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Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea. They are currently considered a clade, called Anthophila. There are over 20,000 known species of bees in seven recognized biological families. Some species – including honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees – live socially in colonies while most species (>90%) – including mason bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, and sweat bees – are solitary.
A honey bee is a eusocial flying insect within the genus Apis of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosmopolitan distribution of honey bees, introducing multiple subspecies into South America, North America, and Australia.
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus Apis live and raise their young. Though the word beehive is used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature distinguishes nest from hive. Nest is used to discuss colonies that house themselves in natural or artificial cavities or are hanging and exposed. The term hive is used to describe an artificial/man-made structure to house a honey bee nest. Several species of Apis live in colonies. But for honey production, the western honey bee and the eastern honey bee are the main species kept in hives.
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example beetles or butterflies; birds, and bats; water; wind; and even plants themselves. Pollinating animals travel from plant to plant carrying pollen on their bodies in a vital interaction that allows the transfer of genetic material critical to the reproductive system of most flowering plants. When self-pollination occurs within a closed flower. Pollination often occurs within a species. When pollination occurs between species, it can produce hybrid offspring in nature and in plant breeding work.
Beekeeping is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus Apis are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as Melipona stingless bees are also kept. Beekeepers keep bees to collect honey and other products of the hive: beeswax, propolis, bee pollen, and royal jelly. Other sources of beekeeping income include pollination of crops, raising queens, and production of package bees for sale. Bee hives are kept in an apiary or "bee yard".
Pollinator decline is the reduction in abundance of insect and other animal pollinators in many ecosystems worldwide that began being recorded at the end of the 20th century. Multiple lines of evidence exist for the reduction of wild pollinator populations at the regional level, especially within Europe and North America. Similar findings from studies in South America, China and Japan make it reasonable to suggest that declines are occurring around the globe. The majority of studies focus on bees, particularly honeybee and bumblebee species, with a smaller number involving hoverflies and lepidopterans.
An apiary is a location where beehives of honey bees are kept. Apiaries come in many sizes and can be rural or urban depending on the honey production operation. Furthermore, an apiary may refer to a hobbyist's hives or those used for commercial or educational usage. It can also be a wall-less, roofed structure, similar to a gazebo which houses hives, or an enclosed structure with an opening that directs the flight path of the bees.
The Asian elephant, also known as the Asiatic elephant, is a species of elephant distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognised—E. m. maximus, E. m. indicus and E. m. sumatranus. The Asian elephant is characterised by its long trunk with a single finger-like processing; large tusks in males; small ears folded laterally in contrast to African elephants; and wrinkled grey skin. The skin is smoother than African elephants and may be depigmented on the trunk, ears or neck. Adult males average 4 t in weight, and females 2.7 t.
Aethina tumida,commonly known as small hive beetle (SHB), is a beekeeping pest. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa, but has spread to many other regions, including North America, Australia, and the Philippines.
The Cape honey bee or Cape bee is a southern South African subspecies of the western honey bee. They play a major role in South African agriculture and the economy of the Western Cape by pollinating crops and producing honey in the Western Cape region of South Africa. The species is endemic to the Western Cape region of South Africa on the coastal side of the Cape Fold mountain range.
A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures. This allows an exchange of individuals between populations, which may help prevent the negative effects of inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity that often occur within isolated populations. Corridors may also help facilitate the re-establishment of populations that have been reduced or eliminated due to random events. This may moderate some of the worst effects of habitat fragmentation, whereas urbanization can split up habitat areas, causing animals to lose both their natural habitat and the ability to move between regions to access resources. Habitat fragmentation due to human development is an ever-increasing threat to biodiversity, and habitat corridors serve to manage its effects.
A pest-exclusion fence is a barrier that is built to exclude certain types of animal pests from an enclosure. This may be to protect plants in horticulture, preserve grassland for grazing animals, separate species carrying diseases from livestock, prevent troublesome species entering roadways, or to protect endemic species in nature reserves. These fences are not necessarily traditional wire barriers, but may also include barriers of sound, or smell.
Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) refers to the negative interactions between humans and wild animals, with undesirable consequences both for people and their resources on the one hand, and wildlife and their habitats on the other. HWC, caused by competition for natural resources between human and wildlife, influences human food security and the well-being of both humans and other animals. In many regions, the number of these conflicts has increased in recent decades as a result of human population growth and the transformation of land use.
The western honey bee or European honey bee is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name Apis is Latin for "bee", and mellifera is the Latin for "honey-bearing" or "honey carrying", referring to the species' production of honey.
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is an abnormal phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a honey bee colony disappear, leaving behind a queen, plenty of food, and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees. While such disappearances have occurred sporadically throughout the history of apiculture, and have been known by various names, the syndrome was renamed colony collapse disorder in early 2007 in conjunction with a drastic rise in reports of disappearances of western honey bee colonies in North America. Beekeepers in most European countries had observed a similar phenomenon since 1998, especially in Southern and Western Europe; the Northern Ireland Assembly received reports of a decline greater than 50%. The phenomenon became more global when it affected some Asian and African countries as well. From 1990 to 2021, the United Nation’s FAO calculated that the worldwide number of honeybee colonies increased 47%, reaching 102 million.
Save the Elephants (STE) was founded in 1993 by Iain Douglas-Hamilton. A research & conservation organization, Save the Elephants (STE) is a UK-registered charity headquartered in Nairobi with its principal research station in Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya.
Urban beekeeping is the practice of keeping bee colonies (hives) in towns and cities. It is also referred to as hobby beekeeping or backyard beekeeping. Bees from city apiaries are said to be "healthier and more productive than their country cousins". As pollinators, bees also provide environmental and economic benefits to cities. They are essential in the growth of crops and flowers.
Elephants and Bees is an organization that uses African bees to reduce the problem of elephants destroying crops on small farms in Africa and Asia.
Mellivory is a term for the eating of honey. Honey is a sweet and viscous substance created by some eusocial insects, notably bees, for consumption by members of their hives, especially their young. Honey is also consumed by many other animals including human beings, who have developed beekeeping to make supplies of honey both reliable and plentiful. Despite honey's limited antimicrobial properties, it remains a food source for a variety of microorganisms.
References
- ↑ King, Dr. Lucy E. (2019). "Beehive Fence Construction Manual" (PDF). beesandelephants.com. Nairobi, Kenya: The Elephants and Bees Project. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
- 1 2 Enukwa, Ettagbor Hans (2017-10-30). "Human-Elephant conflict mitigation methods: A review of effectiveness and sustainability". Journal of Wildlife and Biodiversity. 1 (2): 69–78. doi:10.22120/jwb.2017.28260. ISSN 2588-3526. Archived from the original on 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ↑ Wijayagunawardane, Missaka P. B.; Short, Roger V.; Samarakone, Thusith S.; Nishany, K. B. Madhuka; Harrington, Helena; Perera, B. V. P.; Rassool, Roger; Bittner, Evan P. (2016-04-27). "The use of audio playback to deter crop-raiding Asian elephants: Vocalizations to Deter Crop-raiding Elephants". Wildlife Society Bulletin. 40 (2): 375–379. doi:10.1002/wsb.652. hdl: 11343/291215 . Archived from the original on 2024-04-29. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ↑ King, Lucy E.; Lala, Fredrick; Nzumu, Hesron; Mwambingu, Emmanuel; Douglas-Hamilton, Iain (2017-02-21). "Beehive fences as a multidimensional conflict-mitigation tool for farmers coexisting with elephants". Conservation Biology: The Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology. 31 (4): 743–752. Bibcode:2017ConBi..31..743K. doi:10.1111/cobi.12898. ISSN 1523-1739. PMID 28221699. Archived from the original on 2023-12-23. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
- ↑ Water, Antoinette; King, Lucy E.; Arkajak, Rachaya; Arkajak, Jirachai; Doormaal, Nick; Ceccarelli, Viviana; Sluiter, Liesbeth; Doornwaard, Suzan M.; Praet, Vera; Owen, David; Matteson, Kevin (2020-08-20). "Beehive fences as a sustainable local solution to human-elephant conflict in Thailand". Conservation Science and Practice. 2 (10). Bibcode:2020ConSP...2E.260V. doi: 10.1111/csp2.260 . ISSN 2578-4854. S2CID 221406535. Archived from the original on 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ↑ Zomorodi, Manoush; Faulkner-White, Rachel; Meshkinpour, Sanaz (2020-09-04). "What humans can learn from animals about living in harmony". NPR . Archived from the original on 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ↑ "University of St Andrews news". Archived from the original on 2023-12-23. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
- 1 2 Montgomery, Robert A.; Raupp, Jamie; Mukhwana, Methodius; Greenleaf, Ashley; Mudumba, Tutilo; Muruthi, Philip (2022-03-01). "The efficacy of interventions to protect crops from raiding elephants". Ambio. 51 (3): 716–727. Bibcode:2022Ambio..51..716M. doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01587-x. ISSN 1654-7209. PMC 8800974 . PMID 34173175. Archived from the original on 2024-04-29. Retrieved 2023-03-16.