For centuries, humanity has known the importance of bees and pollination. These hard-working creatures benefit every living thing on the planet, in part, by carrying pollen from one flower to another. They not only enable the cultivation of fruits, nuts, and other food but also help to produce a better variety and quality of these foods.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), birds, bees, bats, and other pollinators affect approximately 35% of the world’s crop production and increase outputs of 87 of the leading food crops worldwide. In addition, they aid in many plant-based medicines. This means that three out of four crops that produce fruits or seeds for human use are dependent upon pollinators.

In fact, pollinators matter to food and agriculture so much that in 2017 a proposal was introduced to make May 20th World Bee Day. The purpose of which is to raise awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators in making the planet healthy and livable.

The idea of World Bee Day came from the Government of Slovenia with the support of Apimondia, the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Association, which led the UN General Assembly to adopt the measure in 2018. May 20th was chosen because it was the birthday of Anton Janša, a pioneer of modern apiculture (beekeeping). Janša came from a family of beekeepers in Slovenia, where beekeeping has a long-standing tradition and is recognized as being very important to agriculture.

I was able to connect with horticulture educator for the Penn State Cooperative Extension and bee expert Tom Butzler to talk about the important work of bees and other pollinators.
Dave: Tom, please explain what pollination is and what occurs.

Tom: Plants can reproduce two ways; asexually and sexually. In asexual reproduction, new plants are created by taking a plant part and starting a whole new plant from that fragment. These new offspring are genetically identical to the plant from which it came. Sexual reproduction in the plant world revolves around the movement of pollen from the anther (male reproductive structure) to the stigma (female reproductive structure). The resulting union of the genetic material from the pollen and the female structure results in a seed. If that seed is given a chance to germinate and grow, it has many genetic differences than the parents.

There are some plants that only require wind to move pollen. A good example would be corn. A slight breeze moves pollen from the tassel to nearby silks of the forming ear. But there are some plants that produce pollen grains that are too heavy for the wind to move. In those cases, something is needed to assist the movement of pollen to a female part.

A good example is pumpkin. This is where the animal kingdom comes into play. A bee (could be a honey, bumble, or squash bee) visits a pumpkin flower to obtain nectar within the flower, a carbohydrate source for the insect. While slurping up this sugary substance, it rubs up against the anthers and gets pollen all over its body. It then moves on to another pumpkin flower for another sugary treat. This time, it is rubbing up against the female reproductive structure (stigma), and some of the pollen stays behind. The pollen sends down a tube to the ovary at the base of the stigma, fertilization occurs, and a pumpkin starts to form.

Dave: Why is pollination so important?

Tom: Dave, not sure if you mean pollination or the role of pollinators in pollination. If you mean pollination, then we would have an absence of almost all of our food crops. Corn, soybeans, wheat, apples, almonds, squash, etc., require pollination in order to produce a grain, fruit, or nut. A true vegetable such as asparagus, rhubarb, celery, lettuce, etc., is not the result of pollination as we eat a stem or leaf. Although we would still need pollination at some point to produce lettuce seeds. But if the question is why are pollinators important, then — we wouldn’t starve, but our diet would sure be bland, and dinner/dessert plates wouldn’t look very colorful. We would not have cucumbers, squash, blueberries, apples, blackberries, etc.
Dave: Bees are typically associated with pollination. Are there other animals or insects that are involved?

Tom: Bees do get the majority of press when we talk about pollination. Other insects such as butterflies, beetles, and flies can also pollinate certain crops. But as you know, the animal kingdom is large, and there are some really neat examples of pollination outside of the insect world. Agave, a plant that is necessary for tequila production, requires bats to pollinate the crop. Hummingbirds that we see visiting many of our garden flowers can be effective in moving pollen from flower to flower.

Dave: How many types of bees exist?

Tom: Again, when the public thinks of bees, honeybees are at the top of everyone’s mind. But the bee world is very large. Just in Pennsylvania alone, we have 437 different species of bees. And the life cycles are so diverse. For example, honeybees live in large colonies with a queen, workers, and drones (the male). Each of these has different tasks in the hive, and we call these social bees. Many of Pennsylvania’s other bees are solitary squash bees, for an example. This is where a single female bee takes care of a small nest with the help of no other bee. Some bees live in trees, stems, or branches, while others live underground.

Dave: There has been news in recent years about the bee population dying off. Can you explain why this is a problem and what can be done?

Tom: This question really pertains to honeybees. In the past, much of our research and interest has been with this insect because of its role in production agriculture. But many of the problems with honeybees could also be affecting the 400+ species of other Pennsylvania bees. We just don’t know because we have not studied others like honeybees.

But back to your question on dying off of bees which pertains specifically to honeybees. Yes, honeybees are dying off in large numbers. Research doesn’t have the complete answer yet, but it comes down to several stressors. One of the main stress factors is pesticides. These chemicals are an integral part of production agriculture and used to fight off weeds, insects, and diseases that could severely impact yield. But those same products are having a variety of effects on our honeybees by weakening their immune system, impairing their memory, or just outright death.

Throw into the mix a parasitic mite that is sucking out portions of their fat bodies (somewhat equivalent to the human liver). While that seems bad enough, that same mite is moving viruses around from bee to bee while feeding. As an example, one of the big ones is the deformed winged virus. Go ahead and close your eyes. Can you imagine what this looks like on a honeybee? And there are other stressors such as habitat destruction, changing climate, poor nutrition, etc. Maybe if the honeybee was dealing with just one of these stressors, it could adjust and move on. Throw all of these at these insects at one time, and it is a pretty tough obstacle to overcome.

Dave: What products can be associated with bees?

Tom: For the most part, I think you are looking at honeybees? If so, then one of the most popular products is honey. And you can buy local honey that reflects the various flowers they visit in central PA. For example, bees visiting large stands of blooming black locust trees can produce a very light honey. While fields of buckwheat or stream banks of Japanese knotweed give a very dark honey. Besides differences in color, those nectar sources also make for different tasting honeys. Honeybees make wax (from their abdominal wax glands) to build their structures. This wax can be used to make candles, lotions, and balms. Some beekeepers will place pollen traps at the entrance of the hive to knock off pollen from incoming bees. The pollen is collected and sold to people who believe in its properties to ease allergies.

Dave: What is the commercial impact of bees and bee deaths in PA and the rest of the US?

Tom: Every year, a survey (https://beeinformed.org/) is conducted across the US to determine bee losses. Last year, beekeepers in Pennsylvania lost 59.9% of their hives. While as bad as that seems, Utah (known as the ‘Beehive State’) lost 72.4%. While there have always been winter losses, the past couple of decades has been pretty hard on beekeepers. We really have no idea how severe bee losses of many of Pennsylvania’s native bee populations have been.
Dave: If someone is interested in beekeeping or wants to learn more about bees, where can they get more information?

Tom: Penn State offers an online program, ‘Beekeeping 101’. It is about six hours of content (videos, pictures, self-assessments, etc.) that takes one through a season of beekeeping. But there are more than just honeybees. There are some active research labs at PSU that are looking beyond the honeybee. The López-Uribe lab (https://lopezuribelab.com/) is very active in several bee projects, such as a statewide monitoring program. Her site contains many videos, articles, and fact sheets. One of the more interesting ones is the pamphlet on the squash bee, https://lopezuribelab.com/squash-bee-biology/. There is also Penn State’s ‘Center for Pollinator Research’ effort to improve pollinator health, conservation, and management of ecosystems services through research, education, outreach, and policy, https://ento.psu.edu/research/centers/pollinators.

Dave: Is there anything else you think is important or you want people to know?

Tom: There are a number of steps that homeowners can take to help our bee population. It could be something as simple as allowing more broadleaf plants in the lawn (e.g., dandelion, clover) to remain and flower. Or maybe mow less often to allow these broadleaf plants a chance to flower. If that is not an aesthetic option that suits you, consider planting flower beds on the property. There are a number of things to take into consideration if taking this action, such as planting in drifts and selections with overlapping bloom times. Minimize the use of pesticides and apply in the evenings when pollinator activity slows down.