These Bees Hustle to Put Food on the Table | Deep Look

You know honeybees make honey, but did you know they make bread too? And four other types of bees are also dedicated chefs! Alfalfa leafcutting bees take a punch from a flower for your ice cream. Blue orchard bees bring you almonds and sweet cherries. Plus, stingless bees protect their tasty honey in creative ways. And bindweed bees’ way of gathering pollen deserves a fashion award. 0:15 - Honeybees and bee bread 04:02 - Alfalfa leafcutting bees 08:02 - Bindweed turret bees 12:55 - Stingless bees 18:52 - Blue orchard bees 👉 SIGN UP for Deep Look’s newsletter, Nature Unseen: https://bit.ly/NatureUnseenSignUp JOIN our community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deeplook SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/kqeddeeplook?sub_confirmation=1 DEEP LOOK is an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED in San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small. --- -As they fly from bloom to bloom, honeybees mix pollen with a little nectar, honey and saliva. They haul this pollen blend back to the hive and deposit it in cells next to the developing bee larvae. This stored pollen, known as bee bread, is the colony’s main source of protein. -Every summer, alfalfa leafcutting bees in California pollinate fields from which growers harvest alfalfa seeds. Alfalfa makes a nutritious hay for dairy cows. These bees are much better at pollinating alfalfa than honeybees. As they visit alfalfa flowers, they trigger a spring mechanism that causes them to be hit in the face by the plant’s reproductive organ. -Bindweed turret bees are among the 70% of bee species worldwide that nest in the ground. After digging their tunnel-shaped nests in California’s Central Valley, they gather pollen from morning glories, also known as bindweeds. Their shaggy legs get so covered in whitish pollen that they look like they’re wearing tiny pollen pants. Inside their nest, they pack the pollen into balls that will feed their offspring. -More than 600 species of stingless bees across Mexico, Central and South America, and other tropical regions worldwide, make flavorful honey, which is sold as a health product to treat ailments like sore throats. But they don’t have stingers to defend the honey. Instead, guard bees protect the nest entrance, biting intruders and entangling themselves in their hair. Some stingless bees also barricade their nest with a mix of wax and plant resins. Honeys from both stingless bees and honeybees contain hydrogen peroxide, which is antimicrobial. Since stingless bees collect resins, pollen and nectar from a host of plants – often in the rainforest – scientists are studying their honey for chemicals that might have medicinal properties. -Blue orchard bees have hairs on their abdomen called scopa, which make them good at moving around the pollen of almonds, sweet cherries and other tree fruits. These mason bees collect gobs of mud with their pincerlike mandibles, which they use to build their nests in hollow twigs or straws inside wood blocks offered to the bees by growers. ---+ Find a transcript on KQED Science: https://www.kqed.org/science/1995086/these-bees-hustle-to-put-food-on-the-table ---+ More great Deep Look episodes: The Bizarre Biology of 5 Bloodsucking Creatures https://youtu.be/RQTi1GWv_lg?si=_Tc0fQHq2-lUv4XH Butterflies & Caterpillars: Delicate But Mighty Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdKlciEDdCQBT-1J7j32_-GW7YKQUBsli ---+ Congratulations to the first 5 fans who correctly answered the GIF challenge on our community tab: @pamelapilling6996 @Hive5Bees @austintandoc8187 @Just_a_guy909 @braddarr6429 ---+ Thank you to our top Patreon supporters ($10+ per month)! Julia Ma Darby Sullivan Rachel Fenichel Edgar Betancourt Susan Fuhs Hank Poppe Walter Tschinkel Marco Narajos H.M. Andrew Joan Klivans Stephanie Dole Kevin Sholar J. Schumacher Lily, Vinny, Izzy Altschuler Eric Marsh Jamie Edwards Elia Gourguechon-Buot Kristy Folsom Laurel Przybylski 吳怡彰 Kevin William Walker Oliver Wakeling Jessica Hiraoka Laurel Przybylski Jeremiah Sullivan Mehdi Salarkia Mark Jobes Carrie Mukaida Cristen Rasmussen Wade Tregaskis Burt Humburg Noreen Herrington Roberta K Wright Brigitte Xia Louis O’Neill Jellyman Titania Juang El Samuels Jessica Duplechin Chris B Emrick Kristine Wee Karen Reynolds Sue Ellen McCann David Deshpande Daisuke Goto Elizabeth Ann Ditz Levi Cai ---+ Follow Deep Look and KQED Science on social: https://www.tiktok.com/@deeplookofficial https://www.patreon.com/deeplook https://www.instagram.com/kqedscience/ https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience ---+ About KQED KQED, an NPR and PBS member station in San Francisco, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, radio and web media. Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the members of KQED. #honeybees #pollination #deeplook


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