Buzz
Solitary bees differ from ‘social’ honeybees and bumblebees, which reside in large colonies featuring a queen responsible for laying eggs, while workers collect pollen and nectar to nourish the young grubs. With solitary bees, there are typically only males and females. They mate, the male perishes, and the female constructs a nest.
Ian Beavis, a naturalist and blogger, endeavors to raise awareness about the numerous solitary bees, whose crucial pollination services remain underappreciated. Solitary bees inhabit gardens, parks, woodlands, fields, and cliffs, representing a staggering 95% of the world’s bee species. Esteemed wildlife illustrator Richard Lewington, renowned for his exquisite butterfly paintings, remarks, ‘Solitary bees are invaluable to gardeners and have significant commercial value. However, until recently, they have been largely overlooked by the public.
I sought to highlight their essential role in our ecosystem.’ The challenge with solitary bees has long been one of identification – with over 240 species to choose from and lacking an accessible guidebook, where does one begin? Thus, Richard Lewington has dedicated much of his spare time in recent years to producing a new guide on the bees of Great Britain and Ireland. Remarkably, this is the first publication of its kind in over a century.
How do solitary bees live? Female solitary bees construct nests and lay their eggs in individual cells, lining or sealing them with various materials depending on the bee species – red mason bees use mud, while leafcutter bees use leaf sections. The females leave what naturalists term ‘parcels’ of pollen and nectar for each grub to feed on. Once all eggs are laid, the female dies. The emerging grubs consume, grow, and develop into adults the following year.
While some bee species are abundant and widespread, others are classified as rare or highly localized in distribution. In 2013, Ian Beavis encountered one of Britain’s historically rarest species, the banded mining bee.
The banded mining bee, distinguished by white facial hairs, nests in the ground, often on steep banks. Ian Beavis explains that it selects bare earth because it avoids burrowing through plant roots to establish its nest. Females feed on various plants, favoring yellow dandelions that bloom from spring to autumn.
Another bee of interest to naturalists is the ivy bee, identified as a distinct species only in 1993. It is among several bees that have successfully colonized Britain due to recent milder winters. Approximately the size of a with distinctive orange-yellow bands on its abdomen, it was initially thought to solely feed on ivy but has since been observed visiting other plants.
Discoveries about the ivy bee underscore the rewards of studying solitary bees, but it is not the sole species showing evolving behavior. Ian Beavis suggests that solitary bees may be beginning to exhibit social tendencies. Many species nest closely in large groups, and some, like Andrena scotica, share entrances without aggression.
The potential evolution of social behavior among solitary bees, such as Lasioglossum malachurum in Britain, lays the groundwork for future worker bees to share grub care. However, not all solitary bees are likely to evolve into social insects. Ian Beavis points out that while social behavior has its advantages, nesting alone also offers benefits, such as reduced vulnerability to predators, diseases, and parasites.
Solitary bees, like the red mason bee studied by Beth Nicholls at the University of Sussex, face threats from pesticides. Unlike honeybees that fly all summer, solitary bees like the red mason bee, which only fly from March to May, may encounter peak pesticide levels during their shorter flight period, posing potential risks.
A decline in the red mason bee population could adversely impact the fruit-growing industry due to its efficient pollination of orchard trees. Beth Nicholls explains that unlike social bees, which carry pollen in leg baskets, female red mason bees transport pollen on the underside of their abdomen, resulting in messier but more effective pollination compared to the 'tidier' method of social bees.
Solitary bees are ubiquitous in our surroundings, yet their importance is often overlooked.
Questions 1-4
Select the appropriate letter: A, B, C, or D
Record the correct letter in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1. Ian Beavis and Richard Lewington both believe that solitary bees
- A. Are as interesting as many butterfly species.
- B. Have an extremely varied range of habitats,
- C. Should be appreciated much more widely.
- D. Are valued by many gardeners.
2. What does the writer think is surprising about the new book on bees?
- A. There is such a wide range of species in it.
- B. Some of the species in it are hard to differentiate.
- C. Richard Lewington chose to give up his main work to write It.
- D. It was so long since a guide like this had been produced.
3. Beth Nicholls explains that red mason bees
- A. Have had more studies into their behaviour than others.
- B. May suffer more from pesticides than social bees,
- C. Have an advantage because of when they fly.
- D. Have certain similarities with honey bees.
4. Why does Beth Nicholls consider red mason bees to be valuable pollinators?
- A. They regularly lose some of the pollen they are carrying.
- B. They transport pollen with great care.
- C. Their pollination season is longer than that of social bees.
- D. The females do most of the pollen collection.
Questions 5-8
Examine the statements below (Questions 5-8) and the list of solitary bees.
Associate each statement with the corresponding bee, marked A-E
Indicate the correct letter. A-E, in sections 5-8 on your response sheet
NB: You may use any letter more than once.
5 Some members of this species have started to contribute more to the care of the young
6 This species avoids areas covered with vegetation when selecting nest sites.
7 This species has a favourite flower that it feeds on.
8 This species has only been found in Britain in the past few years.
List of Solitary Bees
- A. The banded mining bee
- B. The ivy bee
- C. Andrena scotica
- D. Lasrogfossum malachurum
- E. The red mason bee
Queries 9-13
Conclude the summary provided below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer
Enter your responses in sections 9-13 on your response sheet.
The existence of solitary bees
Female solitary bees make their nests with separate 9… where single eggs are deposited. Females try to ensure the survival of all their 10… . They do this by providing suitable food in what is referred to as a 11… . Solitary bees use a range of substances to make their nests comfortable and secure, such as plant material or 12….
Although some solitary bees are common, certain species are thought to be 13… .
The various solitary bees exhibit significant differences in their distribution, with some being present throughout Britain while others have more restricted geographic ranges.
Responses:- C (Đoạn 3, “Ian Beavis is a naturalist and blogger with a mission to raise the profile of the many solitary bees, whose pollinating services are so important, yet so little recognised…”)
- D (Đoạn 3, “This, amazingly, is the first book of its kind to be published for over a century.”)
- B (Đoạn 8, “But if the shorter flight period of solitary bees – the red mason bee only flies from March to May – coincides with peak pesticide levels, that might be disastrous.”)
- A (Đoạn 8, “The social bees’ method is much ‘tidier’, so once they have collected the pollen and tucked it away behind their legs, it won’t be dropped.”)
- D (Đoạn 7, “…might evolve in future into worker bees sharing care of the grubs. Indeed some of Britain’s solitary bees, Lasioglossum malachurum for example…”)
- A (Đoạn 5, “Ian Beavis explains that it always chooses bare earth because it doesn’t like having to eat through plant roots to make its nest…”)
- A (Đoạn 5, “Females feed on a variety of plants, but seem particularly fond of yellow dandelions that bloom from spring to autumn.”)
- B (Đoạn 6, “Another bee that has attracted naturalists’ attention is the ivy bee. It was only identified as a distinct species in 1993.”)
- Cells (Đoạn 4, “A female solitary bee constructs a nest and then lays her eggs in individual cells…”)
- Grubs (Đoạn 4, “The female leaves what naturalists call a ‘parcel’ of pollen and nectar for each other little grubs to feed on”)
- Parcel (Đoạn 4, ‘The female leaves what naturalists call a ‘parcel‘ of pollen”)
- Mud (Đoạn 4, “red mason bees use mud leafcutter bees use sections of leaf.”)
- Rare (Đoạn 5, “While some bees are plentiful and widespread, others have been designated as rare.”)
