Bees are crucial to our environment, food supply, and daily life, even though many people may view them as nothing more than bothersome insects. These flora-seekers gather pollen and nectar from flowers while dispersing pollen between plants. Without bees, we’d undoubtedly be missing out on a lot of food, and we’re not just referring to the tasty honeycomb they make.
Bees help plants reproduce by moving pollen between the male and female parts of the flowers. Over 35% of our food crops and most blooming plants depend on bees for pollination. An essential habitat for wildlife, including other pollinators, is created by the flora that bees fertilize.
Bee-pollinated landscapes also benefit the environment because plants consume atmospheric carbon for photosynthesis, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
What is the role of bees in plant reproduction?
Bees spend the majority of their lives gathering pollen, which is a source of protein that they give to their developing offspring, bees are excellent pollinators. Electrostatic forces are used by the hairs on a bee’s body to draw pollen grains when it lands on a flower.
They may groom the pollen into specialized brushes or pockets on their legs or bodies and then return it to their nest thanks to the stiff hairs on their legs. A given bee is more likely to transmit pollen from one flower of the same species to another since they prefer to concentrate on only one type of blossom at a time.
To generate healthy seeds, many plants need to cross-pollinate, which is the spread of pollen. Numerous flowers attract and reward bees with nectar, as gathering pollen is an energy-intensive process.
How bees pollinate
More than 22,000 plant species prevent bees from accessing their pollen by sealing it in a poricidal anther structure, which has a tiny aperture. Instead, bees obtain the pollen by a process known as buzz pollination, sonication. They grip the blossom and vibrate their flying muscles during buzz pollination. By forcing the pollen out and onto the bee, this process transmits vibrations to the flower.
To achieve high yields and great fruit sizes, flowering fruits and vegetables like strawberries, peppers, and tomatoes require pollination. One expensive, delicious fruit that needs buzz pollination is the tomato. Bees of all species possess the muscles necessary for buzz pollination. This method is used by all seven bee families.
However, buzz pollination is only used by 58% of bee species. It is unknown why certain bees can buzz and pollinate while others cannot. Honey bees are among the species that cannot sonicate, rendering them inadequate pollinators for some plants despite their reputation as excellent pollinators. However, bumblebees can, making them crucial pollinators of agricultural plants like tomatoes.
What foods do bees pollinate?
The New World is not the native home of honey bees. In other parts of the world, crops and bees coevolved before being introduced to this region by European settlers. However, according to available information, the first honey bee colonies came to the Colony of Virginia from England at the beginning of 1622.
Today, bee pollination is necessary for the commercial cultivation of more than 90 crops. In addition, the European honey bee is the most frequent pollinator of the over 3,600 bee species that call the United States home, making it the most significant bee for domestic agriculture.
American consumers consume about one-third of their food from crops that honey bees pollinate, such as apples, melons, cranberries, pumpkins, squash, broccoli, and almonds, to mention a few. As a result, dinner dishes in America would appear somewhat barren without the hardworking honey bee.
Other roles of bees in the ecosystem
Besides pollination, bees play the following roles:
1. Habitats for wildlife
Although bees are famous for their ornate hives, they also contribute to constructing millions of other insects’ and animals’ houses. They are essential pollinators for developing temperate deciduous forests, savannah woodlands, and tropical forests.
Many tree species, including willows and poplars, could not flourish without pollinators like bees.
Many little animals, including birds, squirrels, and countless tiny insects, even call your own garden home.
2. Wild plant growth
Not only fruits and vegetables grown on farms rely on pollinators to flourish. The pollination of numerous wild plant species is also reliant on insects. For example, many seeds, nuts, berries, and fruits – essential food sources for wild animals – are produced by bees.
3. Food supply
Bees make honey to provide food for their colonies during the chilly winter. Although humans have gathered honey for thousands of years, it is also enjoyed by other species as a delicious treat.
Animals such as birds, raccoons, opossums, and insects will break into beehives to sample the nourishing honey and bee larvae.
The food chain also includes bees themselves. At least 24 bird species feed on bees, such as the starling, blackbird, and ruby-throated hummingbird. Numerous spiders and insects, including praying mantises and dragonflies, also consume bees.
4. Diversity of life
Bees contribute to every area of the ecology as pollinators. They encourage the development of trees, flowers, and plants that provide food and shelter for large and tiny animals. They support intricate, interconnected ecosystems that support the coexistence of numerous different species.
Conclusion
The value of bees to our food supply is undeniable. Our crops would be barren, and our dishes would be empty without them. But we must not forget the additional aspects of bees’ environmental significance.