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You hear them
before you see them.

Buzzing around the garden.

Hovering over the flowers.

Bees.

Wow!

So much honey!

But what if I told you bees
could be the most important

animals on the planet?

Oh, you are beautiful!

I’m cinematographer and
National Geographic Explorer,

Bertie Gregory.

Hello everyone!

For three years,

our crews have used
special cameras to uncover

the hidden world
behind the buzz.

A world of impossible
architecture,

extraordinary intelligence.

Push, push, push.

Oh my gosh, yes!

And secret dances.

That is a waggle.

Now I wonder what
they're saying?

Bees are more than
just honey-makers.

More than stingers.

More than we ever imagined.

Poor bees, they're just getting
soaked, huddling together,

desperately trying to keep warm.

There are over 20,000
species of bees.

And together, they pollinate
a third of the food we eat.

So come closer.

The bees will reveal
their secrets.

In the grip of winter,
this hive seems abandoned.

But deep inside, a secret
world few have ever seen.

A family of honeybees
huddled for warmth.

For months, they've lived on
honey made from the nectar of

last summer's flowers.

Producing it took the
sacrifice of thousands.

And in just a few short weeks,

they'll have to do
it all over again.

When temperatures
outside reach 50 degrees,

the hive comes alive.

And the first new bee of
the year is ready to emerge.

Let's call her Worker Bee 1.

Like all worker bees,
she's female.

Males are born
later in the season.

What makes her a bee,

and different from the millions
of other flying insects,

are the thousands of
tiny feathered hairs

covering her body.

They're even on her eyes.

These hairs are how
she'll collect pollen.

But not for a few weeks.

Right now, she's hungry,
and kind of clueless.

At a day old, Worker Bee 1
is completely reliant on

her older sisters.

This isn't just
food she's sucking in.

But a protein-rich liquid
infused with pheromones.

A chemical instruction
to make her think and

act like her sisters.

Now, she knows how to be a bee,

and what her role is in this
extraordinary superorganism.

You know, I've spent a good
chunk of my life going to

far-flung places to
film big animals.

And if I'm honest,
I've overlooked the bees.

But that was a mistake,
because, despite their size,

they might just be the most
important animals on the planet.

One in every three bites
of food we eat is pollinated

by a bee.

And there is just as much
drama in a bee hive,

than on any African savannah.

Hello, my buzzy friends!

It's all good!

Let's see how you're doing.

Well, you all
seem pretty chill,

so I'm gonna take my hood off.

Whoa, that's better.

Look at this one here.

Little newborn bee!

Go on, you can do it.

Yes! Good job!

Look at that.

Her first steps as an adult bee.

Oh, you are beautiful.

Hello.

And I'm not afraid because
for the first day of their life,

they can't sting.

So you're gonna be a
friendly bee, aren't you?

Well, it's so good
to see a baby bee,

that means the
colony's growing,

and they need the numbers.

This family has a lot to do.

From raising 60,000 new
bees to collecting nectar

from millions of flowers.

All to make the 40 pounds of
honey they need for winter.

See you later, everyone,
good luck!

And the clock starts now.

The key to the entire operation
comes down to just one bee.

The largest, longest-lived,

and most revered bee
in the family...

...The queen.

Mother to everyone in the hive.

Her job is to lay eggs.

She glues one to the
bottom of a cell.

Then, moves onto the next.

Egg, glue, move on, repeat.

2,000 times a day.

She could live five years,
doing nothing, but laying eggs.

No time to rest.

No time to raise her babies.

That job is left to
Bee 1 and her sisters.

They feed the larvae around
the clock with a soup of

high-protein pollen,
collected from flowers.

In just a week, the babies
grow 1,000 times bigger.

And are then tucked
into their cells,

ready for their radical
transformation into adults.

So extraordinary,
yet rarely witnessed.

When this generation emerges,

they'll take over nursery duty.

Leaving Bee 1 and her wave
of sisters to move on to other

important jobs in the hive.

Working together is at the
heart of honeybee society.

But most bees have
to go it alone.

Solitary, like this
red-tailed mason bee.

A little bee, with
some unique talents.

She's on a quest to find a
place to lay her first egg.

But only one kind
of nest will do.

An empty snail shell.

This one's too small.

Nope.

Ugh, no chance!

Could this be the one?

Perfect!

Next, she gathers pollen,

food for when her
youngster hatches.

It also becomes
a bed for her egg.

But the pollen attracts
a gang of red ants.

Her baby's future is at stake.

But this time, big jaws
trump smaller ones.

Nursery secure, for now.

But the shell's at
the wrong angle!

Rain could flood the entrance.

She can't let that happen.

By excavating the
soil around her shell,

she creates the
space to flip it.

And settles it into the ground.

But there's one final problem
to solve, how to hide the shell.

And the way she does that
has earned her the nickname.

The Broomstick bee!

Like a mini Harry Potter,

she carries stick after
stick back to her shell.

This one's a little ambitious!

She's smart enough to
use the world around her.

Weaving an impenetrable
fortress with hundreds of

sticks to perfectly
camouflage her nest and protect

her precious egg.

Once complete, she buzzes off.

But before the season's up,

she'll build at least
20 more nests.

A big job for one little bee.

As summer draws near,
our honey bee population

has nearly doubled.

They need more space.

So young Bee 1 is assigned to
the honeycomb construction crew.

With the lower walls complete,
her job is to build up.

Using her sisters as
a living scaffold.

She can climb
anywhere in the hive.

And she's come prepared with
tiny discs of wax made by

special glands on her body.

Bees are the only animals to
use wax as a building material,

and they shape it
into one of the wonders

of animal architecture.

The six-sided bee cell.

It's an engineering marvel.

Incredibly strong,
yet almost weightless.

The perfect space-saving
shape that uses the least

amount of wax.

The hive needs
200,000 new cells,

as cradles for every new bee,

and to store their
precious honey.

The future of the
family depends on it.

But their growing stores,
are bound to attract trouble.

So, to keep out thieves,

Bee 1 is now assigned
to be a bouncer.

Every bee in the
hive smells the same.

Their scent is an
"all-access" passcode.

Those that don't
belong smell different.

And wasps are real stinkers.

These wanna-bees will do
all they can to sneak inside

and steal the honey.

Just not on her watch.

In the mountain
forests of Japan,

the Asian honeybee faces a
much more frightening foe.

Giant hornets,

wasps on steroids!

Known by some as murder hornets.

Because that is what they do.

A nearby hive is
in the firing line.

The honeybee's first
line of defense,

is the bee equivalent
of a stadium wave.

Designed to be a
show of strength.

But it's not scaring the hornet.

The bees retreat and regroup.

Luckily, the entrance is
too narrow for the giant.

Those inside are safe.

But this is just a scout,
gathering intelligence.

The hornet marks the hive
with a chemical scent...

...that will guide her and
her clan right back.

The bees need to get
rid of the smell, fast.

And what they do
next is astonishing.

Workers race to collect
fragrant leaves to mask

the hornet's scent.

This extraordinary behavior
is a rare example of tool use.

The bees work quickly.

But not fast enough.

The hornet's back!

With her sisters.

Hornets eat adult bees.

But what they're really after,

are the thousands
of larvae inside.

And together,
they slice their way in.

The bees' only hope for
survival is to respond as one.

Hold...

Now!

The bees vibrate
their wings together to

generate extreme heat.

The temperature in the
center reaches 115 degrees.

Hot enough to fry a hornet.

The next invader gets
the same treatment.

Their collective action has
achieved the near impossible

and saved the colony.

But the abilities of
an individual bee can be

just as impressive.

Dr. Sammy Ramsey is one
of the most influential

bee scientists in the world.

Bees are amongst
the most intelligent insects

on the planet.

Their brain is about
the size of a pinhead,

but it's packed with these
neurons that are specifically

structured for learning.

Sammy has come to
Queen Mary University of London

to see firsthand a remarkable
breakthrough that looks inside

the mind of a bee.

The bumblebee lab
is at the forefront of

understanding bee intelligence.

We know that these--

Dr. Alice Bridges is
showing Sammy an experiment,

one that surprised the
scientific community.

Go, go!

Alright, she's in!

Set loose
in the chamber,

these bumblebees have a choice,
make a beeline for the food,

or stop and play
with wooden balls.

There's no real
reward on this side.

There's no source of food.
There's just the option to play.

Yeah, bees are pretty
reward-driven animals, like,

they always want
to get more food,

and yet we see here that
they chose to play instead.

When we think of play,

we think of bears and
lion cubs and puppies.

Insects are not the
creatures that you would

normally think of.

This study is extraordinary
because it's the first time

that play has been
demonstrated in insects.

Play is something that's seen
as a means of practicing for

the sorts of skills that you'll
need more broadly in life.

Exactly!

Bees, especially
these bumblebees,

are gonna be handling so many
different types of flowers.

Perhaps this is a way that they
can refine those skills before

leaving the hive.

But there’s another
test that reveals even more

about bumblebee intelligence.

A lot of our
experiments that we do here,

we design tasks as kind of
these artificial flowers.

Ah!

We put on this yellow
target here, sugary water,

they go crazy for this!

But ah, they can't get to it,
because, because of the lid.

They have to do a series
of two behaviors,

so they have to move
the blue door first.

Oh, wow.

Push that out of
the way, and then.

And then the red one.

I don't think a lot of people
would have expected a bee to be

able to solve this.

For the experiment to
work, one bee has to be trained.

Does someone in here
know what they're doing?

Yep, we have a bee
already trained, um,

number 75, if
you can see her?

75, Oh, yeah, there she goes.

There you go.

Oh, she's motivated.

Oh, she's going
straight for the--

She's hopefully gonna
show us what we've taught her.

Okay, so she has to
move the blue door first,

then the red one.

You're going for the red.
Come on.

They always give it
a little go, just in case.

Yeah, just in case.

Okay, but no, it looks
like she's figured it out.

Come on,
she knows what to do.

Come on, come on,
push, push, push, yes.

Yes.

Go 75, you got this.

Come on, 75.

We are rooting for you.

There it goes!
Keep pushing.

Come on, ooh!

Oh-ho!

Doing one thing to
get there would be the

single order thinking,

but the second order
thinking is I have to move this

in order to move that.

They're able to see farther
into the future than just

the immediate future.

It’s really quite remarkable.

The really cool thing
about this experiment is that

if we leave her in here for
long enough with the box,

with the other bees,

they'll be able to
learn how to open the box

with no training at all,
just from observing her.

But have the
untrained bee students

been paying attention?

We've got
another bee here who might have

sort of started to
figure out what's going on,

she's following behind.

Are you serious?
That quickly?

Yeah!

Can you push that?

Come on.

Oh my gosh!

What a good bee!

Okay, there's one more
step in this process.

Push, push, push, push.

- Come on! Come on!
- Success!

The way that these insects
have had to think their way

around problems forces
us to think differently,

because they are a lot
more intelligent and aware

than we've given them credit.

A bee's
problem-solving skills are

vital in their daily lives.

Especially when gathering
food, like pollen.

And few do it quite like
the buff-tailed bumblebee.

This flower tucks its
pollen away in tubular petals

hard to reach.

So she becomes a jackhammer.

Buzzing at up to 400
vibrations per second,

blasting the hidden
pollen loose.

Where she catches it
on her hairy belly.

But unlocking this
treasure takes practice,

as this first timer discovers.

Whoops!

She's nailed the
loosening bit at least.

Like any new skill, success
comes from trial and error.

Yeah, there you go!

The bee now uses her legs
to brush the pollen grains

down her body.

Next, she does
something remarkable and

never filmed before.

To stop the pollen
blowing off in flight,

she adds a drop of nectar,
passed to her back legs,

to glue the grains into a
solid packet for travel.

Back at the hive,
summer is in full swing.

Inside, Bee 1 has
finally been promoted to

the worker's top job.

Her new mission,

collect pollen and the raw
ingredient for honey...

...Nectar!

But where to get it?

As usual, she turns
to an older sister,

introducing the waggle dance.

It's how honeybees
talk to each other.

These groovy moves tell
others not just where to

find the best nectar,

but the angle to take
when leaving the hive.

How far away it is.

And even any detours
along the way.

It’s a bee’s GPS!

The 'beeline' the most
direct path to the nectar.

Message received.

But leaving the hive
is a risky business,

especially when
it's your first time.

There's good reason
for her to be hesitant.

Nearly half of all new foragers
never see their family again.

One of the biggest
dangers is getting lost.

So, on take-off,

Bee 1 faces the hive.

Then, makes a mental note
of the landmarks around it.

Whoops!

Once she's locked in
the view, she's off.

The trip could take her
two miles from home.

With pitstops at
thousands of flowers.

In her lifetime, she'll gather
less than a teaspoon of nectar.

But every drop is
vital to the family.

Not everything the
flower hides is sweet.

A crab spider.

For Bee 1, it's hard to
separate petal from predator.

But then she's never
seen a spider before.

Lucky for her, this crab
spider isn't hungry.

But some sisters
aren't so fortunate.

Next stop pollen.

The powdery grains
plants use to reproduce,

and a vital bee food.

The little pollen grains
stick to her hairs.

Some will drop off
on different flowers.

Seeding them as she goes.

This is the way bees
pollinate three-quarters of

all flowering plants.

A partnership that dates back
to the age of the dinosaurs.

Loaded with food,
she heads for home.

But when your cargo of nectar
and pollen doubles your weight,

it can make touchdowns,
well, tricky.

Inside, Bee 1 unloads
her baskets of pollen.

It'll be used later
to feed the larvae.

Then, she passes her
nectar to a sister.

But this isn't food sharing,

it's the recipe
for making honey.

With each transfer,

the sisters add enzymes
that break down the nectar

to make it edible.

The workers then store
this sugar solution in cells.

But there's one final step.

Beating their wings
at 170 times a second.

The sisters fan the mixture
to evaporate the water.

And after three fantastic days,
the transformation is complete.

Nectar has become liquid gold.

Honey!

It takes 2 million flowers to
make just one pound of honey.

The sisters will need 40 times
that to see them through winter.

And they're only halfway there.

For some bees, just finding
nectar is the hardest part.

In the Amazon jungle,

flowers are less
common than you'd think.

So firebees have a plan B.

Sap-sucking treehoppers!

But the bees don't eat
the little suckers.

They farm them!

Tree hoppers excrete a sugary
substance called honeydew,

similar to nectar.

And they're willing
to trade it...

...for protection
from their enemies,

like assassin bugs.

Now, to claim the reward.

But there's no payment
without a little tickling.

Who needs flowers,

when getting food is
like turning on a tap?

But there's a catch,

honeydew is too heavy
to fly with,

so the firebees must
lighten the load.

Unlike honeybees,

they let the sun's
heat evaporate the water,

and concentrate it
into a sugary syrup that's

light enough to carry home.

Firebees are not the
only ones who've had to adapt

to a scarcity of nectar.

There's one bee in this jungle
that's taken its diet in a

whole new direction.

Vulture bees, the
world's most unusual bee.

Like their namesake, they
have a taste for the dead.

And their sense of smell is
so acute they can sniff out

their food from
half a mile away.

A rancid fish.

This is the only bee that
relies on rotting flesh.

She may have found
the fish first,

but you can always rely on a
fly to muscle in on a free meal.

Finders keepers
doesn't work here.

But she is a bee with attitude!

Willing to go jaw to jaw
with even the

roughest-looking diners.

Luckily, her sisters appear and
help to see off the competition.

Just like real vultures,

these bees are the
ultimate clean-up crew.

And amazingly, they can
even turn this digested

meat into honey.

The sisterhood is having
a successful summer.

They've filled more than
half their honey cells.

But it's come at a cost.

Our Bee 1, the year's first
arrival has given it her all.

Being a worker, her life
was sweet but short.

To stop the spread of disease,
fallen sisters must be removed.

But, for some, letting
go can be hard.

Bee 1 isn't the only casualty.

Hundreds of sisters
die every day.

And yet, the colony has
ballooned to over 60,000.

A population boom that
triggers the most dramatic event

in the family's life.

It's the signal for the
queen to leave the hive and

start a new colony.

Many of her daughters
must follow.

But, before they leave,

they feast on the
hard-won stores.

It could be days before
they'll feed again.

We don't yet understand
what makes one bee leave

and another stay.

But soon, hundreds, then
thousands, join the queen.

Half the colony.

It's how honeybees
colonize new locations.

30,000 now take to
the air in a swarm.

Their first task is to
set up a temporary base.

Scouts will set off from here
to look for a permanent home.

And that makes it a perfect
time for me to check in.

Hello everyone!

You are looking very beautiful.

So many bees!

It's just this massive
living structure.

And buried deep down in
the center is the Queen,

with all the other workers
gathering around her.

Just the most amazing
thing to look at.

It looks pretty intimidating;
there's a lot of stinging power

right there, but,

oh, right on my lip.

Please don't go in my mouth!

See, it's a common
misconception that

when bees are swarming,

they're always
very angry and aggressive.

But they don't have any
honey or brood to defend,

so they're really kind of
preoccupied at the moment.

I'm just part of the landscape.

So, this is a great opportunity
to film them up close.

The ones at the top,
holding onto the branch,

are doing the heavy lifting.

But every bee in the swarm
plays a part by holding tight

to her sisters.

Wow.

And tonight, it looks as
if they'll have to hold on

tighter than ever.

I think rain’s coming.

It's the last thing the
vulnerable family needs.

It is pouring!

Poor bees, they’re
just getting soaked.

With nothing to shield them,

the entire colony could
die from the cold.

They’re huddling together,
desperately trying to get warm.

But even now, the
bees work together.

They rotate their
positions to take their

turn out in the elements.

But if it keeps
raining like this,

they won't survive the night.

There's nothing I
can do but hope they'll

make it till morning.

Back at the hive,
things look just as bleak.

They've lost their queen
and half their workers.

Honey supplies are down,

and winter is
just four months away.

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.