees, orchard bees, sweat bees, and digger bees, also are in decline.  Reasons for the decline are many:  colony collapse disorder, varroa mites, use of neonicotinoids and pesticides, and maybe even loss of vital nectar- and pollen-producing plants.

Both honeybees and native bee species provide pollination services.  Over 85% of flowering plants depend on pollinators for reproduction.  A large part of our food supply comes from the fruits and seeds of flowering plants.  Think of peaches, almonds, blueberries, tomatoes, squashes, cantaloupes, beans, peas, and on and on.  One in every three bites of food comes to us courtesy of pollinating insects.

Pollinators include not only bees and butterflies but also hummingbirds, moths, beetles, and bats.  These creatures, along with the plants they pollinate, have evolved together.  They depend on each other.  A plant preparing to reproduce makes flowers, each with a tiny bit of sugary liquid called nectar.  A pollinator is attracted to a flower by the proffered food, but it never gets enough at one flower.  It must quickly move on to another flower to sip the minute drop of nectar within it, and then on to yet another flower.  As the insect (or bird or bat) muddles around on the flower trying to get at the nectar, it also picks up pollen grains on its body.  As the pollinator moves on to another flower, the pollen drops off on the sexual organs of the new flower.  Pollination, and the subsequent fertilization of the plant’s ovules (eggs), occurs.  The developing ovules become seeds, and the surrounding plant parts, the fruit.

We need our pollinators.  Come to Flournoy Park this Saturday and enjoy the butterflies and bees.  Learn what you can do to keep Beeville a certified Bee City USA!

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