In praise of the humblebee

[randy_byers]

The Seattle Times reports on something some of us have noticed in our own gardens for quite a while now: where the European honeybee has died back, the native bumblebees have stepped in to fill the pollinator niche.

This doesn't necessarily help farmers of monocrops, because native bees require a diverse habitat to thrive. An interesting tidbit from this article that I hadn't known: "In recognition of the pollinator problem, Congress in the 2008 farm bill included cost sharing to encourage farmers to plant some of their land just for bugs, to diversify the nation's pollinator portfolio with more native bees and other beneficial insects." Nice to be reminded that Congress isn't completely useless! I'm still working my way slowly toward helping out with this project by planting a garden that's friendly to native bees.

The article also reports on yet another theory about what's causing Colony Collapse Disorder amongst the European honeybees. Still inconclusive, it looks to me.

Comments

[wrdnrd]

Would you ever be averse to housing a beehive in your yard? Or would that thwart your current bee plans?

Andy's very interested in beekeeping, and we've occasionally debated about whether to pursue it at all seeing as we can't exactly keep a hive on our deck.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't know about that. I'm actually more interested in bumblebees than honeybees at this point.

[wrdnrd]

That's what it seemed like. And it's not as if we have a hive in our living room that we need to move or anything -- i just kinda wanted to feel out a potential option.

It's interesting that monocrop culture is bad for the native bees. Yet another reason to dislike modern agribusiness.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem for the European honeybee, at least as they are bred for agricultural work here, is that they are a monocrop themselves, thus they are susceptible to these massive die-offs. The sheer diversity of native bee species means they are less likely to be all susceptible to the same diseases. The problem for native bees is loss of habitat.

[kim-huett.livejournal.com]

I recall hearing that the honeybee died out completely in England during WWI and the population had to be started from scratch with bees imported from Portugal. I suppose that if it can happen once it can happen again.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard that before, but I seem to have found confirmation: "An epidemic first reported in the Isle of Wight in 1904 wiped out 90% of the UK's honey bee colonies."