Melittology

The world in which we live is filled with a variety of creatures, each having different bodies, functions in the ecosystems, etc. The study of all the creatures helps us understand our environment and ecosystem better and helps us classify various types of creatures. The study of various organisms also helps us understand their significance in the ecosystem. The bees may seem to be very small insects whose existence seems negligible. However, they are an important part of the ecosystem without which it may collapse. Let us undertake a scientific study of bees and what the branch of Melittology is.

Bees

We encounter bees pretty often in our life. We may see them flying over a honeycomb, hear their buzzing, or get stung by them. Bees are insects who have wings and are closely related to ants’ wasps. The bees are mostly known for producing honey, which is consumed by humans widely. However, the lesser-known role of the bees is in pollination. 

Pollination means the transfer of pollen from the male part of the plant to the female plant. This leads to the formation of offspring in the plants. Bees are such pollination agents. The scientific study of bees has been done to understand the role of bees in pollination.

The bees feed on pollen and nectar. The pollen acts as the source of proteins and other nutrients. At the same time, the nectar is the source of energy for the bees. Human beekeeping is called apiculture for bees with stings and meliponiculture without any stings.

The ancestry of the bees can be traced down to the wasp. But unlike the wasps, the bees have branched hair, combs on the forelimbs, and also differences in the limb structure. The scientific study of bees has revealed all this.

Melittology

Entomology is a branch of zoology that involves the study of various types of insects. However, insects are a wide range of study. So, entomology is further divided into many branches that study a specific type of insect. The bees are also studied under such a separate branch.

The scientific term for the study of bees is Melittology. It covers a wide range of species of about 20,000. These species include the honey bee species and the humble bee species.

The scientific study of bees carried out under this branch leads to a lot of discoveries related to bees and similar other species. Following are the journals in which these discoveries are published.

• The journal of Apicultural research
• The American bee journals
• The journal of Melittology

They contain a lot of new research in the Melittology field, new scientific studies of bees, and interesting facts about the bees. Since the branch of zoology, that deals with the scientific study of bees, is called Melittology, hence the people who study bees or the bee experts are called Mellitologists.

Some of the well-known Mellitologists are given below.

• William Kirby: He is considered the father of entomology. He wrote the monograph on the Bees of England.

• Charles D Michener: The conducted a scientific study of bees and wrote a book about the social behaviour of the bees and the bees of the world.

Many societies’ have also been formed to discuss the scientific study of bees and beekeeping. A few of those societies are stated below.

• The British beekeeper’s association
• The international bee research association
• The German beekeeper’s association

Examples of the scientific study of bees

Many scientific studies have been conducted on bees. Some of the remarkable scientific studies of bees are given below.

• A bee enthusiast named Smith stung himself by honeybees in about 25 different locations to determine how the pain level varies. 

• Bees on blow: This scientific study of bees was conducted by the University of Illinois to study the behaviour of these under cocaine. They studied whether the bee preferred to stay at a location where they would receive cocaine and how the drug affected the activities of bees. This study could be used to help drug abuse among humans.

• The researchers from the University of Sussex trained groups of bees to feed on cocaine and flowers. They observe the bees to determine whether they developed any addiction. It was observed that the beast would visit the caffeine more than flowers.
• The researchers from the Newcastle University in England trained the bees to associate certain types of smell with positive reward-winning behaviour and some smells with punishment. This showed how the emotions in bees work.

Conclusion:

The ecosystem is made of various types of creatures, each having a different and essential function in the ecosystem. The scientific study of these creatures can help us understand their structure and their role in the ecosystem. Bees are wasp-like insects with wings and large compound eyes. Such scientific study of the bees is known as Melittology. And the person who studies bees in this field is known as a Mellitologists. The female bees are created from fertilised eggs, while male bees are created from infertility eggs. Bees belong to the phylum Arthropoda.