Original subtitles

Previously, on Secrets of the Bees.

After months of tireless work, the honeybee family

split in two.

Half the sisters left, leaving those that remained in a

depleted hive without a queen.

found themselves in the eye of the storm.

It is pouring.

Poor bees, they're just getting stoked.

Now, I'm back to see if the swarm survive the night

well there's lots of bees flying

here we go

how are you doing bee swarm

actually look okay well

that is a relief i was worried they got dangerously cold in the rain

Right, I'm going to grab my camera.

Out in the open, the bees are still vulnerable.

They desperately need a roof over their heads.

The plan now is that most of the bees are going to stay put and conserve their

energy.

But some of them are going to leave.

Here she goes.

Woo -hoo!

These are the... Scouts, the most experienced workers.

Their job is to go house hunting.

Each scout can only search as far as the queen can travel, about two miles.

And any hole is worth investigating.

She's looking for somewhere roomy enough for the colony to grow.

Check.

An entrance narrow enough to defend.

Check.

But this is just too open.

A tree hole could tick all the boxes.

A safe height from the ground.

And space for her 30 ,000 sisters.

Perfect.

Now, to convince the swarm.

That is a waggle.

Well, this is the infamous honeybee waggle dance.

You know, this might look like a bunch of random butt shakes, but this is an

important message.

This is how the scouts tell the rest of the colony about the location and the

quality of a new house they found.

And it's the most advanced communication system of any insect.

Now, I wonder what they're saying.

Everyone, listen.

You won't believe the place I've just found.

It's got a sweet view.

It's not far from here.

And it's got so much room for honey.

The longer the dance, the further the sisters know to travel.

And her enthusiasm tells the others just how great the place is.

The other scouts check the hole out.

To be sure it's as good as she says.

And if they like it, they'll waggle too.

It's one bee, one vote.

Democracy in action.

Once the majority of the Scouts agree, it's a done deal.

All 30 ,000 bees take to the air.

The swarm finally has a new home.

A place for this half of the sisterhood to grow and thrive.

Swarming is a dangerous gamble, but it's one honeybees must take if they're to

spread to new areas.

It's also the only time they move any real distance.

Unless we force them.

Every year, 30 billion honeybees are trucked from all over the US to the

Valley of California.

It's one of the largest movements of animals on the planet and known

as migratory beekeeping.

Let's start cleaning up this bed, get the snow off.

Ryan Llewellyn is a fifth -generation beekeeper.

I've been exposed to them with my dad and grandpa since I was three or four.

So pretty much my whole life.

Each winter, while the bees are saving their energy...

Ryan transports thousands of his hives from their home in Oregon to California.

Not for honey -making, but to pollinate almond trees.

Here comes the net.

It's an 800 -mile journey.

An unimaginable distance for an animal that would normally never travel more

than six miles from its home.

Midway through the trip, as the truck descends from the Rockies into

the temperature suddenly climbs 20 degrees.

The bees start to awaken.

You can smell them.

The whole truck will buzz.

This is the most dangerous part of the bees' journey.

Anytime we stop...

They'll start to fly and come out the entrances.

They'll get stuck in the net and die.

After two long days of travel, the bees reach their destination.

They join millions of others, a concentration of hives found nowhere

But have Ryan's bees...

survive the journey.

No, this is not a good one.

Yeah, all these bees that I'm finding on the bottom boards, they got frozen on

the drive down.

Migratory beekeeping is, it's hard.

You do your best to keep them healthy and alive, but sometimes, you know, you

just can't.

With no source of nectar here to feed his bees, Ryan provides the substitute.

Food that simulates spring, cueing them to grow their colony as fast as

possible. Good night, girls.

After two weeks, the hives are spread across the orchards.

in pole position for the bloom.

Over a hundred million almond trees flower at the same time.

And the bees will need to visit every one of them in just a week.

It's time for Ryan's bee to get to work.

Each visits up to 5 ,000 flowers a day.

And while they're collecting food, pollen grains are transferred from one

to another, feeding the plant.

It's the largest...

a pollination event on Earth.

But the flowers only last six days.

The petals start to fall.

And there's no more bloom for the bees.

Over three -quarters of the world's almonds come from California, a

$20 billion business.

Totally dependent on honeybees.

This year, the event has taken its toll on Ryan's bees.

I'm very concerned with the future.

What are my actions today going to amount to tomorrow?

Ryan is convinced that there's a better way ahead.

Two weeks ago, the swarm left the hive with half its workforce and no queen.

But before leaving, the old queen laid an egg in each of four special

cells.

Since then, they've been carefully tended by the sisters.

Each contains a queen in waiting.

The first to emerge has the advantage.

It's the moment the sisters have been waiting for.

This could be their new queen.

Leader and egg layer in one.

She lets everyone in the hive know she's ready to rule.

Communicating in a way no other bee can.

She toots.

The sound travels through the walls of the honeycomb.

At each toot, the colony freezes.

in recognition of their new queen.

The spare queens, still in their cells, aren't the back with a quack.

A reminder to the already emerged queen that she has rivals.

To keep her crown, she must leave the hive and mate.

If she fails, the spare queens will get their chance.

Until then, the sisters keep them calm with food and gentle vibrations.

If the emerged queen succeeds, she will kill the imprisoned rival.

At this time of year, the queens are not the only newbies on the block.

This one is big.

A big boy, to be precise.

Male are born in the warmer month.

Known as a drone, he has one important job.

That's if he can squeeze out of his cell.

Luckily, his sisters are there to lend a hand.

Males like him do nothing to contribute to the family.

He can't collect nectar or pollen.

He can't even feed himself.

All he does is get in everyone's way.

His only purpose in life?

To mate with queens from other hives and spread his family's genes.

It's the reason for his large eyes.

Twice the size of his sisters.

They give him a complete view of the skies.

Perfect for spotting queens in flight.

Just not his sister.

She must go find her own drones from another hive.

She'll mate...

with up to 20 of them.

A trait unique to honeybee queens.

Most bees have a single partner.

And for some, finding that mate is a dangerous task.

This is one of Australia's driest deserts.

but for just a few weeks a year carpets of nectar -rich flowers bloom and

when they pop up so do one of the largest bees on the planet

a female Dawson's bee.

She spent a year alone underground, waiting for this very moment to find a

Her radiating

scent has lured in dozens of contenders.

But she only needs one.

It's smart to stay in her hole.

Out of reach.

Let the males take their frustration out on each other.

Another female tries her luck and

gets more than she bargained for.

Since female dorsal bees only mate once,

Competition is fierce.

In the pileup, this female could be injured.

Or worse.

Her scent is so powerful that even after death, it's... still attracts

attention.

Most females have now emerged, and there are fewer active males.

The cautious female checks out the scene.

Just one male.

The perfect time to make a move.

But it's a mistake.

Males are relentless.

But she has found the one.

And he holds on for dear life.

They must reach cover as fast as her little legs can carry them.

Finally.

Once mated, her scent changes and the males lose all

interest.

Her timing has been perfect.

A brief burst of flowers provides her and her young with everything they'll

back

at the hive the queen has successfully mated

and makes her triumphant return

With her on egg -laying duty, the population boomed

and the workers ramped up productivity.

Nectar collection is in full swing.

They need to make and store 40 pounds of honey to survive the winter.

And they still have a way to go.

With fall approaching and nectar drying up, every drop of stored honey

is precious.

Not to be wasted on freeloaders.

With mating season over, the males have outstayed their welcome.

So they're fit to colonel.

Every drone is evicted.

Dead or alive.

And the hive becomes a female -only zone once more.

With just a few weeks left until winter, it's a critical time.

But it's now that many honeybees all over the world fall victim to something

beyond their control.

If you are going to understand... For entomologist Dr.

Sammy Ramsey, stopping this threat is his life's work. I want you to consider

for a moment that you are a host to a parasite that is about the size of your

hand. This body size ratio is wild. Honestly, it would be like a human

having these.

These are varroa mice.

These are the parasites that honeybees have on their bodies that are actually

liquefying their livers and sucking it out of them.

The varroa mites are destructive on a scale that is hard to fathom at times.

They are the most threatening, widely distributed parasite of bees on this

planet.

Sammy and his student Justin need to check on infested hives and assess the

effects the mites have on the bees.

Definitely deformed wing virus in this one.

Yeah, poor girl. Her wings are just so short.

They have so many cells that are opened on this frame. That is not a good sign.

When Varroa infiltrate colonies and attach themselves to bees, they wreak

on the bees' immune system.

Viruses are able to grow out of control and cause these really problematic

symptoms in the bees.

To study the enemy, Sammy has a way to collect mites from a honeybee hive.

There you go, there you go.

About to donate your mites to science.

Varroa mites don't stay attached to bees if their feet get covered with powdered

sugar.

Those are some dusty bees, so now we just roll it and then we shake.

That sugar will get into all the crevices, and then they'll slide right

bees.

Sorry, ladies. This is for your own good. You don't want these mites, I

Check it out. This colony is mighty for sure.

Whew.

This is my favorite part, though.

I get to actually put them back home.

All right, ladies. You are going to be really popular.

Who doesn't love a sweet bee?

Returning to his lab, Sammy wants to test the mites on a special group of

They could hold the solution to dealing with infestations.

Ready? We can introduce those mites.

into our observation hive, and we can watch how the bees actually handle a

influx of mites all at once.

All right, close it, close it, close it.

There you go. Good.

These mite right there on the glass, they're waiting for a bee to pass by

they can just latch on to.

There you go.

These mites are masters of disguise.

They have learned all the different ways of masking their smell, even the feel

of their bodies.

They mimic the plates and hairs of the bee's body, such that when a bee is

touching itself, the parasite feels like its own body.

But this colony...

has a unique superpower.

The bees in our observation hive are the specific genetic stock that's able

to resist certain elements of the Varroa mites takeover of the colony.

Compared to typical honey bees, these bees groom their bodies much more

frequently.

They can tell that something is wrong and they need to do something about it.

Well done, you. Yeah.

Sammy and his team hope that if this grooming trait can be genetically

reproduced in other honeybees, Varroa mites won't get the chance to spread

deadly viruses.

Despite this threat, The global honeybee population is still in the trillions.

And our passion for beekeeping has caused some unexpected problems for wild

bees.

This little garden in the heart of the city was especially designed for bees of

all kinds.

This whole patch is just full of honeybees.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven.

You can see one big bumblebee back in there.

But this whole patch is just loaded with honeybees.

And it's easy to think, great, loads of bees.

But actually it's more complicated than that.

These honeybees aren't wild.

They're domesticated, more like livestock.

And I'm sure their hive isn't far from here.

Just in London.

there's an estimated 400 million honeybees.

Whoa!

40 times more than the human population.

Because of the incredible way that honeybees communicate and work as a

they're often the first to find these fresh patches of flowers.

They just out -compete the wild bees.

But there is one wild bee here.

trying to stand up to them.

In the corner of this patch of flowers, I have found a magical little kingdom.

And the king of this kingdom, here he comes, is this guy.

He's a male wall carder bee.

Unlike the other bees on this patch, This male Cardi B is here to defend his

territory.

A lambs ear plant.

Hoping a female turns up.

Anyone that comes into his little patch gets a beating.

Oh, honey bee.

Here he comes.

Get out of here.

Oh, honey bee.

Here he goes.

It's incredible how much action and drama there is just in this little

He's just so feisty.

Oh, bumblebee invader. He's not going to like that.

Now that the coast is clear, the one bee he's been waiting for can finally make

an appearance.

Oh, here comes a female.

He's going to take off in a second and get that female.

Oh, a little bit of mating.

Right now, this wool carder bee should...

be focusing on females.

Instead, he's constantly chasing honeybees, feeding in his territory.

He must be just completely exhausted.

It used to be thought that to save the bees, put in lots of hives. But the

reality is that what you're doing by introducing these new honeybee hives is

just introducing more competition.

What's important is giving wild species like the carder bee enough space and

food to thrive.

Up to a quarter of all wild bee species are in decline.

But there's one wild bee who, with a helping hand, is making a surprising

comeback.

A melipona bee on lookout duty.

Her job is to guard the nest entrance from insect invaders.

And she's got every angle covered.

Unlike honeybees, she's stingless.

But who needs a sting when you've got jaws like these?

For the next two weeks, she'll stay right here, all day, protecting

the colony so her sisters can focus on foraging.

Meliponas feed from over 60 plant species in the Mexican jungle.

Without these vital pollinators, this unique ecosystem could disappear.

At the nest, our sentinel is still on high alert.

Not just for approaching enemies, but so she knows when to duck

for her returning cystics.

A dangerous job.

But someone's got to do it.

Because inside is a real treasure.

Future generations of meliponas in their cells.

These bees used to be found all across Central America.

But their range is now much smaller.

Habitat loss and pesticides mean their numbers have dropped dramatically.

Humans haven't been good to them.

But that's changing.

All is found.

Donia Antonia Coya and her Mayan community have rekindled the ancient art

Melipona beekeeping.

They could bite her, but don't.

Antonia is one of the team.

Antonia provides the bees with a clean home, sheltered from the sun.

and bordered by water so other insects can't scuttle in.

It doesn't mean our guard takes her job any less seriously.

But the added protection gives the sisters more time and space to produce

of the most valuable honey in the world, prized for its medicinal qualities.

Unlike honeybees, who process their honey by fanning it, meliponas blow

into bubbles to evaporate the water,

then stash it in giant pots.

The melipona beekeeping knowledge is passed through the generations.

and any new helper needs to be introduced to the bees.

Antonia harvests just 30 ounces from each colony per year,

far less than a typical honeybee hive would produce.

By keeping meliponas, she's not only making herself a useful income, but also

helping a wild species and the forest that depends on them.

But the global demand for honey ultimately depends on large -scale

like Ryan.

His bees are now back in Oregon after the almond pollination.

to spend the rest of the year making honey.

But they've had a rough time.

For us, this year was the worst.

The percentage of our bees that died was over 50%.

I'm a fifth -generation beekeeper, and I'm telling you this is not

sustainable.

So Ryan has an ambitious plan.

With the help of his family, he's attempting to do what few have done

We have 450 acres that we're going to convert to pollinator habitat.

It's going to be one of the largest in the entire continental U .S.

Ryan is growing a massive wildflower meadow that will provide for his

and produce large quantities of top quality honey.

This one's a sand point, and the alfalfa's a little tiny one.

They look like tiny rocks. Yeah, aren't they pretty, like little Easter eggs?

Yeah.

Ryan is blending a mix of wildflowers, which will ensure there's always

something in bloom between spring and fall.

Okay, ready for a drive?

Yeah!

Now all Ryan has to do is wait for nature to take its course.

Look at the color.

Have you ever seen one that color before?

That's amazing, Ryan.

Let's try some bugs. Let's go find a bug right here.

Walking with the kids.

through the flowered meadows to show them all the pollinators, not just the

honeybees, but all these different style pollinators, leafcutter bees, solitary

bees. They get interested in what they're seeing.

Quite the little ecosystem on this bush, huh?

What is that? Whoa.

It's a honeybee. It's a honeybee. It's two honeybees.

They're sleeping in there.

Oh.

Because they got cold during the rainstorm. Oh, my God.

Are they dead?

No, no, they're sleeping. It's like when they get cold.

They don't even know they're learning, but they're gaining such an insight to

the system of feeds to flowers to pollinators.

Can you hit it with the tip of your tongue?

It's good, right? Are you a bee now?

Are you going to go pollinate something?

Ryan hopes to give up the annual almond pollination journey and instead...

develop sustainable beekeeping here at home in Oregon.

Creating the pollinator habitat, it's something that I can do to give back.

We can all play a role.

We can plant more flowers or we can stop destroying them.

Either way it's a positive impact.

With winter just around the corner the time has come to see if the hive is

Let's take a look

Wow

So much honey You have been busy

bees You can see each one of these cells is just packed full of honey and

on top is that Thin little membrane cap.

And that's like the bees putting a lid on their jars of honey.

Against the odds, the hive has triumphed.

They've made enough honey to survive the winter.

Good job, bee.

You've done it.

The honeybee will always be our loyal friend.

But we've got a lot more to thank them for than just honey. They are a key

pollinator of our crop.

It's worth remembering there are over 20 ,000 other species.

And together, they're responsible for a third of the food we eat.

But many are in steep decline.

And some...

on the very edge of extinction.

We are now changing the world faster than ever before, and they just can't

up. So it's not just a shame that we're losing the bees.

We need the bees.