Viewing posts from : March 2022



Bees can't fly

Bees Can´t Fly at Night

March 25, 2022 Uncategorized

Bees Can’t Fly at Night

Did you know that bees can’t really fly at night? A viral video coming from popular sites like Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook with over 11 million views have shown bees crashing down the second the lights are turned off in a laboratory.

Bee Experiment Explodes Online

The viral video is captured by postgraduate Hamish Symington, who is currently doing his PhD on pollination, flowers, and food security at Cambridge University. His main objective is to make flowers more attractive to bees, give more nectar, and increase pollen to help feed the world. In the video, he switches off the laboratory lights which makes the flying bees drop to the ground almost immediately. He states that he’s quite surprised that the bees drop like an on/off switch without trying to land safely or glide down. In retrospect, dropping down quickly can be thought of as dangerous for bees.

The video helps support the fact that most bees, like bumble bees and honey bees, can’t fly at night. Instead of being nocturnal, bees are diurnal which means that bees only fly during the day. All their main activities like flying, retrieving pollen, constructing outside the beehive, and swarming are done during the day. Bees can crawl during the night, however the limited mobility affects how fast they can do tasks.

Not All Bees are the Same

Bees don’t see the world the way humans do. In fact, bees can’t technically see in the same sense we do at all! Instead, they navigate using the sun’s polarized light rays to guide them. Their eyes are compound-shaped, made up of thousands of tiny lenses. Interestingly, just like we appreciate clarity and focus in reading good night wishes, bees rely on precision too. Above their compound eyes, they also have three simple eyes that help them detect light and movement.

However, there are certain bee species who can see at night. Some bees are crepuscular. They usually travel during dusk, night, and early morning. These special bees can fly during the night with little light. Other bees are completely nocturnal, like the Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum Texana). These unique bees can fly during the full and half moons. Then there’s other types of bees that do not need light at all to fly. Going by the name of Halictidae, these forager bees have evolutioned to fly during the night without needing light. These rare bees have way different eyes than bees that fly during the day. The forager bees have been able to neurologically trick their eyes to strengthen the signal that each photon sends to their little brains. These bees do this to gather nectar in the less competitive night and retrieve pollen from nocturnal flowers. These different bees go out to show how special bees really are.

Bee Swarm

What to Do With a Bee Swarm

March 10, 2022 Uncategorized

What to Do With a Bee Swarm

Bee season has been occurring for the last couple of weeks, and more bees arrive at the end of the month. Our bee removal owner, Harold Wright, spoke to us about what a person should do if they encounter a bee swarm. We also gathered relevant and current insights from Chris Barnes, the founder of Brazos Valley Beekeepers Association.

 

How to Get Rid of Bee Swarms

The first on your to-do list is not spray. DO NOT SPRAY. You do not want to spray them with water and you certainly do not want to spray them with any store-bought pesticide. Bees are commonly gentle. Bees don’t have any reason why to sting you. Their life is as important as yours. However, be warned that the bee hive will attack the second you start hurting them. If you see a bee swarm, the best thing to do is call a bee removal service company like us, Bee Safe Bee Removal, to help you.

 

During the month of March, bee swarms become common. Bee swarms look like a ball of bees huddled up in an area. They do not have a hive yet. A bee swarm occurs because the originating bee hive has split up into two colonies. The other bee colony flies away to look for a spot to reproduce. Since bee swarms means scouting bees are looking for a new home, bees are not going to get defensive about their spot. This scouting stage lasts for about 12 to 48 hours. If you see a bee swarm on your property, waiting is mostly your best bet. However, if you can’t wait for any reason, you can call Bee Safe Bee Removal!

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