LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A colony of honey bees took refuge on a tree at the Coyote Valley Elementary School playground for several hours recently.
The nearly soccer ball-sized gathering of bees caused quite a stir amongst the students, who were guided safely away from the pollinators, and informed of just how valuable the golden orb of insects is!
A local bee extractor was called in, however, the bees took flight before they could arrived to collect them.
Members of the genus Apis, there are only seven species of honeybees among the 20,000 identified species of bees in the world.
Scientists believe the honeybee originated in Asia. Evidence in fossils show up as far back as 56 million years ago.
A serious condition in bee populations known as colony collapse disorder, or CCD, has been widely reported in the west recently.
Beekeepers have been baffled as to the causes, but have taken notice of a severe impairment in the bee's protein production.
Other theories for CCD include the adverse effects of the agricultural growth practices of monoculture, along with the negative effects of pesticide use.
The bee colony that paid a visit to Coyote Valley Elementary School was in the process of finding a new home for their overgrown hive.
The old hive, containing a queen bee, thousands of drone bees (fertile mates), and thousand of sterile (female) worker bees was made up of a wax honeycomb constructed by the diligent worker bees as a repository for the queen's eggs.
Bee society is very complex and interesting, to say the least.
To learn more about apiology, the study of honey bees, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7cX2cjFunw .
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.
The Living Landscape: Bees a buzzin'
- Kathleen Scavone
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