The Bees of Canada

Cory S. Sheffield, PhD

York University

Bees are Vegetarian Wasps

Bees as Pollinators

• 100 million year relationship with plants

• These relationships have shaped terrestrial ecosystems as we now know them

Sable Island

• Located about 300 km off the coast of Nova Scotia, at 44°N 60°W

• Approximately 50 km long and 3 km wide

• “The Graveyard of the Atlantic”

Sable Island

• Largely a sand bar, so its shape and size have shifted dramatically throughout its recorded history

Famous Sable Island Inhabitants

Famous Sable Island Inhabitants

Famous Sable Island Inhabitants

Sable Island Birds• Over 340 species of birds have

been observed on Sable Island, and records continue to be kept by residents and visitors to the island

• Of the 12 species of birds that regularly breed on Sable Island, the most famous is the Ipswich Sparrow, which is an endemic sub-species of the Savannah Sparrow

Ipswich Sparrow

Sable Island Insects

• A total of 489 species of insects have been recorded on the island

• The pattern of their distribution in North America has given rise to theories that Sable Island may have acted as a coastal-plain refugium during the Pleistocene glaciation

Sable Island Plants

• Of the more than 175 plant species presently on the island, about 40 are introductions

• Few of these have thrived, and they mostly occur in areas where buildings and structures provide some protection from wind and blowing sand

Sable Island Plants• Most of the island's native

flora is typical of mainland Nova Scotia and northeastern North America

• About twenty native plants, however, have a very restricted distribution beyond Sable Island, and some are listed as "rare" in Nova Scotia

Sable Island Plants

• Many of the islands plant species require insects for pollination

• Several require bee visitors for “buzz” pollination

Sable Island Cranberries“The island gave us lots of berries -cranberries, strawberries, blueberries. Every October we all turned out for the cranberry picking, even the lifesaving crew. One year we picked 400 barrels of No. 1 cranberries and I made 48 quarts of jelly. I wished I had never seen a cranberry....the Government sold them for $5 a barrel. The money helped pay to run the lifesaving station”

Trixie Boutillier

Resident of Sable Island from 1885 to 1912

Sable Island Cranberries

• What cost $5 in 1890 would cost ca $114* in 2007 ($45,600/year)

*The Inflation Calculatorhttp://www.westegg.com/inflation/

Bees of Sable Island

• Megachile melanophaea

• Osmia simillima

• Lasioglossum novascotiae

• *Lasioglossum new sp.

Our Ecological Footprint

• A measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems

• Compares human demand with planet Earth's ecological capacity to regenerate

Human Carrying Capacity

• The maximum population that can be supported at a given living standard by the interaction of any given human-ecological system

• A terrible conceptual flaw is thinking that environmental and human resources are largely irrelevant to human population size

Human Population Density

Human Population Growth

Human Population

Many of our crops require cross pollination by bees

Pollination

Need for Pollinators

• Bees are the most important group of animal pollinators

• Apis mellifera is the most widely used and important pollinator of our crops

Value of Honey Bees

“Through their pollination of crop plants, honey bees are the third most valuable domestic animal in Europe”

Jürgen Tautz 2008

“The Buzz About Bees”

Worth More than Chickens?

“If (honey) bee deaths should reach 80 to 90 percent worldwide...the Earth’s carrying capacity for humans could be reduced, essentially overnight, from a maximum of twelve billion to about six billion”

Charles Pellegrino 2007

(As quoted in Schutt 2008 “Dark Banquet”)

Honey Bees and CCD

Dependant on Honey Bees

• We have been placing all our eggs in one basket

• 20-25 thousand species of bees

• 800-1000 in Canada

In addition to honey bees...

BIOL 2P05 - Lecture 13 38

...we should look at our native bees

• Melittidae

• Megachilidae

• Apidae

• Andrenidae

• Halictidae

• Colletidae

Bees of Canada

Melittidae

Macropis

Melitta (?)

Melittidae

• Our species are oil-bees (genus Macropis)

• Dependant on floral oils from plants of the genus Lysimachia

Megachilidae

Anthidiellum

Anthidium

Ashmeadiella

Atoposmia

Chelostoma

Coelioxys

Dianthidium

Heriades

Hoplitis

Megachile

Osmia

Protosmia

Stelis

Megachilidae

• One of the most important groups of bees from a crop pollination perspective

• Many are manageable

Apidae

Anthophora

Apis

Bombus

Ceratina

Diadasia

Doeringiella

Epeoloides

Epeolus

Eucera

Habropoda

Holcopasites

Melecta

Melissodes

Neolarra

Nomada

Peponapis

Svastra

Xeromelecta

Xylocopa

Zacosmia

Apidae

• Includes bumble bees

• Several species have recently been catching attention due to their increasing rarity

Andrenidae

Andrena

Calliopsis

Panurginus

Perdita

*Protandrena

Andrenidae

• Very important pollinators of many spring crops including apple and blueberry

• Many are floral specialist

Agapostemon

Augochlora

Augochlorella

Augochloropsis

Dieunomia

Dufourea

Halictus

Lasioglossum

Nomia

SphecodesIllustrations from Goulet, H., and J.T. Huber (Eds.).

1993. Hymenoptera of the World: An identification

guide to families.

Halictidae

Halictidae

• Many species

• Very difficult taxonomically

• All levels of sociality

Colletidae

Colletes

Hylaeus

Colletidae

• Cellophane bees

• Line nests with “cellophane-like” secretion to store wet pollen provisions

• N of 60° there are over 100 bee species

• Mostly Bombus in high arctic

Bees in Canada

Bees in CanadaProvince/

Territory

No. of

Species

NS

NB

PE 65

NF 55

QC

ON

MB 170

SK 161

AB

BC

NU 8

NT

YT

Bees in CanadaProvince/

Territory

No. of

Species

NS

NB

PE 65

NF 55

QC

ON

MB 170

SK 161

AB

BC

NU 8

NT 80

YT 52

Bees in CanadaProvince/

Territory

No. of

Species

NS 206

NB 147

PE 65

NF 55

QC 243

ON 379

MB 170

SK 161

AB

BC

NU 8

NT 80

YT 52

Bees in CanadaProvince/

Territory

No. of

Species

NS 206

NB 147

PE 65

NF 55

QC 243

ON 379

MB 170

SK 161

AB 286

BC 352

NU 8

NT 80

YT 52

Bee Faunal Similarity

1.000.760.520.280.04

Barcoding Bees of North America

Presently about 30-35% of the North American bee fauna is barcoded (ca 70% of Canada’s fauna)

Many problematic bee taxa will be resolved with DNA barcoding

Barcoding Bees

Taxonomic studies

Great potential for

ecological studies:

–pollination

–diversity

– conservation

Impact of Introduced Species

Several introduced into North America

What impact of native fauna?

Ground-nesting bees

• Most species of bees

• Usually in bare patches in well drained soils

Depth and complexity varies

Soil preferences

Up to several 100 tunnels per m2

From Batra 1984

Ground-nesting bees

Ground-nesting bees

Nest built vertically in banks

From Batra 1984

Nest Plug

Ground-nesting bees

Cavity-nesting bees

Megachile – leafcutter bees

Natural Cavities

Nest entrance

Cavity Nesters - Osmia

From Michener 2000

From Michener 2000

Cavity Nesters - Osmia

Ceratina calcarata

Cavity Nesters - Excavator

Nesting sites are the limiting factor for species richness and abundance

Trap nests encourage bees in orchard systems

Cavity Nesting Bees

Sheffield et al. 2008. Can. Ent. 140: 235-249

Very inexpensive - and reusable

Commercial Orchards

Lupines consistently bloom following apple

Use of Lupines

Ne a r L u p i n e s F ro m L u p i n e s0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Weig

ht

+ S

E (

g)

F1 , 3 2

=12. 51, P= 0. 001

Sheffield et al. Can. Ent. (submitted)

Use of Lupines

Ne a r L u p i n e s F ro m L u p i n e s0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Num

be

r o

f B

ee

s +

SE

F1 , 3 2

=17. 41, P < 0. 001

Sheffield et al. Can. Ent. (submitted)

Everyone can and should appreciate bees!!!

The End?