Producer: Popular Science China
Author: He Rui
Producer: China Science Expo
When you think of bees, do you first think of beehives on the side of the road or in the fields? When the beekeeper comes, the bees will appear. In fact, there are many wild bees around us, the most common is the social medium bee, also known as the Oriental Bee. The bees described in this article refer to medium bees.
Bees collecting honey from willow trees in the city (Image source: Author's own photo)
Some people like bees because they can pollinate plants, maintain ecological balance, and make honey for human consumption. Some people hate bees, think that bees are very painful to sting people, and even need medical treatment when they have severe allergies. Every year, many people "get in touch" with bees, with bees coming to the closet of the home to build a nest, and the swarm flying over the quilt or under the eaves to "party".
Why do bees prefer human settlements? How can humans and bees avoid conflict and achieve harmony?
Swarms of bees gather on flowerpots (Image: Feya)
Swarms of bees gather in trees (Image source: Self-portrait)
First, the "world of flowers and flowers" in the city is the big canteen of bees
You may think that the natural environment of the city is not as good as the countryside, and there are no bees, but according to the author's preliminary investigation, the city is more likely to see the middle bee than the countryside in the plain area. In addition to farmland and farmland in the countryside of the plains, high-standard farmland transformation has leveled small farmland into large farmland, and the fields that were previously full of wild plants have almost disappeared. Coupled with the widespread use of pesticides, there are almost no wild plants in the fields, mounds and roadsides.
Modern architecture almost no longer uses traditional wood, and villagers no longer plant trees. The new rural transformation has cleaned up the shrubs and weeds in front of the house and behind the house. The diversity of plant species in the countryside of the plains has been greatly reduced, and the monotonous plant species in the farmland are very concentrated in flowering, and it is impossible to provide honey powder sources for bees all year round, so there are few wild bees.
Rural landscapes in the plains (Image source: Self-photographed by the author)
In contrast, in the city, plant species are very rich, and the flowering period is scattered in spring, summer, autumn and winter. Taking the community where the author lives as an example, there are 85 species of cultivated plants and 45 species of wild plants. Yangchun Lake Park, next to the Wuhan high-speed rail station, may not be rich in vegetation in the eyes of nature lovers, but in fact there are 318 species of plants growing.
Residential areas are rich in green areas with a wide variety of plants (Source: The author's own photo)
Wuhan urban area flowers all year round, and when heather and rose bloom in spring, many bees can be seen on the flowers. May to November is the flowering period of white axle grass, and many lawns are planted with white axle grass, which can continue to provide a lot of food for bees. Even in winter, the city's large number of ten merits, octagonal gold plates and wax plums can provide bees with plenty of nectar and pollen. Therefore, compared with the countryside, the bees in the city are more abundant in food.
Urban green spaces are rich in flowering plants (Image source: Self-photographed by the author)
Second, the city is big, and it is full of bees' homes
In the wild, bees generally nest in tree, stone or ground holes. According to Cornell University Professor of Neurobiology and Biological Behavior Thomas M. Thompson D. Sealy's study of Italian bees living in North America in the 1970s, the ideal nesting environment for Italian bees is a cave with a volume of 14-100 liters, the area of the cave mouth is not more than 12.5 square centimeters, and the mouth of the cave is preferably south-
By that standard, there may be an incredible number of places in the city that are suitable for bee nesting! The first is tree holes, many university campuses, old neighborhoods and roads on both sides of the thick trees, which usually have large enough tree holes for bees to nest. In particular, tree species such as plane trees, trees, locust trees, and willow trees are easier to hollow, and it is even better if the gardeners block the thick tree holes, because they cannot always be plugged tightly, and the smaller entrance left is more suitable for bees.
Tree holes are the most commonly used nesting places for bees in nature (Image: Self-photographed by the author)
The space under the manhole cover that dots the city is also a basement that bees like, and although it is somewhat damp, the space is large enough and the entrance is small enough. In addition, the walls of many buildings are hollow, and once there is a gap that allows bees to fly in, it will become a nesting place for bees. Due to the backfilling of the soil subsidence, there will be holes under the floor of many buildings on the first floor, and some green spaces will collapse into the ground, which may live in bees. But in the countryside, there are not so many nesting places "made" by humans.
Wall holes and manholes are also favorite nesting places for bees (Image: Self-portrait)
Bees sting people, do we still want to protect them?
The city is densely populated, and almost every place will be frequently passed by, and it is inevitable that you will encounter bees. In the city, people and nature are seriously separated, many people do not know how to coexist peacefully with bees, seeing bees is a slap, but it is easier to be stung. Once a bee's nest or colony of bees is found, people often turn to the relevant authorities to eliminate it.
In the countryside, traditional culture guards the harmony between people and bees. The customs of Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places believe that bees can bring blessings and fortune to their homes to nest, and often do not drive away, and even specially make traditional hives as "villas" for bees.
Bees are of great significance for maintaining ecological balance, and bees in cities are indispensable from the perspective of human development. Bees pollinate plants and promote plant fruiting, and there are many fruit-viewing plants in the urban landscape, which have the highest ornamental value after fruit, such as luan trees, iron holly, firethorn and so on.
Fruit-watching plant firethorn (Image source: Author's own photo)
Compound luan tree, a common fruit-viewing plant in the city (Image source: The author took a picture)
Some wild plants cannot produce seeds due to the lack of bee pollination, and it is difficult to reproduce naturally. Seeds and fruits are an important food source for animals such as birds, and without birds, there will be no more birds and insects in the city, and the living environment will become lifeless. Therefore, even for the sake of human beings themselves, it is necessary to protect the bees in the city.
Fourth, how to solve the conflict between people and bees?
The protection of bees can not only rely on science, but also fundamentally solve the conflict between humans and bees. Although more people can understand bees through science popularization and reduce the risk of being stung by bees, they cannot increase the distance between bee nests and humans, cannot reduce contact, and the conflict between humans and bees has not decreased. Properties, gardens, etc. usually block tree holes, wall holes, do not allow bees to live, but the blocking method is not scientific enough.
The average thickness of the queen bee's chest is 4.45 mm, and as long as the diameter of the entrance is not less than 5 mm, the bee can come and go as she pleases. For openings such as toilet exhaust pipes, a hood with a gap width of not more than 4 mm can be installed. For tree holes, due to the continuous growth of trees and the constant change of the tree body, the sealing material itself will shrink or age, and it is difficult to ensure that the sealing is tight.
Compared with plugging the opening of the hole, it is more important to fill the internal space, so that the cavity volume inside the tree hole is reduced, and it is no longer suitable for nesting, using hay, styrofoam, foam board, and inflatable plastic bags. Blocking the opening of the cave and reducing the space inside the cave can destroy a suitable nest site, forcing the bees to find a nesting place elsewhere.
On the other hand, placing artificial nest boxes suitable for bees to nest in locations far from crowds is equivalent to building a resettlement house for bees, guiding bees to these locations to build nests, and also allowing bees to maintain an appropriate distance from the crowd.
Recommended by: Wuhan Botanical Research Park, Chinese Academy of Sciences
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