Mass honey bee collapse may compromise US agriculture

https://www.avma.org/news/mass-honey-bee-collapse-may-compromise-us-agriculture

by Not_so_ghetto

7 comments

  1. One of the leading causes of bee die offs over the last few decades is due to Varroa mites, a deadly parasite in bees. They attach to the bee when it’s developing and feed on the fat of the bee. The mites were introduced in America in the 80’s and now infect pretty much every hive.

    A beekeeper once described it like having a tick the size of a frisbee on you for life.

    They also carry several viruses, which the multiple problems in the hive.

    Hives that go untreated or typically dead within 2 years.

    Sources
    I’m a parastologist and has a beehive for a few years and these little fuckers are relentless

    Here is a 15min video That goes into all the detail about the parasite, how it came and what it does for those curious
    https://youtu.be/_59JZgzXoeg

  2. It is worth noting that honeybees are not native to the US and that their populations must be actively managed. Given the challenges with honeybee parasites, we should recognize that native bee, butterfly, and moth species contribute substantially to the pollination of crops.

    Habitat destruction has been a large term in the equation of observed insect die-offs. You can do your part to make a difference: plant oak, cherry, willow, and maple tree species native to your state. Also plant sunflowers, goldenrods, and asters (again, choose species native to your state). These keystone plants support a HUGE number of native bee and butterfly species which are vital to bolstering the resiliency of our imperiled ecosystems. In addition to helping with agriculture, planting keystone species helps maintain biodiversity at all trophic levels since so many animals rely on insects for food. Spread the word.

    Other keystone species include hickories, birch, cottonwoods, pines, and blueberry bushes. See also: 

    https://www.nwf.org/Native-Plant-Habitats/Plant-Native/Why-Native/Keystone-Plants-by-Ecoregion

    https://choosenatives.org/articles/native-bees-need-buzz/

  3. How about the alternative and more accurate headline. US agriculture compromises pollinator stock with unsustainable farming practices. 

  5. This is just an observation, but in my neighborhood [a small HOA that has its pros and minuses with the environment] I’ve been seeing tons of bees. I plant native, and I have more native burrowing bumble and sweat bees than I’ve ever seen before, and I have the occasional honeybee as well. In the HOA at large, our relatively large growth of asclepias speciosa [native showy milkweed] is COVERED in honeybees. If you told me there was a honeybee collapse and I didn’t know about it, I wouldn’t beelieve you.

  7. > Honey bees are an essential component of the plant ecosystem as well as a robust U.S. food supply.

    i don’t disagree with the latter, but i’m very skeptical of the former, given that *Apis mellifera* didn’t coevolve with the flowering plants on this continent like our native pollinators did, so as a pollinator of native plants, it has limited effectiveness; at the same time, as an introduced, **generalist** species with cosmopolitan distribution and cultivated population density, it reduces nectar and pollen availability for native pollinators — perhaps most critically for **oligolectic** species, which are dependent on a single plant species for resources. certainly, this is an issue of interest to the agricultural industry — i can only speculate, but typically research, publicity, and media attention follow money — but i feel that the environmental sphere may be (or perhaps *should* be) more concerned with the *negative* ecological impact of european honeybee husbandry. 

    that being said, i suppose (to play devil’s advocate against myself) that a lot of the environmental policies that would benefit introduced honeybees, such as reducing insecticide use and turf grass lawns, would also benefit native insects, so maybe i’m looking at this the wrong way. 

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