#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 145
# 144 contd.
Some #bumblebee workers don’t do the ‘direct flight to favoured flowers’ efficiency thing.
Instead these free spirited individuals roam freely foraging unfamiliar #flower patches helping spread plant genes more widely!
#bees
#nature
#biodiversity
#worldbeesanctuary
#wildflowers
#bumblebees
#wildlife
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 144
# 143 contd.
After a few exploratory flights most, but not all, bumblebee workers change flight behaviour to direct efficient flights to favoured flower sources and spend most of their lives diligently foraging in these locations.
#bees
#nature
#worldbeesanctuary
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 143
On leaving the nest for the first time female #bumblebee workers thoroughly survey the surrounding landscape on long looping exploratory flights; stopping often to ‘sample’ #flowers until they discover a favourite patch.
#bees
#nature
#biodiversity
#worldbeesanctuary
#wildlife
#solstice
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 142
Over 75% of the 115 leading crop species are dependent upon/benefit from animal pollination. Only 28 of these 115 crop species are wind & self-pollinated.
We need #bees #insects #birds #animals.
We need to realise this.
Fast.
#nature
#biodiversity
#wildlife
#science
#worldbeesanctuary
#vegan
#bumblebees
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 141
# 140 contd.
The most hardworking of the urban #pollinators by far were #bumblebees.
Bees seemed more adaptable to the dynamics/constant flux of city life due to their highly developed orientation and learning abilities.
#bees
#worldbeesanctuary
#biodiversity
#nature
#wildlife
#science
#facts
#vegan
#wildflowers
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 140
A German study found better pollination of flowering plants in urban rather than rural areas.
Despite greater diversity of flying insects in rural sites more #bees in cities resulted in more pollinated flowers of test plants.
#bumblebees
#nature
#biodiversity
#worldbeesanctuary
#wildlife
#wildflowers
#science
#flowers
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 139
#bumbóg
#bourdon
#bombo
#abejorro
#erlastar
#hunangsfluga
#джміль
#abelhão
#humla
#ongnghê
#kamene
#seilleanmór
#шмель
#大蜜蜂
#kimalainen
#humblebee
Whatever your language - #bumblebees - understand you need them.
#bees
#nature
#biodiversity
#worldbersanctuary
#wildlife
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 138
Technically bees can survive for longer than humans under water.
By closing the spiracles (the external respiratory openings along their bodies) they can live for short periods off oxygen reserves in their air sacs.
#bees
#nature
#biodiversity
#vegan
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 137
# 136 contd.
The bumblebee ‘hissing’ nest defence response is sparked by vibrations in the nest and/or a sudden increase in CO2 levels in the air - both indications of the presence of a mammalian intruder such as a mouse.
#bees
#nature
#worldbeesanctuary
#wildlife
#science
#vegan #organic
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 136
When their nest is disturbed #bumblebees react by hissing.
This hissing sound is produced by vibrating their wings and is a defence mechanism used to warn off and deter predators entering the nest.
#bees
#worldbeesanctuary
#nature
#insects
#wildlife
#science
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 135
Foraging #bumblebees carry, on average, roughly one quarter of their body weight in pollen and nectar.
Pollen is transported in the pollen sacs/baskets on their hind legs and nectar is stored in the ‘honeystomach’.
#bees
#nature
#science
#worldbeesanctuary
#insects
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 134
Bumblebee wings are flexible - twisting and bending during flight.
Research shows that this very flexibility increases load lifting capacity in #bees which positively affects foraging efficiency - they can carry more food!
#bumblebees
#nature
#worldbeesanctuary
#pollinators
#insects
#science
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 133
Honey bees have around 3 million hairs on their small bodies!
Humans have about 5 million but only roughly 100,000 on your head. 150,000 if you’re blonde!
#bees
#nature
#worldbeesanctuary
#wildlife
#pollinators
#ireland
#vegan
#organic
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 132
# 131 contd.
The secret to #bumblebee wing robustness is an ‘elastic’ protein called resilin.
Resilin joints in the structure of the wing allow it to flex along its length and bend out of the way during collisions!
#bees
#nature
#pollinators
#wildlife
#worldbeesanctuary
#insects
#science
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 131
# 130 contd.
Bumblebee wings are constructed of hollow rigid veins connected by an extremely fine membrane.
Despite this they are robust enough to withstand constant collisions whilst foraging.
How? - tomorrow!
#bees
#bumblebees
#nature
#wildlife
#pollinators
#insects
#worldbeesanctuary
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 130
# 129 contd.
So #bees bash their wings off plants - a lot! - and research suggests that in fact during foraging flights #bumblebee wing collisions happen at an average rate of one collision every second.
Ouch!
Ouch!
Ouch!
#nature
#insects
#science
#worldbeesanctuary
#pollinators
#entomology
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 129
When travelling through their #plant filled #ecosystem
#bumblebees constantly collide with the vegetation - their #wings primarily being the point of impact during these collisions!
#bees
#nature
#worldbeesanctuary
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 128
Research in Argentina has found that since the 1990s 1 in 4 species of bee are no longer being reported in global records indicating that these species may have become so rare that no one is observing them in #nature.
#bees
#worldbeesanctuary
#pollinators
#wildlife
#biodiversity
#science
Sorry so late.
Busy talking to people all day.
Seems the world is happy we’re now World Bee Sanctuary rather than The Bee Sanctuary of Ireland.
Thanks folks.
worldbeesanctuary.org
#bees
#savingbees
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 127
Bumblebees may avoid foraging for #pollen when #flowers are wet/damp with rainwater or from morning dew which would make grooming pollen into their pollen baskets more difficult.
#bees
#nativewildbees
#clover
#bumblebees
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 126
An Irish study suggests that the push to replace hay with silage on farmland resulting in cutting grass earlier/more frequently and therefore less late-summer wildflowers has contributed greatly to declining bumblebee numbers.
#bees
#bumblebees
#nature
#wildflowers
