SOMETHING FISHY?
A look at bees and why they are now considered fish under certain circumstances in California
A ruling released May 31 by California’s Third District Court of Appeals ruled bees can legally be considered fish under specific circumstances.
The ruling reversed a 2019 judgment that found bumblebees could not be considered fish under the California Endangered Species Act.
Roughly 250 plant and animal species are protected by the act, which prohibits the import, export, possession, purchase or sale of listed species.
In 2018, several public interest groups petitioned to list four species of bumblebee as endangered species under the act: Crotch’s bumblebee, Franklin’s bumblebee, Suckley’s cuckoo bumblebee and the Western bumblebee. The potential listing prompted lawsuits from agricultural groups that were concerned about the costs of adherence to the new requirements.
California does protect some insects under the federal Endangered Species Act.
“Although the term fish is colloquially and commonly understood to refer to aquatic species, the term of art employed by the Legislature in the definition of fish in Section 45 is not so limited,” said the court in its ruling.
The California Endangered Species Act was designed to protect “native species or subspecies of a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile or plant.”
Notably, invertebrates are absent from the list of protected species.
But in a loophole for insects, mollusks and other spineless creatures falling under the umbrella term “invertebrate,” the act itself defines a fish as “a wild fish, mollusk, crustacean, invertebrate, amphibian or part, spawn or ovum of any of those animals.”
Expanding the definition of fish to include invertebrates makes them eligible for greater protection from the Fish and Game Commission, wrote the court.
Four of the top 10 pollinators are bee species, according to AgPollinators.org:
1. Wild honeybees. Native honeybees are the most commonly known pollinator. They are “volunteers” that work tirelessly pollinating a variety of crops. According to a Natural Resources Conservation Service publication, certain crops — such as blueberries, apples and cherries — are 90% dependent upon honeybee pollination.
2. Managed bees. Managed honeybee hives consisting mainly of European honeybees are kept commercially to serve the agriculture industry. Commercial beekeepers will bring their hives into a farmer’s field for a few days to a few weeks to pollinate the crop. California’s almond crop relies on 3 million honeybee colonies to pollinate over 615,000 acres of orchards every year.
3. Bumblebees. Commercial beekeepers also use bumblebees to help farmers pollinate crops. Bumblebees are a necessity, because honeybees won’t work gathering pollen when it’s raining or even overcast.
4. Other bee species. There are approximately 4,000 bee species in the U.S. Many also visit flowers; they are gathering pollen and/or nectar as food, and pollination is simply a byproduct that nature has taken advantage of.
5. Butterflies. Butterflies are not as efficient as bees at pollination. Eight butterfly species are known to pollinate.
6. Moths. Moths are the unseen pollinators of flowers that open at night. Four kinds of moths act as pollinators.
7. Wasps. Several wasps are categorized as pollinators by the USDA’s Forest Service. The paper wasp, yellow jacket and Sphecidae wasp are examples of those needing pollen and nectar for survival.
8. Other insects. There is a handful of flies and beetles, and even one species of mosquito, that are pollinators.
9. Birds. The most common pollinating varieties throughout the U.S. are hummingbirds, which are key for wildflowers.
10. Bats. Two bat species, the lesser long-nosed bat and the Mexican long-tongued bat, drink nectar from flowers and act as pollinators.
Some of California's bees
The honeybee and bumblebee are typically the most well known bees but actually represent only a very small fraction of the diversity of bees in the world. In California, there are about 1,600 species of native bees, some social, but most are solitary. Their nest-making strategies or behaviors usually partially describe each species.
Honeybee
Apis mellifera, 12-15 millimeters
Light to dark brown body with pale and dark hairs in bands on abdomen. Pollen basket present. Abdomen barrel-shaped. Head heart-shaped. Honeybees have hairy eyes.
Colonies nest in human-made hives, in the open and in cavities. Swarm to locate new nest.
Bumblebee
Bombus species, 8-21 millimeters
Black body extensively covered with black and yellow hairs. Pollen basket present. Robust body. Long face.
Colonies often nest underground, commonly in old rodent burrows.
Bumblebees pollinate in cool, cloudy weather when most bees are at home.
Crotch's bumblebee
Bombus crotchii, 14-18 millimeters, considered endangered
Named after entomologist George Robert Crotch.
Has a square face and rounded ankle on the midleg. Queens and workers (females) have a black head and face and display black color on their mid- and bottom thorax and between their wing bases.
Historically, California’s Central Valley served as a primary population center for the species. Once ubiquitous, but today it is absent from much of its historic range. Nests are often located underground in abandoned rodent nests or aboveground in tufts of grass, old bird nests, rock piles or cavities in dead trees.
Only mated queens overwinter and conduct all the foraging and care for the colony in early spring until the first workers emerge and assist with these duties.
Suckley's cuckoo bumblebee
Bombus suckleyi, 18-23 millimeters, considered endangered
A cuckoo bumblebee is a social parasite of other bees. Outer surface of hind-leg tibia is convex and densely hairy, lacks a pollen basket.
Cuckoo bumblebees enter developing and established nests of other bumblebees, kill or subdue the host queen, lay their own eggs and control the workers to continue collecting pollen and nectar to feed their offspring. Once developed, Suckley’s adults leave the nest to mate; mated females feed on nectar and pollen prior to overwintering and males die after mating.
Managed honeybee colony loss rates
For the winter 2020-21 survey period. States with less than 10 respondents were omitted (gray fill).
Just bee-cause
• About 3% of children who are stung will experience allergic reactions.
• Honeybees beat their wings 200 times per second.
• The queen can live up to five years.
• The term “honeymoon” originated with the Norse practice of consuming large quantities of mead (made from honey) during the first month of a marriage.