Where Bees Sleep
On a cool fall morning in North America most of us are waking up with a warm cup of coffee or tea and getting ready for the day. Rarely do we wonder, “what is the rest of the world doing right now?” Even less often would we be concerned about where bees go once it starts to get cold. If you’re lucky enough to have a yard or live by a park the thought may cross your mind. Others might ask, “who cares?” It’s understandable, since bees are usually thought of as just annoying little bugs. Many people may be surprised to learn the Earthwatch Institute declared bees the most important living beings on Earth. The USDA estimates bees pollinate 75% of fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in the US. That’s a lot of work, so in the fall and winter our bees take a well earned rest.
When I say our bees, I mean the bees native to North America. There are over 20,000 species of bees worldwide with 4,000 in North America. Outside my apartment in Mount Kisco, NY I had a tiny native plant garden. A friend, very knowledgeable about nature, confirmed there were many different bee species visiting my garden. I showed her a patch of mud on the brick of the apartment complex. It was spread on like a gray spackle with perfectly round holes dug into it. She told me this was made by mason bees. Natureserve estimates there are 139 mason bee species native to North America and they are not yellow but blue, black or green! As masons they use mud to build their nests. Another really cool sign of bees I found in the garden was dust on the hydrangea leaves in spring.
Many bee species will hibernate in hollow plant stems during the winter. They lower down into the stem and pack the top with the pith. When it gets warm again they dig their way back out creating the dust that I saw in my garden. It’s so fun to find signs of their emergence. Other well known species like bumble bees will winter over in leaf litter or abandoned rodent nests. Carpenter bees prefer dead wood for nesting. Leaving dead tree stands and logs on a property may prevent them from boring holes into wood frames. Of course when we think of bees we inevitably visualize a swarm of honey bees but they are actually not native to North America!
The workaholic, hive-builders were brought from Europe to the colonies in the 17th century. Settlers must have been surprised to find that native North American bee species did not make honey. They also do not live in hives, most of our species are solitary. Bumble bees are our most social species, living in colonies. While honey bees provide the US with honey and a percentage of crop pollination, their presence can be detrimental to the native bee population. The wild bumble bee population is in decline worldwide due in part to pathogens spread by commercial honey bee hives. The rusty patched bumble bee was added to the Endangered Species List in 2017. Habitat loss, pesticides and climate change are a few more factors contributing to bee decline.
Since the causes of bee decline are directly related to human activity the solutions are in our control. There is a growing movement to re-wild yards and parks in order to provide more habitat for bees and several other animals. One way to help is to leave your leaves in the fall. Blowing leaves into a pile and packing them into bags removes a ton of life forms from your yard’s ecosystem: frogs, moth cocoons and many insects that provide food for birds. Shredding the leaves destroys those lives. Instead you can use the leaves as mulch or spread them over a portion of your yard. For a long time I thought a lack of recycling was our only environmental problem. I only recently (in the past 5 or so years) began to learn about ecosystems and habitats. A good book to start with is Nature’s Best Hope by Doug Tallamy. This book can probably be credited with making the re-wilding movement gain ground. Tallamy proposes US landowners revert 70% of their property back to native habitat in order to prevent the extinction of insects and birds. These habitats are the foundation of human civilization, once they collapse we will not be far behind.
The thought can leave you hopeless but we know the causes which makes finding solutions that much easier.
GIVE BEES A CHANCE!!! Let them wake up to a surprise next spring, another person who cares enough to set aside even a small garden.
