From Time Magazine - Science

The Buzz on Bees

Taken From Time Magazine, November 2, 2006

We don't give bees much thought unless they're terrorizing us at a picnic, but they're exquisitely complex creatures. Nature and Science reported last week that the genome of the honeybee has been mapped, making it only the fourth bug to be so sequenced. Researchers have already begun studying that genetic blueprint, providing new insights into our most valuable insect--and new strategies to save it from extinction.

Why bees are in danger

Over the past 50 years, the honeybee population in the U.S. has been cut in half. Here are some reasons:
1 THE VARROA MITE A tiny killer first detected in the U.S. in 1987, the mite attacks honeybee adults and larvae, wiping out a generation of young bees before they hatch
2 TRACHEAL MITES First spotted in the U.S. in 1984, tracheal mites attack the respiratory system of adult bees and can kill an entire hive in a matter of hours
3 PESTICIDES The wax in beehives is a natural sink for airborne toxins, and the relatively weak bee immune system is no match for such concentrations of man-made poisons

What we stand to lose

Honeybees are responsible for up to 30%* of food in the U.S. diet that relies on pollination--and that includes alfalfa-fed beef

•ORANGES 17.8 billion lbs.
•GRAPES 15.7 billion lbs.
•APPLES 9.9 billion lbs.
•WATERMELONS 3.8 billion lbs.
•CUCUMBERS 2.2 billion lbs.
•ALMONDS 915 million lbs.
•SQUASH 815 million lbs.
•CHERRIES (sweet) 502 million lbs.
•HONEY 175 million lbs.
*2005 production

Inside the honeybee
It's not easy to build a bee, as new insights into its genes and anatomy are revealing
Brain Smaller than the period at the end of a sentence, the bee brain owes its versatility to perhaps 200 polypeptides that drive behavior. At least 36 genes produce those chemicals
Pathogen resistance The bee's genes do not give it a very powerful immune system, surprising in so communal a species. The bee has yet undiscovered ways of staying healthy
Royal jelly Adult bees secrete this protein mix, and all young bees are fed a portion of it. But an exclusive diet of royal jelly can transform an ordinary bee into an egg-laying queen
Outer body The exterior of the bee is not particularly thick, a genetic adaptation that probably arose as a result of hive living, which keeps bees safer than other, more solitary insects
Dull taste Bees are poorly equipped with taste genes, another likely result of the hive, since anything one bee eats has probably been proved safe by another
Stinger When deployed, it is left in the victim; the bee dies soon after, but the sac pumps poison for up to 20 min.
Sharp smell The new genome studies have located the genes that give the bee its acute sense of smell. Smell is vital in an insect that uses pheromones both to communicate locations and to indicate rank
Pollen As bees collect pollen for food, they also act as sex workers, scattering stray grains among male and female flower parts, allowing the plants to reproduce
[This article consists of an illustration. Please see hardcopy of magazine.]
Compound eyes (2)
Simple eyes (3)
Antennae
THORAX
HEAD
ABDOMEN
Wax secretion
Nerve center
Poison sac
Hindgut
Pollen basket
Honey stomach
Midgut Heart
Wax walls
Nectar transformed into honey
Hatchlings

The social bug

Inside a hive is a well-developed society, governed mainly by scent molecules, or pheromones. Each hive has one queen, about 500 male drones and up to 50,000 sterile female workers
DRONES Live about six weeks Born to a soft life, the stingerless male bees' sole purpose is to conserve their energy and mate with a queen
WORKERS Live about six weeks Literally worked to death, they care for young, clean and protect the hive, forage for food and die when their wings wear out
QUEEN Lives one to two years Lays up to 2,000 eggs a day or 400,000 a year. Each colony can have only one queen, so she seeks out and destroys any rivals

Communication
[This article consists of an illustration. Please see hardcopy of magazine.]
The waggle dance, an elaborate figure-eight performance, tells nearby worker bees the distance to food and its direction in relation to the sun.
The number of waggles, or shakes, and the bee's pulsing sounds indicate to others how far to fly