Bees In Peril

Bees are critical to agriculture, without them pollination doesn’t happen and stuff stops growing. Bee colonies continue to be decimated by multiple factors. The last 12 months have been disastrous.

Beekeepers across the United States lost 44 percent of their honey bee colonies during the year spanning April 2015 to April 2016, according to the latest preliminary results of an annual nationwide survey. Rates of both winter loss and summer loss—and consequently, total annual losses—worsened compared with last year. This marks the second consecutive survey year that summer loss rates rivaled winter loss rates.

The researchers note that many factors are contributing to colony losses. A clear culprit is the varroa mite, a lethal parasite that can easily spread between colonies. Pesticides and malnutrition caused by changing land use patterns are also likely taking a toll, especially among commercial beekeepers.

Unfortunately, the article places much of the blame on parasite spread due to lack of sufficient control by smaller backyard bee keepers. In doing so, the article gives a pass to the impact of a variety of pesticides used in abundance in commercial agriculture. In reality, the collapse of bee colonies is driven by a complex mix of factors and pesticides are routinely implicated.

…widespread systemic insecticides appear to have introduced indirect side effects on both honey bees and wild bumblebees, by deeply affecting their health. Immune suppression of the natural defences by neonicotinoid and phenyl-pyrazole (fipronil) insecticides opens the way to parasite infections and viral diseases, fostering their spread among individuals and among bee colonies at higher rates than under conditions of no exposure to such insecticides.

As with all complex systems, interactions between cause and effect can be difficult to discern. But, by understanding the interactions there are actions we can take.

Stressors do not act in isolation; for example pesticide exposure can impair both detoxification mechanisms and immune responses, rendering bees more susceptible to parasites. It seems certain that chronic exposure to multiple, interacting stressors is driving honey bee colony losses and declines of wild pollinators…

…incorporating flower-rich habitat into farmland, reducing pesticide use through adopting more sustainable farming methods, and enforcing effective quarantine measures on bee movements are all practical measures that should be adopted.

Bees are vital to biodiversity. They are also vital to our dinner table. They go….we go.

If you want to look at the detailed studies of bees and pesticides, there is an abundance of information here.