Tag Archives: insects

Take 5: Helpful Honeybees

Originally imported from Europe for their prized honey, beeswax, and pollination abilities, much of our honeybee population lives in beekeepers’ hives, and the rest build nests in tree cavities and in the eaves and walls of buildings. Each hive consists of a queen (who lays the eggs), female workers (who gather food and maintain the nest), and male drones (who mate with new queens).

You may see a swarm on a tree trunk or an exterior wall of a building. There’s no reason for alarm—the swarm will move on until it finds a new nesting spot. Stay indoors and watch this fascinating behavior from a window.

Bees provide invaluable services to ecosystems and sustain our food production systems, so it’s important for people to coexist with them. Be aware that if a swarm enters a building or nests in a location that conflicts with people, pest-control companies will not remove it. However, local beekeepers will usually be happy to collect it. For a list of beekeepers, contact your local pest-control company.

Here are five photos of helpful honeybees at work. Visit our website to learn more about Bees & Wasps or to find an upcoming program on Bees & Beekeeping to learn about bees, honey, and gardening for pollinators at one of our wildlife sanctuaries.

Honeybee © Susumu Kishihara

Honeybee © Susumu Kishihara

Honeybee © AnnMarie Lally

Honeybee © AnnMarie Lally

Honeybee © James Engberg

Honeybee © James Engberg

Honeybee © Daniel Sherman

Honeybee © Daniel Sherman

Honeybee © Sean Kent

Honeybee © Sean Kent

Ladybug © Allyson Via

Take 5: Lovely Ladybugs

Everyone loves to catch a glimpse of ladybugs—especially gardeners. Ladybugs (which are not technically bugs, but beetles) feed on pesky aphids that harm apple, peach, and plum trees, as well as maples and pines.

Both native and non-native species of lady beetles abound in New England, but the ones seen inside and outside homes in huge numbers during the fall are non-native lady beetles (Harmonia axyridis) introduced from Asia. How the non-native ladybug came to the United States is still a matter of some debate, but in any case, you can now find them in all New England states, and they apparently do no harm to our native lady beetle species.

Learn more about ladybugs/lady beetles, including what to do if they have invaded your home this fall, on our website.

To celebrate these harmless, beautiful, beneficial beetles, here are five photos submitted to past years of our Picture This: Your Great Outdoors photo contest.

Ladybugs © Rose Grant

Ladybugs © Rose Grant

Ladybug © Allyson Via

Ladybug © Allyson Via

Ladybug © Eric Magnussen

Ladybug © Eric Magnussen

Ladybug © Ashok Boghani

Ladybug © Ashok Boghani

Ladybug © Krystyana Roman

Ladybug © Krystyana Roman