Bees mentioned in monument proclamation. Half of Britain's biodiversity gone. Honey bees convert pollen to elastic pellets. Comparing pollination effectiveness of honey bees to other pollinators.
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Bees mentioned four times in proclamation restoring Grand Staircase-Escalante
I’m sure you heard the news last week: President Biden restored three national monuments that had been severely reduced in size by President Trump. One of these monuments is the Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, which is home to at least 660 bee species. It’s a hotspot of bee diversity in North America.
What you may not have heard is that the bees living in Grand Staircase-Escalante were specifically mentioned four times in the proclamation restoring the monument.
“...Grand Staircase-Escalante has fulfilled the vision of an outdoor laboratory with great potential for diverse and significant scientific discoveries... including the identification of more than 600 species of bees, some of which likely exist nowhere else on Earth...”
“...lands within the Grand Staircase-Escalante landscape contain an astounding biodiversity of bees...”
“These uncompromising desert lands are home to high concentrations of rare species of bees with fascinating adaptations to their local environment, such as Diadasia bees, which build nests in the hard desert soil that feature a clay chimney on top, an architectural design that has, thus far, stumped scientists trying to understand its utility.”
“This area... is home to a number of rare bee species as well as a number of hot desert endemic species of bees in the northernmost known extent of their range.”
Last year we released our short documentary film, the Bees of Grand Staircase-Escalante, to bring attention and awareness to the amazing bee community in this part of the United States. Now, the bees are included as a specific reason for continuing to protect this truly special place.
I don’t know if or how much the film might have influenced this official language. But I do know that it’s the result of incredible scientific fieldwork by Olivia Carril and Joe Wilson, and tireless conservation and educational efforts by the Grand Staircase Escalante Partners and the Conservation Lands Foundation.
It’s thrilling to see this community of bees getting the recognition it deserves.
Conservation
Nearly half of Britain’s biodiversity has gone since industrial revolution
(The Guardian) A study shows the U.K. has lost more biodiversity than any G7 country, and is in worst global 10%.
A milkweed on the shore: tracking down an elusive Danish plant
(Prof. Jeff Ollerton) “Since arriving in Odsherred towards the end of August I’ve been looking out for one plant in particular on our bicycle rides and hikes around the region. Vincetoxicum hirundinaria is a widespread asclepiad or milkweed... So far the species has proven elusive and a few Danish ecologists that I’d spoken with told me they had never seen it in the wild... But as of yesterday I can confirm that at least one of those populations is extant!”
Economics
4,000 pounds of almonds without bees? It can be done
(Western Farm Press) Donny Hicks grows Independence and Shasta almond trees. The trees – billed as “self-fertile” by their respective nurseries – are said to succeed with fewer bees for pollination. Last season Hicks tried his luck and did not rent any bees. The success was seen in his deliveries to the processor.
Bees need hives alive in national parks as weather warms and dries
(The Sydney Morning Herald) 1088 professional apiary sites are located in 49 Queensland national parks in Australia, which probably explains why professional beekeepers have embraced a Queensland government decision to extend the time they can use the parks. The clock had been ticking for Queensland beekeepers, who were meant to shift away from national parks by 2024.
UK retailer to replace all harmful garden chemicals with natural alternatives
(The Grocer) Waitrose, the British grocery store chain, has committed to phasing out all potentially harmful garden chemicals by the end of the year. The retailer is removing all products such as harmful garden bug sprays and granules, weed killers and slug pellets, in an attempt to promote sustainable alternatives and “preserve natural biodiversity”. Waitrose will instead sell non-harmful, natural garden alternatives such as PlantGrow.
Policy/Law
(Defra) The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs in the U.K. has published its Implementation Plan for the Healthy Bees Plan 2030 which sets out more than 50 actions which beekeepers, bee farmers, bee associations and government will undertake to protect and enhance populations of honey bees.
China’s Xi launches $232 million biodiversity protection fund for developing countries
(Reuters) Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the launch of a 1.5 billion yuan ($232.47 million) fund to support biodiversity protection in developing countries. Xi was virtually addressing the COP15 biodiversity summit in Kunming, China, where diplomats, scientists, and conservationists are meeting to lay the groundwork for a global agreement to halt and reverse the destruction of nature, set to be finalized in May next year.
Science
Bees have developed a method to convert pollen particles into viscoelastic pellets
(Florida News Times) According to a new study honey bees have developed a way to convert pollen particles into viscoelastic pellets, allowing them to be efficiently, quickly and reliably transported to the hive. The study also suggests that insects remove pollen from their bodies at a rate 2-10 times slower than normal grooming rates.
An analysis of pollination effectiveness comparing honey bees and other pollinators
(Twitter, Dr Jon Finch @JtdFinch) “honeybees may be imperfect substitutes for the loss of wild pollinators and safeguarding pollination will benefit from conservation of non-honeybee taxa” Original paper
Virtual BeeCon buzzes with sweet bee insights
(York University) This year’s BeeCon will explore the effects of human-driven landscape disturbance on wild bee communities, the development of diagnostic tools for neonicotinoid exposure, altruistic and selfish aggression in honey bees and more. BeeCon is a free, annual, now virtual, bee conference from Oct. 15 to 16 that brings local, national and international bee biologists together to discuss bees, their behavior, taxonomy, genomics, ecology, and conservation, hosted by the Centre for Bee Ecology, Evolution and Conservation at York University.
(Twitter, Kaz Ohashi @KazOhashi_Lab) “Bee occurrence data collected in Bumble bee national census in Japan” Original data
Variation in nectar quality across 34 grassland plant species
(Twitter, Leonhardt lab @BeePlantChem) “Check out our new paper on nectar chemistry in 34 grassland plant species – showing a lot of variation and a strong effect of plant family” Original paper
These butterflies full of wasps full of microwasps are a science nightmare
(Atlas Obscura) When caterpillars of a beautiful butterfly were introduced to the tiny Finish island of Sottunga in the Åland archipelago, scientists hoped to study how the emerging butterflies would disperse across the landscape. But researchers did not realize that their introduction of the Glanville fritillary would lead to the emergence of three other species, which sprang out of the butterfly like Russian dolls.
Society/Culture
Should some of the world’s endangered places be off-limits to tourists?
(National Geographic) Experts weigh in on what can be done to mitigate overtourism.
One More Thing…
“Bush Flowers” by Raelene Stevens, a contemporary Australian Aboriginal artist. From #WOMENSART @womensart1 via Twitter.