How we breed crops might make them less delicious to the bees they depend on
As we breed crops to grow bigger and faster, they’re less delicious to the bees they depend on
Photo: Emily Bailes, School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, University of London
Whenever we talk about the connection between bees and our food system, the conversation inevitably flows one way: Bees are critical to the success of our crops. But in reality, the connection flows both ways. Our crops are also critical to the success of bees. If we expect bees to continue spreading pollen on our farms, then they need to get something in return. Unfortunately, we're discovering that our breeding efforts are making some crops less attractive and beneficial to bees. Here's my latest story with The New Food Economy.
Could five more bees be protected as endangered species?
In mid-October two separate petitions were filed with government agencies to formally protect five different types of bees in the U.S. as endangered species.
The Xerces Society filed a petition with California's Fish and Game Commission to list four species of native bumble bees – the western bumble bee, Franklin’s bumble bee, Crotch’s bumble bee and the Suckley cuckoo bumble bee – under California’s Endangered Species Act.
And the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to give Endangered Species Act protection to the Mojave poppy bee, which is known to survive only in seven locations in Clark County, Nev.
These petitions come at a time when wide-ranging efforts are being made at the federal level to change, circumvent and diminish the protective powers of the federal Endangered Species Act, in additional to other policy changes that could be harmful to bee populations across North America.
Photo: Zach Portman, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota
Here's what a world without bees could look like...
Photo source: Sydney Morning Herald
Here's a fascinating story from the Sydney Morning Herald about the only place on the planet known to exist without pollinating birds and bees. Macquarie Island sits halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica, and if you're into colorful flowers, it's not pretty.