Five Things You May Not Know About . . . Virginia’s official pollinator

1. Yes, Virginia is home to some 400 species of native bee pollinators, but the European honey bee can be managed and moved around, making it essential to commercial agriculture. It not only pollinates most of our crops but provides honey, royal jelly, and beeswax. In 2022, Virginia’s commercial beekeepers harvested honey from 7,000 bee colonies which yielded an average of 38 pounds per colony, with a total production valued at more than $2 million.

2. The General Assembly, which rarely agrees on anything, voted unanimously to make the European honey bee the official pollinator, and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the bill in March 2024. Effective July 1, the European honey bee joins a growing list of state official emblems and designations that include the official insect – Tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus), bat – Virginia Big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus), flower and tree – American Dogwood (Benthamidia florida), among other worthies. 

3. Del. Patrick Hope, Democrat of Arlington, who first introduced the pollinator bill in 2019, said a thousand people signed petitions urging the designation. Proponents included the Virginia State Beekeepers Association and Sweet Virginia Foundation, a nonprofit that also promotes honeybees through free school curricula and other programs around the world. The foundation says on its website the designation “will increase the chances that every child in Virginia will have his or her eyes opened to the wonder of honey bees.”

4. The European honey bee has long been associated with Virginia; it was first introduced to what became the United States at the Jamestown colony in 1622. But the widely repeated story that native Americans called the new bees “white man’s flies” likely is apocryphal. The term seems to have originated with a 17^th century Puritan pastor, who, finding no term for honey bee in the native language, came up with one, according to historian Harry Schenawolf.

5. And then there’s the “waggle dance.” The European honey bee communicates through dance exactly where she’s found a yummy food supply, so her fellow bees can also find the spot. Karl von Frisch won a Nobel prize in 1973 for his research on the bees’ waggle dance communication, and you can watch a fascinating video from the Bee Group at Virginia Tech that shows how it’s done.