Bumblebee

Introduction Nepenthes gracilis, also goes by the name Slender Pitcher-Plant, is a widespread pitcher plant mostly found in Southeastern Asia. This plant distinguishes itself by the presence of a long tube-like, stretched pitcher which contains acidic fluid and enzyme to digest preys. N. gracilis also make use of its special trait, the lid on top of the pitcher to act as a trapping mechanism for preys looking for shield under its lid, and the nectar glands on the lids help in attracting preys…

Bees pollinate about 80% of wild plants and 84% of human grown crops in terrestrial ecosystems (Brown, 2009). The ecosystem service of pollination has the economic value in the agricultural industry worth $1.7 billion (Brown, 2009). However, global honey bee populations are in decline (Potts, 2010). With the given projections for human population growth to reach around 9 billion by the year 2050, the importance of bees to human survival is vital (Brown, 2009). The US Fish and Wildlife Service…

“King P?” cried his troops. “King P?” The Pollinators were being invaded my evil King Felix and the Zecks. Every time the low hum was to be heard, that meant trouble. “Into place! Now! Get your stingers ready to barricade the Pollinators!” “Yes Sir,” the Zecks replied on the demand. This was the third time in one week, that the evil was attempting to stampede the North Willow. For the first time, they glided right past their tree, and tried talking to the honey bee’s. “Oh, their colony is…

Varroa destructor (Anderson and Trueman, 2000) is an obligatory ectoparasite of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L). It caused severe damage to populations of this species world-wide in recent years (Le Conte et al., 2010). The direct negative effect of the Varroa on honeybee has well documented (Weinberg and Madel, 1985; Daly et al., 1988, Wienands and Madel, 1988; Marcangeli et al., 1992; Bowen-Walker and Gunn, 2001; Contzen et al., 2004; Yang and Cox-Foster, 2005; Belaïd and Doumandji, 2010;…

The Honeybee (Apis mellifera) is an astounding insect that pollinates on a global scale and thus ensures the prosperity of plant life and animal life alike. However, its baffling how this insect maneuvers its tiny self against earth’s gravity and wind resistance contrary to its considerably small size. The average female Honeybee (pictured above) weighs in at 277 to 290 mg at adult emergence. As their wings are almost paper thin, they still manage to support the bee’s un-aerodynamic anatomy and…

Building Your Own Bee Farm: Everything You Need to Know Meta Description: Keeping bees may not be for everyone, but if you want to get in on saving the little pollinators – here’s how. Meta Keywords: Building a bee farm, Bee farming, Bee keeping, Keeping bees Everything You Need to Build Your Own Bee Farm Bees have been in the news in the past few years, much more than at anytime before except for maybe the killer bee scares of the eighties and nineties. In case you missed all of the news…

“Save The Bees”... But no, really, Save them. Bees: A flying insect known for pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. These small insects get a lot of bad reputation for ludicrous reasons. The phrase “No Bees, No Food” has been floating around the internet in recent years and for a very valid reason. Millions of bees are perishing around the world, causing our food supply to shrink and environment being harmed drastically. Why are bees “so important” to our food supply? Well, bees…

Bees are insects that are needed in today's society more than humans can imagine. Bees live in colonies that are often maintained by beekeepers. Centuries of selective breeding by humans have created honey bees that produce far more honey than the colony needs. Beekeepers harvest the honey. They provide a place for the colony to live and to store honey in. The modern beehive is made up of a series of square or rectangular boxes without tops or bottoms placed one on top of another. Inside the…

Humans should take action against killer bees because they kill and injure too many people and they are too aggressive. Killer bees have killed many people because they are easily alarmed by loud sounds or even people going near them. Killer bees are too aggressive because they are easily threatened and according to the article “How do killer bees kill” “if a killer bee colony senses a threat, on the other hand, the victim could be stung around 2,000 times.” When killer bees feel threatened they…

Pollinators on the Decline In recent years North America has been faced with a sharp decline in bee populations. Beekeepers are used to a certain amount of bees and hives dying off but the winter and spring of 2006-2007 brought about the most precipitous decline in decades. The historical rate for overwintering losses is 10-15% but from 2007-2011 this rate has been 28-33% (The Situation, n.d.). This event from 2007 has been coined as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and affecting as many as 35…