LOOK
WHEN YOU
The Bumblebee
When you look at the bumblebee, you see the commercialization of nature.
When you walk into the Orma J. Smith Museum, one of the first things you'll see a case of bees, perfectly preserved in neat rows. That made me think, why is something so small so important? Although the bumblebee may be small, it plays a huge role in agriculture and economics, as it has become a hugely valuable commodity to have control over the nature of the bee.
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Finding a bumblebee nest used to be a pleasant surprise when working outside. Soon, villagers began to toy with the idea of bumblebee domestication by hanging "bumble houses" up and collecting the nectar produced for a sweet treat. Soon it was observed that the vibration pattern of the bees wings helps shake loose pollen from plants that usually need manual pollination. It was difficult to keep active hives year-round, however, because the life cycle of the bee is relatively short, confined to a few months out of the year. Soon, people developed a way to keep nests active year-round. This is a very lucrative business, and commercial bees soon became used in greenhouses across the country. In fact, most bees we encounter are commercially produced.
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Commercial bees pose a huge threat to natural bee populations. Commercial bees are not always native to the area they are used in and can spread parasites that local populations are not adapted to. They encroach on local populations already dwindling foraging areas and cause an imbalance of species and flowers that are needing to be pollinated.
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Commercial bees make the production of fruits like strawberries and peppers much easier to produce, creating jobs and earning farmers much more money. If we want to continue to reap the benefits that commercial bees bring us, we need to act with the safety of the natural population in mind.
For any other information contact Ruby McCaw at ruby.mccaw@yotes.collegeofidaho.edu