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    Teide Daisy
    & Canary Black Bee

    Argyranthemum tenerifae
    & Apis mellifera

    The Teide daisy can be found at altitudes close to 3,600m

    The Canary black bee is known for its docility
    01

    Where are they located?

    The Teide daisy can only be found in Tenerife, an island in the Canary Islands (Spain). It is endemic to Teide National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

    The Teide daisy shares its habitat with other endemic species, such as the emblematic Echium wildpretii. Teide National Park has approximately 168 plant species; 58 are endemic to the Canary Islands, 33 grow exclusively in Tenerife, and 12 are found only on Mount Teide.

    The Canary black bee is found throughout the Canary Islands (Spain) all year round. It has also been introduced to other countries for commercial exploitation.

    02

    What is its habitat?

    The Teide daisy grows on volcanic rocks and largely uneroded lava fields at the highest altitudes of Teide. It can be found up to 3,600 m above sea level. It thrives in harsh climatic conditions: low humidity and temperature, high insolation, wind, and snow. It is the daisy best adapted to the extreme climatic conditions of the high Canary Mountains.

    The Canary black bee, like all other bees, lives in hives made of hexagonal cells constructed by worker bees from beeswax. Special glands in their abdomen produce wax, allowing them to convert the sugar content of honey into wax. The hexagonal shape allows them to build cells with minimal resources. They use the least amount of material and space to build the largest and strongest cells possible. Some of the cells are used by the queen to lay eggs, and others to store honey.

    Hives are usually set up near sources of nectar and pollen. During winter, honey bees feed on the honey they collected during the warmer months. They cluster together in the hive to keep the queen and themselves warm.

    The Canary black bee is adapted to the environment of the Canary Islands, coping with its temperate climate and making excellent use of its rich and unique endemic flora.

    When the hive is too full, the queen bee breeds a new queen. Then, the old queen will leave the hive with part of the swarm to create a new hive.

    03

    Are they endangered?

    The Canary Islands are one of Spain's regions with the most endangered plants. There are 247 Canarian species in the maximum risk category, according to the latest red list of threatened flora in Spain (2008). One of the five most frequently repeated genera on this list is Argyranthemum, but fortunately Argyranthemum tenerifae (Teide daisy) is not included in it.

    The Canarian black bee has suffered a great deal of cross-breeding with foreign bees brought to the Canary Islands. Furthermore, since 2009, the Canarian black bee population has decreased considerably due to attacks by a wasp known as the bee wolf.

    Crossbreeding

    This new hybrid bee species is more aggressive and has put the Canarian black bee in danger of extinction. In 2001, the Government of the Canary Islands initiated a conservation, recovery and selection plan for this species in La Palma. It was subsequently implemented in Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and, more recently, in Gran Canaria. On these islands, only beekeeping of this species is allowed.

    The bee wolf

    Its natural habitat is in China, India and Indonesia. It was introduced to Europe through France, and to the Canary Islands through Spain.

    The females of this wasp, which are twice the size of the Canarian black bee, constantly capture Canarian black bees (or other bees) and place them in cavities they build on sandy areas. In each of these cavities there is an egg, so when it becomes a wasp larva, it feeds on the captured bee. A single wasp can kill up to 10 bees a day. This means that an attack by 300 wasps can massacre 3,000 bees.

    Moreover, worldwide, bees are dying from a variety of factors: pesticides, droughts, habitat destruction, nutritional deficit, air pollution and global warming. Humans are largely responsible for the two most important causes: pesticides and habitat loss.

    Argyranthemum tenerifae
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    Did you know…?

    The scientific name Apis mellifera means "honey-carrying bee" in Latin.

    Bees arrived in the Canary Islands before humans.

    It is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.

    With the exception of the queen, all worker bees in a hive replace themselves every few months.

    Bees fly at a speed of about 25 km/h and beat their wings 200 times per second.

    Each Canary black bee can produce up to 15 kg of honey annually.

    The European Commission has launched the "Biodiversity Apiculture in Europe" (BABE) project, which aims to conserve local subspecies of Apis mellifera and maintain the genetic uniqueness of local populations.

    Frequently asked questions
    How do they recognize each other?

    Argyranthemum tenerifae, commonly known as the Teide daisy, is a dense shrub that measures a maximum of 50 cm in height. It has extensive branching and is shaped like a half-sphere. The leaves are long and diffuse. The petioles, which connect the leaves and the stem, are long and thick.

    This plant actually has two types of flowers arranged in groups of 12 flower heads. Each head contains many individual flowers, with small yellow flowers arranged in a central disk and small white flowers surrounding the disk (commonly called petals). The ray florets are responsible for attracting insects, and the disk florets are responsible for reproduction.

    The Canary black bee is known for its characteristic dark color. The body, with the exception of the abdomen, is covered in dark plumose hair divided into black and dark brown stripes. Worker bees have an average wingspan of 22 mm and pollen baskets on their hind legs that allow them to transport pollen.

    Origin of the Canary black bee species

    Research carried out by different Spanish universities points to an African origin for this species and a close relationship with the bees of the Southern Iberian Peninsula.

    The Canarian black bee has been officially declared an autochthonous breed, and since molecular studies highlighted the presence of distinctive genetic characteristics in the Canary Islands, there is currently a discussion about whether to propose it as an endemic subspecies. There are currently 26 recognized subspecies of Apis mellifera.

    Why are the Teide daisy and the Canarian black bee important?

    The Canary Islands are a key biodiversity hotspot in Europe. The great variety of endemic species living in the Canary archipelago makes it a tourist attraction. This rich endemic flora was decisive for the declaration of Teide and its natural surroundings as a National Park. In fact, it is the most visited natural area in Spain. With the flowers of these unique endemic species, bees make the excellent honey of Tenerife.

    Bees are one of the most important pollinators (they carry out around 80% of pollination worldwide), and pollination is one of the most important biological processes on our planet. When a bee lands on a flower to collect nectar, thousands of pollen grains from the anthers (the male part of the flower) stick to the hairs on its legs or body. When it visits the next flower, some of this pollen may fall onto the stigma (the female part of the flower). When this happens, fertilization is possible, and a fruit can develop, carrying seeds. Since plants cannot move, most have to rely on animal pollination to reproduce. Bees move from flower to flower, repeating this procedure hundreds of times a day.

    Similar daisy species

    The Teide daisy is not the only daisy existing in the Canary Islands. In fact, the entire genus Argyranthemum is native to Macaronesia (Canary Islands, Savage Islands, and Madeira). This genus includes 25 species and more subspecies that can be found in these islands.

    When does the Teide daisy bloom?

    Teide daisy generally flowers in spring, between April and June.

    How are bees organized?

    The members of a beehive are classified into three "castes." Firstly, there is the queen bee, the only reproductive female. Her role is to mate and lay eggs, and she also guides the hive. The queen bee can be identified by her size, which is almost twice that of the worker bees.

    Secondly, there are the males called drones. They come from unfertilized eggs and their sole responsibility is to mate with the queen. You can identify a drone because they do not have a stinger and have larger eyes to help them detect queens during mating flights.

    Finally, there are the non-reproductive females, the worker bees. They are responsible for building and cleaning the hive, collecting food, feeding the larvae, and sealing the cells for development. They are the smallest members of the hive.

    How do bees behave?

    Bees are considered the insect with the most complex behavior, as they are fully organized and maintain fluid communication.

    The Canary black bee stands out for its docility. This species of bee is also characterized by being obsessed with the cleanliness of the hive, which makes it less vulnerable to diseases.

    How do bees mate?

    During warm seasons, virgin queens visit Drone Congregation Areas near their hive. They attract drones with pheromones, and the males chase and attempt to mate with them while flying. Sometimes a group of males forms a "comet" around a female. The queen mates with several males (from her own hive or other hives in the area). Drones deposit their sperm in the queen's oviducts. Most queens make two mating flights, but some go out more frequently.

    Back at the hive, the received sperm is transferred from the oviducts to a pouch within the queen's reproductive system (spermatheca), which allows them to control egg fertilization. Queens can lay eggs that are either fertilized or unfertilized. Unfertilized eggs develop into drones, while fertilized eggs develop into females, which can be workers or queens.

    The queen uses the collected sperm to fertilize eggs for the rest of her life. A particularly fertile queen can lay up to 2,000 eggs per day, and 1,000,000 eggs throughout her lifetime. Queens lay eggs in wax cells built by workers. Worker bees are reared in horizontal cells, while the queen bee develops in larger cells where they can rest vertically. After three days, larvae hatch. They are fed by the workers for a week, and then the cells are sealed with beeswax. Once sealed, the larvae create a cocoon around themselves and enter the pupa stage. A queen bee needs 16 days to develop into an insect from the day the egg is laid, a worker needs 21 days, and a drone needs 24 days.

    What do bees feed on?

    Bees feed on nectar and pollen collected by larger worker bees. Some collect nectar, which they store in an elastic pouch in their gut known as the "honey stomach"; others collect pollen grains and deposit them in the pollen baskets on their hind legs. Fully loaded, they return to the hive where the nectar carriers pass the load to "receiver bees" to be stored as honey, while the pollen carriers unload their bounty into cells to form what is known as "bee bread." "Nurse bees" are used both to keep the swarm fed and to transform pollen into royal jelly.

    Worker and drone bee larvae are fed royal jelly during the first three days of life. After this, only the bees chosen to become queens will continue to feed on royal jelly, while the rest will get pollen and nectar or honey. Drones have a short tongue with which they cannot suck nectar. They feed on the hive's honey and bee bread.

    Basic energy requirements are met by nectar, which provides bees with the carbohydrates needed for activities such as flight. Pollen provides proteins, fats, and lipids plus a variety of vitamins and minerals.

    Do they have predators?

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    Communication and the Senses of Bees

    Bees communicate through different dances. They use this method to share with the rest of the swarm the direction and distance of nectar and pollen sources. The swarm observes and translates a series of movements to obtain the information.

    Another key element of bee communication are pheromones, a mixture of chemical substances released by bees that can cause changes in the physiology and behavior of the rest. Bees perceive pheromones through their olfactory system, which is located on their antennae.

    The pheromones of the queen bee and larvae keep the worker bees stimulated to do all their tasks. Bees rely on pheromones for almost all behaviors, including mating, alarm, defense, orientation, colony recognition, food production, and other hive activities.

    If there is a lack of pheromones due to the aging or illness of the queen bee, the workers become demoralized and may even give up caring for the hive. When this happens, the swarm usually creates a new queen and replaces the old one.

    What is the lifespan of bees?

    The average lifespan of a queen is two to three years. In contrast, worker bees only live for a few weeks, sometimes a few months if their hive becomes dormant in winter. Finally, drones usually die directly after mating. Thus, depending on their success, they can live for a few days or up to two months. Those that have not mated are expelled from the hive when winter arrives.
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