Male Vs Female Bees
The fear of a bee sting is one of the most common reasons why many people avoid bees at all costs. For those who are allergic bees, this is a real threat. However, for most of us, the fear is generated by not fully understanding why and when bees sting.
Bees certainly can sting as many of us have experienced but the fact is bees are not there to sting you, they are there to collect the pollen and nectar from the bounty of flowers you have provided in your garden.
Here’s a fact: only female bees have stingers. By learning more about bees and their habits, it is easy to avoid getting a nasty sting. Farmers and insect scientists will tell you that they are rarely stung. That is because they understand how a bee ‘thinks’.
In the early morning, you may find striped male anthophorids with long reddish-brown antennae sleeping in flowers of Cosmos bipinnatus. As the day warms up, the most popular bee flowers will be covered with territorial male bees. Watch as they zoom around from flower to flower, protecting their territories from other males in a show of aerial battle for dominance. It is humorous at times to see much smaller bees attacking the big guys.
Although they appear aggressive, male bees do not have stingers. To tell a male from a female, look for spots of yellow, white or purple that will appear on females because they are constantly picking up pollen from the many flowers they visit. Female bees feed virtually all of the time while the male bees go about protecting their sites to line up for a chance to mate.
Bees really are not an aggressive insect. Their behavior is often misinterpreted that way but in fact they are being defensive. This is true of almost any animal species you can name – there is always the job of defending territory, nests or food sources. It is possible to get a sting in your garden if you happen to bump into a female or if you attempt to interfere with the feeding process. The bee can’t tell whether you are friend or foe and so it uses the only defense mechanism it has.
One exception to the rule is the African honey bee. This is a known aggressive species although it is not yet seen in Northern California. A few bumble bees will take aggressive action if their nests are tampered with, again a defensive action.
Knowing a few of nature’s rules when it comes to bees will help keep you safe from stingers and help you produce a garden that will be the envy of your gardening neighbors.
