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What are Bees?


Bees are insects and are related to wasps, ants, and saw flies.

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Bees are insects that are closely related to wasps. In fact, bees are wasps that went vegetarian! Bees are a type of insect that is closely related to wasps, sawflies, and ants. There are over 20,000 different bee species in the world (ref)! This means that there is a lot of variation. An example of how different bees are can be found by comparing the largest bee with the smallest bee. Megichile pluto is one of the world's largest bees at about 38mm in length, whereas the smallest bee is Perdita minima which grows to be a little less than 2mm in length 1 2.

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Bees are very similar to wasps, which makes sense because they are closely related. So, what is the difference between bees and wasps? The biggest difference is in their diet; wasps are omnivorous and bees are mostly vegetarian. Wasps are also densely varied much like bees. Wasps are predators, parasites, and pollinators believe it or not! Wasps are great for your garden as they will eat small pest insects like aphids. Wasps play important roles in many ecosystems and in controlling pest populations much like how bees play an important role in pollination.

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If you ask most people to think about a bee, the honey bee is most likely the bee that comes to mind. However, there are only 8 different species of honey bee and 22,000 bee species worldwide! So, honey bees make up only a tiny fraction of the total biodiversity of bees. You may now be asking, what is the most common bee? Well, most bees are actually solitary. Solitary bees make up some of the most populous groups of bees including Halictus and Lasioglossum. These bees do not form social groups and only one female is responsible for making a nest, laying her own eggs, and provisioning food for each of her babies.

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This bee specimen displays all of the important characteristics of a bee. The large green compound eyes on the sides of the head, the elbowed antennae, and the three small black button-like ocelli at the top of the head. The two pairs of membrane wings are attached to the sides of the thorax. The three pairs of legs can be seen under the body. Finally, you can see the very small and skinny connection between the thorax and the abdomen. 

 

The species in the photo is Osmia atriventris which is commonly known as the Maine blueberry bee. It is called this because it is used commercially to pollinate blueberry plants. 

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Unique physical structures in bees.

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Bees have specialzed structures for various purposes. These structures are dense hair for pollen collection, a sting for defense, and wing structures to fold their wings to enter small spaces.

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The most specialized structure in bees is their dense hair (also known as pile). Bees are fuzzy for a reason, it allows them to better collect pollen! These hairs are special because they are branched. This hair allows pollen to stick to bees and the pollen that sticks to this hair is the main way flowers get pollinated. In addition to these hairs, some bees have specialized structures like a pollen basket, extra pollen collecting hairs on their legs or belly, or a stucture called a crop within their gut to store pollen!

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Bees have a sting that they use for defense. In all species, only female bees have a sting. This is because the sting evolved from an egg laying structure called an ovipositor. So male bees of all species cannot sting. The sting is why many people are afraid of bees, but like many wild animals they will only use their sting when they feel threatened or when they feel you are threatening their nest. So, just like most wild animals, please respect their space or learn how to handle them safely.

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The last unique structure that bees have is hamuli. Hamuli are essentially little velcro like hooks that are used to temporarily attach their wings together while the bee is in flight. Bees can separate their wings when they land in order to get into small spaces like in their small hole like nests and narrow tube like flowers. Folding their wings over their body also prevents wing damage.

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The structure shown on the left is a pollen basket, which is also known as a corbicula. This structure is found on the outside of certain bees back legs. This structure is made up of three different parts; a large polished cavity, several rows of hairs that line this cavity, and a pollen brush which is on the right of this large structure in the picture.

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Bees that have a corbicula will moisten the large bare area with their tongues, brush themselves and transfer any pollen they have on their bodies to their pollen comb, the pollen comb then presses, compacts, and transfers the pollen to the corbicula.

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How can you help bees in your garden?

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Bees are reliant on floral resources and must forage for themselves and their young. If you want to provide enough floral resources for bees, make sure you have plants that will bloom at different times in the year. If you can, make sure you have something that is in flower at all points during the year. In choosing flowers to plant, make sure you plant flowers with a variety of colours, shapes, and sizes. The different types of flowers will attract a wide variety of bees! If you live in British Columbia, Canada (or close to BC) here is an excellent guide to the flower species that different types of bees prefer and other useful information!  

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Aside from providing flowers to bees, you can help bees out by providing water and by reducing spraying (especially around the water dish). In order to provide bees with water, you need to create a special watering dish. This dish is typically a shallow dish that also contains pebbles or small stones 3. The pebbles act as a landing pad so the bees can access the water without falling in. You should drain and refill the dish often to avoid harbouring mosquito larvae. As for spraying, I would recommend you do not spray plants with insecticides at all if possible. Bees are extremely sensitize to pesticides because they, like many pests, are insects.

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I do not recommend a hive or any type of managed bees in your garden for two main reasons: 1) managed populations compete with wild bee populations and 2) managed bees can carry diseases to wild bees.

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Page information

Author: Melissa Platsko

Date published: April 3, 2022

Date last edited: July 31, 2023

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References

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  1. Messer, A. (1984). Chalicodoma pluto: The World's Largest Bee Rediscovered Living Communally in Termite Nests (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Journal Of The Kansas Entomological Society, 57(1), 165-168. 

  2. Cockerell, T. D. A. (1923). Two nocturnal bees and a minute Perdita. American Museum Novitates, (66), 1.

  3. Jordan, S., Jennifer, H., & Sara, M. (2020). Nesting & Overwintering Habitat For Pollinators & Other Beneficial Insects [Ebook]. Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Retrieved from https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/18-014.pdf.

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