Small wonders
Birds and bees are symbols of fertility for good reason: They help plants reproduce and are key to a flourishing ecosystem. Shabana Begum explores two new books by NParks documenting the birds and bees of Singapore.
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The male jet-black broad-handed carpenter bee is territorial, and the one seen here is perching on a tall flower to guard its area. It also swoops down to fight enemies such as butterflies that enter its territory. This species of bee is the largest in Peninsular Malaysia.
PHOTOS: JASON QUAH, ZESTIN SOH
When most of us think of bees, the image of yellow-and-black striped honeybees comes to mind.
We also think of painful stings, buzzing beehives and angry swarms.
But, in reality, there is an entire trove of colourful and quirky bees which call Singapore home.
To date, more than 130 bee species have been found here, few of which live in hives.
In fact, the majority of bees are solitary, and 40 per cent of them live underground, in tiny burrows dug into soil and sand. Others live in the holes of tree trunks and the hollow ends of stems.
Unexpectedly, leafcutter bees cut neat semi-circles out of leaves and use those bits to build their nests.
Solitary bees also live in man-made bee hotels, which look like birdhouses but have tiny holes drilled in the wood for the insects to nest and raise their young.
Such bee hotels can be found at HortPark, a 10ha park and gardening resource centre in Alexandra.
About 40 species of bees call HortPark home, and many of them can be spotted along the park's Bee Trail.
When The Straits Times visited the trail with two bee experts on Wednesday, a male disjunct resin bee was lurking outside one bee hotel, trying to draw out a female.
It was not his lucky day.
Contrary to popular belief, bees are not only yellow, brown and black.
Singapore is home to blue bees as well, such as the himalayan cloak-and-dagger bee, which wears a brilliant blue coat on its abdomen, thorax and legs, against black patterns.
One was spotted flitting about a flowering shrub at HortPark collecting nectar.
"It looks very fairy-like and you don't actually believe that a bee could be blue," said Mr Zestin Soh, senior manager at Singapore Botanic Gardens and one of the bee experts who joined The Straits Times on the Bee Trail.
The other expert on the trail, Assistant Professor John Ascher from the National University of Singapore's biological sciences department, said there are about 12 blue bee species in Singapore.
Larger blue bees with blue hairs on their heads and thoraxes are found only in South-east Asia.
The cerulean carpenter bee is one of them, and was also one of the first bee species discovered here, in 1854.
Bee research in Singapore started about 160 years ago, but bees have been studied more systematically only since 2011.
As a result, 40 more species have been recorded.
Mr Soh and Prof Ascher jointly wrote the first guidebook on bees in Singapore.
The experts emphasised that bees are not to be feared, as most of them, especially the solitary ones, are docile, shy and no more dangerous than a butterfly.
Prof Ascher said: "Any bee that is busy foraging or visiting a flower is harmless and never aggressive."
The most common species here, the asian honey bee, will attack if its nest is disturbed.
Said Mr Soh: "The best approach is to not disturb a honeybee's nest and keep a distance."
The largest bee in Peninsular Malaysia, the jet-black broad-handed carpenter, was seen at the end of the Bee Trail.
It was a 3.8cm-long male that patrolled its territory, perched on tall flowers and swooped down to fight butterflies. It buzzed over approaching people, then returned to its perch.
"He was just checking us out and doesn't mean any harm," said Mr Soh.
HIMALAYAN CLOAK-AND-DAGGER BEE
Body: 1.1cm; coated with blue hair and black patterns.
The bee is attracted to plants like the Indian snakeweed. It sneaks into the nest of the sunda blue-banded digger bee to lay its eggs. When its young emerges, it destroys the host's eggs. As pigment is not responsible for its blue colour, its colour will not fade. A 100-year-old specimen will remain as brilliantly blue.
BLUE-SIDED CARPENTER BEE
Body: 1.9cm; head, thorax and sides of the abdomen are covered with dense, furry blue hair. Its black wings glimmer with violet iridescence. This species is rarely seen. The few local sightings were in forests along the Southern Ridges. But a nest in a woody stem was found up north in Admiralty Park.
BROAD-HEADED LEAFCUTTER BEE
Body: 1.2cm; head and thorax are covered with fiery orange-red hair. This locally widespread bee is found in rooftop gardens, beaches and mangroves. It is partial to the pollen from legumes and the daisy-like aster flower. It has been found living in man-made bee hotels furnished with tiny pieces of leaves that it cuts and carries home.
