November 22, 1996
Native Species Fill the Gap Left by Drastic Honeybee Declines
Following five consecutive years of the worst honeybee
declines in U.S. history, experts predicted that pollinator
scarcity could seriously limit crop yields in the U.S. for
such traditional Thanksgiving foods as pumpkins, apples,
cranberries, almonds and squash. Insects must pollinate these
and many other food crops. Honey bees -- the type kept by
beekeepers -- are America's number-one pollinator. But honey
bees have been largely absent from fields and orchards around
the country in recent years, due to a combination of
pesticide exposure, early cold weather and disease caused by
parasitic mites. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported
last spring that in some parts of the country, up to 90% of
all honey bees had been killed.
Fortunately, Mother Nature has come to the rescue -- at least
for now. According to a new report released by The Forgotten
Pollinators Campaign, pollination by wild native bees has
averted shortages of fruits and vegetables that are staples
of the U.S. holiday season.
To compile their report, scientists from the Forgotten
Pollinators Campaign sampled field crops in Alabama, Arizona
and Maine, and compiled bee and crop estimates from New York,
California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Iowa and elsewhere.
Their field census data indicated reduced visits by honey
bees through the spring and summer -- in many cases no visits
at all. However, bumblebees, squash bees, gourd bees, sweat
bees, leaf-cutting bees and other wild native species were
all prevalent.
While official U.S. government data on 1996 honey bee
populations will not be available until January, the
Campaign's survey of key agricultural states -- combined with
anecdotal evidence from around the nation -- indicates that
farmers and gardeners continue to feel the effects of
declining honey bee populations. One indicator of these
shortages is the cost to farmers for renting honey bee
colonies to pollinate their crops. In the Pacific Northwest,
for example, the Campaign found rental costs for agricultural
pollination had climbed more than 50% in the past three
years.
Wild native bees have lived in our forests and fields since
long before the first importation of the honey bee from
Europe some 400 years ago. Today, threats to the honey bee
mean that their wild cousins are more important than ever.
Unfortunately, these insects are also susceptible to the
pressures of human population growth and pesticides sprayed
on crops.
"We must invest more resources in protecting wild
pollinators," concludes Dr. Gary Nabhan, co-director of the
Forgotten Pollinators Campaign and co-author with Dr. Stephen
Buchmann of the book "Forgotten Pollinators". He notes that
farmers can utilize simple strategies to help -- keeping the
edges of their fields in a natural condition to provide
nesting areas and applying pesticides in the evening hours
when bees are not active.
"Wild pollinators will be increasingly responsible for
stabilizing the U.S. food supply in an era of honey bee
scarcity. While it is important to do everything we can to
keep honey bee populations healthy, it is clear that a
pollination crisis can be averted only by diversifying our
'pollinator portfolio.'"
Source/contact: The Forgotten Pollinators Campaign, Arizona-
Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Rd., Tucson, AZ 85743;
email fpollen@azstarnet.com;
http://www.oldwestnet.com/asdm/fp/.
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