How will bees fare under a Biden administration?
Joe Biden has been elected the 46th president of the United States. It’s time to start thinking about how we can make progress at a national level over the next four years on some of the most pressing issues for bees.
“It is very hard to tell what the new administration will do specifically for pollinators,” says Scott Black, executive director of the Xerces Society, “but I hope and think by the second year there may be some specific focus.”
We certainly have reason to believe that the Biden administration will move in ways that make the world a better place for bees. The president-elect has made it clear that tackling the climate crisis and supporting science will be top priorities. His team will also be working to undo the damage wrought by the Trump administration’s assault on the natural world. But successfully addressing issues like bee-appropriate habitat, pesticide use, and the spread of disease and pathogens between commercial and wild bees will require more than just doing better than his predecessor (because that’s a low bar to clear). Real progress will require supporting some specific actions and continued, assertive advocacy from both the public and scientific community.
“Unless we are proactive, honey bees might get some help. Maybe even bumble bees might get some help,” says Lori Ann Burd, environmental health program director and a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “But native bees, solitary bees, they need loud voices.”
Habitat conservation seems like the best possibility for progress. In his platform, Biden has specifically called for actions such as:
• conserving 30% of America's lands and waters by 2030
• permanently protecting federal lands and waters
• mobilizing a new civilian climate corps that will (among many duties) improve wildlife corridors and remove invasive species
Also, during Biden’s second term as vice president, the White House released a national strategy to promote honey bee and pollinator health, which included the restoration and enhancement of millions of acres of land for pollinators. (Black says one of his goals is to get the Biden team to dust off this National Pollinator Strategy and see it updated with climate-adapted, nature-based solutions.)
While these calls to conserve and protect habitat are important, there’s a long path to travel between ideas and action – and numerous ways to stray from results that are ideal for bees and other insects. Burd also raises an notable point: Accumulating and buying back thousands of acres of land is going to take significant time, effort and money. Wouldn’t banning certain pesticides (like, say, neonicotinoids) be a more immediate and effective way to start affecting bee-friendly change?
Unfortunately, nobody in the incoming administration seems to be talking about reining in or ending the use of specific pesticides. Biden’s agriculture platform remains pretty conventional, and pesticides are mentioned only once in his policies in terms of protecting farm workers. The Democratic Party has a single line in its platform about helping farmers “reduce pesticide and chemical fertilizer use”. But that’s it.
Interestingly, we might not need the Biden team to be focused specifically on pesticides for real change to happen.
The Environmental Protection Agency is currently in the process of reregistering all pesticides, including neonicotinoids. And the agency expects to complete reregistration of neonics in 2021. However, Burd says, because the EPA has refused to fulfill its legal duty to consult on the impacts of neonicotinoids and other pesticides on plants and animals protected by the Endangered Species Act, they have been sued multiple times. In a settlement to litigation over clothianidin and thiamethoxam, the agency has agreed to study the effects of these pesticides on endangered species by the summer of 2022.
The Endangered Species Act prohibits federal agencies from taking any action (such as approving a pesticide for use) that jeopardizes the continued existence of an endangered species. Consequently, some advocates are hopeful that this consultation will result in EPA curtailing the use of neonicotinoids in the habitat of endangered species imperiled by them – species like the rusty patched bumble bee.
Several times during the campaign, Biden gave enthusiastic support to the Endangered Species Act, including this tweet at the moment when Trump undermined the Act:
“For decades, the Endangered Species Act has protected our most vulnerable wildlife from extinction. Now, President Trump wants to throw it all away. At a time when climate change is pushing our planet to the brink, we should strengthen protections — not weaken them.”
If Biden’s enthusiasm translates (at a bare minimum) into just letting the law do its job, then we might see some real progress on the pesticide front.
As for disease and pathogen transfer from commercial to wild bees... This issue is so specific that it’s just not something politicos are likely thinking about. In fact, the Xerces Society had little luck even getting it on the Obama administration’s radar, according to Black. That being said, there might be one possibility: the 2023 Farm Bill.
Bees have been part of this essential legislation for decades, focusing almost exclusively on honey bees as livestock. But in 2008, after colony collapse disorder reared its mysterious and ugly head, the focus began to diversify. In the most recent Farm Bill from 2018, native bees – “native pollinators” – were recognized as separate from honey bees and equally important. This iteration of the Farm Bill called for actions such as the reconvening of the Pollinator Health Task Force to address, among other things, “issues relating to pollinator health and disease”; and the Office of the Chief Scientist was tasked with duties such as documenting “pest, pathogens and viruses” that affect both native pollinators and managed colonies.
Maybe the next Farm Bill could be a way to get lawmakers working on this important but wonky issue.
As exciting as the opportunities seem for the next four years, there should be no expectation that things will magically become better for bees under Biden. Continued, strong advocacy will be required. However, I’d much rather be pressing for change with a Biden administration in charge: They might be an opponent on certain points, but they’re not an enemy.
Conservation
Even moderate drought conditions are bad for bees
(Entomology Today) A new study tested the effect of reduced water availability on a plant used by bees and examined whether changes in plant nutrition content affect honey bees and bumble bees. “We found that water limitation directly impacts the floral resources produced by plants and this can have cascading effects on pollinators consuming the nectar and pollen of affected plants.”
Climate change and food demand could shrink species’ habitats by almost a quarter by 2100
(EurekAlert, University of Cambridge) Mammals, birds and amphibians worldwide have lost on average 18% of their natural habitat range as a result of changes in land use and climate change, a new study has found. In a worst-case scenario this loss could increase to 23% over the next 80 years.
Stanford researchers develop DNA approach to forecast ecosystem changes
(Stanford University) The rapid, low-cost technique is the first to analyze DNA left behind in animals’ feces to map out complex networks of species interactions in a terrestrial system. It could help redefine conservation as we know it, identify otherwise hard-to-find species and guide a global effort to rewild vast areas.
Economics
Australian hives recover after heavy toll of drought and bushfire
(ABC News) The bee population in New South Wales has bounced back after heavy losses during the drought and bushfires. Widespread rain to date in 2020 has led to a bumper spring, with winter crops, trees and plants all blossoming for the first time in years. “This is probably the best start to a bee season in at last 20 years in the southern half of the state and it's greatly improved in the northern part of the state.”
Policy/Law
Outdated pesticide labels could pose a threat to pollinators
(Capital Press) According to a new study, more than 30% of pesticide labels fail to follow Environmental Protection Agency recommendations and provide incorrect information about their toxicity to pollinators. The research may help regulators identify labels that need amending and it has prompted Oregon State University Extension Service to offer better education to pesticide applicators. The discovery was made by an unsuspecting young student.
(ABC News) Noosa Shire Council's internationally renowned green credentials are taking a battering as beekeepers face a ban on new beehives in the suburbs. The New Noosa Plan, introduced in July, permits only existing, registered beekeepers to keep a maximum of three hives. The plan does not distinguish between stingless native bees and European honey bees.
$3.7 billion for parks, climate resiliency, and public lands approved by US voters
(The Trust for Public Land) Following on the heels of unprecedented increases in visitation to public lands – from neighborhood parks to national parks – during the COVID-19 crisis, the 2020 election gave voters in 48 jurisdictions throughout the country an opportunity to weigh in on the value of outdoors spaces to their quality of life.
Senate Republicans ignore extinction crisis in funding legislation
(Center for Biological Diversity) Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee released a partisan funding bill for the U.S. Department of the Interior that continues to underfund endangered species conservation and ignores the wildlife extinction crisis happening around the world.
Science
(Vanderbilt University) There has long been a connection between neonicotinoid pesticides and their lethal effect on bees. New research shows that honey bees that ingest nonlethal levels of neonics are losing sleep. That disruption of their circadian rhythm causes the bees to lose their sense of time and navigation, leading to broader stress within highly social bee populations and lower hive survival rates.
(Twitter, Kelsey K. Graham, PhD @kelsey_k_graham) “New paper out showing benefits of wildflower plantings on fruit farms for stem-nesting #bees. Nesting almost exclusively at farms with plantings, though bees often used ‘volunteer’ species for pollen collection (not seeded species!).” The original paper.
Society/Culture
Scientists relieved as Joe Biden wins tight US presidential election
(Nature) Joe Biden will soon be president of the United States, and scientists the world over are breathing a collective sigh of relief. But concerns remain: nearly half of voters cast their ballots for President Donald Trump, whose actions have repeatedly undermined science and scientific institutions. Biden will have his work cut out for him in January as he takes the helm of a politically polarized nation.
One More Thing…
Using Pokémon to detect scientific misinformation
(The Scientist) “On March 18, 2020, the American Journal of Biomedical Science & Research published my paper claiming that eating a bat-like Pokémon sparked the spread of COVID-19. This paper, ‘Cyllage City COVID-19 outbreak linked to Zubat consumption,’ blames a fictional creature for an outbreak in a fictional city, cites fictional references (including one from author Bruce Wayne in Gotham Forensics Quarterly on using bats to fight crime), and is cowritten by fictional authors such as Pokémon’s Nurse Joy and House, MD. Nonetheless, four days after submission, editor Catherine Nichols was ‘cheerful to inform’ me via email that it had ‘received positive review comments’ and was accepted for publication... To make matters worse, my Pokémon-inspired paper on the novel coronavirus has already been cited.”