Secrets of the Bees (2026) s01e02 Episode Script
The Pollinators
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.
While breakaways found
themselves in the
eye of a storm.
It is pouring!
Poor bees, they’re
just getting soaked.
Now, I’m back to see if
the swarm survived the night.
Oh, there are lots
of bees flying.
Here we go.
How you doing, bee swarm?
They actually look okay.
Well, that is a relief,
I was worried they’d
got dangerously cold
in the rain.
Alright, 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 gonna leave.
There 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.
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 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 a 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 Central
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 Lieuallen is a
fifth-generation beekeeper.
I've been exposed to
them with my dad and grandpa
since I was 3 or 4, 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
6 miles from its home.
Midway through the trip,
as the truck descends from
the Rockies into California,
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 nets and die.
After two
long days of travel,
the bees reach
their destination.
They join millions of others,
a concentration of
hives found nowhere else.
But have Ryan’s bees
survived the journey?
Oh, 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 a substitute.
Food that simulates spring,
cueing them to grow their
colony as fast as possible.
Goodnight, girls!
After two weeks,
the hives are spread
across the orchards.
In pole position for the bloom.
Over 100 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
bees to get to work.
Each visits up to
5000 flowers a day.
And while they’re
collecting food,
pollen grains are transferred
from one flower to another,
seeding the plants.
It’s the largest
pollination event on earth.
But the flowers
only lasts 6 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,
answer 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 rivals.
At this time of year,
the queens are not the
only new bees on the block.
This one is big.
A big boy, to be precise.
Males are born in
the warmer months.
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 is
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’s spent a year
alone underground,
waiting for this very
moment to find a mate.
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 Dawson Bees
only mate once,
competition is fierce.
In the pile-up,
this female could be injured,
or worse.
Her scent is so powerful
that even after death,
it 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, some peace.
Once mated,
her scent changes,
and the males lose all interest.
Her timing has been perfect.
The brief burst of flowers
provides her and her young with
everything they’ll need.
Back at the hive,
the queen has successfully
mated and makes
her triumphant return.
With her on egg-laying duty,
the population booms.
And the workers ramp
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 their sisters turn on them.
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’re going to understand.
For entomologist
Dr. Sammy Ramsey,
stopping this threat
is his life’s work.
So, I want you to consider
for a moment that you are host
to a parasite that is
about the size of your hand.
This body size ratio is wild.
Honestly, it be, it would
be like, it would be like,
a human having these.
These are Varroa Mites.
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.
Mmh, 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 havoc 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.
You're 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!
And now we just roll it.
And then we shake!
That sugar will get
into all the crevices,
and then they'll slide
right off the bees.
Sorry, ladies, but this
is for your own good.
You don't want these
mites, I promise.
Check it out, this colony
is mite-ey for sure!
Woof.
This is my
favorite part, though.
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 bees.
They could hold the solution
to dealing with infestations.
- Ready?
- Mmm-hmm.
We can introduce those
mites into our observation hive,
and we can watch how
the bees actually handles
a huge influx of
mites all at once.
Alright, close it,
close it, close it!
There you go.
Good.
These mites
right there on the glass.
They're waiting for a
bee to pass by that they
can just latch onto.
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
of a specific genetic stock
that's able to resist certain
elements of the Varroa mites'
takeover of the colony.
Compared to
typical honeybees,
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.
Yes!
Sammy and his team
hope that if this grooming
trait can be genetically
reproduced in other honeybees,
varroa mites won’t
get a chance to spread
their 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.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
I 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.
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 team,
they’re often the
first to find these fresh
patches of flowers.
So, they just outcompete
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 wool carder bee.
Unlike the other
bees on this patch,
this male carder bee’s is
here to defend his territory,
a lamb’s ear plant,
hoping a female turns up.
Anyone that comes into his
little patch gets a beating.
Oh honeybee!
Here he comes.
Whoopah, get out of here.
Oh honeybee!
Here he goes.
Ka-pah!
It's incredible how much
action and drama there is just
in this little patch.
He's just so feisty.
Oop, Bumblebee invader.
He's not gonna like that!
Chaos.
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 gonna take off in a
second and go for that female.
Ooh, 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 are doing by introducing
these new honeybees’
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 sisters.
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.
Hello, my little bees!
My babies
How are you?
Dona Antonia Ku Yah
and her Mayan community have
rekindled the ancient art
of Melipona beekeeping.
They could bite her, but don’t.
Antonia is one of the team.
The character of the
Melipona bees is such that
if you treat them with love,
they will love you back.
They don't want to get down!
They want to stay!
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 some
of the most valuable
honey in the world,
prized for its
medicinal qualities.
Unlike honeybees,
who process their
honey by fanning it,
Meliponas blow nectar 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.
Look, this
is what you do.
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 beekeepers,
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 before.
We have 450 acres
that we're going to convert
to pollinator habitat.
It’s gonna be one
of the largest in the
entire continental US.
Ryan is growing a
massive wildflower meadow that
will provide for his honeybees
and produce large quantities of
top-quality honey.
This one’s the sand point,
and the alfalfa is a
little tiny one.
They look like
tiny rocks.
Yeah, aren't they pretty?
Like little, little Easter eggs.
Yeah.
Ryan is blending a
mix of wildflowers which will
ensure there’s always
something in bloom between
Spring and Fall.
- Ok, 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
with 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,
leaf cutter bee,
solitary bees.
They get interested in
what they’re seeing.
Quite the little ecosystem
on this bush, huh?
What is that?
Wow!
It’s a honeybee.
It's a honeybee.
It's two honey bees.
Three.
They’re sleeping in there.
Oh!
‘Cause they got cold
during the rainstorm.
Oh my gosh!
Are they dead?
No, no, they’re sleeping,
it’s like, when they get cold.
They don’t even
know they are learning,
but they are gaining such
an insight to this system
of seeds to flowers
to pollinators.
Can you taste it with
the tip of your tongue?
You kinda gotta squeeze it out.
It’s good, right?
Are you a bee now?
Are you gonna go
pollinate some things?
Ryan hopes to
give up the annual almond
pollination journey and
instead develop sustainable
beekeeping here
at home in Oregon.
Creating the pollinator
habitat is 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 ready.
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, bees,
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 key pollinators
of our crops.
It’s worth remembering
that there are over
20,000 other species.
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 keep up.
So it’s not just a shame
we’re losing the bees;
we need the bees.
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.
While breakaways found
themselves in the
eye of a storm.
It is pouring!
Poor bees, they’re
just getting soaked.
Now, I’m back to see if
the swarm survived the night.
Oh, there are lots
of bees flying.
Here we go.
How you doing, bee swarm?
They actually look okay.
Well, that is a relief,
I was worried they’d
got dangerously cold
in the rain.
Alright, 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 gonna leave.
There 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.
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 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 a 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 Central
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 Lieuallen is a
fifth-generation beekeeper.
I've been exposed to
them with my dad and grandpa
since I was 3 or 4, 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
6 miles from its home.
Midway through the trip,
as the truck descends from
the Rockies into California,
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 nets and die.
After two
long days of travel,
the bees reach
their destination.
They join millions of others,
a concentration of
hives found nowhere else.
But have Ryan’s bees
survived the journey?
Oh, 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 a substitute.
Food that simulates spring,
cueing them to grow their
colony as fast as possible.
Goodnight, girls!
After two weeks,
the hives are spread
across the orchards.
In pole position for the bloom.
Over 100 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
bees to get to work.
Each visits up to
5000 flowers a day.
And while they’re
collecting food,
pollen grains are transferred
from one flower to another,
seeding the plants.
It’s the largest
pollination event on earth.
But the flowers
only lasts 6 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,
answer 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 rivals.
At this time of year,
the queens are not the
only new bees on the block.
This one is big.
A big boy, to be precise.
Males are born in
the warmer months.
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 is
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’s spent a year
alone underground,
waiting for this very
moment to find a mate.
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 Dawson Bees
only mate once,
competition is fierce.
In the pile-up,
this female could be injured,
or worse.
Her scent is so powerful
that even after death,
it 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, some peace.
Once mated,
her scent changes,
and the males lose all interest.
Her timing has been perfect.
The brief burst of flowers
provides her and her young with
everything they’ll need.
Back at the hive,
the queen has successfully
mated and makes
her triumphant return.
With her on egg-laying duty,
the population booms.
And the workers ramp
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 their sisters turn on them.
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’re going to understand.
For entomologist
Dr. Sammy Ramsey,
stopping this threat
is his life’s work.
So, I want you to consider
for a moment that you are host
to a parasite that is
about the size of your hand.
This body size ratio is wild.
Honestly, it be, it would
be like, it would be like,
a human having these.
These are Varroa Mites.
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.
Mmh, 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 havoc 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.
You're 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!
And now we just roll it.
And then we shake!
That sugar will get
into all the crevices,
and then they'll slide
right off the bees.
Sorry, ladies, but this
is for your own good.
You don't want these
mites, I promise.
Check it out, this colony
is mite-ey for sure!
Woof.
This is my
favorite part, though.
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 bees.
They could hold the solution
to dealing with infestations.
- Ready?
- Mmm-hmm.
We can introduce those
mites into our observation hive,
and we can watch how
the bees actually handles
a huge influx of
mites all at once.
Alright, close it,
close it, close it!
There you go.
Good.
These mites
right there on the glass.
They're waiting for a
bee to pass by that they
can just latch onto.
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
of a specific genetic stock
that's able to resist certain
elements of the Varroa mites'
takeover of the colony.
Compared to
typical honeybees,
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.
Yes!
Sammy and his team
hope that if this grooming
trait can be genetically
reproduced in other honeybees,
varroa mites won’t
get a chance to spread
their 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.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
I 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.
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 team,
they’re often the
first to find these fresh
patches of flowers.
So, they just outcompete
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 wool carder bee.
Unlike the other
bees on this patch,
this male carder bee’s is
here to defend his territory,
a lamb’s ear plant,
hoping a female turns up.
Anyone that comes into his
little patch gets a beating.
Oh honeybee!
Here he comes.
Whoopah, get out of here.
Oh honeybee!
Here he goes.
Ka-pah!
It's incredible how much
action and drama there is just
in this little patch.
He's just so feisty.
Oop, Bumblebee invader.
He's not gonna like that!
Chaos.
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 gonna take off in a
second and go for that female.
Ooh, 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 are doing by introducing
these new honeybees’
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 sisters.
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.
Hello, my little bees!
My babies
How are you?
Dona Antonia Ku Yah
and her Mayan community have
rekindled the ancient art
of Melipona beekeeping.
They could bite her, but don’t.
Antonia is one of the team.
The character of the
Melipona bees is such that
if you treat them with love,
they will love you back.
They don't want to get down!
They want to stay!
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 some
of the most valuable
honey in the world,
prized for its
medicinal qualities.
Unlike honeybees,
who process their
honey by fanning it,
Meliponas blow nectar 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.
Look, this
is what you do.
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 beekeepers,
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 before.
We have 450 acres
that we're going to convert
to pollinator habitat.
It’s gonna be one
of the largest in the
entire continental US.
Ryan is growing a
massive wildflower meadow that
will provide for his honeybees
and produce large quantities of
top-quality honey.
This one’s the sand point,
and the alfalfa is a
little tiny one.
They look like
tiny rocks.
Yeah, aren't they pretty?
Like little, little Easter eggs.
Yeah.
Ryan is blending a
mix of wildflowers which will
ensure there’s always
something in bloom between
Spring and Fall.
- Ok, 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
with 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,
leaf cutter bee,
solitary bees.
They get interested in
what they’re seeing.
Quite the little ecosystem
on this bush, huh?
What is that?
Wow!
It’s a honeybee.
It's a honeybee.
It's two honey bees.
Three.
They’re sleeping in there.
Oh!
‘Cause they got cold
during the rainstorm.
Oh my gosh!
Are they dead?
No, no, they’re sleeping,
it’s like, when they get cold.
They don’t even
know they are learning,
but they are gaining such
an insight to this system
of seeds to flowers
to pollinators.
Can you taste it with
the tip of your tongue?
You kinda gotta squeeze it out.
It’s good, right?
Are you a bee now?
Are you gonna go
pollinate some things?
Ryan hopes to
give up the annual almond
pollination journey and
instead develop sustainable
beekeeping here
at home in Oregon.
Creating the pollinator
habitat is 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 ready.
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, bees,
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 key pollinators
of our crops.
It’s worth remembering
that there are over
20,000 other species.
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 keep up.
So it’s not just a shame
we’re losing the bees;
we need the bees.