Author: navis

Interesting things about bees

It is estimated that around 20,000 species of bees exist in the world, while 1,965 species are listed in Europe. 400 species of bees living in Europe are endemic species, meaning they are not present anywhere else in the world.
Bee can be divided into lifestyle, social, solitary, and kleptoparazite. Although most commonly known, social bees, including honeysuckle and bumblebees, account for only 6% of the total number of bees. More than 90% of species are considered solitary bees. Bee kleptoparaziti are characterized by the fact that their eggs go to food stores collected from another bee. So they got the name of a bee cow.
70% bees populate in the soil. They dig tunnels in the country where food stores are stored and eggs from which their offspring are developing.

The world’s smallest bees, Quasihesma clypearis, are only 1.8mm long. The largest bee, Megachile Cow, can reach a length of 39 mm with a 63 mm wingspan.
The oldest found fossil bee is about 100 million years old. It contains several features with the axes whose first fossil dates back 250 million years ago. This is proof that the first bees have developed from the part.
In North America honey bees are not an indigenous species. Only in 1622 they were brought from Europe by British colonists.
The medullary bee flies at an average speed of 24 km / h. Usually the distance is 1-6 km from the hive, and the distance is up to 20 km. Solitary bees fly up to 200 m from the dwelling, and if they have enough food near and smaller.
Bumblebees produce honey, but in much smaller quantities than honeysuckle bees, so they are not used for human consumption.
The bees of plants do not use only pollen and nectar. Some species for building nests from plants use leaves, resins, oils, petals …
bee cutters list

The bee tree in some areas is a serious problem because of its nest nesting in wooden buildings.

Birds beekeepers are the natural bee’s enemies. Bees and other flying insects love only in the flight, and before they are swallowed, the beak cancels the whip.
Picture of bird beekeeper

Beekeepers

Solitary bees that cover their dwellings in damp earth are called bee masters.
Honeycomb bees, including Osmia cornuta and Osmia bicornis, are housed in cavities of 5-15 mm in diameter, with up to 15 eggs. Each of the eggs together with the prepared food (a mixture of pollen and nectar) separates from the adjoining partition of the ground.
To prepare food supplies for one egg, the female must work for several hours.
For security reasons, the last cell always remains empty, and the last partition is several times thicker than the others.
Picture of a bee Osmia bicornis in a basket

The female can decide for her whether she wants a female or male egg. Closer to the exit from the cavity, they always lay eggs from which males develop, since they are legged and out before the females.
Since she dies until the summer, and the offspring begins flying only the following spring, the bee’s parent never sees her children.
The mushroom bee can overflow over 2,500 flowers during one day.

Flooding the Orchard

Reproduction is the basis of survival of every species. In order to fertilize plants, they must be worshiped. Pollution is referred to as the process of transferring pollen grains from the puppy to the muzzle of the duck at the criterion, or to the seed embryo at the nurses. Pelud can be transferred from the same flora of the same flower, from the other flower of the same plant or from other plants of the same species. It is most often the best effect of the pollination when the pollen comes from another plant – strangulation or alogamy. Dehydration can be done through or without animals. In the case that plants do not require animals, wind or water is responsible for the pollination.

Already on the flower’s surface itself, one can recognize the way he can deflate it. Wind turbines (eg birch, pine, cork, oak, grass, ambrosium, most nurses …) usually have unpleasant blossoms, and dusty mosses and even the weakest winds are easily snooping and shrinking pollen grains that produce these plants large quantities. Pollution by water is represented by a small number of plants (eg water plague, wilt, valeria …)

Flowering plants that rely on the pollination of animals appear in the most diverse colors, shapes and sizes. Often flowers are intensively scented with doctors who excrete sweet juice – nectar. Dissatisfaction with animals is a wonderful example of the connection and coevolution of the plant and animal world. By means of plants, plants allow for reproduction, and in turn receive food in the form of nectar, pollen, and later fruits. Although the pollination of insects is the most widespread form of pollination, birds and bats, and in rare cases snails, contribute to the pollination of the animal world.

The main pollinators among the insects are Hymenoptera species (bees and ors). Of the other insects are also important butterflies, different types of flies (eg flies) and turtles. Insects come to the plant attracted by live colors and scents, or plants attracted by the fraud of insects (eg orchids), and while trying to get to the nectar, which is most often hidden deep in the blossom, come into contact with the pollen. When they come to the next plant, in the same effort to reach the nectar, the pollen from the previous plant leaves to the throat of the new plant and thus performs their duty.

Bees are the most important pollinators in our ecosystem. Of all the food we eat today one third is dependent on bees. In addition to providing food to humans through pollination, and many animals are dependent on fruits without having bees. If there were no bees in the problem, there would be cotton fabrication as the cotton plant must be worried to produce seed.

It is estimated that more than 20,000 different types of bees live on planet Earth. Of these, only 7 species of bees that produce honey. Unlike the European honey bee (Apis melifera), which is best known in our area for honey production and painful stings, over 90% of all other bees belong to the so-called honey bee (Apis melifera). solitary bees. They do not live in colonies in hives themselves alone. Each one separately builds and arranges its nesting lodgings and supplies them with food supplies. These bees are not aggressive, not a point. Over 70% of them live in the soil. Sometimes all bees that do not produce honey are called wild bees.

As far as agricultural production is concerned, from all the factors influencing the yields, pollination has far-reaching influence. The value of the plunder, expressed in money, ranges between 235 and 577 billion. USD per year. The volume of agricultural production that depended on turbines increased by 300% in the last 50 years. According to some estimates, three quarters of all the food we consume in some way depends on the pollination. Unfortunately, the number of pollinators in nature is rapidly decreasing. The main causes of this are increased use of pesticides, loss of habitat, climate change, spread of diseases and intensive monoculture agriculture.

In addition to acting in the direction of mitigating these harmful effects, the move to compensate for the growing need for the pollutants is assisted breeding and the introduction of pollinators into the crops. Numerous farmers are faced with poor births of their crops and unsatisfactory quality of fruits. One of the main causes is poor pollination. This is especially apparent in large monocultures and those who bloom in the early spring until the honey bees are still active.

Dehydration of pears

Pear belongs to the Rosaceae family, just like apples and dunes with which many similarities are shared. Pear farming in Croatia has been declining in recent years and according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for 2017, it is carried out at 700 ha with yields up to 6 t / ha. In comparison, the largest European pear producer – Italy, over 30,000 ha regularly collects more than 20 t / ha.

The production of pears is primarily determined by the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil, as well as ecological conditions: altitude, position, exposure and slope of the terrain, climatic factors, and type and number of pollinators. Of course, all the aid and agrotechnical measures are of great importance and properly implemented.
Pear is prone to alternative birth, and when we take into account the climate conditions that are often not ideal during flowering, it is clear what the problems are facing manufacturers. Compared to apple, the pear blooms earlier and the possibility of spring frosting is considerably higher.

Already when planting orchards, account should be taken of the selection of varieties. With one of the most common varieties, one or two varieties of pollinators from the same flowering period should be planted. In addition to pollinator varieties, pollen insects contribute to successful pollination. Insufficient number of insect pollinants during flowering, except for quantity of produce, affects their size and shape. Seeds with more embryos are more common and more regular.

For most pears, optimal conditions for fertilization are 18 to 24 ° C and relative humidity 65-85%. In continental Croatia, such springs are rare, because pear often blooms when the weather is rainy and cold. Pear flowering lasts for 10 to 22 days. The turkey grain in the process of fertilizing the spore in the bladder tube and penetrates through the muzzle of the gall bladder to the egg cell. The optimal conditions for plowing the turkey are 21 to 27 ° C. The path of germinating pollen depends on temperature conditions and is measured in days. At a temperature of more than 15 ° C this time lasts for at least two days, and at a temperature lower than 15 ° C it can take 3-7 days.

Since the best success when plumage is achieved in the first 72 hours, ie three days after the beginning of flowering, it is clear that the orchard needs to have enough pollinators to perform his task within that time. The insects that contribute most to successful spraying of pear are solitary bees, bumblebees and honey bees.

The solitary bees Osmia bicornis and Osmia cornuta are the most significant pestle pollinators. It actively flies at a temperature of 5 to 8 ° C. They live alone, and their nest builds in different cavities and muddles them. They do not collect food supplies for their needs but only for offspring. During the day you can visit up to 5,600 flowers. The body of these bees is covered with dense hairs. Pelud accumulates on the abdomen. They easily receive pollen grains, but they are easy to release, which is of particular importance for the success of the plunder. They do not give preference to a certain kind of fruit, but only the fruit is close to them. The radius of their flight from the dwelling is 100-150 m. Therefore, for efficient pollination the layout of the dwellings of great importance. They should be evenly spaced to a distance of up to 100 m. For successful pollination, 1 ha of commercial pear planting requires 1,000 to 1,500 solitary bees.

Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) Are also excellent pollinators. During the day the bumblebee visits 4,500-5,600 flowers. Active firing already at 5 ° C. However, in the spring, at the time of flowering, the number of bumblebees is small, and while strengthening their litters, the flowering of fruit trees is already over. It is therefore advisable to set bumblebee near the orchard or enter the purchased bumblebee community.

The medullary bee (Apis mellifera) actively flies at a temperature of 15 ° C and is most active at 20 ° C. During the day one bee radilica visits 2,000-2,800 flowers. The cogwheels choose a floral type from which they collect nectar and pollen – nutrition and nutrition. Provided with food supply at lower temperatures do not have to get out of the hive. Their number in the orchard is regulated by the number and layout of the set beehives. As the pear flower contains low levels of sugar in nectar (up to 10%) and releases an unpleasant smell of acid that rejects the honey bee, successful breeding of bees is needed to prepare or to fry. Breeding of bees should start 20-30 days before flowering. Bees should be fed with sugar syrup (50% water sugar solution) in which you must add the flower pearls to distill and release their essential oils. The same solution can, after diluting with water in a ratio of 3: 1 to the benefit of water sprayed on fruit trees. For 1 ha of planted pear plantation, it is necessary to set 6-8 honey bee honey bees. Trunks should be arranged in groups: 3-4 hives at a distance of 100-150 m.

For optimum results in pollination, the best synergy of all types of pollinators is. In order to attract and retain them as much as possible in the orchard, account should be taken of spraying only with appropriate means that are not harmful to polluters. It should also be borne in mind of spraying time, is ideal in the afternoon sunshine when polluters withdraw to their homes. In order for bees to have a source of food before and after flowering the orchard, the grass should not be mown before opening the first flowers on the fruit trees, and other flowers and fruits whose flowering period is abundant with the flowering of the plantation is preferable.

Source: mr. Sc. M. Ševar: “Problems of Powder Dehumidification”, Pomologia Croatica, vol. 14-2008, no. 1