Economic value of insect pollination higher than previously thought. The genetic past, present, future of honey bees. What the fossil record tells us about insect extinctions.
Hey all! You may have noticed there was no Bee Report last week. That’s because there was so little bee-related news that it made more sense to hold the handful of items for this week’s edition. That’s the first time this has happened in the three years of doing the Bee Report!
However, this week’s Bee Report is filled with some really interesting stories. If you can only dive into a few of them, I high recommend checking out “Economic value of insect pollination services much higher than previously thought in U.S.”, “The genetic past, present, and future of the honey bee”, and “What the fossil record tells us about insect extinctions in deep time”.
Also, the Bees of Grand Staircase-Escalante documentary featuring Olivia Carril and Joe Wilson will start showing next week as part of the virtual Colorado Environmental Film Festival, Feb. 12-21. Specifically, it will be part of the Wildlife #2 collection along with several other bee films. You can get a pass for the entire festival or just for a single collection of films. If you weren't able to join us for a previous viewing, now’s your chance! Plus, there are a bunch of other films that look absolutely incredible.
Conservation
Endangered Hawaiian yellow-faced bees threatened by invasive ants
(Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources) Researchers evaluated the effects of invasive ants on nesting Hawaiian yellow-faced bees using artificial nest blocks. They discovered that 70% of nests in untreated or “control” blocks (no protection from ants) were invaded by ants. Nests in treated blocks were more likely to produce at least one adult than nests in untreated blocks.
Flower diversity may mitigate insecticide effects on wild bees
(ScienceDaily, University of Göttingen) New research has found that the number of brood cells that wild red mason bees created where species-rich flowering mixtures were available was twice that of red mason bees where only oilseed rape was available.
Native bees under threat from growing urbanization
(ScienceDaily, Curtin University) Researchers have found that residential gardens are a poor substitute for native bushland and increasing urbanization is a growing threat when it comes to bees. “We found residential gardens were structurally different to those in bushland remnants, and the increasing loss of these native areas for residential development could disrupt important bee-plant interactions.”
Chicago park district working to heal environment, ecosystem
(WTTW) “There’s so much land that nobody’s focusing on. I feel like that’s the future. How can we make the Midwest pretty again?”
Economics
Economic value of insect pollination services much higher than previously thought in U.S.
(ScienceDaily, University of Pittsburgh) According to a team of researchers, the economic value of insect pollinators was $34 billion in the U.S. in 2012, much higher than previously thought. The team also found that areas that are economically most reliant on insect pollinators are the same areas where pollinator habitat and forage quality are poor.
Millions of bees could be ‘destroyed’ over import rules
(BBC) A delivery of 15 million baby honey bees to the UK could “be sent back or destroyed” because of post-Brexit laws. New laws which came into effect after the U.K. left the single market in January say only queen bees can be imported into Great Britain. However, confusion remains regarding imports from Northern Ireland.
Policy/Law
Endangered Species Act protection sought for American bumble bee
(Center for Biological Diversity) Conservation groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to grant Endangered Species Act protection to the American bumble bee. The petition was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Bombus Pollinator Association of Law Students of Albany Law School. Once among the nation’s most commonly observed bumble bees from coast to coast, the bee has declined by an estimated 89% in just the past 20 years.
Washington lawmakers look at consensus bee bill
(Capital Press) Senate Bill 5253 includes items such as a ban on non-native eastern bumble bees to pollinate outdoor crops, a requirement that landscaping on public works projects to be at least 25% pollinator habitat, and the establishment of a permanent state task force on pollinators. The Senate agriculture committee held a hearing on the bill. The bill has bipartisan support, and no one testified against it. Carrying out the bill, however, will require lawmakers fitting it into the budget.
New York state announces pollinator plan update
(New York Department of Agriculture and Markets) The update outlines actions taken since the creation of the state’s Pollinator Protection Plan and provides several recommendations to further the state’s goals to protect its pollinator populations. This includes creating the Cooperative Honey Bee Health Improvement Plan, expanding the NYS Beekeeper Tech Team, increasing pollinator friendly habitats, and continuing critical research on the major stressors to honey bees.
Legal threat over bee-harming pesticide use in U.K.
(BBC) The Wildlife Trusts is to take legal action against the U.K. government over its decision to allow a pesticide that is almost entirely banned in the EU. In 2018, the EU banned the outdoor use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which harm pollinating insects such as bees. But following Brexit, the government approved the emergency use of one neonicotinoid to combat a crop disease. The charity has told Environment Secretary George Eustice of their intention to challenge the decision.
Science
The genetic past, present, and future of the honey bee
(Twitter, Maddie Carpenter @mh_carps) “After combing through hundreds of years (and hundreds of pages) of digitized bee journals, newspapers, and scientific papers, we now know honey bees were continually introduced to the US for 300 years. Ultimately, nine subspecies of HB arrived in the country.” The original paper.
The mite-biting grooming behavior of honey bees
(Twitter, Dr. Hongmei Li-Byarlay @Insect_Sciences) “A worker bee can attack the mite by holding it with forelegs and bite the legs of the mite with bee’s mandibles. Purdue University bee lab has selected this biting behavior for a decade and their stocks are called Indiana mite biters.”
Hygienic honey bees are more resistant to destructive parasite
(Phys.org, INRAE) Some honey bee colonies have been able to survive the Varroa mite without any sort of treatment, thus showing an ability to resist the parasite. Researchers have discovered this is because some bees are capable of detecting the parasite in the cells where it is present. These bees – called hygienic – open the contaminated cells to clean them, sacrificing the developing pupae but controlling the spread of the parasite and preserving the colony. But, how can they detect the parasite hidden in the cells? The answer is six specific molecules.
The mystery of the blue flower: nature’s rare color owes its existence to bee vision
(The Conversation) “We used a new online plant database to survey the the relative frequencies of blue flowers compared to other colours. Among flowers which are pollinated without the intervention of bees or other insects (known as abiotic pollination), none were blue. But when we looked at flowers that need to attract bees and other insects to move their pollen around, we started to see some blue.”
What the fossil record tells us about insect extinctions in deep time
(Entomology Today) We’ve all been seeing more and more scientific article and newspaper headlines about insects going extinct. A review article in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America explains what the fossil record tells us about insect extinctions in deep time. Here’s an outline of the main points.
Technology
Flying robots suggest bees can’t rely on instinct to land on flowers
(New Scientist) Honey bees move quickly from flower to flower, landing easily on each one in turn – but a study involving small drones suggests that the undertaking is more difficult than it looks, implying the bees rely on learning as well as hardwired instinct.
One More Thing…
Best use of a popular meme for bee-related purposes? From Bees in Your Backyard @BeesBackyard via Twitter.