The latest in bee news
Jan. 14th, 2010 01:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
randy_byersDisease dooming native bumblebees
They work in the cold when honeybees are still snug in their hives, and cloudy days don't stop them either.
Bumblebees are workhorse pollinators, depended on to pollinate everything from cranberries and blueberries to hothouse tomatoes.
But native bumblebees are in trouble, victims of diseases some scientists say are spread by commercial bumblebees shipped around North America to pollinate crops.
While much attention has been given to the plight of European honeybees, dying in droves in so-called colony collapse disorder, the sharp decline of some species of native bumblebees has been largely overlooked.
So much for my observation that local bumblebee populations have actually increased in the wake of the die-off of honeybees. Then again, it could be that native bumblebees are more threatened in agricultural areas where the commercial bees are more likely to be introduced. It could be that in non-agricultural urban areas like my neighborhood they're doing fine.
They work in the cold when honeybees are still snug in their hives, and cloudy days don't stop them either.
Bumblebees are workhorse pollinators, depended on to pollinate everything from cranberries and blueberries to hothouse tomatoes.
But native bumblebees are in trouble, victims of diseases some scientists say are spread by commercial bumblebees shipped around North America to pollinate crops.
While much attention has been given to the plight of European honeybees, dying in droves in so-called colony collapse disorder, the sharp decline of some species of native bumblebees has been largely overlooked.
So much for my observation that local bumblebee populations have actually increased in the wake of the die-off of honeybees. Then again, it could be that native bumblebees are more threatened in agricultural areas where the commercial bees are more likely to be introduced. It could be that in non-agricultural urban areas like my neighborhood they're doing fine.
