Bees are fun to watch and don’t get me get started overall “beneficial bug” thing. You might be here for hours.  I grew up surrounded by people who would kill any bee that dared buzz near them or drench their gardens in shocking amounts of pesticides.  Hopefully, this “kill it, kill it” thinking isn’t so common. Our future survival is intertwined with buzzy little bees.  In 2017, the UN declared May 20^th World Bee Day to help foster recognition of the vital role bees play in the chain of life.

World Bee Day isn’t to be confused with World Honeybee Day held Aug 17th. Not all bees are honeybees. If you aren’t up on the diversity within the bee family, check Wikipedia’s decent page. This May, set aside the 20^th to learn a bit more about bees, their diversity in design and the beauty of watching them hover around the plants in your garden.

“Bees play a crucial role in increasing crop yields and promoting food security and nutrition. Without them, we could lose a variety of food such as potatoes, pepper, coffee, pumpkins, carrots, apples, almonds, tomatoes, just to name a few. In short, without bees, FAO cannot achieve a world without hunger. World Bee Day recognizes the importance of these tiny helpers and will increase awareness of the need to protect them.”
Carla Mucavi, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations worldbeeday.org 

And now a few random bee photos

I spend a lot of time trying to photograph bees, with a very low success rate.  I figured that if I focused on a single blossom and waited (and waited) eventually I’d be able to grab a decent photo or two. I have a scattering of presentable photos as a result. Despite hours of getting up close photos of bee bums, I’ve never been stung. Bees simply ignore me and get on with their job. It’s surprising how close you can get to them.

I think the last two are honeybees, but I could be wrong. My bee identification skills rank right up there with my mushroom identification skills. There is a staggering variety within the bee-verse in North America alone – honeybees, bumble bees, orchard bees, mining bees, mason bees, blueberry bees, squash bees, sweat bees, hoverflies. Some bees sting, some don’t. Some collect nectar, some are predatory. Some are parasitic, some are beneficial. Some look vaguely like honeybees, some look exotic … oh my, the specialization. According to the Brampton Bee Keepers Association, there are over 800 varieties of bees in Canada, and between 20,000 to 25,000 worldwide. And they are under threat around the globe.

Collect stamps? Check out my post on Canada’s Bee Stamps

 

My favourite is the humble bumble bee, but they aren’t as plentiful as they used to be. I didn’t spot more than a dozen all summer. The reason is depressing – bumble bees are listed as a species at risk in Canada.

Photo of a bee on purple flowers taken Sept 2014 David Balfour Park – previously posted June 14, 2016

Bees and thistles in the ravine – Toronto – previously posted Aug 6, 2017 a celebration for International Bee Day

Those are my best photos, and I’m aiming to do a lot this summer. I have a ravine filled with wildflowers close by offering plenty of opportunity.

Want more info on bees?

1. If you want to learn more about bees in Canada, check out this list from the Brampton Bee Keepers.
2. To hone your identification skills, try How to Identify Bees
3. Bees on the Species at Risk list, refer to Wildlife Species Canada.
4. David Suzuki – Love bees, especially the wild ones can be found here https://davidsuzuki.org/story/love-bees-especially-the-wild-ones/
5. Some cool info on European honey beeshttp://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/MISC/BEES/euro_honey_bee.htm
6. Bees in Australia http://beekeepers.amazingbees.com.au/european-honeybees.html
7. Bees in the UK https://friendsoftheearth.uk/bee-count/great-british-bee-count-bee-identification-guide
8. Bee keeping in India https://www.farmingindia.in/beekeeping-in-india-honey-bee-farm/
9. European Red List of Bees is a lengthy article on European bees, their importance  and severe problems facing their survival –  http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/species/redlist/downloads/European_bees.pdf

 If you have a good bee resource, post it in the comments below.