Tag Archives: ecology

A Coastal Corridor – Revival of the Simon’s Town Bee Garden

By Karin Sternberg

With a vision to connect the coastal areas with the mountains above Simon’s Town in the form of a corridor, in 2015 we started with the clean-up, clearing and planting of a stretch of land near Seaforth in Simon’s Town.

Over the years we have closely watched a small aggregation of metallic Halictid bees nesting in some bare soil close to a well-walked path. With the drought having had its toll on many of the plants in the vicinity of the bee burrows, and several of the popular species like succulents, proteas and leucadendrons having disappeared with time, we decided to re-plant and re-invigorate the area for a diversity of bees and to stimulate public interest in bee species of which so little is known.

The drought has had some positive spin-offs, in that the City of Cape Town has focused on propagating hardy, water-wise plants for its public spaces. We are so grateful for the City’s contribution of the following fynbos plants for the Simon’s Town Bee Garden. The species we planted are the Pelargonium betulinum, Geranium incanum, Ruschia macowanoii, Metalasia muricata, Leonotis leonurus, Salvia aurea, and Eriocephalus africanus. These are all indigenous and wonderful bee plants which will not only attract a diversity of bees, require little water, but will bring beautiful colour into the garden. 

Besides the plants, a number of possible nesting sites were created for solitary bees. Solid wood and dead-wood were brought in from the direct surroundings, much of it filled with holes left by wood-boring beetles. These tunnels are perfect for carpenter bees, including the dwarf carpenters like the Allodapula and Allodape bees, and for the other tunnel-nesting dwellers like the leafcutter bees, cellophane bees, and carder bees (and the cuckoo bees will benefit, too!). 

Sandy, bare patches of soil are perfect spots for the ground dwellers which make up the majority of the solitary bees. Such ground nesting habitat is excavated by digger bees (family Anthophoridae) and the family Halictidae which are often metallic in colour. 

Empty snail shells were also found and left; these are suitable nest sites for bees in the family Megachilidae.

By the end of planting there were already several bees investigating possible nesting sites, including the big female carpenter bee, Xylocopa caffra, and several male digger bees who were landing on the new plants, leaving their pheromones, and ever hopeful to attract the females who were quietly waiting in their burrows for warmer weather and less human activity. 

Over the coming months, we look forward to sitting quietly, bee-watching and listening to the sound of the winter rains.

A huge thanks goes out to the City of Cape Town Coastal Management – Penguin management project – with partner organisations SANCCOB and CTEET (Cape Town Environmental Education Trust) for their generous contribution to the Simon’s Town Bee garden.

Wilted Leaves and Honeybees

Text by Karin Sternberg   Photographs by Jenny Cullinan

There is a fascinating connection between Pephricus, a so-called ‘leaf-wilter’, and the honeybee…

Pephricus sp.

On a recent trip to one of our research sites in the Swartland region of the Cape Province, we came upon a Pephricus species of the Coreidae family. This True Bug, either Pephricus livingstonii or P. paradoxus (both species are very similar, but can be separated on the hind margin of the dorsal plate, the so called pronotum), belongs to a group of spiny bugs that feed on plants. Very little is known about the biology of these species, and colouration and shape can vary within the species. Other species of this genera are found sucking on Ipomoea, Maerua and cacao. One observation of Pephricus sp. in a patch of renosterveld vegetation was close to some Salvia africana-caerulea (pers comm S. Hall).

Salvia lanceolata on a rocky outcrop on the Cape Peninsula. Although also somewhat spiny and haired, the S. africana is softly hairy, sometimes with toothed leaves. One can see how Pephricus camouflage would work well on this plant.

Pephricus sp. protects itself through its leaf-like camouflage, moving jerkily like a leaf in the wind. Where this camouflage does not help, Pephricus uses a scent gland to ward off ants and other enemies.

Pephricus sp. moves jerkily like a leaf in the wind. Wind is common feature in the Western Cape.

How was Pephricus connected to the Cape honeybee (Apis mellifera capensis)? We found Pephricus on a wax comb on the ground at the base of a honeybee nest that had been poached – a rich and easy source of honey and pollen. This observation of Pephricus shows that these bugs obviously ingest pollen and nectar, as many other bugs do.

Pephricus sp. moving off wax comb

Pephricus sp.

(With many thanks to Dr Jürgen Deckert, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, for his invaluable input.)

Where Blue is a Rare Colour in Nature. Roella recurvata and its Blue Pollen.

By Karin Sternberg

Stepping into the fynbos brings untold surprises and beauty with it. Writing this now in mid-February, a difficult time for this floral kingdom in the face of mid-summer heat, extreme winds and very little to no rain, we are once again marvelling at nature’s intelligence and the interaction between plants and pollinators.

The Roella recurvata flowers are a South Peninsula endemic known from fewer than 5 sub-populations. They are a source of abundant pollen for bees. The pollen is mostly blue! Yet blue is a rare colour in nature, so what is the significance of this colour for pollen? Why of all the colours is it blue? Perhaps it has some ultra-violet colouration that we cannot see, but that might be a brilliant colour for the bees with their ultra-violet vision?

Presently there is very little forage for bees. January/February is always the most challenging time for bees to find forage in the winter rainfall regions and the colonies dwindle to a minimum. But the wild nest we are monitoring close to this sub-population of flowers is doing very well and they are busy, carrying in their heavy loads of pollen packed tightly into their pollen baskets. This means that they are able to stock up on their pollen stores, but also that they have brood (babies) to feed! Drones are also present, where they are absent at all the other nests being monitored. In fact, at most other nests there is very little activity and very little pollen going in. Most of the wild honeybee nests are literally just ticking over, trying desperately to survive this period of dearth.

One possible reason for this flower bearing blue pollen may lie in careful observation of the photo with the pollen-foraging bees entering the depths of the nest. The blue pollen almost has a fluorescence or luminescence like quality to it. We found the following paragraph in Science Magazine (08 Aug 1975: Vol. 189, Issue 4201, pp. 476-478):

‘Nectar, which fluoresces in the visible and absorbs in the ultraviolet spectrum when irradiated by ultraviolet light, occurs in many bee-pollinated plants. It is suggested that these characteristics function as direct visual cues by which bees can evaluate the quantities of nectar available. Thus, they assume an important role in pollination of the flowers and foraging efficiency of bees.’

These flowers with blue pollen, extraordinary as they are, possibly also have the capability to attract bees to it through a fluorescence, indicating their abundance of pollen, which possibly also has a high nutrient/protein content which is invaluable to the bees especially at this time of year.

So many questions arise when looking at nature and when trying to understand nature’s intelligence. One realises just how important the ecology and biodiversity is for the survival of both plant and pollinator. In this example, one cannot separate the flower from the bee. It has possibly evolved over time to develop this extraordinary visual cue not to be missed when pollinators are least expecting it.

A solitary bee on Roella recurvata

(All photos are copyrighted and are thus the property of the authors. If you wish to use any, please contact us at ujubeeconservation@gmail.com)

The author at work amongst the Roella flowers:

Karin Sternberg