Pollinators As we go about our daily lives, we seldom stop to observe the miracles of nature that surround and sustain us. We have little understanding of the delicate and intricate activities taking place continuously and sustaining the cycle of life which affects all living things including ourselves. Let us take pollination as one example. It is probably best explained by its absence – for without it, fertilization would not occur, resulting in no seeds, no new plants, and no more flowers. Flowering plants need to get pollen from one flower to another for pollination to occur. Since pollen cannot move on its own, the wind, animals and sometimes water will carry out the job of transportation. Most plants are pollinated by animals, the majority of which are insects. Why do insects bother to do this you might ask? Plants provide nectar and pollen A bee getting nectar and pollinating at as edible rewards to those who visit their flowers. Bees are great pollinators as they visit countless flowers each the same time! day, collecting nectar in their honey stomachs and pollen in their pollen baskets. These are used to feed themselves and their young. The nectar provides energy and the pollen, a source of protein. It is believed that bees evolved from wasps which largely fed on other insects. They may have gotten a taste for pollen and nectar stuck on the bodies of the insects which they consumed. They fed this to their young and there the process of the evolution of the modern bee may have begun. The process of evolution of bee and flower occurred together with the development of very sophisticated floral characteristics geared to ensure that the bee is not only attracted to the flower but once there, its path is directed to guarantee that pollen transfer occurs. These characteristics include: overall flower size, its depth and width, its colour (including patterns called nectar guides which are only visible in ultraviolet light), its scent and the amount and composition of nectar. Truly remarkable! Next time you see a flower, have a closer look. ‌ Gordon Deane
Bee Fact! Bee brains! A honey bee may have a brain not much larger than the full stop at the end of this sentence, but what they lack in size, they make up for in intelligence. They have approximately one million nerve cells and are not only capable of learning but they also teach other bees through dance and scent. ‌ Dr. Jo-Anne Sewlal
What our beekeeper has been up to
A behind the scenes look at the bottling process!
News from the Apiary! — Gordon Deane Bees are such resilient creatures. This is not surprising since there are records of them being managed by humans for honey production dating back to 6,000BC and living in the wild over 100 million years ago. Mundo Nuevo Apiaries has been recovering steadily since our last issue of Bee News. With careful husbandry, the strong resilience of these incredible little creatures and the favourable environmental conditions, excellent progress is being made. The sixteen colonies which were loaned to the Apiary on February 23rd this year have performed very well. Along with the other colonies, they have produced high quality honey as flows were generated by the flowering of various forest trees. More importantly however, these colonies are being split to create nucleus hives (nucs) which will be developed into new colonies to replace those that were lost. The first two nucs were set up in mid-April, one from a surviving colony and the other from a colony collected in the wild. At the end of April, two full colonies were purchased and two more nucs were added, a gift from another beekeeper. Thank you, Leif Johnson. In mid-May, a major split of the colonies on loan created eleven nucs and a further split of Beekeepers working late into the night installing these and other colonies in late-June created five additional nucs. new colonies! Also, in June, the entire apiary of a small beekeeper was acquired, adding eight new colonies. Thank you, Ryan Sam. Hope you return to beekeeping soon. Apiaries now stand at nineteen full colonies and nineteen nucleus colonies in development. Our objective is to return the Apiaries to its full complement of 52 colonies by the end of this year.
We will keep you posted!
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Health Tips!
In This Issue
Honey for healthy hair...
Managing Editor Dr Jo-Anne N. Sewlal BSc., MPhil., Ph.D., FLS., CBiol., CSci., MRSB., FRES., FRGS., FBNA., R. Anim. Sci., MIEnvSc.
Honey is the perfect conditioner it’s a humectant, attracting and retaining moisture to keep your hair smooth and healthy. Mix a quarter cup of honey with fresh water, thinning it until you can spread it on your hair. Apply to damp hair, waiting 30 minutes before washing. … Breanne Mc Ivor
Content Editor: Breanne Mc Ivor MA (Cantab), MSc (Edin) Layout Design: Dr. Jo-Anne N. Sewlal
Contributors: Gordon Deane, Tricia Ramjattan, Breanne Mc Ivor and Dr. Jo-Anne N. Sewlal