Getting the buzz on the value of bees
Box 1 | Native bees
(Thyreus nitidulus) - so named because
the female lays her egg in the brood cell
of the Blue-Banded Bee (Amegilla
cingulate) so they will look after its
young. (Credit: Paul Zborowski,
Close Up Photo Library).
Australia’s highly diverse native bees range in size from a 2 mm midget (the Quasihesma bee) to what in comparison is a 24 mm flying bus (the great carpenter bee, Xylocopa). Most Australian native bees are solitary – a single female builds a nest and lays her eggs before dying in autumn, leaving behind larvae that develop over winter. Some are semi-social, however – several female bees cooperate to build a nest, in which they all lay eggs. There are also 14 species of ‘social’ native bee that form large colonies in similar ways to European honeybees and produce honey – including the famous bush tucker, ‘sugarbag’. These are known as ‘stingless’ bees because, unlike the honeybee, they do not possess a sting.
Some native bee species could become important pollinators of agricultural crops. For example, recent research at the University of Western Sydney and the University of Adelaide has shown the blue banded bee, a solitary bee of the genus Amegilla, to be more efficient than European honeybees at pollinating greenhouse-grown tomatoes. Blue banded bees ‘buzz’ pollinate – meaning that their wings vibrate at such a rate that they cause the flower’s pollen capsules to burst – a technique well-suited to tomatoes. Blue banded bees have been shown to cope well in a greenhouse environment and researchers are now developing a commercially viable breeding program for the species.
Another agricultural crop that has been shown to be pollinated effectively by native bees (in this case, the social Trigona species) is macadamia, itself an Australian native. An estimated 6 million macadamia trees in Australia produce about 35,000 tonnes of macadamia nuts per year. (See Box 3 for further information on agricultural pollinators.)
Boxes
Box 2. Epigenetics
Box 3. Ensuring sufficient pollinators
Box 4. Fighting the Varroa mite
Related sites
The Australian Native Bee Research Centre
Stingless Bees
Aussie bees abuzz
Stingless bee rescue
Six-legged friends
External sites are not endorsed by the Australian Academy of Science.
Posted August 2011.