- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ever seen honey bees engaging in washboarding?
It's a behavior so named because they look as if they're scrubbing clothes on a washboard or scrubbing their home.
It occurs near the entrance of the hive and only with worker bees. They go back and forth, back and forth, a kind of rocking movement. No one knows why they do it. It's one of those unexplained behaviors they've probably been doing for millions of years.
Bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey of the University of California, Davis and Washington State University, has witnessed washboarding scores of times. Last week the unusual behavior occurred on two of her hives at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. She hypothesizes that these bees are in the "unemployment line." It's a time when foraging isn't so good, so these bees are "sweeping the porch" for something to do, she speculates.
Emeritus professor Norman Gary of UC Davis Department of Entomology writes about it in his chapter, Activities and Behavior of Honey Bees, in the Dadant publication The Hive and the Honey Bee.
"They stand on the second and third pairs of legs and face the entrance. Their heads are bent down and the front legs are also bent," wrote Gary, who has kept bees for more than six decades. "They make 'rocking' or 'washboard' movements, thrusting their bodies forward and backward. At the same time they scrape the surface of the hive with their mandibles with a rapid shearing movement, sliding over the surface as if cleaning it."
They pick up some material and then clean their mandibles.
Gary thinks that "these rocking movements probably serve as a cleaning process by which the bees scrape and polish the surface of the hive."
Like most people, professor/biologist/bee researcher James Nieh of UC San Diego has never seen this behavior. Nieh, who recently presented at seminar at UC Davis, later commented "It is an interesting behavior that would be particularly fascinating to observe in natural colonies in trees. It does seem to involve some cleaning behavior, although it is possible that bees are depositing some olfactory compound while they are rubbing the surface with their mandibles. We are currently conducting research in my lab on the effects of bee mandibular gland secretions on foraging orientation behavior. A new set of experiments will involve examining the effect of mandibular gland secretions on bee behaviors at the nest. I will definitely consider looking at how this potential pheromone affects washboarding."
We managed to capture the behavior with our Iphone and posted it on YouTube.
It's interesting that of the some 25 research hives at the Laidlaw facility, occupants of two of Cobey's hives exhibited washboarding last week.
So, what are washboarding bees doing? Cleaning their home where pathogenic organisms might congregate, per a theory by Katie Bohrer and Jeffrey Pettis of the USDA-ARS Bee Research Lab?
Or are they just creating "busy work"--"sweeping the porch" for something to do?
It would be interesting to find out!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
James R. Carey, professor of entomology at the UC Davis Department of Entomology (the department co-sponsored the event), webcast the six talks presented by either current or retired UC Davis professors. The videos are now on UCTV; here's the link to the Honey! index page.
Did we say "free?" Free.
Carey is a firm believer that UC seminars ought to be shared with not only UC affiliates but with the general public. (Read about how and why he spearheaded the 10-campus project.)
Meanwhile, you can learn about bees from some of the country's best: two UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty and one emeritus. Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen discussed "The Wonder of Honey Bees" and later presented a talk about honey and honey tasting.
Assistant professor Brian Johnson--he researches the behavior, evolution, and genetics of honey bees--covered "Honey Bee Communication: How Bees Use Teamwork to Make Honey" and emeritus professor Norman Gary, a scientist, author and professional bee wrangler, convinced us why we should consider "Hobby Beekeeping in Urban Environments." After all, he's been keeping bees for 64 years!
Then Louis Grivetti, professor emeritus in the nutrition department, strode to the podium to tell us "Historical Uses of Honey as Food"--you won't believe all the things he said in his well-researched talk! Liz Applegate, nutrition professor and director of the Sport Nutrition Program," followed with "Sweet Success: Honey for Better Health and Performance."
By the end of the day, the crowd agreed with Mussen that “Honey bees are truly marvelous.” And with Johnson who pointed out: “Bees have small brains but can solve big problems."
A nice addition: a honey-tasting contest judged by the attendees. The winner? An oh-so-good clover honey from Sacramento Beekeeping Supplies. The honey (yes, it's available for sale at the 2110 X St. business), was produced by the Jones Bee Company, Salt Lake City. Second place went to Alan Pryor of Alameda; and third place, Diane Kriletich of Paloma, Calaveras County.
“It was a sweet day all in all,” said coordinator Clare Hasler-Lewis, executive director of RMI.
Indeed it was!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Are you afraid of bees?
Not apiculturist Norman Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis and a professional bee wrangler.
He worked behind the scenes in a new Animal Planet program, “My Extreme Animal Phobia,” scheduled to be broadcast Friday, Nov. 11 at 10 p.m. (Sacramento area listing) on the Animal Planet Channel.
“It is a story about a man who is extremely afraid of bees,” Gary said. “He is treated successfully by various exposures to bees and consultation with a psychologist.'
Although Gary played a central role in the treatment of the man’s phobia, he may or may not appear in the program.
But the bees he trained will.
Some of the filming was done at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis.
According to TV Guide, the program will be repeated on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 5 a.m. and on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 10 p.m. in the Sacramento area. See schedule.
Gary also did bee wrangling for another episode of Fear Factor, which enters a new season in December.
“Keeping bees is far more challenging than caring for common pets,” says Gary, who retired in 1994 from UC Davis after a 32-year academic career and is the author of a newly published book on beginning beekeeping titled “Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees.”
Gary trains bees to perform action scenes in movies, television shows and commercials. His credits over the last 35 years include 18 films, including “Fried Green Tomatoes”; more than 70 television shows, including the Johnny Carson and Jay Leno shows; six commercials, and hundreds of live Thriller Bee Shows in the Western states.
He once trained bees to fly into his mouth to collect food from a small sponge saturated with his patented artificial nectar. He holds the Guinness World record (109 bees inside his closed mouth for 10 seconds) for the stunt.
Norm Gary is definitely a guy who loves his bees.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When beekepers from all over the Western states converge on the Western Apicultural Society (WAS) meeting in Hawaii next week, they won't be there to bask in the sun.
They'll be talking about beekeeping in Hawaii, alternatives to conventional beekeeping, new research, and colony collapse disorder and other colony losses.
The venue is nice, though: the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel in Kamuela.
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology will speak on “Current Beekeeping Problems: Disasters or Opportunities” on Tuesday, Sept. 13.
His talk will be well attended. Mussen, a five-time past president of WAS, has served as an Extension apiculturist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology since 1976. He writes the bimonthly Extension newsletter, from the UC Apiaries, considered one of the best and most informative in the industry, and Bee Briefs, both available free on the UC Davis Department of Entomology website.
His research interests include managing honey bees and wild bees for maximum field production, while minimizing pesticide damage to pollinator populations. His studies also focus on maintaining healthy bees.
Mussen, who received his doctorate in entomology from the University of Minnesota, educates the agricultural community, the beekeeping industry and the general public about honey bees.
Mussen co-founded WAS in 1978 as a non-profit, educational organization designed specifically to meet the educational needs of beekeepers from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming; the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon; and the states of northern Mexico.
As an aside--and back to the mainland--if you're into bees and honey, be sure to make reservations for the "Honey!" event set Friday, Oct. 21 in the UC Davis Conference Center. The event, co-sponsored by the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, the UC Davis Department of Enotmology, and the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, will include speakers, honey tastings and a honey-focused lunch.
Among the UC Davis entomologists speaking at the "Honey!" event will be Mussen, assistant professor Brian Johnson and emeritus professor Norman Gary, the newly published author of Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees and the co-founder of WAS.
Three bee scientists at the same place on the same day day--that's a honey of an event.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Honey bees and daisies are made for each other.
The white petals and the golden centers seem incomplete without the presence of buzzing bees.
Today we watched a pollen-packin' honey bee, with a pollen load the color of autumn pumpkins, work a daisy.
No matter that it was Friday the 13, supposedly an unlucky day. It was a lucky day for her as she foraged on the daisy and collected pollen her colony. The pollen will provide not only protein, but minerals and vitamins for the developing larvae.
Honey bee expert Norman Gary, emeritus professor of apiculture at the University of California, Davis and the author of Honey Bee Hobbyist: the Care and Keeping of Bees, says that during an entire year, "a typical bee colony gathers and consumes 77 pounds of pollen."
That's a lot of pollen! This little bee (below) did her part.