Climate crisis could lead to rise of smaller bees. Developing a commercial bumble bee clean stock certification program. There's a really weird effect when honey bees fly over a mirror.
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Conservation
Photo: Imagebroker, Alamy
Climate crisis could lead to rise of smaller bees, study finds
(The Guardian) The climate crisis could lead to more small-bodied bees but fewer bumble bees, according to recently-published research. Scientists in the U.S. trapped and studied more than 20,000 bees over eight years in an area of the Rocky Mountains to find out how different types reacted to changing climatic conditions. They found that larger-bodied bees and comb-building cavity nesters declined in abundance as temperatures increased, while smaller, soil-nesting bees increased. “Our research suggests that climate-induced changes in temperature, snowpack and summer precipitation may drastically reshape bee communities.”
Warming climate and agriculture halve insect populations in some areas
(ScienceDaily, University College London) A new study finds that climate change and intensive agricultural land use have already been responsible for a 49% reduction in the number of insects in the most impacted parts of the world.
Drastic decline in hoverflies in Dutch forests
(Radboud University) The numbers of hoverflies and hoverfly species have fallen drastically in Dutch forests in recent decades. In 2021, an average of 80% fewer individuals and 44% fewer species of hoverflies were counted than forty years ago. This is the first time that hoverfly numbers have been quantified in the Netherlands. In the 1980s, researchers recorded how primarily rare species were disappearing. “After 2000, a number of previously common species started vanishing as well.”
Bumblebee Atlas combining communications
(Twitter, PNW Bumblebee Atlas @pnwbumblebees) “.@xercessociety bumble bee atlas programs are growing! In 2022, we’ll be active in TEN states! To streamline our communications, we’re merging our Twitter accounts into one feed. Starting in June you'll find us exclusively over @bumblebeeatlas.”
(WTTW) For the past eight months, members of the Save Bell Bowl Prairie coalition have been inundating Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office with emails, petitions, texts, tweets, phone calls and old-fashioned letters, pleading with the governor to broker a deal that would save a patch of ancient prairie from demolition by the Greater Rockford Airport Authority. The deluge of messages has largely been met with silence. Then, two weeks ago, Pritzker’s reelection campaign dropped a 30-second TV ad called “Cargo Load”. “Do you know what city has the fastest growing cargo airport in the world? Rockford, Illinois!” the ad boasts. “As governor, J.B. Pritzker made it happen.”
Bee bricks: constructive contribution or greenwash?
(Sussex Bylines) “In January, it was announced with great fanfare that following earlier approval by Green-led Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC), it is now compulsory for new buildings in the city over five metres tall to integrate ‘bee bricks’ into their construction. These bee bricks are the same size and shape as ordinary bricks, with holes of varying diameter drilled into one side to mimic cavities used for nesting by many solitary bees. As such, the new law was trumpeted as a “big victory” for bee conservation by the Conservative councillor who first suggested it. But will these bricks really be significant in helping bee populations? Without wishing to be a buzzkill, I’d like to call for some perspective on this.”
Do we still need to save the bees?
(Popular Science) Around 15 years ago, a slogan began to appear on bumper stickers, license plate holders, and tote bags: Save the bees. The sense that these pollinators – and the food system they support – were in critical condition was all-pervasive. In 2014, an online poll in the U.K. found that respondents ranked the decline of bees as a more serious environmental threat than climate change. But do we still need to save the bees? The answer is complicated.
Wildflower believed to be extinct for 40 years spotted in Ecuador
(The Guardian) Gasteranthus extinctus was found by biologists in the foothills of the Andes mountains and in remnant patches of forest in the Centinela region of Ecuador, almost 40 years after its last sighting. Extensive deforestation in western Ecuador during the late 20th century led to the presumed extinction of a number of plant species, including Gasteranthus extinctus – the reason scientists gave it that name.
The untold, dramatic story behind the discovery of America’s first murder hornet nest
(National Geographic) Alarmed by the discovery of giant hornets in fall 2019, scientists with the Washington State Department of Agriculture and a large group of volunteers began gearing up to find – and kill – the insects before they could spread. Presumably, they reasoned, one or more nests had been established, potentially seeding the area with new queens capable of overwintering and forming a nest come summertime.
Economics
Photo: USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab
Developing a commercial bumble bee clean stock certification program
(Twitter, Jamie Strange @rufocinctus) “After several years of work the NAPPC Bombus task force presents our white paper aimed at keeping commercial and wild bumble bees healthy.”
Concern as Croatian bees dying in huge numbers
(Total Croatia News) Millions of dead bees in the county of Medjimurje, as well as bees from Podravina and Slavonski Gorje, are a massive cause for worry. For some reason, ten bee hives are full of dead inhabitants in the apiary near Prelog, where 700,000 bees flew away, presumed dead. Bees dying in millions across the Republic of Croatia are making many suspicious, as some farmers are either behind the times and treat their future crops with insecticide without realizing the damage they’re causing, or simply don’t care that they’re harming bees at all. Two years ago, 57 million bees were killed, and the culprit was never identified. Although an investigation by the State Inspectorate is currently underway, the exact cause of this is unknown.
‘To save ourselves, we have to save the bees’
(Civil Eats) Caroline Yelle is breeding queen honey bees to survive the changing climate and multiple other threats.
Policy/Law
Photo: Angela Major, WPR
What you need to know about No-Mow May, the bee-boosting trend sweeping Wisconsin
(Wisconsin Public Radio) More communities are encouraging residents to put away their lawnmowers for next month to help pollinator populations grow.
Massachusetts adopts solar pollinator amendment
(Twitter, Mass. Pollinator Network (MAPN) @MassPollinators) “Good news: @MA_Senate adopted Amnd #114 to S. 2819! Thank you @Jo_Comerford and thanks to cosponsors... for supporting pollinator-friendly solar”
Public consultation for revising the EU Pollinators Initiative
(Twitter, Quercus ANCN @quercusancn, translated from original Portuguese) “A public consultation on the European Union Initiative on Pollinators is open until 9 June 2022. Participating is a form of citizenship to reach a commitment to reverse the decline of pollinators by 2030.”
Science
Photo: Takeshi Saito, EyeEm, Getty Images
There’s a really weird effect when honey bees fly over a mirror
(Science Alert) In 1963, an Austrian entomologist named Herbert Heran and the German behavioral scientist, Martin Lindauer, noticed something peculiar in the way honey bees zoom through the air. When a selection of bees was trained to fly over a lake, they could only make it to the other side if there were waves and ripples on the surface of the water. If the lake was mirror-smooth, the bees would suddenly lose altitude until they crashed headlong into the water. Now, researchers have replicated the 1963 experiment (albeit in a more ethical way) and show that honey bees watch the ground speeding below them to regulate their altitude in flight.
Guards form “sanitary barrier” and prevent jataí bees with fungus from entering nests
(Universidade de São Paulo, translated from Portuguese) The jataí bee is a stingless, docile and easy-to-handle species, but curiously has a sophisticated recognition system, to the point of aggressively preventing the entry into the nest of companions exposed to fungi that can contaminate the colony. Researchers have found that the jataí guards, who control access to the nests, recognize chemical changes in the bodies of bees that had contact in the field with the fungus Beauveria bassiana, used as a biopesticide, not allowing its entry.
New iNaturalist milestone for Minnesota bumble bees
(Twitter, Zach Portman, @zachportman) “With some new confirmed Bombus insularis records, we’re now up to 21 species of bumblebees documented in Minnesota on iNaturalist. This is approaching the ceiling of 25 confirmed bumblebee species for the state... Unfortunately we will never get all 25 species because 1 species is likely extirpated (Bombus ashtoni) and 1 species is likely extinct (Bombus variabilis)”
Quick guide to Diptera pollinators
(Current Biology) Imagine yourself walking through a field where the flowers are in full bloom. If you look closely, you’ll find a huge diversity of insects, including many different species of flies. Many of these flies are able to pick up pollen and successfully transfer it to other plants of the same species. Diptera pollination is the transfer of pollen specifically by flies. Flies actually rank second, a little behind bees, in frequency of flower visitation and regular pollen transfer.
These flowers lure pollinators to their deaths. There’s a new twist on how.
(ScienceNews) Fake – and fatal – invitations to romance could be the newest bit of trickery uncovered among some jack-in-the-pulpit wildflowers. The fatal part isn’t the surprise. Jack-in-the-pulpits are the only plants known to kill their own insect pollinators as a matter of routine. The new twist, if confirmed, would be using sexual deception to woo pollinators into the death traps.
Habitats as predictors in species distribution models
(Twitter, Petr Keil @R_you_cereal) “Modelling species distributions using habitats: This may seem counter-intuitive, but simple binary presence/absence of a habitat can be a better predictor of species occurrence than continuous amount of the habitat. It all depends on rarity of the habitat.” Original paper
Society/Culture
Photo: Colin Purrington
Report Houdini flies if you see them
(Twitter, colinpurrington @colinpurrington) “If you see this fly lurking around your bee hotel, please take a photograph and upload it to @iNaturalist. It’s a Houdini fly (Cacoxenus indagator), an introduced kleptoparasite of mason bees. Recorded in MA, MD, NY, OR, PA, WA, and BC, but likely elsewhere, too.”
Help monitor bees in St. Louis
(Twitter, Shutterbee @Shutterbeez) “We are recruiting new participants for 2022! Are you interested in learning about bees? Do you like being outdoors? Join us in monitoring the bees of St. Louis. No garden? No problem. We can help you choose the right spot for you. Sign up here”
Junior Entomologist Summer Camp in June
(University of California - Riverside) “Join us for the UC Riverside Entomology Outreach Program’s third annual Junior Entomologists Summer Camp. Open your eyes to the fun, wonder, and versatility of insects and the science of entomology at our world-renowned department. Make an insect collection, conduct an experiment, listen to a variety of guest speakers, interact with live insects, and explore insect habitats! Kids entering fourth or fifth grade are eligible. Limited need-based scholarships are available on a first-come-first-serve basis.”
Field guides for Mediterranean bees, butterflies, other insects available
(Twitter, LIFE 4 Pollinators @4Pollinators) “Fieldguides for bees, butterflies, flies, beetles, wasps and entomophilous plants in 4 different languages (English, Italian, Spanish, Catalan) are now here ready to download”
One More Thing…
“The eggs of insects, a thread.” From Alex Wild @Myrmecos via Twitter.
