Drastic honeybee decline in US

Following five consecutive years of the worst honeybee declines in US history, experts predict that pollinator scarcity could seriously limit crop yields in the US for such foods as pumpkins, apples, cranberries, almonds and squash.

Insects must pollinate these and many other food crops. Honeybees — the type kept by beekeepers — are the USA's number one pollinator. But honeybees 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 US Department of Agriculture reported last spring that in some parts of the country, up to 90% of all honeybees had been killed.

Fortunately, according to a new report released by the Forgotten Pollinators Campaign, pollination by wild native bees has averted shortages of fruits and vegetables.

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 honeybees 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.

Wild native bees have lived in US forests and fields since long before the first importation of the honeybee from Europe some 400 years ago. Today, threats to the honeybee 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.
[From Pesticide Action Network North America Updates Service.]

From GLW issue 257