Dispelling Bee Myths

Understanding bees and their significant role in our ecosystem, as well as their enormous contributions to food production, has helped dispel many myths about them. As with any myth, it is often laced with truth, making it easy to believe. It is advantageous to continue the conversation about all bees, not just honeybees, and their importance in our lives. Dispelling further myths may cause someone to take pause when interacting with them or coming face to face with a swarm in the yard. Not all bees are aggressive. Not all bees sting. Not all bees make honey. Not all bees live in hives. Bees are not the only pollinator. In fact, they are among very good company with hummingbirds, ladybugs, butterflies, beetles, bats, and more. However, recognizing their contributions to the health of our ecosystem and crop pollination should not be easily overlooked.

Myth: All Bees Live in Hives and Make Honey

This is likely the greatest myth about bees, because only a small percentage live in colonies like honeybees and bumblebees. Most bees are solitary, living in ground nests by themselves. Social bees get the most attention because they are the species beekeepers keep and the ones that produce the honey we enjoy. There are more than 20,000 known bee species, and fewer than 5% produce honey. There are solitary bees that don’t even have stingers, and others that only live long enough to produce eggs.

Although bumblebees do produce honey, honeybees are the ones who give us that delicious, sweet treat consistently. The honey we have access to is in excess of what bees need to survive. All their foraging, collecting, and spreading pollen and nectar produce what they need for their hive's survival. It is only the extra honey that is harvested, which is why it's almost exclusively the duty of the honeybees, because of the amount of honey they produce.

Myth: All Bees Are Aggressive and Sting

This is a multifaceted myth because not all bees are aggressive, and not all bees sting. To go a bit further, bees that sting don’t all die automatically. Some bees can sting multiple times, and it is when the bee's abdomen comes off with the stinger that the bee can’t survive. Meaning, bees are known to sting predatory insects repeatedly until they die, but when their barb gets stuck in something like skin or fur, they can’t leave without perishing.

Bees are aggressive when their hive or queen is under attack. A bee poolside is not looking to sting anyone, but if you step on one in flip flops, it will sting because it feels threatened. Bees do not have emotions or get angry, but their instinct is to stay alive and protect their hive, even if it means dying in the process. Swarming bees, although they can strike fear in people, are temporary and will move on without any assistance. Bees in a swarm are not aggressive because they are not protecting anything at the time and are on more of a house-hunting adventure. If you do encounter a swarm, take a minute, from afar, and appreciate the thousands of bees clustered together as they look for a new home, likely due to overcrowding of their existing hive.

Bee lives are relatively brief, and solitary bees live long enough to build a nest and lay eggs. More popular bees in beekeeping can live longer, with the queen often outliving her fellow worker bees. So, if a sting takes a bee's life, the colony can still survive and recover, even from what appears to be devastating losses. Bees are highly resilient and adapt in impressive ways!

Myth: It is Humane to Kill a Dying Bee

Let’s begin with the fact that very few people would know bee biology and behavior to know if a bee is struggling or dying. Bees often get exhausted in flight and have been found sleeping in flowers from a pollen overdose. However, if a bee is still moving in your pool, it is a good idea to use a net to catch it and let it dry. Bees' wings can’t handle water, so if you don’t get them out, they will die. However, if you see a bee sluggishly moving down a path in the park, there is no reason to kill it. Even if it seems more humane, there is no real way to ensure you are doing the right thing.