Slideshow: Hunting for wild bees

Join Rachael Winfree, an entomologist at Rutgers University, as she tracks what wild bees bring to ecosystems.

When I deliver a talk on "Why to conserve pollinators??, I ask question from the audience,? What is the most beautiful gift of nature?" Varied replies are received. But, what I clarify is different. I rank the winners in the following sequence: (1) The second runner-up is the human female, as it has very beautiful body that fascinates human-males a lot, and vice-versa. (2) The first runner-up jointly are three Bs i.e. birds, butterflies and bees. These are magnificent and very important pollinators. These radiant coloured creatures greatly fascinate human beings due to their beauty. But, most beautiful gift of nature is the angiosperms, the flower bearing plants. The latter not only provide food, fiber and shelter to human beings; these also provide picturesque beauty to the earth ecosystem. In fact, these are the back bone of evolution of human civilization on earth. Can there be earth without angiosperms? Yes, it is possible if there are no pollinators. There fore, for the conservation of angiosperms, conservation of pollinators is most important 10.
In India, we have been working on the conservation of wild bees since last many years. We published our results in some books and journals 1-10. Our work was greatly appreciated by several leading government and academic bodies. United States Department of Agriculture recognized us with a Group Award( 1993): Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi awarded us the prestigious ?Rafi Ahmad Kidwai Memorial Prize (1980-82); Environment Society of India, Chandigadh awarded ?Life Time Achievement Award for Conservation of Biodiversity and Environment(2007); Educational ,Cultural and Social Welfare Society of India, Hisar awarded ? E.P.Odum Memorial Award for Conservation of Environment (2008).
In my opinion, wild bees have greater significance in ecosystem than their domesticated counter parts. Most of the wild bees are specialist pollinators. In such cases, the generalist pollinators, like honeybees, often fail to pollinate the flowers of these plants or these are poor pollinators of such plants. I under stand Rachael Winfred?s efforts are in the direction of conservation of wild bees. This is a very timely venture and the one that should attract the attention of all entomologists. Of late, the entomologists look after the plant protection part and they forget about the safety of bees, especially the wild bees. Likewise, the soil scientists and agronomists should also work towards the conservation of bee habitats. This will help conservation of wild bees which are not only beautiful but also an integral part of our ecosystem.
References

1. Sihag, R.C. 1983.Life cycle pattern, seasonal mortality, problem of parasitization and sex ratio pattern in alfalfa pollinating megachilid bees. Zeit.angew.Ent. 96(4), 368-79.
2. Sihag, R.C.1990b. Behaviour and ecology of the sub-tropical carpenter bee. Xylocopa fenestrata F.2 Host plant association. Indian Bee J. 52(1-4), 38-40.
3. Sihag, R.C., 1991c. Methods of domiciling and bee keeping with alfalfa pollinating sub-tropical megachilid bees. Korean J.Apic. 6(2), 81-88.
4. Sihag, R.C.1992 . Utilization of waste stems of sarcandas and castor as nesting tunnels for culturing/keeping wild bee pollinators of some crops. Bioresource Technology, vol.42, no.2, pp.159-162, 1992
5. Sihag,R.C.1993a. Management of some sub-tropical megachilid bees for pollination of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan(L) Millsp). In: Pollination in Tropics, by G.K.Veeresh, R.Uma Shankar and K.Ganeshaiah (Eds.), Pub. IUSSI- Indian Chapter, Bangalore, pp: 229-232.
6. Sihag, R.C. 1993b.Behaviour and ecology of the sub-tropical carpenter bee, Xylocopa fenestrata F.7. Nesting preferences and response to nest translocation.J. Apic Res., 32, 102-108
7. Sihag, R.C.1995. Management of sub-tropical solitary bees for pollination. In: Pollination of Cultivated Plants in Tropics, by D.W.Roubik(Ed.), F.A.O.Rome, pp: 157-160.
8. Sihag,R.C.1997..Utilization of non-Apis bees as pollinators of crops. In : Pollination Biology : Basic and Applied Principles, by R.C.Sihag (Ed.), Rajendra Scientific Publishers, Hisar, PP: 152-169.
9. Sihag, R.C.1997-98. Wild Apis and non-Apis bees: their behaviour, management and utilization. In : Perspectives in Indian Apiculture, by R.C.Mishra, (Ed.)Agro-Botanic, Bikaner, pp : 248-264.
10. Sihag, R.C. and Singh, M. 1999.Why should the pollinators be conserved? Current Sci. 77(5), 626-627.