tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/pollinators-4970/articlesPollinators – The Conversation2024-03-28T12:21:15Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2265412024-03-28T12:21:15Z2024-03-28T12:21:15ZEarly spring brings a ‘hungry gap’ for bees – here’s how you can help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584795/original/file-20240327-20-lqgl8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4430%2C2951&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/flight-flying-bumblebee-spring-on-fruit-1390687526">Daniel Pahmeier/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Wild bees pollinate the crops and wild plants that feed us and sustain entire ecosystems, but many of the world’s 20,000 bee species are in decline. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ee/article/50/3/732/6119323">Loss of habitat</a> is chiefly to blame, especially the loss of plants that provide pollen and nectar for bees to feed themselves and their brood (their eggs, larvae and pupae).</p>
<p>Falling numbers of bees and other insect pollinators have prompted governments to respond. In the UK, Europe and US, “pollinator planting” initiatives have taken root, yet species continue to decline. At least part of the problem seems to be that these schemes, which offer guidance to farmers, gardeners and landowners, recommend planting flowers to feed bees that start blooming much too late.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/icad.12736">a new study</a>, we modelled the quantity of food available to bees in a computer simulation of a real farm. We found that the plant species recommended for pollinator planting in national initiatives tend to flower up to a month too late for the bees that emerge in the early spring – that’s right now, in March and April. </p>
<p>This “hungry gap” means fewer bee colonies survive to the end of the summer and not enough new queens are produced for the following year. The good news is that expanding these schemes to include plants that bloom very early in the spring could throw a lifeline to struggling bees. </p>
<h2>Why is the early spring so important?</h2>
<p>We wanted to find out when, during a typical season, limited food most threatens the fitness of bumblebees and which plant species are most helpful for remedying this. Our computer model simulations included multiple colonies of the buff-tailed bumblebee (<em>Bombus terrestris</em>) and the common carder bee (<em>Bombus pascuorum</em>), two UK species which emerge in spring. </p>
<p>The computer model simulates the life cycle of bumblebees. In it, digital bees explore a realistic landscape, collecting nectar and pollen, forming colonies and caring for their brood. At the end of a season, males and daughter queens are produced, and over a number of years the population may prosper or decline.</p>
<p>The landscape of a real farm was digitised to make the simulation, and the different areas (hedgerows, meadows, paddocks) marked in a digital map. We could adjust the variety of flowering plants in these areas for different test runs.</p>
<p>Adding plant species to the model that flower between March and April, like ground ivy, red dead-nettle, maple, cherry, hawthorn or willow, improved the survival rate of these bee populations from 35% to 100% over ten years. This meant that all colonies of both species survived each year a decade after these early flowering plants had been introduced.</p>
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<img alt="Fuzzy yellow catkins on slender branches." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Willow tends to flower early in the season when we rarely see many bees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/willow-salix-caprea-branch-coats-fluffy-2244717269">Irina Boldina/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>These plants can fit into existing hedgerows without reducing the area used for crop production, ensuring farmers can continue to grow food and make a living while nourishing pollinators.</p>
<p>We were surprised to find that the bee colony’s demand for nectar and pollen at the start of the spring was driven mainly by the number of larvae rather than the number of adult workers. But if we look at the life cycle of a typical social bee colony, this finding makes sense. </p>
<p>In the spring, a queen emerges from hibernation, finds a suitable nest site, collects nectar and pollen and raises a first generation of brood. This founding stage of the colony is followed by the social phase, when enough pupae have matured into adult workers that they can take over foraging and brood care for the colony. The founding stage can last several weeks, and during this time, there are very few adult bees foraging to meet the needs of a large number of brood. This explains why, for our spring-emerging species, we observed high food demand in March and April, before we normally see large numbers of adult worker bees foraging outside the colony.</p>
<h2>Filling the hungry gap</h2>
<p>Some bee species emerge in the early spring and some emerge later; in the northern hemisphere, a species can emerge any time between March and July. Across <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-1062-4">Europe</a> and <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1115559108">North America</a> there are plenty of early-spring bees which appear at the beginning of this range. In fact, somewhere between a third and a quarter of bee species in temperate regions may appear around the start of spring.</p>
<p>But government guidance in the UK and the EU misses this critical March-April hungry gap. EU guidance is to allow wild plants to flower during the summer, when most pollinators are on the wing, by cutting grass or grazing in early spring and autumn. In the US, land managers are encouraged (depending on the state) to plant a minimum of three species that bloom between April and June 15. These recommendations overlook the need for early spring forage. </p>
<p>Our critical finding is that bees need flowers for food up to a month before we even see the adults flying around. If different species of bee are active from April through October, then we need flowers blooming from March onward. </p>
<p>Providing flowers across the whole season, with an emphasis on early spring flowers, would make pro-pollinator schemes more effective. To supplement the <a href="https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/">“No Mow May”</a> campaign, we need a “plant early spring flowers” drive. Or even better: make sure you have flowers blooming every month from March through October.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthias Becher works for RIFCON GmbH, Germany. He received funding from UKRI NERC for supporting the development of BEESTEWARD (project NE/P016731/1).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tonya Lander does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Check that something is blooming every week, March through October, to help bees.Tonya Lander, Stipendiary Lecturer in Biology, University of OxfordMatthias Becher, Affiliate, Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of ExeterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2164232024-03-12T12:30:14Z2024-03-12T12:30:14ZSolar power occupies a lot of space – here’s how to make it more ecologically beneficial to the land it sits on<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580757/original/file-20240308-22-g0m361.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3019%2C1783&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Solar panels shade grassland at Jack's Solar Garden, an agrovoltaic farm in Longmont, Colo.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Sturchio</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As societies look for ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change, large-scale solar power is playing a central role. Climate scientists view it as the tool with <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/">the greatest potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2030</a>. In the U.S., the Department of Energy predicts that solar will <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61424">account for nearly 60%</a> of all new utility-scale electricity-generating capacity installed in 2024. </p>
<p><iframe id="k06YW" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/k06YW/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>But ideal locations for solar development often overlap with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47803-3">croplands or grasslands used for livestock grazing</a>. Typically, large-scale solar arrays are designed to maximize energy generation, without much consideration for the ecosystems in which they are placed. </p>
<p>For example, grading land and removing vegetation can <a href="https://www.popsci.com/environment/solar-farm-construction-epa-water-violations/">cause erosion and send runoff into waterways</a>. Solar developers have been fined for such environmental violations in <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/05/10/u-s-court-orders-developer-to-pay-135-5-million-in-100-mw-solar-property-damage-case/">Georgia</a>, <a href="https://www.gazettenet.com/Developer-to-pay-$1-14-million-for-wetlands-stormwater-violations-38651958#">Massachusetts</a>, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/settlements-resolve-clean-water-act-violations-four-solar-farm-construction-sites-alabama">Alabama, Idaho and Illinois</a>. </p>
<p>There also are concerns about how large solar installations affect <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/11/climate/climate-change-wildlife-solar.html">animal movement patterns</a>. In the western U.S., removing native vegetation to make room for solar farms can threaten endangered animals and insects that rely on these plants as food and habitat. Native plant communities take a long time to reestablish themselves in these water-limited areas after they are disturbed.</p>
<p>I am <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Oyns6e8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">an ecologist</a> and a member of a research team led by <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=e5RTvRMAAAAJ&hl=en">Alan Knapp</a> at Colorado State University. We investigate how solar development affects grassland ecosystem health – in particular, how plants’ growth and water use patterns and response to light change once solar panels are installed overhead. Through this work, we hope to inform a more sustainable future for solar energy. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580762/original/file-20240308-20-ka23d0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A row of solar photovoltaic panels with bushy tomato plants in front of them" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580762/original/file-20240308-20-ka23d0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580762/original/file-20240308-20-ka23d0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580762/original/file-20240308-20-ka23d0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580762/original/file-20240308-20-ka23d0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580762/original/file-20240308-20-ka23d0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580762/original/file-20240308-20-ka23d0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580762/original/file-20240308-20-ka23d0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This agrivoltaic solar array uses the space between rows of panels to grow tomatoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Sturchio</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Two land uses are better than one</h2>
<p>A growing alternative to using land solely for solar power generation is called agrivoltaics. As its name suggests, this strategy combines agriculture and solar power on the same piece of land. Agrivoltaic projects can take place on croplands, grazing lands and habitat for agriculturally important pollinators. This dual-use approach to solar development <a href="https://science.osti.gov/-/media/sbir/pdf/Market-Research/SETO---Agrivoltaics-August-2022-Public.pdf">has become popular worldwide</a></p>
<p>The <a href="https://openei.org/wiki/InSPIRE/Agrivoltaics_Map">vast majority</a> of agrivoltaic projects in the U.S. are on lands managed for livestock grazing and pollinator habitat. These sites are ideal for solar power colocation because, unlike croplands, they do not require irrigation or the use of large machinery. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T6PEk_OZUmI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">One version of agrivoltaics is combining solar arrays and livestock grazing.</span></figcaption>
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<p>However, these lands rely on rainfall to support plant growth, and the presence of solar panels affects how water reaches the soil. Most agrivoltaic arrays use sun-tracking programs that maximize energy production by tilting panels to follow the sun across the sky. As this happens, the panels create distinct micro-environments that are quite different from natural conditions. </p>
<p>For example, in Colorado, most precipitation occurs in the afternoon, when solar panels are tilted west toward the sun. As a result, most rainfall on agrivoltaic sites is concentrated at the panels’ western edges where it drops to the ground. This redistribution can multiply rainfall at panel edges by up to a factor of four, while restricting rainfall in other patches. </p>
<p>Another factor is that solar panels introduce shade on grasslands that are adapted to high light conditions. Because the arrays are optimized to intercept sunlight, much less light reaches plants beneath the panels.</p>
<h2>The ecology behind ecovoltaics</h2>
<p>So far, our work shows that the distinct micro-environments created by solar arrays produce similarly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4334">varied patterns of plant growth</a>. This finding is encouraging: It means that the environmental variation created by solar panels passively tracking the sun is enough to make plants respond differently. These micro-environments could potentially support a mosaic of plant communities that benefit from different conditions.</p>
<p>In some cases, mixed conditions like these, with varying levels of light and water, can be a good thing. A well-tested concept in restoration ecology – the science of restoring damaged ecosystems – is that environments with more variety support more diverse mixes of plants and animals.</p>
<p>In a 2023 paper, we outlined a concept that calls for an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02174-x">ecologically informed approach to solar development</a>. This approach, called ecovoltaics, requires giving equal priority to energy production and <a href="https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/ecosystem-services">ecosystem services</a>. </p>
<p>An ecovoltaic approach allows land managers to use solar to their advantage. Designing and managing solar arrays in ways that are rooted in fundamental ecological concepts can produce more synergies between ecosystems and solar energy.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580834/original/file-20240310-26-auaqrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Diagram showing ways to space rows of solar panels, alter their angles or adjust height to achieve various ecological outcomes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580834/original/file-20240310-26-auaqrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580834/original/file-20240310-26-auaqrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580834/original/file-20240310-26-auaqrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580834/original/file-20240310-26-auaqrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580834/original/file-20240310-26-auaqrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580834/original/file-20240310-26-auaqrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580834/original/file-20240310-26-auaqrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Ecovoltaic systems can be configured in different ways to achieve specific ecological goals, such as reducing water loss from soil or creating shady zones for grazing livestock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Sturchio</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Land managers could use ecovoltaic approaches to improve degraded lands by designing solar arrays to enhance natural processes. For example, since the edges of solar panels redistribute and concentrate rainfall, making the soil beneath them wetter, they could aid in seedling establishment in those spots. </p>
<p>In arid regions, arrays could be designed to promote this effect and improve restoration. If water is scarce, arrays could be designed to reduce the amount of exposed ground, which in turn would reduce the amount of water lost to the atmosphere through evaporation. </p>
<h2>Doing solar differently</h2>
<p>Many factors influence land management decisions. The land’s history, access to water, soil types, vegetation and topography all play a role. Ecovoltaics adds another factor: balancing energy production per unit area with the ecological effects of a particular solar array. </p>
<p>An ecovoltaic approach to solar power requires fundamentally rethinking how solar development decisions are made. Today, access to electricity transmission lines limits where solar power can be deployed in many areas. If transmission lines and substations are too far away, or undersized, solar power is unlikely to be developed. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/10/30/fact-sheetbiden-harris-administration-announces-historic-investment-to-bolster-nations-electric-grid-infrastructure-cut-energy-costs-for-families-and-create-good-paying-jobs/">New transmission projects</a> that ease this geographic constraint could provide more options. With greater flexibility in choosing sites, developers could shift away from highly sensitive natural ecosystems and install solar arrays on abandoned, water-limited or otherwise degraded lands instead. Ecovoltaics could be a solution for stabilizing the economy of communities where productive land has been <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-top-colorado-farming-region-is-running-out-of-water-must-retire-land-to-avoid-well-shutdown/ar-BB1jgzFe">retired to conserve resources</a></p>
<p>Solar power is scaling up to levels that make it central to a clean energy transition. My colleagues and I believe that solar development should proceed in a way that reflects ecological thinking. In our view, an ecovoltaic approach to solar can produce positive ecological outcomes and make solar energy even more sustainable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216423/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Sturchio receives funding from the US Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.</span></em></p>Solar development isn’t always good for the land, but pairing it with agriculture can produce multiple benefits.Matthew Sturchio, PhD Student in Plant and Ecosystem Ecology, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2223112024-03-01T17:24:50Z2024-03-01T17:24:50ZWild solitary bees offer a vital pollination service – but their nutritional needs aren’t understood<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576508/original/file-20240219-20-4ra04s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Solitary bees, including this Nomada goodeniana, often feed on nectar from specific flowers - in this case, white hawthorn. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/soft-closeup-on-male-goodens-nomad-2151214787">HWall/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As I walk around the supermarket, I pick up vegetables for tomorrow’s dinner, eggs and bread for tonight and some sweet treats for the week. By choosing a range of different food types, I’ll eat a wide variety of nutrients. But what if bread was the only option available? And another shop just sold a different type of loaf? Or only oranges?</p>
<p>This may sound far-fetched, but for bees – insects that depend on pollen and nectar for their nutrition – that’s the equivalent of feeding from a large field of just one type of plant. Some bees feed on a wide range of plants. Others, including some of the UK’s <a href="https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/other-bees/">200 wild solitary bee species</a> are specialists, like the <a href="https://bwars.com/bee/melittidae/melitta-dimidiata">sainfoin bee</a> that only visits one type of flower for pollen. </p>
<p>While some UK bee species are thriving, many have declined as a result of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12667472/">changes in the abundance and variety</a> of flowers across our landscapes.</p>
<p>Much less is known about the biology of solitary bees compared to that of domesticated honeybees or bumblebees, which have been extensively studied in large numbers under lab conditions. By comparison, solitary bees don’t form colonies or have a queen-worker system. The nutritional needs of each solitary bee species varies so it’s difficult to know what diet they would need in order to thrive during experimental conditions. </p>
<p>Yet, they provide a vital pollination service for some of our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880921001511?casa_token=tdHy6f7VJfQAAAAA:iPS3yu_jmGdEgHMQV_tUgvZr9F3cyK52y9T1fuBxMjl2ZaOLh715KiVECzE8EL_RjvgvUl5A">flowering crops</a> and help maintain our wildflower populations. So understanding their nutrition in greater detail could help us make sure the right flower foods are available to them.</p>
<h2>The bees’ needs</h2>
<p>For my PhD, I’m studying the different fats that are available in pollen from UK wildflowers and the fats found in the bodies of different bee species. Fats are essential to healthy growth and development in bees, however there’s huge variation in the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/2/132">quantity and quality</a> of food that different flowers provide. Cataloguing that information is complicated.</p>
<p>I’m specifically researching why solitary bees, many of which have specialised relationships with their food plants, visit certain flowers.</p>
<p>Nutrition is complex. Huge monocultures, (growing one crop species in a field at a time), provide a homogenous nutritional offering. Areas with a wider diversity of flowers can provide more nutritional diversity, but extracting enough pollen or nectar to analyse is challenging. </p>
<p>Just because one food source has high protein levels, it might not contain the essential ones or may have a poor fat content. If I recommend that you eat nothing but oranges because they’re rich in vitamin C, you’d miss out on other key nutrients such as protein. Similarly, with pollen and nectar, we need to understand the content of what bees are eating. </p>
<p>Nectar is a sugary liquid which provides lots of carbohydrates. Bees drink it using their tongues. Pollen provides the protein and fat content bees need and is collected on their bodies for transport back to their nests. The nutritional content of both pollen and nectar varies widely between flowers. To understand what food is available to them over <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16532">large areas</a>, we need to have nutritional information for a lot of different plants. </p>
<h2>How to feed wild bees</h2>
<p>Despite our lack of knowledge about the precise nutritional needs of bees, there are ways we can help feed them. Solitary bees can be found in your <a href="https://www.mygardenofathousandbees.com/the-film">garden</a> or local park. To learn more about them, start by trying to recognise them. Some don’t look like bees because they can be very small or hairless and some can easily be mistaken for wasps in the case of <a href="https://bwars.com/category/taxonomic-hierarchy/bee-4"><em>Nomada</em></a> species, with their black and yellow banding and hairless bodies. </p>
<p>Entomologist and ecologist Steven Falk maintains <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/collections/72157631518508520/">an excellent stock of photos online</a> and has published a comprehensive <a href="https://www.nhbs.com/field-guide-to-the-bees-of-great-britain-and-ireland-book">ID guide</a>. </p>
<p>Letting a green space go wild or choosing <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10841-019-00180-8">seed mixes with diverse flowers</a> can encourage a variety of wild bees. Even small patches of wildflowers can make a difference, especially at times of year when few other flowers are out, as has been shown in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0769-y">urban areas</a>. </p>
<p>Avoid plants bred to have little or no pollen or nectar. Ensuring food is available throughout their active period is key. The first bees emerge in March and the last ones feed until October. So while it’s good to have plenty of flowers available in peak summer when lots of bees are active, bees emerging from over-wintering need food in spring and those stocking up before winter need flowers to forage from. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close up of colourful wildflowers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576829/original/file-20240220-26-bsp0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A colourful mix of wildflowers provides more diverse nutrition for wild pollinators such as solitary bees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/wildflower-meadow?image_type=photo">Tohuwabohu 1976/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Useful resources for selecting plants to bring bees into your garden include the RHS <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators">plants for pollinators</a> list, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s <a href="https://beekind.bumblebeeconservation.org/">Bee Kind garden-scoring tool</a>, plus planting recommendations from <a href="https://friendsoftheearth.uk/nature/beefriendly-plants-every-season">Friends of the Earth</a> and <a href="https://www.buglife.org.uk/get-involved/gardening-for-bugs/planting-for-bugs-2/#:%7E:text=Open%2C%20daisy%2Dtype%20flowers%20and,such%20as%20Jasmine%20and%20Honeysuckle.">Buglife</a>. </p>
<p>Our wild solitary bees are an ecologically important and fascinating group of insects. Steps we take to support them in our gardens and at the landscape scale are key to maintaining the diversity of insects that pollinate so many of our flowers and crops. Even the smallest patches of wildflowers can provide much needed food for hungry bees and, above all, a varied menu.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ellen Baker receives funding from NERC and is a member of the British Ecological Society. </span></em></p>The nutritional needs of bees are complex and monoculture crops aren’t providing a diverse diet. Introducing more diverse wildflower meadows and green spaces could benefit wild pollinators.Ellen Baker, PhD Candidate, Nutritional Ecology, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2212182024-01-25T20:46:04Z2024-01-25T20:46:04ZThe first flowers evolved before bees – so how did they become so dazzling?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571111/original/file-20240124-17-j4irzv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C25%2C5596%2C3802&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/red-pink-and-yellow-flowering-plants-v-3NQ3pmWkY">Nature Uninterrupted Photography/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Colourful flowers, and the insects and birds that fly among their dazzling displays, are a joy of nature. But how did early relationships between flower colour and animal pollinators emerge?</p>
<p>In a study published in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2023.2018">Proceedings of the Royal Society</a>, we have unravelled this mystery by analysing the visual environments in which the ancestors of today’s bees foraged from flowers.</p>
<p>We measured and analysed the light reflected from today’s flowers, as well as the rocks, soil, sticks, bark and leaves that form their natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>From this data we built computer simulations that recreate the ancient visual environment when the first flowers emerged.</p>
<h2>Insect colour vision came before flowers</h2>
<p>Today, bees are prolific pollinators of flowering plants, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-bee-eye-camera-helps-us-support-bees-grow-food-and-protect-the-environment-110022">food crops</a>. Bees use <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2010.2412">colour vision</a> based on ultraviolet, blue and green sensitive photoreceptors (light-sensing cells) to detect and discriminate the most rewarding flowers. In comparison, most humans perceive colour using blue, green and red sensitive photoreceptors.</p>
<p>When the first flowers evolved during the Mesozoic era, between 252 million and 66 million years ago, the ancestors of bees had to orientate themselves, maintain stable flight, avoid collisions, and find food among natural backgrounds. We suspect their visual systems may have been influenced by evolution to efficiently operate in that environment.</p>
<p>By the time the first flowering plants appeared, bees’ ancestors had already evolved colour vision – and we know it <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01142181">has stuck around throughout the evolutionary history of bees</a>.</p>
<p>So, while bees weren’t initially around, their ancestors were. Flower colours likely evolved the vivid colours we see today to suit this ancient visual system. At the same time, the first bees emerged as the most efficient pollinators. </p>
<h2>What colour were flower backgrounds on the ancient Earth?</h2>
<p>Australia is an ideal place to collect data on natural background materials that early insects would have seen, as it is a <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/bt/BT00023">geologically ancient continent</a>.</p>
<p>We collected background samples from across Australia and measured their reflective properties using a tool called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrophotometry">spectrophotometer</a>.</p>
<p>We used this data to create a database of materials that would have been present in the visual environment of flying insects more than 100 million years ago – when the first flowers appeared.</p>
<h2>Flower colour evolved in response to bee colour vision</h2>
<p>For our collection of natural backgrounds, insect and bird pollinated flowers, we calculated <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215016120300479">marker points</a> – rapid changes in the intensity of light reflected from a surface, within a small wavelength band.</p>
<p>These marker points identify the key visual features of coloured surfaces, and we can use them for statistical testing of the evolutionary process. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-electromagnetic-spectrum-8046">Explainer: what is the electromagnetic spectrum?</a>
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</em>
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<p>We then wrote computer simulations to generate possible flower backgrounds. By analysing their marker points, we tested the visibility of today’s flowers against the simulated backgrounds.</p>
<p>Interestingly, we showed that the distribution of marker points on petals from plants pollinated by bees clearly indicates these flowers are “salient” – that is, they stand out as stronger signals from natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>This finding matches with previous studies suggesting that in the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00188925">Northern Hemisphere</a> and <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2012.0827">Australia</a>, flowering plants evolved colour signals to facilitate colour perception by bees.</p>
<p>The very first flowers were likely a <a href="https://theconversation.com/flies-like-yellow-bees-like-blue-how-flower-colours-cater-to-the-taste-of-pollinating-insects-167111">dull greenish-yellow colour and initially pollinated by flies</a>. However, as the first bees – with their tuned vision systems – started pollinating flowers, the flowers likely evolved new colours to match the bees’ visual capabilities.</p>
<p>The process of natural selection seems to have driven flower colours to stand out from their backgrounds in the eyes of pollinators.</p>
<h2>Birds were involved, too</h2>
<p>Birds became established as flower visitors <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.17822">millions of years after insect pollination evolved</a>. Bird vision uses <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/510141">four types of colour photoreceptors</a>, and they can see long-wavelength red colours that bees cannot easily process against natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>Our analysis confirmed that bird-pollinated flowers evolved marker points towards <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.12135">longer wavelengths than bee-pollinated flowers</a>. Our new discovery also showed that these flowers systematically differ from natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>As Earth’s climate changes, it is important to consider what might happen to ecosystems and our food production systems <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/RS/RS23003">in a world without bees</a>. It is vital that we understand how pollination and plant reproduction may be altered.</p>
<p>Our research shows that bees are a major driver of floral evolution. Unless we protect these insects and their habitat, we will lose fundamental and beautiful aspects of life we all enjoy and need.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-do-so-much-more-than-you-think-from-dancing-to-being-little-art-critics-204039">Bees can do so much more than you think – from dancing to being little art critics</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221218/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Dyer receives funding from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Dorin receives or has received funding and/or support from the Australian Research Council, Microsoft, National Geographic Society, AgriFutures Australia, Costa Group, Australian Blueberry Grower's Association, Sunny Ridge Berries.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mani Shrestha worked under the German Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) funded project, Professor Anke Jentsch, Disturbance Ecology Lab, University of Bayreuth, Germany and also wok in the Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jair Garcia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Flowers tend to stand out against a natural background. A new study shows this contrast evolved in a key relationship with their most famous pollinators – bees.Adrian Dyer, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Monash UniversityAlan Dorin, Associate Professor, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash UniversityJair Garcia, Researcher and analyst, Monash UniversityMani Shrestha, Senior Researcher and International Fellow, Disturbance Ecology, University of Bayreuth, Germany, Bayreuth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180052023-12-05T13:19:06Z2023-12-05T13:19:06Z‘Inert’ ingredients in pesticides may be more
toxic to bees than scientists thought<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563090/original/file-20231203-27-yyo7nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3048%2C2162&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A honeybee approaches a sunflower at Wards Berry Farm in Sharon, Mass.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sharon-ma-a-honeybee-buzzes-a-sunflower-in-bloom-at-wards-news-photo/1242574226">John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bees help pollinate over a third of the world’s crops, contributing <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/article/press-release-pollinators-vital-our-food-supply-under-threat">an estimated US$235 billion to $577 billion</a> in value to global agriculture. They also face a myriad of stresses, including pathogens and parasites, loss of suitable food sources and habitat, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-air-pollution-is-making-life-tougher-for-bugs-213122">air pollution</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-face-many-challenges-and-climate-change-is-ratcheting-up-the-pressure-190296">climate-driven weather extremes</a>.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-46948-6">recent study</a> has identified another important but understudied pressure on bees: “inert” ingredients in pesticides. </p>
<p>All pesticide products in the U.S. contain <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">active and inert ingredients</a>. Active ingredients are designed to kill or control a specific insect, weed or fungus and are listed on product labels. All other ingredients – emulsifiers, solvents, carriers, aerosol propellants, fragrances, dyes and such – are considered inert.</p>
<p>The new study exposed honeybees to two treatments: the isolated active ingredients in the fungicide <a href="https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/ppls/007969-00199-20221130.pdf">Pristine</a>, which is used to control <a href="https://agriculture.basf.us/content/dam/cxm/agriculture/crop-protection/products/documents/BASF_Pristine_Almonds_TIB_medres.pdf">fungal diseases in almonds</a> and <a href="https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/ppls/007969-00199-20221130.pdf">other crops</a>, and the whole Pristine formulation, including inert ingredients. The results were quite surprising: The whole formulation impaired honeybees’ memory, while the active ingredients alone did not. </p>
<p>This suggests that the inert ingredients in the formula were actually what made Pristine toxic to bees – either because the inerts were toxic on their own or because combining them with the active ingredients made the active ingredients more toxic. As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B1qAtjIAAAAJ&hl=en">social scientist focusing on bee declines</a>, I believe that either way, these findings have important implications for pesticide regulation and bee health. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Threats to bees include single-crop agriculture, habitat loss, air pollution and pesticide exposure.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>What are inert ingredients?</h2>
<p>Inert ingredients have a variety of functions. They may extend a pesticide’s shelf life, reduce risks for people who apply the pesticides or help a pesticide work better. Some inerts, called adjuvants, help pesticides stick to plant surfaces, reduce pesticide drift or help active ingredients better penetrate a plant’s surface. </p>
<p>The “inert” label is a colloquial misnomer, though. As <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes</a>, inerts aren’t necessarily inactive or even nontoxic. In fact, pesticide users <a href="https://doi.org/10.1289%2Fehp.118-a168">sometimes know very little</a> about how inerts function in a pesticide formula. That’s partly because they are regulated very differently than active ingredients. </p>
<h2>Measuring bee effects</h2>
<p>Under the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-federal-insecticide-fungicide-and-rodenticide-act">Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act</a>, or FIFRA, the EPA oversees pesticide regulation in the U.S. To register a pesticide product for outdoor use, chemical companies must provide <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-07/documents/guidance-exposure-effects-testing-assessing-risks-bees.pdf">reliable risk assessment data</a> on the active ingredients’ toxicity for bees, including the results of an acute honeybee contact test. </p>
<p>The acute contact test tracks how honeybees react to a pesticide application over a short period of time. It also aims to establish the dose of a pesticide that will kill 50% of a group of honeybees, a value known as the LD50. To determine the LD50, scientists apply the pesticide to bees’ midsections and then observe the bees for 48 to 96 hours for signs of poisoning. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CrBYxo4g0U4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>In 2016, the EPA <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-07/documents/guidance-exposure-effects-testing-assessing-risks-bees.pdf">expanded its data requirements</a> by requiring an acute honeybee oral toxicity test, in which adult bees are fed a chemical, as well as a 21-day honeybee larval test that tracks larval reaction to an agrochemical from the egg to their emergence as adult bees. </p>
<p>These tests all help the agency determine what potential risk an active ingredient may pose for honeybees, along with other data. Based on the information from these varied tests, pesticides are labeled as nontoxic, moderately toxic or highly toxic. </p>
<h2>A chemical black box</h2>
<p>Despite this rigorous testing, much remains unknown about how safe pesticides are for bees. This is particularly true for pesticides that have sublethal or chronic toxicities – in other words, pesticides that don’t cause immediate death or obvious signs of poisoning but have other significant effects.</p>
<p>This lack of knowledge about sublethal and chronic effects is problematic, because bees can be repeatedly exposed over long time spans to pesticides on floral nectar or pollen, or to pesticide contamination that builds up <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0009754">in beehives</a>. They even may be exposed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saaa041">through miticides</a> that beekeepers use to control Varroa mites, a <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/tucson-az/carl-hayden-bee-research-center/research/varroa/varroa-overview/">devastating bee parasite</a>.</p>
<p>Complicating the issue, symptoms of sublethal exposure are often more subtle or take longer to become apparent than acute or lethal toxicity. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.5772/62487">Symptoms might include</a> abnormal foraging and learning ability, decreased egg laying by the queen, wing deformation, stunted growth or decreased colony survival. The EPA doesn’t always require chemical companies to perform the tests that could detect these symptoms.</p>
<p>Inert ingredients add another level of mystery. While the EPA reviews and <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">must approve all inert ingredients</a>, it does not require the same toxicity testing as for active ingredients. </p>
<p>This is because under FIFRA, inert ingredients are protected as trade secrets, or <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/basic-information-about-pesticide-ingredients">confidential business information</a>. Only the total percentage of inert ingredients is required on the label, often lumped together and described as “other ingredients.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A box shows that a pesticide has 0.375% active ingredients and 99.625% 'other' ingredients." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=167&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=167&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=167&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563091/original/file-20231203-27-omw458.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=210&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sample pesticide ingredient label from an EPA training guide, showing that just 0.375% of ingredients are disclosed and tested for bee safety.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-labels/label-review-training-module-3-special-issues-page-34">EPA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sublethal weapons</h2>
<p>A growing body of evidence suggests that inerts are not as harmless as the name suggests. For example, exposure to two types of adjuvants – organosilicone and nonionic surfactants – can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040848">impair honeybees’ learning performance</a>. Bees rely on learning and memory functions to gather food and return to the hive, so losing these crucial skills can endanger a colony’s survival. </p>
<p>Inerts can also affect bumblebees. In a 2021 study, exposure to alcohol ethoxylates, a coformulant in the fungicide Amistar, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00919-x">killed 30% of the bees exposed to it</a> and caused a number of sublethal effects.</p>
<p>While some inerts may be nontoxic on their own, it’s hard to predict what will happen when they are combined with active ingredients. Research has shown that when two or more agrochemicals are combined, they can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03787-7">become more toxic for bees</a> than when applied on their own. This is known as <a href="https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/synergism.html">synergistic toxicity</a>. </p>
<p>Synergism can also occur when inerts are combined with pesticides. Another 2021 study showed that adjuvants that were nontoxic on their own caused <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s41348-021-00541-z">increased colony mortality when combined with insecticides</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bee in flight, covered with yellow pollen grains." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563093/original/file-20231203-17-uekt6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sweat bee (<em>Halictus ligatus</em>) covered with pollen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/dJ9ZZ4">Sam Droege, USGS/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A better testing strategy</h2>
<p>Mounting evidence on the toxicity of inerts points to three key changes that could better support bee health and minimize bees’ exposure to potential stressors. </p>
<p>First, environmental risk assessments for pesticides could test the whole pesticide formulation, including inert ingredients, to provide a more complete picture of a pesticide’s toxicity to bees. This is already done <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/pollinator-risk-assessment-guidance">in some cases</a> but could be required for all outdoor uses where bees are at risk of exposure.</p>
<p>Second, inerts could be identified on product labels to enable independent research and risk assessment. </p>
<p>Third, more testing could be required on pesticides’ long-term sublethal effects on bees, such as learning impairment. Such research would be especially relevant for pesticides that are applied to blooming crops or flowers that attract bees.</p>
<p>Researchers and environmental groups have been arguing for changes like these since <a href="https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.9374">at least 2006</a>. However, because pesticide regulation is dictated by federal law, changes require congressional action. This would be challenging politically, since it would increase the regulatory burden on the chemical industry. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, rising concerns about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-011118-111847">bumblebee declines</a> and beekeepers’ significant <a href="https://beeinformed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BIP-2022-23-Loss-Abstract.pdf">annual colony losses</a> make a strong case for a more precautionary approach to pesticide regulation. With a growing world population and <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop28-7-food-and-agriculture-innovations-needed-to-protect-the-climate-and-feed-a-rapidly-growing-world-218414">food supplies under increasing stress</a>, supporting bees’ contribution to agriculture is more important then ever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218005/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennie L. Durant has worked as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in USDA's Office of Pest Management Policy.</span></em></p>Inert ingredients are added for purposes other than killing pests and are not required under federal law to be tested for safety or identified on pesticide labels.Jennie L. Durant, Research Affiliate in Human Ecology, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116882023-11-23T08:26:29Z2023-11-23T08:26:29ZFaced with dwindling bee colonies, scientists are arming queens with robots and smart hives<p>Be it the news or the dwindling number of creatures hitting your windscreens, it will not have evaded you that the insect world’s in bad shape.</p>
<p>In the last three decades, the global biomass of flying insects has shrunk by <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0185809">75%</a>. Among the trend’s most notables victims is the world’s most important pollinator, the honeybee. In the United States, <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/30260/honey-bee-colony-losses-in-the-united-states-timeline/">48% of honeybee colonies died</a> in 2023 alone, making it the second deadliest year on record. This significant loss is due in part to colony collapse disorder (CCD), the sudden disappearance of bees. In contrast, European countries report lower but still worrisome rates of colony losses, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218839.2020.1797272">ranging from 6% to 32%</a>.</p>
<p>This decline causes many of our essential food crops to be under-pollinated, a phenomenon that threatens our society’s <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/70/2/109/5637848">food security</a>.</p>
<h2>Debunking the sci-fi myth of robotic bees</h2>
<p>So, what can be done? Given <a href="https://theconversation.com/deciphering-the-mysterious-decline-of-honey-bees-56648">pesticides’ role in the decline of bee colonies</a>, commonly proposed solutions include <a href="https://www.bee-life.eu/post/the-positive-impact-of-organic-farming-in-bee-health">a shift away from industrial farming</a> and toward less pesticide-intensive, more sustainable forms of agriculture.</p>
<p>Others tend to look toward the sci-fi end of things, with some scientists imagining that we could eventually replace live honeybees with robotic ones. Such artificial bees could interact with flowers like natural insects, maintaining pollination levels despite the declining numbers of natural pollinators. The vision of artificial pollinators contributed to ingenious designs of <a href="https://www.agritechfuture.com/robotics-automation/winged-robot-smaller-than-a-pea-could-pollinate-crops/">insect-sized robots capable of flying</a>.</p>
<p>In reality, such inventions are more effective at educating us over engineers’ fantasies than they are at reviving bee colonies, so slim are their prospects of materialising. First, these artificial pollinators would have to be equipped for much more more than just flying. Daily tasks carried out by the common bee include searching for plants, identifying flowers, unobtrusively interacting with them, locating energy sources, ducking potential predators, and dealing with adverse weather conditions. Robots would have to perform all of these in the wild with a very high degree of reliability since any broken-down or lost robot can cause damage and spread pollution. Second, it remains to be seen whether our technological knowledge would be even capable of manufacturing such inventions. This is without even mentioning the price tag of a swarm of robots capable of substituting pollination provided by a single honeybee colony.</p>
<h2>Inside a smart hive</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561054/original/file-20231122-31-mn9kzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bees crawl on one of Hiveopolis’s augmented hives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hiveopolis</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rather than trying to replace honeybees with robots, our two latest projects funded by the European Union propose that the robots and honeybees actually team up. Were these to succeed, struggling honeybee colonies could be transformed into bio-hybrid entities consisting of biological and technological components with complementary skills. This would hopefully boost and secure the colonies’ population growth as more bees survive over harsh winters and yield more foragers to pollinate surrounding ecosystems.</p>
<p>The first of these projects, <a href="https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/824069">Hiveopolis</a>, investigates how the complex decentralised decision-making mechanism in a honeybee colony can be nudged by digital technology. Begun in 2019 and set to end in March 2024, the experiment introduces technology into three observation hives each containing 4,000 bees, by contrast to 40,000 bees for a normal colony.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561057/original/file-20231122-15-d7ixut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The foundation of an augmented honeycomb.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hiveopolis</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within this honeybee smart home, combs have integrated temperature sensors and heating devices, allowing the bees to enjoy optimal conditions inside the colony. Since bees tend to snuggle up to warmer locations, the combs also enables us to direct them toward different areas of the hive. And as if that control weren’t enough, the hives are also equipped with a system of electronic gates that monitors the insects movements. Both technologies allow us to decide where the bees store honey and pollen, but also when they vacate the combs so as to enable us to harvest honey. Last but not least, the smart hive contains a robotic dancing bee that can direct foraging bees toward areas with plants to be pollinated.</p>
<p>Due to the experiment’s small scale, it is impossible to draw conclusions on the extent to which our technologies may have prevented bee losses. However, there is little doubt what we have seen thus far give reasons to be hopeful. We can confidently assert that our smart beehives allowed colonies to survive extreme cold during the winter in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. To precisely assess how many bees these technologies have saved would require upscaling the experiment to hundreds of colonies.</p>
<h2>Pampering the queen bee</h2>
<p>Our second EU-funded project, RoboRoyale, focuses on the honeybee queen and her courtyard bees, with robots in this instance continuously monitoring and interacting with her Royal Highness.</p>
<p>Come 2024, we will equip each hive with a group of six bee-sized robots, which will groom and feed the honeybee queen to affect the number of eggs she lays. Some of these robots will be equipped with royal jelly micro-pumps to feed her, while others will feature compliant micro-actuators to groom her. These robots will then be connected to a larger robotic arm with infrared cameras, that will continuously monitor the queen and her vicinity.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1677&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1677&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561096/original/file-20231122-22-bmtv9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1677&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A RoboRoyale robot arm susses out a honeybee colony.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">RoboRoyale</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As witnessed by the photo to the right and also below, we have already been able to successfully introduce the robotic arm within a living colony. There it continuously monitored the queen and determined her whereabouts through light stimuli.</p>
<h2>Emulating the worker bees</h2>
<p>In a second phase, it is hoped the bee-sized robots and robotic arm will be able to emulate the behaviour of the workers, the female bees lacking reproductive capacity who attend to the queen and feed her royal jelly. Rich in water, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and minerals, this nutritious substance secreted by the glands of the worker bees enables the queen to lay up to thousands of eggs a day.</p>
<p>Worker bees also engage in cleaning the queen, which involves licking her. During such interactions, they collect some of the queen’s pheromones and disperse them throughout the colony as they move across the hive. The presence of these pheromones controls many of the colony’s behaviours and notifies the colony of a queen’s presence. For example, in the event of the queen’s demise, a new queen must be quickly reared from an egg laid by the late queen, leaving only a narrow time window for the colony to react.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561113/original/file-20231122-25-d7ixut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of RoboRoyale’s first experiments has consisted in simple interactions with the queen bee through light stimulus. The next months will then see the robotic arm stretch out to physically touch and groom her.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">RoboRoyale</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Finally, it is believed worker bees may also act as the queen’s guides, leading her to laying eggs in specific comb cells. The size of these cells can determine if the queen lays a diploid or haploid egg, resulting in the bee developing into either into drone (male) or worker (female) bee. Taking over these guiding duties could affect no less than the rate’s entire reproductive rate.</p>
<h2>How robots can prevent bee cannibalism</h2>
<p>This could have another virtuous effect: preventing cannibalism.</p>
<p>During tough times, such as long periods of rain, bees have to make do with little pollen intake. This forces them to feed young larvae to older ones so that at least the older larvae has a chance to survive. Through RoboRoyale, we will look not only to reduce chances of this behaviour occurring, but also quantify to what extent it occurs under normal conditions.</p>
<p>Ultimately, our robots will enable us to deepen our understanding of the very complex regulation processes inside honeybee colonies through novel experimental procedures. The insights gained from these new research tracks will be necessary to better protect these valuable social insects and ensure sufficient pollination in the future – a high stakes enterprise for food security.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is the result of The Conversation’s collaboration with <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine">Horizon</a>, the EU research and innovation magazine. In February, the authors published an <a href="https://projects.research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/en/horizon-magazine/robotic-bees-and-roots-offer-hope-healthier-environment-and-sufficient-food">interview with the magazine</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211688/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Farshad Arvin is a member of the Department of Computer Science at Durham University in the UK. The research of Farshad Arvin is primarily funded by the EU H2020 and Horizon Europe programmes.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Stefanec is a member of the Institute of Biology at the University of Graz. He has received funding from the EU programs H2020 and Horizon Europe.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tomas Krajnik is member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The research of Tomas Krajnik is primarily funded by EU H2020 Horizon programme and Czech National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>Two EU-funded projects are looking at high-tech solutions that could transform honeybee colonies into bio-hybrid entities.Farshad Arvin, Associate professor in robotics, Durham UniversityMartin Stefanec, University assistant in biology, University of GrazTomas Krajnik, Associate professor in robotics, Czech Technical UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2140022023-09-21T03:39:32Z2023-09-21T03:39:32ZAustralia has officially given up on eradicating the Varroa mite. Now what?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549465/original/file-20230921-29-20q28x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C45%2C766%2C553&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Varroa mites on drone pupae.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cooper Schouten/Southern Cross University</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.directory.gov.au/portfolios/agriculture-water-and-environment/department-agriculture-water-and-environment/national-management-group">federal government body</a> in charge of pest control has announced Australia will abandon efforts on eradicating the Varroa mite.</p>
<p>This parasitic mite (<em>Varroa destructor</em>) lives in honey bee colonies, feeding on <a href="https://hbrc.ca/stages-of-bee-growth/">pupae</a> and adult bees. The mites spread viruses, impair the bees’ ability to fly and communicate, and makes them more susceptible to pesticides, eventually causing a colony collapse if left unmanaged.</p>
<p>Until recently, Australia remained free of Varroa thanks to stringent biosecurity measures. But <a href="https://www.outbreak.gov.au/current-outbreaks/varroa-mite">in June 2022</a>, the mite was detected in the New South Wales coastal area near Newcastle and has continued to spread.</p>
<p>A recent increase in detections over a greater area has now made eradication technically unfeasible. As a result, Australia is transitioning from <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response">eradication to management</a> of the Varroa mite.</p>
<h2>Can we fight the mite?</h2>
<p>It has been a tough time for beekeepers, the broader beekeeping community and the growers of crops relying on honey bees for pollination. </p>
<p>Varroa mite is already causing significant economic damage to livelihoods, due to restrictions on hive movements and the euthanasia of around 30,000 bee colonies.</p>
<p>To manage it, we will need to learn from overseas, where people have lived with Varroa for decades. However, Australia also has to develop its own solutions because of our unique climate, biodiversity and agricultural systems.</p>
<p>As seen <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1051/apido/2010010.pdf">in other countries</a>, honey production and hive numbers may remain relatively stable. But beekeepers will need to invest significant time and resources to monitor, manage and replace hives due to Varroa losses. </p>
<p>There are effective <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34536080/">chemical control options</a>, but these cannot eliminate the mites completely. They also have impacts on bees and can leave residues in hive products. Over-reliance on synthetic chemicals will rapidly lead to resistance in Varroa populations, as seen in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/21/5/6/6372257">almost every country Varroa exists</a>.</p>
<p>Effective <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/21/5/6/6372257">organic and non-chemical treatments exist</a>, but they are comparatively labour intensive – an additional burden on certified organic beekeepers. </p>
<p>To keep Varroa mite numbers below economically damaging thresholds, beekeepers will need to use integrated pest management solutions – a combination of approaches to reduce mite populaitons, while following up to ensure these appraoches have been effective.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="994" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SjJS9jPmjlw" title="Varroa mites crawling around weak and deformed worker nurse bees after following uncapping of brood." frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-in-a-unique-position-to-eliminate-the-bee-killing-varroa-mite-heres-what-happens-if-we-dont-205926">Australia is in a unique position to eliminate the bee-killing Varroa mite. Here's what happens if we don't</a>
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<h2>Beekeeping will become more complex and expensive</h2>
<p>Costs for the average-sized Australian bee business could increase <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/sitecollectiondocuments/animal-plant/pests-diseases/bees/honeybee-report.pdf">by as much as 30%</a>. Experience <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jee/article-abstract/102/3/868/2199132?redirectedFrom=fulltext">in other countries</a> suggests there will be <a href="https://agrifutures.com.au/product/a-study-of-new-zealand-beekeeping-lessons-for-australia/">significant declines</a> (up to 50%) of hobbyist and semi-commercial operators. Currently, recreational beekeeping is worth <a href="https://agrifutures.com.au/product/size-and-scope-of-the-australian-honey-bee-and-pollination-industry-a-snapshot/">A$173 million</a> in Australia annually.</p>
<p>We also know Varroa will <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/sitecollectiondocuments/animal-plant/pests-diseases/bees/honeybee-report.pdf">progressively kill around 95%</a> of Australia’s feral honey bees within approximately three years. Therefore, we will likely need more bee colonies per hectare to pollinate some crops effectively. </p>
<p>Cumulatively, increased costs of production, a decrease in the numbers of beekeepers and fewer feral bees will likely result in higher demand for bee hives to service <a href="https://agrifutures.com.au/product/pollination-aware-the-real-value-of-pollination-in-australia-fact-sheet/">35 pollination dependent industries</a> across the country. As seen in Aotearoa New Zealand, where the Varroa mite established in 2000, prices for bee hives rented to growers increased by <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/06-1632.1">30–100% per hive within five years.</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549466/original/file-20230921-27-e6wfq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A frame with worker bees, capped brood, brown open brood, white larva, a diversity of coloured pollen, fresh nectar and some ripe capped honey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cooper Schouten/Southern Cross University</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<h2>What should Australia do to minimise the impact?</h2>
<p>We need a national program in Australia that <a href="https://beeinformed.org/2023/06/22/united-states-honey-bee-colony-losses-2022-23-preliminary-results-from-the-bee-informed-partnership/">monitors colony losses</a> so we can quantify the impacts across the sector. This also holds true for Australian native bees which play an important role in pollination of tropical crops – we do not have the monitoring and baseline data needed to evaluate the changes about to occur.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/move-over-honeybees-aussie-native-bees-steal-the-show-with-unique-social-and-foraging-behaviours-200536">Move over, honeybees: Aussie native bees steal the show with unique social and foraging behaviours</a>
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<p>As an industry that contributes more than <a href="https://www.wheenbeefoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Karasinski-JM-2018_The-Economic-Valuation-of-Australian-Managed-and-Wild-Honey-Bee-Pollinators-in-2014-2015.pdf">$14.2 billion</a> to the economy, we now have a critical need for national capacity building for beekeeping, Varroa and pollination research, development and training.</p>
<p>Western Australia and Tasmania have significant opportunities to remain free from Varroa for as long as possible because the mite is currently only in NSW on the eastern boarder. Restricted movements of honey bees across the Bass Strait and the Nullarbor offer an additional biosecurity buffer. </p>
<p>Australia also remains free from virulent bee viruses, such as the <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/story_archive/2019/bees_broken_wings">deformed wing virus</a>. Hopefully, the Varroa incursion will lead to strengthened biosecurity for honey bee pests and diseases we do not have in the country yet, like <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32072354/"><em>Tropilaelaps</em> mites</a>.</p>
<p>We also need to strengthen compliance with the <a href="https://www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Bee-Biosecurity-Program-Code-of-Practice-May-2022-for-web_final.pdf">honey bee biosecurity code of practice</a> and improve monitoring of bee losses, bee viruses and native bees. In the long term, we will need to establish breeding programs for bees with Varroa tolerance, as seen in other countries such as the United States, New Zealand and Hawaii.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214002/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cooper Schouten receives funding from The Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research and is a Member of the NSW Apiarists Association and QLD Beekeepers Association. </span></em></p>The Varroa mite is here to stay. This will have wide-ranging impacts on beekeeping and the crops that rely on honey bee pollination in Australia.Cooper Schouten, Project Manager - Bees for Sustainable Livelihoods, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2095902023-09-03T20:02:34Z2023-09-03T20:02:34ZUnveiling the enigmatic world of moths: from ancient pollinators to whistling wonders<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539392/original/file-20230725-23-tezvol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C57%2C5447%2C3579&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/moth-silkworm-bombyx-mori-macro-close-1369736093">Macronatura.es, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When you think of moths, do you see holes in your clothes, pests in the pantry, or pesky insects drawn to night lights spoiling your social BBQ? Or worse, do you have an irrational fear of moths? (That’s called <a href="https://www.fearof.net/fear-of-moths-phobia-mottephobia/">mottephobia</a>).</p>
<p>Would it surprise you to learn moths are not the poor cousin of butterflies? They’re incredibly diverse and deserve a second chance. </p>
<p>There are about <a href="https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1668.1.30">160,000 species of moths</a> known to science. Compare that to 17,500 species of butterflies. </p>
<p>Moths vary enormously in their size, what they like to eat, how they reproduce and how they live their lives. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/newly-discovered-moth-is-enigmatic-evolutionary-wonder-38276">Newly discovered moth is enigmatic evolutionary wonder</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Life arising from biological soup</h2>
<p>Remember the story of <a href="https://eric-carle.com/eric-carle-book-gallery/the-very-hungry-caterpillar-1969/">The Very Hungry Caterpillar</a>? The life cycle begins with a little egg that hatches into a caterpillar, eats its way through a rainbow of food and then builds a cocoon for a complete transformation into a beautiful butterfly. </p>
<p>This is <a href="https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/biodiversity-counts/arthropod-identification/arthropod-morphology/metamorphosis-in-arthropods">complete metamorphosis</a>, where the structure of the caterpillar dissolves into a biological soup and then into an adult that looks nothing like the original. </p>
<h2>Are butterflies just ‘flamboyant’ moths?</h2>
<p>There’s a long-standing argument among scientists over whether butterflies are really colourful, flashy moths. </p>
<p>A few defining features separate moths from butterflies. Moths have larger “scales”, giving them more stocky, furry-looking bodies. Moths also have eyes suited for night vision and exhibit wing coupling, where the fore- and hind-wings join as a single wing for flight. Then there’s the colour palette. </p>
<p>But these features actually don’t separate all moths from butterflies, just night-flyers (<a href="https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/moths-butterflies-and-skippers-order-lepidoptera/">nocturnal</a>) from day-flyers. </p>
<p>Butterflies should perhaps be considered as a group of day-flying “flamboyant” moths. The opposite is also true, we have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03721426.2018.1532270">moths that fly during the day</a>, just a “wannabee” butterfly perhaps.</p>
<p>There are 125 families of moths and just six families of butterflies. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12115">newest moth family</a> was discovered in 2015. </p>
<p>The Hedylidae family is commonly referred to as the moth-butterflies. They are dull coloured, fly at night, have bristly antenna and wing coupling (in most species). These are definitely moth features but their genetic code suggests they are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283572546_The_Complete_Field_Guide_to_Butterflies_of_Australia_Second_Edition">most closely related to butterflies</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539533/original/file-20230726-23-yb1l39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two photographs side by side. Left, the false tiger moth is a beautiful day-flying moth. Right, an American dull looking night-flying butterfly" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539533/original/file-20230726-23-yb1l39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539533/original/file-20230726-23-yb1l39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=162&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539533/original/file-20230726-23-yb1l39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=162&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539533/original/file-20230726-23-yb1l39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=162&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539533/original/file-20230726-23-yb1l39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=203&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539533/original/file-20230726-23-yb1l39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=203&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539533/original/file-20230726-23-yb1l39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=203&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Left, the false tiger moth is a beautiful day-flying moth. Right, an American dull looking night-flying butterfly from the genus <em>Macrosoma</em> (family Hedylidae).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nikhil Guhagarkar and Ian Peter Morton, Shutterstock.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Moths helped flowering plants evolve</h2>
<p>One family still living today, the Micropteridae, has been pollinating flowers for millions of years. It’s likely to be one of only a few insects that pollinated the first flowers. This most ancient moth has been found preserved in amber from 125 million years ago. That makes moths twice as old as butterflies. </p>
<p>As adults, these moths have chewing mouthparts. Today they use these jaws to eat flower pollen. This suggests these <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1907847116">ancient moths contributed</a> to the success of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18993">first flowering plants</a>. </p>
<p>Most moths and butterflies have sucking mouthparts for drinking nectar. They have a tube-like proboscis that curls up to sit just under their head. This can be uncurled to probe flowers. </p>
<p>This means moths are not only the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0877">night-shift pollinator</a>, they’re also more efficient than the daytime <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/moths-are-more-efficient-pollinators-than-bees-new-research-shows">bee pollinators</a> we hear most about. </p>
<h2>The big and small of it</h2>
<p>The smaller moths are commonly grouped as “microlepidoptera”, but not necessarily related to each other. <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/tiniest-moths-in-the-world.html">The smallest</a> has a wingspan of only about 2.6mm. </p>
<p><a href="https://a-z-animals.com/blog/largest-moth/">The largest</a> moth is the Hercules moth from northern Queensland in Australia with a wingspan of 361mm. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539522/original/file-20230726-27-putdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two photographs side by side. Left, the Hercules moth. Right, the atlas moth." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539522/original/file-20230726-27-putdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539522/original/file-20230726-27-putdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539522/original/file-20230726-27-putdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539522/original/file-20230726-27-putdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539522/original/file-20230726-27-putdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539522/original/file-20230726-27-putdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539522/original/file-20230726-27-putdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Hercules moth (<em>Coscinocera hercules</em>), endemic to New Guinea and northern Australia, is claimed to be the world’s largest moth (left), but the atlas moth (genus <em>attacus</em>) also vying for that title (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ChameleonsEye and Cocos.Bounty, Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The family Hepialidae, commonly known in Australia as rain, ghost, splendid or swift moths, are among the heaviest of all moths with a <a href="https://focusonfauna.com/2020/03/26/magnificent-moth/">wingspan of 250mm</a> and weigh 35 grams. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538440/original/file-20230720-29-jtxgc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Photograph of a large and heavy moth with outstretched wings, _Abantiades hydrographus_" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538440/original/file-20230720-29-jtxgc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538440/original/file-20230720-29-jtxgc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538440/original/file-20230720-29-jtxgc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538440/original/file-20230720-29-jtxgc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538440/original/file-20230720-29-jtxgc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538440/original/file-20230720-29-jtxgc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538440/original/file-20230720-29-jtxgc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Among heaviest moths, the species <em>Abantiades hydrographus</em> is endemic to Western Australia and a member of the hepialidae family.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Moore</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They are considered an old group as they have no proboscis (mouth parts). </p>
<p>The moths emerge in huge numbers and mate almost immediately after hatching. The females then fly through the woodland dropping eggs randomly as they go. </p>
<p>One common species is thought to hold the <a href="http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/ufbir/chapters/chapter_18.shtml">world record</a> for the number of eggs carried at around 44,000. </p>
<p>Although most species of Hepialidae are cryptically camouflaged, most adult moths do not live longer than a single day as they are a great food source for bats, birds and other animals. The caterpillar growing phase may take many years in the ground and yet the adults only live for around a single day.</p>
<h2>Some moths can hear</h2>
<p>That’s right, some <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1907847116">moths can hear sound</a>. But moth “ears” (tympanic organs) are not on their heads. Some groups have only two such organs but others have four, located at the bases of their legs on the body (thorax) of the animal. </p>
<p>These organs can help the moths detect bats, who <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-03-14/wineries-use-moth-eating-bats-pest-control-research/102088896">hunt moths at night</a>, so it is no surprise that three of the largest moths all have tympanic organs. One <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar7428">study</a> also suggests the exaggerated hindwings of silk moths evolved to mess with bat sonar. </p>
<p>Although most moths use <a href="https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/creatura-blog/2017/11/the-creatonotos-gangis-is-one-of-australias-strangest-insects/">chemicals and pheromones to attract a mate</a>, whistling moths use sound. The males fly around (during the day) and are thought, as they fly, to rub a scaleless ribbed area of the wing against a body protrusion making what sounds like a high pitched whistle. The females hear this noise and fly towards it.</p>
<p>There may be up to a million moth species on the planet and many moth species are yet to be discovered. </p>
<p>So next time you’re out for a walk, or spending time in your garden, day or night, look out for moths. They’re truly remarkable creatures. And perhaps you could discover a new species?</p>
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<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1678334729312169984"}"></div></p>
<p>And regarding this recent tweet about a “frothy moth”: this moth belongs to the genus ‘<em>Amerila</em>’ (in the family Erebidae, subfamily Arctiinae) and could be ‘<em>Amerila crokeri</em>’ . They are known to produce the froth as a defence mechanism.</p>
<p><em>Acknowledgement: This article was coauthored with Michael Moore, Honorary Researcher at the South Australian Museum.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209590/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Stevens receives funding from Australian Biological Resources Study. He is affiliated with the South Australian Museum and co-wrote this article with Michael Moore, Honorary Researcher at SA Museum.</span></em></p>Moths are often overlooked as the poor cousin to butterflies, but they are truly remarkable creatures.Mark Stevens, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2117192023-08-30T22:16:16Z2023-08-30T22:16:16ZGlobal biodiversity: Why the proposed changes to Ontario’s Greenbelt matter<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/global-biodiversity-why-the-proposed-changes-to-ontarios-greenbelt-matter" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government continues to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/doug-fords-greenbelt-scandal-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-his-years-in-power-211629">tied up in a massive scandal</a> over <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/ontario-greenbelt-plan-ford-housing/">its plans to remove lands from Ontario’s Greenbelt</a> — including the integrity commissioner’s <a href="https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-housing-minister-steve-clark-broke-ethics-rules-in-greenbelt-development-1.6541247">finding that the housing minister broke ethics rules</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, as world leaders gathered in Vancouver on Aug. 24 to launch a <a href="https://www.thegef.org/newsroom/press-releases/new-global-biodiversity-fund-launched-vancouver">“game-changing” global fund to fight biodiversity loss</a>, Ford was already leading Canada’s most populous province in a very different direction.</p>
<p>Political controversy aside, what has become abundantly clear is that Ford’s Greenbelt plans fly in the face of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/countries-launch-fund-protect-nature-un-calls-more-money-2023-08-24/">Canada’s freshly funded commitment to halt biodiversity loss</a>.</p>
<p>Stretching over two million acres, the <a href="https://www.greenbelt.ca/learn">Greenbelt is the largest protected area of its kind in the world</a>. It includes some of Ontario’s best farmland as well as over seven hundred thousand acres of wetlands, grasslands and forests.</p>
<p>With the climate change crisis fuelling devastating <a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-wildfires-an-area-larger-than-the-netherlands-has-been-burned-so-far-this-year-heres-what-is-causing-them-207577">wildfires</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-of-drought-is-complex-but-the-message-on-climate-change-is-clear-125941">droughts</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/european-heatwave-whats-causing-it-and-is-climate-change-to-blame-209653">heat waves</a>, it can be easy to forget that we <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/06/the-biodiversity-crisis-in-numbers-a-visual-guide-aoe">are also living through a global biodiversity crisis</a>.</p>
<p>So, what exactly is it that we gain from biodiversity — and what does protecting lands like the Greenbelt have to do with it?</p>
<h2>Nature’s interconnected benefits</h2>
<p><a href="https://biodiversity.europa.eu/europes-biodiversity/ecosystems">Ecosystem services are the benefits we get from the natural environment</a>. It is a long list that includes everything from the foods we eat and the clean air we breathe to the simple joy of walking through the woods.</p>
<p>These services are usually divided into three main groups: provisioning, regulating and cultural services. </p>
<p>Provisioning services give us the physical things we need, like the plants and animals we eat, clean water to drink and plant life that provide things like oxygen, lumber and paper. Nature provides these vital resources. Even modern food industries still ultimately rely on the health of both agricultural and natural ecosystems.</p>
<p>Agricultural systems <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0143">rely on regulating services</a> like erosion protection, pollination and pest control. Regulating services, as the name suggests, regulate environmental conditions, including the climate and the water cycle.</p>
<p>A better-known example of this kind of service is <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-carbon-sequestration">carbon sequestration: the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide</a>. It is a key climate regulation process that natural lands provide.</p>
<p>The Greenbelt scoops up an estimated 71 million tonnes of carbon annually. For context, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-indicators/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html">the average Canadian is responsible for about 20 tonnes</a> of carbon entering the atmosphere over the same period. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-wetland-an-ecologist-explains-191495">Wetlands are another example of a regulating service</a>. The soils and plants in wetlands — <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ontario-greenbelt-farmland-wetlands-floodplains/">some of which are targeted for removal from the Greenbelt</a> — take up water and absorb carbon and other pollutants. This offers not only flood control, but also helps to clean both the water and air.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pollution-timebombs-contaminated-wetlands-are-ticking-towards-ignition-208345">Pollution timebombs: Contaminated wetlands are ticking towards ignition</a>
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<p>Finally, cultural services capture the spiritual, historical and cultural significance of certain natural lands and ecosystems. These services also include things like recreation, aesthetics and the <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-athletes-way/202204/why-living-near-greenery-helps-us-think-better">general improvements to our well-being</a> that <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nature-that-nurtures/">come from being in or around nature</a> — and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2022.101502">cultural services are particularly important for Indigenous Peoples</a>.</p>
<p>With over nine million people living within 20 kilometres of the Greenbelt, it provides a space for nearly a quarter of Canada’s population to enjoy these benefits. </p>
<h2>A diverse support system</h2>
<p>Biodiversity supports these ecosystem services, helping to keep natural processes working. Not all environments will provide the same services and having several types of ecosystems helps to maintain the wide variety of services we need — a type of biodiversity called ecosystem diversity.</p>
<p>In a healthy, resilient ecosystem, many different species will perform the same function, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ncon.2015.11.001">something known as “functional diversity.”</a> For example, there are many different insects — bees, butterflies, beetles and more — that pollinate flowering plants. With many species doing the same job, the ecosystem can keep humming along even if one is impacted by disease, droughts or heat waves.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ivy-dandelions-and-other-common-wildflowers-are-often-seen-as-weeds-but-theyre-a-crucial-resource-for-pollinating-insects-210813">Ivy, dandelions and other common wildflowers are often seen as weeds – but they're a crucial resource for pollinating insects</a>
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<p>Genetic biodiversity — the variety of genetic material that exists within a species — is the basis for natural selection. It allows species to evolve and survive in changing environments — something that is increasingly important in a warming world.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.greenbelt.ca/biodiversity_in_ontario">The Greenbelt is home to 78 species at risk</a>. Several of <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9806793/ontario-ford-government-greenbelt-changes-at-risk-species/">these species are located on the parcels of land slated to lose their protections</a>, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/barn-owls-reflect-moonlight-in-order-to-stun-their-prey-122796">barn owls</a>, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry/related-information/faq-consultation-recovery-strategy-eastern-meadowlark.html">the eastern meadowlark</a> and <a href="https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/local-news/federal-money-to-help-researchers-study-health-of-blandings-turtles-in-sudbury">Blanding’s turtle</a>.</p>
<h2>The land-use battle</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/5-key-drivers-nature-crisis">leading driver of biodiversity loss is the destruction of habitats due to changes in land use</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/adjusting-the-intensity-of-farming-can-help-address-climate-change-191293">mainly for agricultural purposes</a> and general urbanization.</p>
<p>This is what world leaders are trying to curtail with the launch of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund in Vancouver this past week — with <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2023/08/canada-announces-contribution-to-global-biodiversity-framework-fund-to-protect-worlds-nature.html">Canada pledging $200 million dollars to the cause</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this type of habitat destruction is also exactly what is being proposed for the Greenbelt.</p>
<p>The issue is not only about the amount of land that is protected, but also where it is and its connection to other natural areas. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500052">fragmentation of ecosystems</a> — where natural lands are divided into smaller, isolated patches — restricts the movement of species and can impact both functional and genetic diversity.</p>
<p>The current setup of the Greenbelt helps to prevent fragmentation by <a href="https://ontarionature.org/greenbelt-lands-at-stake-blog/">connecting landscapes, allowing wildlife</a> to move between different areas. Slicing out one chunk of protected land and passing those protections elsewhere could destroy this.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/protecting-biodiversity-and-making-it-accessible-has-paid-off-for-costa-rica-180301">Protecting biodiversity – and making it accessible – has paid off for Costa Rica</a>
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<p>Ultimately, biodiversity plays a vital role in supporting the ecosystem services we, and all life on earth, rely upon and will become even more important as we face a changing climate. </p>
<p>In the face of distracting political controversy it is easy to lose sight of a more fundamental fact: that preserving the Greenbelt — and Canadian biodiversity in general — is essential to our ongoing survival.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211719/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Loog receives funding from CIRAIG, the International Reference Center for Life Cycle Assessment and Sustainable Transition and its industrial partners.</span></em></p>While Canada pledges $200 million to promote biodiversity, Doug Ford removes lands from the Greenbelt. Here is why we all should care.Kathryn Loog, PhD Candidate, Industrial Engineering, Polytechnique MontréalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2108132023-08-07T16:12:24Z2023-08-07T16:12:24ZIvy, dandelions and other common wildflowers are often seen as weeds – but they’re a crucial resource for pollinating insects<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541512/original/file-20230807-25161-zpbybv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1283%2C110%2C3318%2C2476&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bumblebee flying over a blooming bramble bush.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bumblebee-fly-over-blackberry-flowers-1420563443">Legonkov Vladimir</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the end of the second world war, factors such as more intensive farming and urbanisation have reduced the abundance of wildflowers in Britain. In fact, the past 90 years have seen the loss of <a href="https://meadows.plantlife.org.uk/">over 97% of the UK’s wildflower meadows</a>. </p>
<p>Simply <a href="https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/icad.12085">planting more wildflowers</a> seems an obvious solution – although difficult on a large scale. There’s just one problem. Many common British wildflowers are <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.10475">undervalued and even disliked</a> by the public, who consider them to be weeds. </p>
<p>These flowers, which include many species from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/dandelion">dandelion</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/clover-plant">clover</a> to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/bramble">bramble</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/ivy-plant">ivy</a>, provide large amounts of pollen and nectar for bees and other insects. But some people consider dandelions a nuisance in their gardens. Others dislike brambles because of their thorns and vigorous growth. And even plants like ivy, with inconspicuous flowers, are wrongly thought to be unhelpful to bees.</p>
<p>Greater appreciation of wildflowers like these will not only help to improve the food supply for bees and other flower-visiting insects, it will also help reconnect people with plant diversity and nature. So, what will it take for people to accept and enjoy more wildflowers in their lawns, parks, roadsides and fields?</p>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.</em>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/plant-curious-137238?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=PlantCurious2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of a series, Plant Curious</a>, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.</em></p>
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<p>One clear answer is education. In Britain, knowledge about plants seems to be lacking. A phenomenon called “plant blindness” – an inability to notice or appreciate plants, distinguish between species or recognise their importance – could be one reason for negative public attitudes towards native plants.</p>
<p>In 2005, a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00219266.2005.9655963">study of UK A-level students</a> found that 86% could name only three or fewer common wildflowers. And in 2017, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00219266.2005.9655963">only 3.5% of British participants</a> in a poll commissioned by UK conservation charity Plantlife were able to name a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/red-clover">red clover</a> correctly. These figures show the disconnect between people and plants.</p>
<p>This is surely not a good thing. Bees and other flower-visiting insects rely heavily on flowers, and most life on Earth depends either directly or indirectly on plants. Although underappreciated, common native wildflowers are an important part of this.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dandelions in profusion on a road verge." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540784/original/file-20230802-15-r6ay4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Dandelions in profusion on a road verge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Francis Ratnieks</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<h2>Sources of pollen</h2>
<p>Ivy is a common climbing plant that grows on walls, tree trunks and in hedges throughout Britain’s towns and countryside. Ivy is often falsely accused of strangling the trees it climbs or parasitizing them by embedding its roots into the tree itself. </p>
<p>But the reality is far less sinister. During the autumn, ivy blooms and becomes the main source of <a href="https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/icad.12033">nectar and pollen</a> for a wide range of insects, including <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/honeybee">honey bees</a>, <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/ivy-bee">ivy bees</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/bumblebee">bumble bees</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/hover-fly">hover flies</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/butterfly-insect">butterflies</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/wasp">wasps</a>. In fact, pollen analysis from work published in 2021 on honey bee hives in Sussex suggests that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11829-021-09807-7">90% of the pollen that is collected in autumn</a> comes from ivy. </p>
<p>The nectar and pollen provided by ivy’s open flowers are also accessible to all insects. Even insects with shorter tongues can gather ivy nectar. In contrast, plants like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/lavender">lavender</a> secrete nectar at the base of the flower tube and thereby restrict access to insects with longer tongues such as bumble bees and butterflies. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Honey bee (right) gathering pollen and nectar from ivy flowers alongside a hover fly (left)." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540792/original/file-20230802-23-6oqczt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Honey bee (right) gathering pollen and nectar from ivy flowers alongside a hover fly (left).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Francis Ratnieks</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bramble, also called blackberry, parallels ivy. It is abundant in both urban and rural settings and its open flowers are accessible to all types of insect. </p>
<p>Bramble blooms for a long period of time, starting in late May and continuing into autumn. In one study, when we used pollen traps (an apparatus that dislodges some of the pollen pellets from honey bee legs as they return to the hive), we found that <a href="https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/icad.12436">31% of the pollen collected</a> from late May to early August comes from bramble. </p>
<h2>What about weeds?</h2>
<p>Dandelions and white clover are native wildflower species that also provide pollen and nectar. Both are often found in lawns but are not always appreciated. Garden centres even sell herbicides to eliminate these and other “weeds” from lawns.</p>
<p>Interestingly, five native wildflower species in Britain are officially classified as “injurious weeds”, and having them on your land is technically illegal. Among these are <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/ragwort">ragwort</a> and two species of both <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/docks">dock</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/thistle">thistle</a>. These plants are found almost anywhere, from road verges to fields, waste land and even gardens. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14132">our more recent research</a>, which was carried out in Sussex, revealed that these so-called injurious weeds attract twice as many flower-visiting insects as wildflower species that are officially recommended as “good for pollinators”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bee collecting pollen from ragwort blossom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541452/original/file-20230807-4160-t931ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bee collecting pollen from ragwort blossom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bee-collects-pollen-some-ragwort-blossom-208368913">Ian Grainger/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Appreciating native plants</h2>
<p>To truly encourage appreciation and support for native wildflowers, we need to shift people’s perspective. Instead of viewing lawns with wildflowers as unattractive or a sign of laziness, let’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12085">celebrate the benefits</a> they bring. It’s certainly easier, cheaper and probably safer to enjoy existing wildflowers than to go to the trouble of removing them with herbicides.</p>
<p>Many of these underappreciated wildflowers are already popular beyond their value as nectar and pollen sources. Blackberries, for example, are widely eaten as a wild food in Britain, while the name Ivy holds a special place for some. </p>
<p>We must recognise that local native wildflower species with pollinator-friendly flowers already exist almost everywhere. By appreciating and supporting them, we not only assist pollinators, but also gain psychological benefits by reconnecting with the wonders of plants and nature. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Native common wildflowers provide large amounts of pollen and nectar for insects – but many are undervalued by the public.Francis Ratnieks, Professor of Apiculture, University of SussexNick Balfour, Research Technician in the School of Life Sciences, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2071532023-07-25T20:05:41Z2023-07-25T20:05:41ZThe feral flying under the radar: why we need to rethink European honeybees<p>Australia’s national parks, botanic gardens, wild places and green spaces are swarming with an invasive pest that is largely flying under the radar. This is yet another form of livestock, escaped from captivity and left to roam free. </p>
<p>Contrary to popular opinion, in Australia, feral colonies of the invasive European honeybee (<em>Apis mellifera</em>) are not “<a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response/wild-european-honey-bee-management">wild</a>”, threatened with <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aar2269">extinction</a> or “good” for the Australian environment. The truth is feral honeybees compete with native animals for <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/pc21064">food</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-07635-0">habitat</a>, disrupt native <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/aec.13040">pollination systems</a> and pose a serious biosecurity threat to our honey and pollination industries.</p>
<p>As ecologists working across Australia, we are acutely aware of the damage being done by invasive species. There is rarely a simple, single solution. But we need to move feral bees out of the “too hard” basket. </p>
<p>The arrival and spread of the parasitic <a href="https://www.outbreak.gov.au/current-outbreaks/varroa-mite"><em>Varroa</em> mite in New South Wales</a> threatens to decimate honeybee colonies. So now is the time to rethink our relationship with the beloved European honeybee and target the ferals.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Closeup photograph of a honeybee collecting pollen from a purple flower" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531089/original/file-20230609-21-l1e8uh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Feral honeybee foraging on native <em>Boronia ledifolia</em> in the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amy-Marie Gilpin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/buzz-off-honey-industry-our-national-parks-shouldnt-be-milked-for-money-131891">Buzz off honey industry, our national parks shouldn’t be milked for money</a>
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<hr>
<h2>What makes a hive feral?</h2>
<p>European honeybees turn feral when a managed hive produces a “swarm”. This is a mass of bees that leaves the hive seeking a new nest. The swarm ultimately settles, either in a natural hollow or artificial structure such as a <a href="https://www.lfwseq.org.au/bees-nest-boxes-sticky-problem/">nesting box</a>. </p>
<p>With up to 150 hives per square kilometre, Australia has among the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-07635-0">highest</a> feral honey bee densities in the world. In NSW, feral honeybees are listed as a “<a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/threatened-species/nsw-threatened-species-scientific-committee/determinations/final-determinations/2000-2003/competition-from-feral-honeybees-key-threatening-process-listing">key threatening process</a>”, but they lack such recognition elsewhere. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1360&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531088/original/file-20230609-21-ohn2oi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1360&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A nesting box installed for native animals filled with feral honeybees (Apis mellifera).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cormac Farrell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Feral honeybees have successfully invaded most land-based ecosystems across Australia, <a href="https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https:/biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/1a490f00-368f-427c-8d4c-fa3f3271d75f">including</a> woodlands, rainforests, mangrove-salt marsh, alpine and arid ecosystems.</p>
<p>They can efficiently harvest large volumes of nectar and pollen from native plants that would otherwise provide food for native animals, including birds, mammals and flower-visiting insects such as native bees. Their foraging activities alter seed production and reduce the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/aob/article/103/9/1395/146886?login=false">genetic diversity</a> of native plants while also pollinating <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132355">weeds</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, feral honeybees are now the most <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/pc21064">common</a> visitors to many native flowering plants.</p>
<h2>Are feral bees useful in agriculture?</h2>
<p>Feral honeybees can pollinate crops. But they compete with managed hives for nectar and pollen. They can also be an reservoir of honeybee pests and diseases such as the <em>Varroa</em> mite, which ultimately threaten crop production. That’s because many farms rely on honeybees from commercial hives to pollinate their crops. </p>
<p>So reducing feral honeybee density would benefit both honey production and the crop pollination industry, which is worth <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/agriculture-land/farm-food-drought/hort-policy/honeybees#pollination">A$14 billion annually</a>. </p>
<p>Improved management of feral honeybees would not only help to limit the biosecurity threat, but increase the availability of pollen and nectar for managed hives. It would also increase demand for managed honeybee pollination services for pollinator dependent crops. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hear-me-out-we-could-use-the-varroa-mite-to-wipe-out-feral-honey-bees-and-help-australias-environment-185959">Hear me out – we could use the varroa mite to wipe out feral honey bees, and help Australia's environment</a>
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<hr>
<h2>What are our current options?</h2>
<p>Tackling this issue will not be straightforward, due to the sheer extent of feral colony infestation and limited tools at the disposal of land managers.</p>
<p>If the current parasitic <em>Varroa</em> mite <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response">infestation in NSW</a> spins out of control, it may reduce the number of feral hives, with <a href="https://theconversation.com/hear-me-out-we-could-use-the-varroa-mite-to-wipe-out-feral-honey-bees-and-help-australias-environment-185959">benefits</a> for the environment. Fewer feral hives would be good for the honey industry too. </p>
<p>Targeted strategies to remove feral colonies on a small scale do exist and are being applied in the <em>Varroa</em> mite emergency response. This includes the deployment of <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response/wild-european-honey-bee-management">poison (fipronil) bait stations</a> in areas exposed to the mite.</p>
<p>While this method seems to be <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response/wild-european-honey-bee-management">effective</a>, the extreme toxicity of fipronil to honeybees limits its use to areas that do not contain managed hives. In addition, the possible effects on non-target, native animals that feed on the bait, or poisoned hive remains, is still unstudied and requires careful investigation.</p>
<p>Where feral hives can be accessed, they can be physically removed. But in many ecosystems feral colonies are high up in trees, in difficult to access terrain. That, and their overwhelming numbers, makes removal impractical.</p>
<p>Another problem with hive removal is rapid recolonisation by uncontrolled swarming from managed hives and feral hives at the edges of the extermination area.</p>
<p>Taken together, there are currently no realistic options for the targeted large-scale removal of feral colonies across Australia’s vast natural ecosystems.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531090/original/file-20230609-21-eplmrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Drone (male) honeybee.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where to now?</h2>
<p>For too long, feral honeybees have had free reign over Australia’s natural environment. Given the substantial and known threats they pose to natural systems and industry, the time has come to develop effective and practical control measures. </p>
<p>Not only do we need to improve current strategies, we desperately need to develop new ones.</p>
<p>One promising example is the use of traps to catch bee swarms, and such work is underway in Victoria’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-05-28/bee-swarm-monitoring-in-macedon-ranges/102385310">Macedon Ranges</a>. However, this might be prohibitively expensive at larger scales.</p>
<p>Existing strategies for other animals may be a good starting place. For example, the practice of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ultimate-invader-high-tech-tool-promises-scientists-an-edge-over-the-cane-toad-scourge-186542">using pheromones to capture cane toad tadpoles</a> might be applied to drones (male bees) and swarms. Once strategies are developed we can model a combination of approaches to uncover the best one for each case.</p>
<p>Developing sustainable control measures should be a priority right now and should result in a win-win for industry, biosecurity and native ecosystems. </p>
<p>If there is something to learn from the latest <em>Varroa</em> incursion, it is that we cannot ignore the risks feral honeybees pose any longer. We don’t know how to control them in Australia yet, but it is for lack of trying. </p>
<p><em>We would like to acknowledge the substantial contribution made by environmental scientist and beekeeper Cormac Farrell to the development of this article.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-2-coin-features-the-introduced-honeybee-is-this-really-the-species-we-should-celebrate-181089">A new $2 coin features the introduced honeybee. Is this really the species we should celebrate?</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207153/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy-Marie Gilpin receives funding from Horticulture Innovation Australia and is a member of the IUCN Wild Bee Specialist Group Oceania. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James B. Dorey is affiliated with Flinders University and the University of Adelaide. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katja Hogendoorn is a member of the board of the Australian Entomological Society and receives funding from the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, HortInnovations, AgriFutures, and the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kit Prendergast is an adjunct at Curtin University and Murdoch University. She has previously received funding from the Federal Government for the Bushfire Recovery Project, from the Forrest Research Foundation for her PhD, and from the Australian Wildlife Society. </span></em></p>Feral honeybees have become a major problem in Australia. It’s time to develop effective and practical control measures.Amy-Marie Gilpin, Research Fellow, Ecology, Western Sydney UniversityJames B. Dorey, Adjunct Lecturer, Flinders UniversityKatja Hogendoorn, Research fellow, University of AdelaideKit Prendergast, Native bee ecologist, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2076562023-07-05T14:51:19Z2023-07-05T14:51:19ZWhy there are fewer insects on UK farms than there were a century ago – and how to restore them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535516/original/file-20230704-23-jom9rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=572%2C0%2C2415%2C1405&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Farmed landscapes have become less hospitable habitats for insects.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/agricultural-plowed-field-ploughing-arable-land-775349260">Protasov AN/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Insect populations are declining worldwide at a rate of <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aax9931">almost 1% per year</a>. This decline is alarming. Insects play a crucial role in pollinating crops, controlling crop pests and maintaining soil fertility.</p>
<p>In the UK alone, pollination provided by bees and other insects adds <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.13755">over £600 million</a> to crop production every year. That’s about 10% of the country’s total annual crop value. </p>
<p>Through pollination, insects also make sure that fruit and vegetables are packed full of the vitamins and minerals needed for <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP10947">healthy human diets</a>. Insufficient pollination would result in lower-quality foods, less choice and higher food prices.</p>
<p>The decline of pollinating insects is already <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.2445">affecting crop yields</a> in the UK. <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eap.2743">Research</a> on 20 UK apple orchards found that a lack of pollination led to average yield deficits (where the maximum potential output of these orchards was not reached) of up to 22%.</p>
<p>The issue extends beyond the UK’s borders. The UK imports a substantial proportion of fresh produce from regions such as Europe, north Africa, South America and Asia. So the global decline of pollinating insects also poses a <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.10314">huge threat</a> to food security in the UK.</p>
<p>Just like fertiliser and water, these insects should be considered a legitimate agricultural input that needs to be protected and managed sustainably. There are effective methods available to restore beneficial insects to farmland, such as planting hedgerows and using pesticides sparingly, and farming practices are gradually changing. However, the implementation of these methods in the UK falls short of what is required to ensure the country’s food and nutritional security. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bumblebee collecting pollen and nectar from an apple tree flower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535741/original/file-20230705-24-psf5g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535741/original/file-20230705-24-psf5g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535741/original/file-20230705-24-psf5g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535741/original/file-20230705-24-psf5g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535741/original/file-20230705-24-psf5g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535741/original/file-20230705-24-psf5g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535741/original/file-20230705-24-psf5g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bumblebee collecting pollen and nectar from an apple tree flower.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bumblebee-fluttering-over-some-flowers-apple-2149485029">TopMicrobialStock/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pollinators are under siege</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01534-9">main threats to pollinators</a> globally are changes in what land is used for and how it is managed. As a result of the shift to modern industrialised farming, flower meadows and hedgerows have been replaced by monocultures and increasingly large fields. Consequently, the diversity of food sources available to pollinators has decreased and farmed landscapes have generally become <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature20588">less hospitable</a> habitats for insects.</p>
<p>The excessive use of chemical pesticides and the impacts of climate change have made matters even worse. Rising temperatures are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168192322004671">creating a mismatch</a> between crop flowering times and when pollinators emerge. Bumblebees, for example, which are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8414">vital pollinators</a> for crops both in the UK and globally, are <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaa7031">struggling to shift their range</a> in response to Europe’s warming climate.</p>
<p>Together, these factors are driving losses in the abundance and diversity of pollinator species. Modelling studies have revealed <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08974-9">around a 25% drop</a> in the number of bee and hoverfly species observed within any 10km area of the UK compared to the 1980s.</p>
<p>And yet, the UK’s reliance on pollinating insects is likely to increase in the future. </p>
<p>Factors including climate change, technological advancements, shifting market demands and policies promoting sustainable food security mean new and <a href="https://randd.defra.gov.uk/ProjectDetails?ProjectId=20663">underutilised crops</a> such as soy, sunflowers and apricots are likely to be grown in the UK within the coming decades. Many of these crops <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2006.3721">benefit from</a> insect pollination.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A tractor spraying pesticides on a corn field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535383/original/file-20230703-289680-cyhffd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535383/original/file-20230703-289680-cyhffd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535383/original/file-20230703-289680-cyhffd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535383/original/file-20230703-289680-cyhffd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535383/original/file-20230703-289680-cyhffd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535383/original/file-20230703-289680-cyhffd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535383/original/file-20230703-289680-cyhffd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Farming practices have contributed to the destruction of important insect habitats over the past century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tractor-spraying-pesticides-on-corn-field-1866460120">Fotokostic/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Restoring insects to farms</h2>
<p>Thankfully, there has been a notable shift in farming practices in recent decades towards reducing fertiliser, herbicide and pesticide use and restoring insect habitats. One approach is <a href="https://www.fao.org/pest-and-pesticide-management/ipm/integrated-pest-management/en/">integrated pest management</a>. This is a strategy for sustainable crop pest control that is based on using pesticides only when they are absolutely necessary. </p>
<p>The strategy was developed in response to steadily increasing pesticide use, which caused <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13593-015-0327-9">environmental damage</a> and pesticide resistance. Farmers using integrated pest management are encouraged to prioritise the protection of natural predators such as wasps and spiders, which can help control pests effectively. </p>
<p>By reducing reliance on pesticides, integrated pest management also helps to protect pollinators. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16167">Research</a> shows that bumblebees exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides (a widely used class of pesticide), for example, visited fewer flowers on apple trees and collected pollen less often. </p>
<p>In the UK, farmers are now incentivised to adopt environmentally sustainable practices through the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-land-management-update-how-government-will-pay-for-land-based-environment-and-climate-goods-and-services/environmental-land-management-elm-update-how-government-will-pay-for-land-based-environment-and-climate-goods-and-services">environmental land management scheme</a>. This scheme, which was fully launched in 2023, pays farmers to undertake activities that protect and enhance the natural landscape. These activities include planting hedgerows and flower strips along field boundaries, or creating woodlands. </p>
<p><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2015.1740">Research</a> demonstrates that expanding natural habitats in the UK’s productive arable farmland can boost pollinating insect populations. And, despite taking a portion of land out of productive agriculture, this approach did not reduce harvests.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A hedgerow next to a cereal field featuring red and pink poppies." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535384/original/file-20230703-272779-sljzpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535384/original/file-20230703-272779-sljzpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535384/original/file-20230703-272779-sljzpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535384/original/file-20230703-272779-sljzpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535384/original/file-20230703-272779-sljzpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535384/original/file-20230703-272779-sljzpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535384/original/file-20230703-272779-sljzpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Providing natural habitats along field boundaries can boost insect populations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/english-hedgerow-featuring-pink-red-poppies-389335">Keith Naylor/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another option is <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/agroforestry">agroforestry</a>, where tree planting is deliberately combined with agriculture. This approach diversifies the farmed landscape and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880920302164?via%3Dihub">has been found</a> to support twice as many pollinators as conventional cropping systems. In the case of apple pollination, these systems can even provide up to four and a half times more pollination.</p>
<p>But to fully <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837722005245?via%3Dihub">amplify the benefits</a> of agroforestry for pollinators, the UK needs to meet its national tree planting targets of 30,000 hectares per year by 2030. The current rate of tree planting falls significantly short of this target. Between 2018 and 2022, only <a href="https://cdn.forestresearch.gov.uk/2022/09/Ch1_Woodland_2022.pdf">13,000 hectares were planted per year</a> in the UK.</p>
<p>Over the past century, farming practices have contributed to insect declines. Supporting farmers to provide high-quality habitats for insects will not only help to slow down – or even reverse – insect decline, but will help to secure the UK’s food security.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207656/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Potts receives funding from UKRI, NERC, BBSRC, EU, GCRF, Defra, NE, FAO, IUCN, Friends of the Earth, Waitrose, Sainsburys, BerryWorld, Syngenta, Avalon and Worldwide Fruit Limited. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Garratt receives funding from UKRI, NERC, BBSRC, EU, GCRF, Defra, Reserach Council of Norway, AHDB, UK Gov Green Recovery Challenge Fund, Newton fund, Syngenta, BerryWorld, Avalon and WWF Limited.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Breeze works for the European Union as a consultant. He has received funding from the European Union and UK Research and Innovation (BBSRC, NERC and ESRC). </span></em></p>Farms have become less friendly for our insect friends – this must be reversed if we want food to eat.Simon Potts, Professor of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, University of ReadingMichael Garratt, Principal Research Fellow, University of ReadingTom Breeze, Senior Research Fellow, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2081892023-06-27T07:00:15Z2023-06-27T07:00:15ZBees are astonishingly good at making decisions – and our computer model explains how that’s possible<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533958/original/file-20230626-196941-sa646o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C8%2C2794%2C1821&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bee-hovering-while-collecting-pollen-pussy-14616013">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A honey bee’s life depends on it successfully harvesting nectar from flowers to make honey. Deciding which flower is most likely to offer nectar is incredibly difficult.</p>
<p>Getting it right demands correctly weighing up subtle cues on flower type, age and history – the best indicators a flower might contain a tiny drop of nectar. Getting it wrong is at best a waste of time, and at worst means exposure to a lethal predator hiding in the flowers. </p>
<p>In new research <a href="https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.86176">published today in eLife</a> our team reports how bees make these complex decisions. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-do-so-much-more-than-you-think-from-dancing-to-being-little-art-critics-204039">Bees can do so much more than you think – from dancing to being little art critics</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<h2>A field of artificial flowers</h2>
<p>We challenged bees with a field of artificial flowers made from coloured disks of card, each of which offered a tiny drop of sugar syrup. Different-coloured “flowers” varied in their likelihood of offering sugar, and also differed in how well bees could judge whether or not the fake flower offered a reward. </p>
<p>We put tiny, harmless paint marks on the back of each bee, and filmed every visit a bee made to the flower array. We then used computer vision and machine learning to automatically extract the position and flight path of the bee. From this information, we could assess and precisely time every single decision the bees made. </p>
<p>We found bees very quickly learned to identify the most rewarding flowers. They quickly assessed whether to accept or reject a flower, but perplexingly their correct choices were on average faster (0.6 seconds) than their incorrect choices (1.2 seconds).</p>
<p>This is the opposite of what we expected.</p>
<p>Usually in animals – and even in artificial systems – an accurate decision takes longer than an inaccurate decision. This is called <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2014.00150/full">the speed-accuracy tradeoff</a>.</p>
<p>This tradeoff happens because determining whether a decision is right or wrong usually depends on how much evidence we have to make that decision. More evidence means we can make a more accurate decision – but gathering evidence takes time. So accurate decisions are usually slow and inaccurate decisions are faster.</p>
<p>The speed-accuracy tradeoff occurs so often in engineering, psychology and biology, you could almost call it a “law of psychophysics”. And yet bees seemed to be breaking this law. </p>
<p>The only other animals known to beat the speed-accuracy tradeoff <a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/3/938">are humans and primates</a>. </p>
<p>How then can a bee, with its tiny yet remarkable brain, be performing on a par with primates?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Several bees in a circular pattern on a honeycomb background, larger bee in the middle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533963/original/file-20230626-183624-1hxxw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bees surrounding a queen bee marked with a dot on its back.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/queen-apis-mellifera-marked-dot-bee-1815893135">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Bees avoid risk</h2>
<p>To take apart this question we turned to a computational model, asking what properties a system would need to have to beat the speed-accuracy tradeoff.</p>
<p>We built artificial neural networks capable of processing sensory input, learning and making decisions. We compared the performance of these artificial decision systems to the real bees. From this we could identify what a system had to have if it were to beat the tradeoff. </p>
<p>The answer lay in giving “accept” and “reject” responses different time-bound evidence thresholds. Here’s what that means – bees only accepted a flower if, at a glance, they were <em>sure</em> it was rewarding. If they had any uncertainty, they rejected it.</p>
<p>This was a risk-averse strategy and meant bees might have missed some rewarding flowers, but it successfully focused their efforts only on the flowers with the best chance and best evidence of providing them with sugar.</p>
<p>Our computer model of how bees were making fast, accurate decisions mapped well to both their behaviour and the known pathways of the bee brain.</p>
<p>Our model is plausible for how bees are such effective and fast decision makers. What’s more, it gives us a template for how we might build systems – such as autonomous robots for exploration or mining – with these features.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-bee-season-to-avoid-getting-stung-just-stay-calm-and-dont-swat-153625">It's bee season. To avoid getting stung, just stay calm and don't swat</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208189/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Barron receives funding from the Australian Research Council grants FT140100452 and DP210100740 and Templeton World Charity foundation Grant TWCF-2020-20539.
Coauthors on the article James Marshall and HaDi MaBouDi currently work for UK robotics company Opteran Technologies.</span></em></p>Picking the correct flowers is a crucial job for honey bees, so it’s no wonder they are incredibly efficient at it. But how can such little brains do it?Andrew Barron, Professor, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2069882023-06-05T20:03:48Z2023-06-05T20:03:48ZThe world’s first flowers were pollinated by insects<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529932/original/file-20230604-129052-ofkmgy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=850%2C1047%2C2161%2C1706&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruby E Stephens</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Plants existed on Earth for hundreds of millions of years before the first flowers bloomed. But when flowering plants did evolve, more than 140 million years ago, they were a huge evolutionary success.</p>
<p>What pollinated these first flowering plants, the ancestor of all the flowers we see today? Was it insects carrying pollen between those early flowers, fertilising them in the process? Or perhaps other animals, or even wind or water?</p>
<p>The question has been a tricky one to answer. However, in <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.18993">new research</a> published in New Phytologist, we show the first pollinators were most likely insects. </p>
<p>What’s more, despite some evolutionary detours, around 86% of all flowering plant species throughout history have also relied on insects for pollination.</p>
<h2>How to move pollen</h2>
<p>The timing of the evolution of the first flowering plants is still <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erac130">a matter of debate</a>. However, their success is inarguable.</p>
<p>Around 90% of modern plants – some 300,000-400,000 species – are flowering plants, or what scientists call angiosperms. To reproduce, these plants make pollen in their flowers, which needs to be transferred to another flower to fertilise an ovule and produce a viable seed. </p>
<p>Small and highly mobile, insects can be highly effective pollen transporters. Indeed, recent <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.03.008">research on fossil insects</a> shows some insects may have been pollinating plants even before the first flowers evolved.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flowers have evolved every sort of shape and colour to get themselves pollinated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruby E Stephens</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most of today’s flowering plants rely on insects for pollination. The plant’s flowers have evolved to attract insects via colour, scent and even sexual mimicry, and most reward them with nectar, pollen, oils or other types of food, making the relationship beneficial to both parties.</p>
<p>Some flowers, however, rely on other means to transport their pollen, such as vertebrate animals, wind or even water. </p>
<p>Which kind of pollination evolved first? Were insects there at the beginning, or were they a later “discovery”? </p>
<p>While <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0707989105">early evidence</a> suggests it was probably insects, until now this has never been tested across the full diversity of flowering plants – their full evolutionary tree.</p>
<h2>A family tree</h2>
<p>To find an answer, we used a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1241-3">family tree</a>” of all families of flowering plants, sampling more than 1,160 species and reaching back more than 145 million years.</p>
<p>This tree shows us when different plant families evolved. We used it to map backwards from what pollinates a plant in the present to what might have pollinated the ancestor of that plant in the past.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The evolutionary tree for all flowering plant families shows when wind, water and vertebrate pollination evolved from insect pollination.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruby E Stephens</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found insect pollination has been overwhelmingly the most common method over the history of flowering plants, occurring around 86% of the time. And our models suggest the first flowers were most likely pollinated by insects. </p>
<h2>Birds, bats and wind</h2>
<p>We also learned about the evolution of other forms of pollination. Pollination by vertebrate animals, such as birds and bats, small mammals and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/593050">even lizards</a>, has evolved at least 39 times – and reverted back to insect pollination at least 26 of those times.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A microscope photo showing tiny grass flowers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wind pollinated flowers are often very small and plain, like these grass flowers which can only be seen clearly under a microscope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruby E Stephens</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Wind pollination has evolved even more often: we found 42 instances. These plants rarely go back to insect pollination.</p>
<p>We also found wind pollination evolved more often in open habitats, at higher latitudes. Animal pollination is more common in closed-canopy rainforests, near the equator.</p>
<h2>What kind of insects were the first pollinators?</h2>
<p>If you think of a pollinating insect, you probably imagine a bee. But while we don’t know exactly what insects pollinated the first flowering plants, we can be confident they weren’t bees.</p>
<p>Why not? Because most evidence we have indicates bees didn’t evolve until <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2022.04.004">after the first flowers</a>.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/flies-like-yellow-bees-like-blue-how-flower-colours-cater-to-the-taste-of-pollinating-insects-167111">Flies like yellow, bees like blue: how flower colours cater to the taste of pollinating insects</a>
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<p>So what do we know about the pollinators of the first flowering plants? Well, some early flowers have been preserved as fossils – and most of these are very small.</p>
<p>The first flower pollinators must have been quite small, too, to poke around in these flowers. The most likely culprits are some kind of small fly or beetle, maybe even a midge, or some extinct types of insects that have long disappeared.</p>
<p>If only we had a time machine we could go back and see these pollinators in action - but that will require a lot more research!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206988/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruby E. Stephens receives funding from the Australian Government's Research Training Program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hervé Sauquet receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Australian Research Data Commons. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lily Dun received funding from Australian Research Data Commons. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Gallagher receives funding from The Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Will Cornwell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research suggests insects have pollinated flowers since the pollen-bearing blooms first evolved more than 140 million years ago.Ruby E. Stephens, PhD Candidate, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie UniversityHervé Sauquet, Senior Research Scientist, Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney and Adjunct Associate Professor, UNSW SydneyLily Dun, Research Assistant, UNSW SydneyRachael Gallagher, Associate Professor, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney UniversityWill Cornwell, Associate Professor in Ecology and Evolution, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2059262023-05-24T01:51:10Z2023-05-24T01:51:10ZAustralia is in a unique position to eliminate the bee-killing Varroa mite. Here’s what happens if we don’t<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527408/original/file-20230522-17-by2qo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=57%2C23%2C3767%2C2562&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Théotime Colin</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Varroa mites – notorious honey bee parasites – have recently reached Australian shores, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-06-24/varroa-mite-detected-at-newcastle-port/101180446">detected at the Port of Newcastle</a> in New South Wales last year. If they establish here, there would be significant implications for agricultural food security, as honey bees are heavily relied on for the pollination of many crops.</p>
<p>However, while Australia is the last continent to be invaded by the mite, it has an opportunity to be the first to eradicate it.</p>
<p><em>Varroa destructor</em> is a small mite that attaches to bees and <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190114161137.htm">eats their “fat body</a>”. The fat bodies of honey bees are the insect equivalent of a liver. Varroa weakens bees, reduces their lifespan and increases the spread of deadly viruses.</p>
<p>Scientists need to be ready: this might be Australia’s best chance to collect important data on the spread and evolution of this parasite. Our new paper <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0589">published today in Biology Letters</a> outlines what questions scientists need to ask and what data they need to collect if Varroa spreads in Australia.</p>
<p>Such data could help us understand how parasites evolve, why Varroa are so damaging for honey bees, and how Varroa mites impact other insects and the environment.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-varroa-mite-the-tiny-killer-threatening-australias-bees-25710">Explainer: Varroa mite, the tiny killer threatening Australia's bees</a>
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</p>
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<h2>Will Varroa establish in Australia?</h2>
<p>Australia is in close proximity to countries that have the mite, including New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Indonesia.</p>
<p>This probably explains why invasive honey bee swarms are frequently intercepted at our ports, <a href="https://www.beeawarebrisbane.org/blog/a-brief-history-of-honey-bee-incursions-into-australia">many of these carrying Varroa</a>. Australia currently bans importation of honey bee colonies due to the biosecurity risk, so these interceptions are typically due to stowaway swarms taking up residence in shipping containers.</p>
<p>Previous invasions of Varroa have been successfully <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-06-29/varroa-mite-detected-in-melbourne/9923972">eradicated before establishing</a>, but this time Varroa circumvented the biosecurity surveillance near Newcastle and spread locally.</p>
<p>The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries has been <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response">contact-tracing and culling hives in contaminated areas</a>, and the spread has been slow so far. Australia has large populations of feral honey bees, which could potentially act as a reservoir for Varroa and are much harder to trace and control, so the department is tackling this with a <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response/wild-european-honey-bee-management">wild honey bee baiting program</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A small red mite facing the camera on a grey metallic background, the many legs of the mites are visible as well as a few pieces of wax" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527017/original/file-20230518-29-xsgvbi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A Varroa mite fallen from a hive in France.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Théotime Colin</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What threats does Varroa pose?</h2>
<p>Varroa mites are a threat to food security. Although Australia has an abundance of food and <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/products/insights/australian-food-security-and-COVID-19">exports it to other nations</a>, the price of food is likely to increase if Varroa escapes confinement.</p>
<p>Currently, pollination of crops in eradication zones such as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-07-27/varroa-mite-nsw-berry-production-price-detection-coffs-harbour/101272874">berries in Coffs Harbour</a> is at risk due to the removal of all honey bees in the region, which may lead to short-term increases in food costs.</p>
<p>However, establishment and spread of Varroa will lead to lower pollination and lower crop production across the country, which will raise the price of most fruit and vegetables that depend on bee pollination.</p>
<p>This could worsen the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/17/inflation-and-inadequate-welfare-fuelling-australias-food-insecurity-crisis-foodbank-finds">food affordability crises caused by the current inflation</a>, affecting the ability of low income households to buy nutritious and fresh produce. Almond pollination has already noted a deficit of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-07-18/victoria-to-be-80-000-bee-hives-short-for-almond-pollination/101246392">80,000 hives in the last season</a>. </p>
<p>Many of the honey bee colonies that pollinate our crops are <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-varroa-mite-the-tiny-killer-threatening-australias-bees-25710">thought to be feral</a>, living in tree hollows or nest-boxes designed for native animals. These feral bees are not managed by beekeepers and so won’t be saved by the use of Varroa treatments, meaning they will most likely disappear. </p>
<p>Varroa may be a threat to wild pollinators including native bees. Varroa often spreads viruses, which can jump between species and may threaten our wild native pollinators. Of particular concern are viruses that deform insect wings and cause paralysis. Fortunately, these viruses have not been detected in the current Varroa incursion.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustration of different bee species pollinating flowers from crops and native plants" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527330/original/file-20230520-29-w4rnrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Australia currently relies on pollination by commercial honey bees (yellow), supplemented by feral honey bees (brown), though we have many native bee species like stingless bees and blue banded bees that are also being used in crop pollination.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Boris Yagound, adapted from Chapman et al. 2023</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>How can we secure Australia’s agricultural industry?</h2>
<p>Australia’s agricultural industry relies mostly on pollination by European honey bees. This choice has been risky.</p>
<p>In Europe, pollination services are also provided by diverse species like bumble bees, mining bees and mason bees (e.g. <em>Osmia rufa</em>), many of which are un-managed wild species that nest alone.</p>
<p>If Varroa escapes confinement, beekeepers will still be able to maintain colonies of honey bees but at greater costs, due to colony losses and the need for chemicals to treat Varroa mites in the hives. These costs have the potential to sink businesses, and affect the livelihoods of beekeepers. </p>
<p>Australia needs to decrease its reliance on the European honey bee in agriculture and improve pollinator diversity via the use of <a href="https://beeaware.org.au/pollination/native-bees/native-bees-as-alternative-pollinators/">other native pollinator species</a> such as native stingless bees, blue banded bees, <a href="https://www.horticulture.com.au/hort-innovation/news-events/media-releases/2022/Scientists-bring-flies-to-Varroa-Mite-Red-Zone">or even flies</a>. For example, native Australian stingless bees aid in the pollination of macadamia and capsicum crops and could be used for the pollination of other crops.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7MILt82Y5ig?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Native blue banded bees pollinating tomatoes in Australia.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Australia’s unique situation</h2>
<p>Australia is different from other Varroa infected regions of the world. Our incursion was smaller, it was identified early and the management zone is small enough to be feasibly eradicated.</p>
<p>Even if Varroa spreads in Australian landscapes, hopes are that the pace of the spread may be slower in Australia than it was in other regions due to the smaller incursion, the colossal eradication effort and large tracts of land that are inhospitable to honey bees. Managed honey bee populations are <a href="https://extensionaus.com.au/professionalbeekeepers/670000-registered-honey-bee-hives-in-australia/">concentrated around coastal regions</a>, or in Australia’s major rural food bowl regions where pollinator-dependant crops (such as almonds, blueberries and apples) are located. </p>
<p>This gives us a chance to prevent the spread of Varroa across inland Australia, where there are no honey bees.</p>
<p>Luckily for us, most of the world has already spent the last few decades trying to minimise Varroa mite management costs. As a nation, we now have the chance to initiate a fresh and coordinated management response. Australia could organise state-wide <a href="https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/pesticides/integrated-pest-management">integrated pest management</a> approaches and treatment regimes to prevent Varroa’s resistance to chemical treatments from developing rapidly.</p>
<p>In short, there are good reasons to remain positive about the future of Australian beekeeping and horticultural industries, but there is still much work for our research community to do.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-do-so-much-more-than-you-think-from-dancing-to-being-little-art-critics-204039">Bees can do so much more than you think – from dancing to being little art critics</a>
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<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scarlett Howard has received funding from Australian Government, RMIT University, Fyssen Foundation, L’Oreal-UNESCO, Australian Academy of Sciences, Hermon Slade, Deakin University, and Monash University. She has been affiliated with Pint of Science Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Mikheyev receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Agrifutures Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Remnant has received funding from The University of Sydney, Horticulture Innovation Australia, Agrifutures Australia, the Australia and Pacific Science Foundation, the Australian Government and the NSW Government. She has volunteered for the NSW Apiarists Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Tierney has received funding from Australian Entomological Society, Centre for Biodiversity Analysis, Flinders University, Hort Innovation, National Geographic Society, Royal Entomological Society, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Tokyo Metropolitan University and Western Sydney University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Théotime Colin receives funding from Macquarie University, the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, the Eldon & Anne Foote Trust, Hort Innovation Australia, the Innovation Connections program, the The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and Agrifutures Australia. He is a member of the New South Wales Apiarists' Association.</span></em></p>Australia is the last continent to be invaded by the dangerous honey bee parasite, and has an opportunity to be the first to eradicate it.Scarlett Howard, Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, Monash UniversityAlexander Mikheyev, Group Leader, Mikheyev Group - Evolutionary genomics, Australian National UniversityEmily Remnant, Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of SydneySimon Tierney, Lecturer & Research Fellow, Western Sydney UniversityThéotime Colin, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2059322023-05-23T20:11:13Z2023-05-23T20:11:13ZCoffee, brought to you by bees: a case study in how restoring habitat is a win-win for forests and farmers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527609/original/file-20230523-25-1oj0e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3872%2C2579&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(05)00302-2">Bees are crucial</a> for producing many of our beloved foods and beverages. Coffee is one crop that <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880921003844">benefits from bee pollination</a>. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en/news/pollinator-decline-across-globe-verdict-international-group-scientific-experts">pollinator numbers are falling</a> worldwide. Many are <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/03/40-of-pollinator-species-face-extinction-report-finds/">facing extinction</a>. This decline is <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/monoculture-farming-modern-day-agriculture-killing-bees-scientists/story?id=80536659">due in part</a> to ever-expanding farmland covered by a single kind of crop plant – agricultural monocultures. </p>
<p>Restoring pollinators’ habitat is essential, both to stop their decline and to maintain food production. Calls for large-scale restoration, such as the <a href="https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/">UN Decade of Restoration</a>, are ambitious and may compete with other land uses. In addition, restoration often has an upfront cost, while its benefits could take time to obtain. </p>
<p>However, our <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002107">new research</a> shows that coffee farmers who restore patches of forest across their properties can nearly double their profits with just a 15% increase in natural habitat over five years. The benefits, a result of higher pollinator numbers, continue to increase for both farmers and forest over the long term (40 years). This is the first study that assessed such benefits in the long term and at a large scale.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-birds-and-the-bees-help-coffee-plants-181189">How the birds and the bees help coffee plants</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Finding a sweet spot</h2>
<p>Planting trees without planning that takes all factors into account may lead to poor conservation or economic outcomes. For instance, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825210001571?via%3Dihub">tree planting in unsuitable arid areas of China</a> ultimately led to further environmental degradation, although the aim was to combat desertification. </p>
<p>For our study, we set up two clear objectives: </p>
<ol>
<li>to maximise coffee profitability</li>
<li>to maximise restoration of forest that pollinators could use. </li>
</ol>
<p>We used Costa Rica as a case study because of the wealth of information on pollination services for coffee in this region. One study found forest-based pollinators <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0405147101">increased coffee yields by 20%</a> within 1 kilometre of forest. So the presence of a healthy population of pollinators has a big impact on farmers’ revenue. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Hands picking coffee berries off the bush" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527611/original/file-20230523-23-agrtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coffee production depends on a healthy population of pollinators.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/boosting-bee-diversity-can-help-stabilise-crop-production-new-research-157328">Boosting bee diversity can help stabilise crop production – new research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A common practice to increase profits is to expand cropland by clearing forest. Therefore, restoring coffee lands to forest may involve trade-offs. To account for this, we considered two different planning contexts: </p>
<ol>
<li>only restoration and no agricultural expansion</li>
<li>a mix of restoration and agricultural expansion. </li>
</ol>
<p>We also compared multiple scenarios to assess the trade-offs between focusing solely on coffee profitability (objective one) versus giving more priority to restoring habitat for bees (objective two), and everything in between. Our mathematical modelling then selected the best locations to restore habitat (or expand agriculture) for each scenario.</p>
<p>There was a sweet spot between both objectives when practising only restoration. We found coffee farms can increase economic benefits by 98% after five years by increasing forest area by 15%. After 40 years, the economic benefits increase by about 109% with a 19% increase in forest area. </p>
<p>We also found that if farmers restore habitat without expanding agriculture, profits are steadier. When farmers restore and expand at the same time, this adds an element of volatility.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Aerial view showing patches of forest among areas of coffee crops" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527627/original/file-20230523-4578-jkd8pn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Farmers need to find a sweet spot between habitat for pollinators and cleared land for growing crops.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/restoring-forests-often-falls-to-landholders-heres-how-to-do-it-cheaply-and-well-204123">Restoring forests often falls to landholders. Here's how to do it cheaply and well</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Small or big patches?</h2>
<p>We found restoring many small patches throughout the farmed area maximised pollination services. Bees can only travel fairly short distances, ranging from 40 metres to 3 kilometres. Dispersed forest patches allowed the bees to reach more coffee plants. </p>
<p>However, while smaller patches are generally suitable for pollinators, other species have different needs. Restoring large areas is important for species that travel longer distances, such as the jaguar (<em>Panthera onca</em>), or for forest specialists that need <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10425">dense forest to thrive</a>. </p>
<p>However, having only a big patch of restored forest in an area of farmland may isolate species that have a large home range. In contrast, restoring small patches of land can provide <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-013-0470-y">important corridors for mammals</a>. </p>
<p>In our study, we found other solutions that restored a mix of big and small patches at the same time. These solutions can still can deliver good economic and restoration outcomes. Having a mix is important because it allows <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.12666">biodiversity conservation and farming to co-exist</a>.</p>
<p>Ideally, farmers who have large patches restored on their land would receive financial compensation. This could make up for the farmers’ upfront and ongoing costs, such as sapling cost and labour to maintain plants throughout some years. At the same time, <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10138">neighbouring farms</a> will benefit from bees travelling to and pollinating their crops, even if habitat isn’t restored on this land.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tropical-forests-can-recover-surprisingly-quickly-on-deforested-lands-and-letting-them-regrow-naturally-is-an-effective-and-low-cost-way-to-slow-climate-change-173302">Tropical forests can recover surprisingly quickly on deforested lands – and letting them regrow naturally is an effective and low-cost way to slow climate change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="bees on white coffee flowers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527612/original/file-20230523-17128-uisldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Having forest nearby increases the numbers of bees that can get to the coffee plants and pollinate their flowers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, these findings support solutions for farmers with different environmental outlooks. Some farmers may be generally supportive of conservation, leading to more proactive restoration actions and no clearing of forest. Other farmers may place a high importance on expanding agricultural production to improve their livelihoods. </p>
<p>Our study takes into account both contexts. Our findings show strategic habitat restoration for pollinators produces win-win outcomes for farming and the environment in both cases.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sofía López-Cubillos is affiliated with Fundación Manigua desde la Tierra in Colombian and the Institute for Capacity Exchange in Environmental Decisions in Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca K. Runting receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>The optimal trade-off between restoring habitat and crop production hinges on pollinators. A new study shows giving pollinators more natural habitat on the farm leads to big increases in production.Sofía López-Cubillos, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of MelbourneRebecca K. Runting, Senior Lecturer in Spatial Sciences and ARC DECRA Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040392023-05-19T00:35:57Z2023-05-19T00:35:57ZBees can do so much more than you think – from dancing to being little art critics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524552/original/file-20230505-23-flxhaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C85%2C2796%2C1909&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kirill Demchenko/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bees are among <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/why-bees-are-essential-people-and-planet">the most important insects on Earth</a> – vital pollinators of our crops and significant contributors to <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-rock-carvings-to-rock-music-the-prevalence-of-bees-in-art-throughout-human-history-173069">human societies</a> for thousands of years.</p>
<p>While visiting various plants, bees need to figure out the best flowers so they can be the most efficient foragers possible, and communicate this to their hive.</p>
<p>But there’s much more these insects’ tiny brains are capable of.</p>
<h2>Bees have a great memory and can learn a lot</h2>
<p>Bees can visit hundreds of flowers a day across multiple locations, and are great at learning which floral colours, shapes and locations are best for finding food. These flower memories can last for days, allowing for individual workers to return to the best flowers.</p>
<p>Bees are capable of learning in complex ways. They can use “cross-modal” learning, recognising an object they’ve experienced with one sense when it’s presented in another sense. In one study, bumblebees were trained <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aay8064">to tell cubes and spheres apart</a> using only touch, but could still distinguish them visually if they were unable to touch the shapes – and vice versa.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A light purple lavender stem with a fuzzy bumblebee on it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524548/original/file-20230505-29-gvytfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bumblebees can integrate information from different senses – a useful skill when foraging from colourful flowers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/L3z12pKGq-Y">NON/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bumblebees were trained on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-bumblebees-can-help-us-understand-the-evolution-of-human-memories-192193">different combinations of higher and lower quality coloured flower pairs</a>. When bees were presented with flower combinations that had never been paired together, bumblebees forgot information about how sweet a flower was, but could remember if their experience was better or worse for the two flowers displayed.</p>
<p>This demonstrates bees can integrate sensory information independently of the specific sense involved. This is something human babies do when developing, and how we learn to read and write. </p>
<h2>Bees also learn from each other</h2>
<p>Honeybees are possibly most famous <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-honeybees-iconic-waggle-dance-learned-or-innate-new-research-provides-the-answer-201297">for the “waggle dance”</a>, which is how they tell their nest mates about the distance, direction, and quality of a food source. </p>
<p>Honeybees are born to dance, but when young bees are able to observe older, more accomplished dancing bees, the <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade1702">young bees become “better” dancers</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6N3nJItYrcw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Aside from the waggle dance, social bees use a range of social information to learn from others. They follow each other to good flowers, they use scent marks to mark both rewarding and empty flowers, or simply <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64884107">watch more experienced individuals</a> to learn how to access food.</p>
<p>Bees are also individuals, with differences in their ability to learn – <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0090556">some are fast learners, whilst others are a bit slow</a>. </p>
<p>Their learning isn’t simply passive either. Bumblebees have been trained to push balls into holes to get rewards. During these experiments there have been observer bees who have learnt the skill either by watching (and no direct interaction with the teacher bee), or interacting with the teacher bee and then spontaneously improving on the technique.</p>
<p>This demonstrates an understanding of the task at hand and the desired outcome, allowing the observer bee to find her own, better way to get the reward.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/exsrX6qsKkA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>As the FIFA Women’s World Cup approaches, we can even use this training technique to get bees to learn to <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/bees-learn-soccer-from-their-buddies/">play soccer</a>.</p>
<h2>Bees can recognise faces – and paintings</h2>
<p>Bees’ ability to memorise doesn’t stop at flowers. In one example, honeybees were rewarded every time they visited a painting by a “rewarding” artist (either <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23076444/">Monet or Picasso</a>). When bees were given paintings they had never seen before, they still visited the rewarding artist, suggesting they can discriminate between art <em>styles</em>.</p>
<p>This extends beyond Picasso and Monet, with bees learning to discriminate between <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-learn-the-difference-between-european-and-australian-indigenous-art-styles-in-a-single-afternoon-110494">Monet and Indigenous artist Noŋgirrŋa Marawili</a> in a single afternoon. </p>
<p>Their discrimination ability beyond flowers is also impressive, as honeybees can even <a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/208/24/4709/15923/Honeybee-Apis-mellifera-vision-can-discriminate">recognise people’s faces</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I_4G-3mFnRs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Bees can play</h2>
<p>Play is considered a really important part of learning and cognition, and it’s not limited to humans. A previous study of bumblebees showed <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347222002366">they meet the criteria of play</a> – repeated behaviours that occur voluntarily for pleasure, and offer little value to the animal’s ability to mate, reproduce, or feed successfully. </p>
<p>Bumblebees that entered a room full of wooden balls willingly rolled around with the balls, and were more likely to enter a room that was previously associated with wooden balls, even though they were given no food reward for doing so.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7-LOJysXxcU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Native bees are smart</h2>
<p>Most of our understanding of bee brains focuses on two groups of bees: honeybees and bumblebees. These bees are widely distributed across the globe and are commercially important pollinators.</p>
<p>But there are a lot of other species of bees we don’t know as much about.</p>
<p>In Australia, we have over 2,000 species of native bees, and we know that a lot of them have great colour vision, and innate preferences for particular shapes and colours. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-021-01739-9">Halictid bees</a> can learn to avoid flowers associated with predation, for example.</p>
<p>It is highly likely that most other bee species are capable of clever feats – we just need to spend more time studying them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/move-over-honeybees-aussie-native-bees-steal-the-show-with-unique-social-and-foraging-behaviours-200536">Move over, honeybees: Aussie native bees steal the show with unique social and foraging behaviours</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Could bees be… sentient?</h2>
<p>Thinking about these abilities and taking the research all together, it becomes clear that the “simple” minds of bees are far more capable than we could have imagined.</p>
<p>Though they only have about a million neurons (we have about 100 billion), bees show complex behaviours like tool use, they have a representation of space, and they can learn through observation. </p>
<p>This has brought about some <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-constitutes-a-mind-lars-chittka-challenges-our-perception-of-sentience-with-the-smallest-of-creatures-182855">exciting discussions</a> around bees potentially having consciousness. If that were true, it could change not only how we see bees, but how we interact with them. It also raises the question – could other invertebrates have consciousness?</p>
<h2>Stress and other factors limit their ability to do these clever things</h2>
<p>Native bees face many risks, including the negative impacts of habitat loss, pollution, climate change, and the overuse of pesticides. </p>
<p>For bees generally, stress is a problem as well. All kinds of <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-get-stressed-at-work-too-and-it-might-be-causing-colony-collapse-96412">stress</a> can make it harder for bees to learn, as it impacts their cognitive functions, their ability to think, and remember. </p>
<p>There is evidence that pesticides and air pollution can impair memory and learning in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep16508#:%7E:text=However%2C%20following%20chronic%20pesticide%20exposure,exposure%20to%202.4%20ppb%20pesticide.">bumblebees</a> and <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.13193">honeybees</a>. When honeybees were exposed to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/oik.05405">road pollution</a>, they were less able to remember floral scents, which makes it harder for them to locate the flowers they need to sustain their hive. </p>
<p>Next time you’re watching bees in your garden, don’t forget to appreciate all of the things their brains are able to do – and how much we need to look after them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204039/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlyn Forster received funding from the Australian Research Council and The Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eliza Middleton received funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>We all know bees are vital pollinators. But they’re also art critics, social learners, dancers and so much more.Caitlyn Forster, Associate Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of SydneyEliza Middleton, Biodiversity Management Officer, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2057202023-05-18T14:37:02Z2023-05-18T14:37:02ZDecolonize your garden: This long weekend, dig into the complicated roots of gardening — Listen<p>The May long weekend is the unofficial start of summer. And for those of you with home gardens or access to community space, this is the weekend to dust off your gardening tools and visit the garden centre for the growing season ahead.</p>
<p>As we approach the start of gardening season, it’s good time to ask some questions about its origins.</p>
<p>Whether you plan to get marigolds, plant a vegetable garden or create a pollinator patch — all gardens have complicated roots. </p>
<p>In fact, the practice of gardening is <a href="https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/the-coloniality-of-planting">deeply tied to colonialism</a> — from the <a href="https://www.noemamag.com/the-long-shadow-of-colonial-science">formation of botany as a science</a>, to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01865-1">spread of seeds, species and knowledge.</a> </p>
<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/92c92d2a-9628-4da6-9b3f-8bf5ec67d7cf?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><em><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/decolonize-your-garden-this-long-weekend-visit-the-complicated-roots-of-gardening-listen">In this episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient</a>, we explore the complicated roots of the garden, including who gets to garden. We also discuss practical tips about what to plant with an eye to Indigenous knowledge. We speak with researcher Jacqueline L. Scott and also chat with community activist, Carolynne Crawley, who leads workshops that integrate Indigenous teachings into practice.</em></p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Watercolor illustration of Tulipa sylvestris in I Cinque libri di piante.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pietro Antonio Michiel, Venice ca. 1550–1576, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Coveted tulips</h2>
<p>Some of the most recognizable plants today, such as <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/there-never-was-real-tulip-fever-180964915/">tulips</a>, are the result of early colonial conquests. Originally found growing wild in the valleys where current China and Tibet meet Afghanistan and Russia, tulips were first cultivated in Istanbul as early as 1055. </p>
<p>Later, after they were hybridized and commodified by the Dutch, they became highly coveted status symbols because of their gorgeous, but fleeting, blooms. </p>
<p>Exploratory botanical voyages by colonial European powers were integral to the expansion of empire. These trips fueled the big business of collecting global plant samples and also led to the emergence of botany as a scientific discipline. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">227 figures of plant anatomical segments with descriptive text. Botany. Plant anatomy. Plant morphology. Plants. Roots (Botany). Roots (Botany) – Morphology. Roots (Botany) – Anatomy. Rootstocks. Tubers. Leaves. Leaves – Morphology. Flowers – Morphology. Flowers. Fruit – Morphology. Bulbs (Plant anatomy). Plants – Variation. Botany – France. Stems (Botany).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Botanical gardens served as labs</h2>
<p>Botanical gardens played a key role, serving as the laboratories where plant specimens were organized, ordered and named. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsisyn.2021.100196">“Scientific objectivity”</a> asserted a Eurocentric point of view, disrupting and displacing Indigenous Knowledge and ecological practices. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1913 illustrated depiction of African American people picking cotton.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CottonpickHoustonWhere17.png">Jerome H. Farbar: 'Houston: Where Seventeen Railroads Meet the Sea.' Page 31/40, 'Cotton Pickers'</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The movement and transfer of plants around the world went hand in hand with the transportation of people to provide a labour force, through slavery and indentured servitude. </p>
<p>The plantation system cleared out local ecosystems and replaced traditional farming methods with growing cash crops — like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/sugar-slave-trade-slavery.html">sugar-cane</a>, <a href="https://thecorrespondent.com/222/the-history-of-tea-is-darker-than-a-builders-brew">tea</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/16/20806069/slavery-economy-capitalism-violence-cotton-edward-baptist">cotton.</a> These were products meant for European curiosities, markets and profit and not for the local populations.</p>
<h2>Plant and racial hierarchies</h2>
<p>This colonial system of <a href="https://open.oregonstate.education/cultivatedplants/chapter/colonialagriculture/">organizing agriculture</a> laid the groundwork for <a href="https://www.sapiens.org/biology/race-scientific-taxonomy/">categorizing people</a> in a similar way, establishing a social hierarchy which dehumanized non-Europeans, helping justify slavery and Indigenous genocide, and eventually leading to racial categories.</p>
<p>This history has shaped our current relationships to the land, and our gardens. It also informs beliefs about land ownership and access; who has a right to enjoy the land, versus who is expected to be working on it. Who has the literal and figurative space and freedom to garden?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On the left is a lawn (Stephen Cobb/Unsplash) and on the right is a native plant garden in Streeterville, Chicago (Shutterstock).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shifting attitudes</h2>
<p>But the soil is shifting. There is a growing shift away from <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-is-it-time-to-decolonize-your-lawn/">the colonial status symbol of the lawn</a> and <a href="https://chatelaine.com/living/quiet-quitting-garden/">manicured gardens</a>, in favour of <a href="https://broadview.org/lorraine-johnson-interview/">pollinator-friendly</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/13/realestate/why-some-of-your-annuals-should-be-native-plants.html">native plants</a>. </p>
<p>There is also a growing understanding that <a href="https://broadview.org/grandfather-teachings-gardening/">centuries-old Indigenous land-based knowledge</a> and practices — like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/21/wildfire-prescribed-burns-california-native-americans">controlled burns</a> — can help manage wildfires, and foster a more resilient landscape.</p>
<p>With concerns about our climate crisis growing, one of the possible avenues for <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-urban-gardens-can-boost-biodiversity-and-make-cities-more-sustainable-162810">creating more sustainable cities may very well lie in our gardens</a>.</p>
<p>Could we have an impact simply by thinking a little differently about the seeds we sow and the “weeds” we pull?</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Monarch butterfly on purple coneflowers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeffrey Hamilton/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:DCMR@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/01/29/news/tiffany-traverse-rare-indigenous-seed-project">Tiffany Traverse on seeds and their endless power to give, heal and grow</a> - <em>Canada’s National Observer</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/the-coloniality-of-planting">The coloniality of planting: legacies of racism and slavery in the practice of botany</a> - <em>The Architectural Review</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.noemamag.com/the-long-shadow-of-colonial-science/">The Long Shadow Of Colonial Science</a> - <em>Noema Magazine</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-is-it-time-to-decolonize-your-lawn/">Is it time to decolonize your lawn?</a> - <em>Globe and Mail</em></p>
<p><a href="https://turtleprotectors.com">Turtle Protectors</a> in Toronto’s High Park</p>
<p><a href="https://gardeningoutloud.substack.com/p/guest-episode-1-spring-joy-with-ateqah">Spring joy with Ateqah Khaki</a> - <em>Gardening Out Loud</em></p>
<h2>From the archives - in The Conversation</h2>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-colonial-past-of-botanical-gardens-can-be-put-to-good-use-104786">How the colonial past of botanical gardens can be put to good use</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/director-of-science-at-kew-its-time-to-decolonise-botanical-collections-141070">Director of science at Kew: it's time to decolonise botanical collections</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-shortage-of-native-seeds-is-slowing-land-restoration-across-the-us-which-is-crucial-for-tackling-climate-change-and-extinctions-199049">A shortage of native seeds is slowing land restoration across the US, which is crucial for tackling climate change and extinctions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An aerial view of small green seedlings in pots.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Markus Spiske PG/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205720/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
As we approach the start of gardening season, it’s a good time to ask some questions about what to plant and who gets to plant.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientAteqah Khaki, Associate Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2045042023-04-27T15:02:39Z2023-04-27T15:02:39ZDandelions are a lifeline for bees on the brink – we should learn to love them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523208/original/file-20230427-961-e42c9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4500%2C2997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dandelion-grass-yellow-flower-green-close-1950501952">Elvira Tursynbayeva/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/dandelion">Dandelions</a>, love them or hate them, are <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/make-yours-dandelion-spring">blooming in abundance</a> all over the UK this spring. As an ecologist who studies the insects which visit these flowers, so redolent of sunshine, I have never been able to understand why anyone might hate them. </p>
<p>Why do some people despair when they see a dandelion poking through the grass in their garden, or through the concrete on their drive? Most see dandelions as “weeds”: they don’t want them around their house and will reach for the lawnmower, or worse still, a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1618866719309628">can of weed killer</a>, when one dares to rear its yellow head. </p>
<p>Perhaps I’m strange for rejoicing at the sight of a street, lawn or field blooming with dandelion heads. But as these flowers make fantastic food for a wide range of endangered bees, I’d like to convince you to love these flowers as I do, and to care for them as you would any other wildflower in a meadow.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A roadside verge filled with flowering dandelions." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522971/original/file-20230426-20-ch94a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The dandelion (<em>Taraxacum officiale</em>) can grow almost anywhere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philip Donkersley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Flowers in the city</h2>
<p>The last 50 years have seen urban areas and farms expand across the UK. What few places were set aside to provide for wildlife have been eroded. We have pushed nature to the brink, but nature adapts, changes and overcomes these obstacles. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.</em> </p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/plant-curious-137238?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=PlantCurious2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of a series, Plant Curious</a>, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Studies of bee feeding patterns in cities, where much of their original food sources have been covered with concrete and tarmac, show a shift in their <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-017-3968-3">wild, diverse diet</a> to one dominated by <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10841-014-9694-9/">dandelions, clover</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.9490">brambles</a>.</p>
<p>Dandelions are an abundant source of nectar and pollen for bees flying around an environment in which the diversity of food options continues to shrink. These plants grow in very little soil, flower from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534707001541">early spring to just before winter</a> and offer sustenance for bees all year round.</p>
<p>What makes dandelions so successful in feeding a wide variety of pollinators is the shape of their flowers.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A small bee nestled in the middle of a dandelion flower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522982/original/file-20230426-20-20upgr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The common carder bee (<em>Bombus pascorum</em>).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philip Donkersley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The evolution of bees is a dance between the changing shapes of flowers and the corresponding length of bee tongues. Complicated flowers, like <a href="https://www.kew.org/plants/vanilla">vanilla</a>, evolved to make sure only a certain bee species could pollinate them, whereas others have evolved simple, open flowers that anyone can get pollen and nectar from.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bumblebee perched on a dandelion flower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522981/original/file-20230426-186-sob7tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A buff tailed bumblebee (<em>Bombus terrestris</em>).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philip Donkersley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dandelions fall into this second camp. Take a look at a patch of dandelion flowers and you’ll be amazed at the diversity of visitors. Over just 10 minutes in my garden I spotted at least 10 different bee and fly species: the ever abundant <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/buff-tailed-bumblebee">buff-tailed bumblebee</a>, as well as the common <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/common-carder-bee">carder bee</a> and a <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/honey-bee">honeybee</a> from one of my own hives working hard to collect pollen for the colony.</p>
<p>Among the many threats to pollinators (pesticides, the destruction of nest habitat, invasive species), <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/7/3/119">lack of food</a> is one of the most important. Highly abundant dandelions can go a long way to bridging this gap – at least in terms of <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/5/304">nectar</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A close-up image of a honeybee bestriding a dandelion flower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522984/original/file-20230426-20-sag6mc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=738&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A honeybee (<em>Apis mellifera</em>) feeding on a dandelion, its leg baskets full of pollen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philip Donkersley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some scientists have argued that dandelion pollen is not the best for bees. Research suggests that it may contain high levels of the essential amino acid <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.728576/full">proline</a> (which bees can only get from food and cannot make themselves), but lack several others, like <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jee/article-abstract/80/1/14/757976">isoleucine and valine</a>. A diet lacking in these elements can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002220111200167X">hamper</a> a bee’s ability to grow, resist disease and raise its young. </p>
<p>But in a world where bees are stressed by a lack of any food at all, I would argue that any source that can proliferate under the toughest conditions like dandelions is a worthwhile thing to preserve.</p>
<h2>Dandelion dawn</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/">No Mow May</a> approaches: a campaign sponsored by the charity <a href="https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/">Plantlife</a> to let weeds grow in gardens. Sadly, at the end of May, all that lovely wildflower habitat could be cut down and sprayed with herbicides.</p>
<p>Manicured lawns are essentially green deserts: ostensibly full of plants but with nothing to nourish bees or other wildlife.</p>
<p>Not everyone wants a lawn full of wildflowers. So I would recommend, rather than setting aside the whole garden for nature a month, trying to set aside a patch forever. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A row of poppies and other wildflowers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523210/original/file-20230427-16-tdsmla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even a strip of wildflowers will benefit bugs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-wildflowers-on-lovely-sunny-day-1441015007">Liz Miller/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dandelions are amazing plants that can survive anywhere, as long as we allow them. They are a lifeline for pollinators on the brink and need protecting as part of our environment in car parks, roads and lawns. The next time you see a dandelion, try to see it as a bee would.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Donkersley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Before you reach for the weed killer, spare a thought for struggling pollinators.Philip Donkersley, Senior Research Associate in Entomology, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2030962023-04-05T13:53:51Z2023-04-05T13:53:51ZEaster bunnies, cacao beans and pollinating bugs: A basket of 6 essential reads about chocolate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519391/original/file-20230404-14-reloqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=422%2C0%2C4914%2C3173&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Easter has its bunnies, but chocolate comes out for every holiday.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/chocolate-bunny-family-royalty-free-image/177875356">garytog/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/surprising-easter-fun-facts-stats-2019-4#as-many-as-91-million-chocolate-bunnies-are-sold-in-the-us-for-easter-annually-8">Tens of millions of chocolate bunnies</a> get sold in the U.S. every Easter. Here are six articles about chocolate from The Conversation’s archive – great reading while you’re nibbling the ears off your own bunny (if you’re one of the <a href="https://www.insider.com/surprising-easter-fun-facts-stats-2019-4#as-many-as-78-of-americans-eat-the-ears-of-their-chocolate-bunny-first-11">three-quarters of Americans who start</a> at the top).</p>
<h2>1. Food scientist on cocoa chemistry</h2>
<p>Chocolate bunnies don’t grow on trees – but cacao pods do. It takes a lot of processing to get from the raw agricultural input to the finished output.</p>
<p>Food scientist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5iZjEckAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Sheryl Barringer</a> from The Ohio State University wrote about various chemical reactions that are part of the transformation of beans into chocolate. One is the Maillard reaction, the same thing that gives the browned bits on roasted meats or a bread’s golden crust their flavor. <a href="https://theconversation.com/chocolate-chemistry-a-food-scientist-explains-how-the-beloved-treat-gets-its-flavor-texture-and-tricky-reputation-as-an-ingredient-198222">Barringer also explains that weird white stuff</a> – known as bloom – that might appear on your Easter chocolates if they hang around for a while. (Don’t worry, it’s still edible.)</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chocolate-chemistry-a-food-scientist-explains-how-the-beloved-treat-gets-its-flavor-texture-and-tricky-reputation-as-an-ingredient-198222">Chocolate chemistry – a food scientist explains how the beloved treat gets its flavor, texture and tricky reputation as an ingredient</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. Chocolate is a fermented food</h2>
<p>Food science Ph.D. candidate <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QjIM6yUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Caitlin Clark</a> from Colorado State University focuses her research on the microbes responsible for much of chocolate’s flavor. As a fermented food, chocolate depends on yeast and bacteria to help turn a raw ingredient into the treat you can recognize.</p>
<p>Clark described how the microorganisms that occur naturally in a given geographical location can give high-end chocolates their “terroir” – “<a href="https://theconversation.com/chocolates-secret-ingredient-is-the-fermenting-microbes-that-make-it-taste-so-good-155552">the characteristic flair imparted by a place</a>” you might be more used to thinking about with regard to wine.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chocolates-secret-ingredient-is-the-fermenting-microbes-that-make-it-taste-so-good-155552">Chocolate's secret ingredient is the fermenting microbes that make it taste so good</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519395/original/file-20230404-2112-yh79aj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cacao pods and flowers on branch tree close up" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519395/original/file-20230404-2112-yh79aj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519395/original/file-20230404-2112-yh79aj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519395/original/file-20230404-2112-yh79aj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519395/original/file-20230404-2112-yh79aj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519395/original/file-20230404-2112-yh79aj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519395/original/file-20230404-2112-yh79aj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519395/original/file-20230404-2112-yh79aj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tiny flies spread pollen from one cacao tree to another.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/cacao-pods-and-flower-on-branch-royalty-free-image/1165785501">dimarik/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Pollinators are important part of process</h2>
<p>Cacao growers rely on another tiny ally to pollinate their crop. Entomologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=qvmWZYwAAAAJ">DeWayne Shoemaker</a> from the University of Tennessee described the mini flies – particularly biting midges and gall midges – that get the job done. “Pollinators must pick up pollen from the male parts of a flower of one tree and deposit it on the female parts of a flower on another tree,” Shoemaker wrote.</p>
<p>But up to <a href="https://theconversation.com/tiny-cacao-flowers-and-fickle-midges-are-part-of-a-pollination-puzzle-that-limits-chocolate-production-154334">90% of cacao flowers don’t get pollinated</a> at all. People can hand-pollinate the little flowers, but it remains a mystery which other insects might do the job in the wild.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tiny-cacao-flowers-and-fickle-midges-are-part-of-a-pollination-puzzle-that-limits-chocolate-production-154334">Tiny cacao flowers and fickle midges are part of a pollination puzzle that limits chocolate production</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Child labor is chocolate’s bitter secret</h2>
<p>Harvesting and processing cacao is labor-intensive. To meet this need, some farmers turn to child labor. Cultural anthropologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1ErMxzgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Robert Ulin</a> from the Rochester Institute of Technology described how the global chocolate industry is tied to inequality via exploitative labor practices.</p>
<p>“The largest chocolate companies signed a protocol in 2001 that <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-chocolate-has-a-dark-side-to-it-child-labor-179271">condemned child labor and childhood slavery</a>,” Ulin wrote. But he noted that consumers may want more information to make sure their purchase power supports “fair labor practices in the chocolate sector.” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/some-chocolate-has-a-dark-side-to-it-child-labor-179271">Some chocolate has a dark side to it – child labor</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519398/original/file-20230404-18-7hqbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dog and woman, both with Easter bunny ears on" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519398/original/file-20230404-18-7hqbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519398/original/file-20230404-18-7hqbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519398/original/file-20230404-18-7hqbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519398/original/file-20230404-18-7hqbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519398/original/file-20230404-18-7hqbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519398/original/file-20230404-18-7hqbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519398/original/file-20230404-18-7hqbi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Do not share your chocolates with your pooch.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/dog-and-woman-with-costume-and-easter-decorations-royalty-free-image/1359250422">F.J. Jimenez/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>5. Not safe for furry family members</h2>
<p>Eating a ton of chocolate is probably not a healthy choice for anyone. But even a little bit of chocolate can be deadly for dogs and cats. </p>
<p>In an article about all kinds of holiday foods that are unsafe for pets, veterinarian and researcher <a href="https://experts.okstate.edu/le.fanucchi">Leticia Fanucchi</a> from Oklahoma State University explained the chemicals in this human delicacy that can cause fatal “<a href="https://theconversation.com/holiday-foods-can-be-toxic-to-pets-a-veterinarian-explains-which-and-what-to-do-if-rover-or-kitty-eats-them-196453">chocolate intoxication</a>.” Don’t delay getting veterinary help if your pet does raid your Easter basket.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/holiday-foods-can-be-toxic-to-pets-a-veterinarian-explains-which-and-what-to-do-if-rover-or-kitty-eats-them-196453">Holiday foods can be toxic to pets – a veterinarian explains which, and what to do if Rover or Kitty eats them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>6. An enslaved chocolatier in colonial America</h2>
<p>An enslaved cook named Caesar, born in 1732, was one of the first chocolatiers in the American colonies. Historical archaeologist <a href="https://berkeley.academia.edu/KelleyFantoDeetz">Kelley Fanto Deetz</a> from the University of California, Berkeley described how Caesar “would have had to <a href="https://theconversation.com/oppression-in-the-kitchen-delight-in-the-dining-room-the-story-of-caesar-an-enslaved-chef-and-chocolatier-in-colonial-virginia-151356">roast the cocoa beans on the open hearth</a>, shell them by hand, grind the nibs on a heated chocolate stone, and then scrape the raw cocoa, add milk or water, cinnamon, nutmeg or vanilla, and serve it piping hot.”</p>
<p>Cocoa was a hot commodity for Virginia’s white elite during this period, when it was a culinary component – along with pineapples, Madeira wine, port, champagne, coffee and sugar – of the Columbian Exchange.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/oppression-in-the-kitchen-delight-in-the-dining-room-the-story-of-caesar-an-enslaved-chef-and-chocolatier-in-colonial-virginia-151356">Oppression in the kitchen, delight in the dining room: The story of Caesar, an enslaved chef and chocolatier in Colonial Virginia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Two food scientists, an entomologist, an anthropologist, a veterinarian and a historian walk into a bar (of chocolate) and tell bitter and sweet stories of this favorite treat.Maggie Villiger, Senior Science + Technology EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1976712023-01-20T13:37:37Z2023-01-20T13:37:37ZHow do you vaccinate a honeybee? 6 questions answered about a new tool for protecting pollinators<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505433/original/file-20230119-14-78gogp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C4759%2C3216&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new vaccine promises better protection against a virulent honeybee infection. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BeeHealth/dec03c6d562c457fa83f50032ab8a6f1/photo">AP Photo/Elise Amendola</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Honeybees, which pollinate <a href="https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/helping-agricultures-helpful-honey-bees">one-third of the crops Americans eat</a>, face many threats, including infectious diseases. On Jan. 4, 2023, a Georgia biotechnology company called <a href="https://www.dalan.com/">Dalan Animal Health</a> announced that it had <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230104005262/en/First-in-Class-Honeybee-Vaccine-Receives-Conditional-License-from-the-USDA-Center-for-Veterinary-Biologics">received a conditional license</a> from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a vaccine designed to protect honeybees against American foulbrood, a highly destructive infection.</em> </p>
<p><em>To receive a conditional license, which usually lasts for one year and is subject to further evaluation by the USDA, veterinary biological products must be shown to be <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/vet_biologics/publications/pel_2_2.pdf">pure, safe and reasonably likely to be effective</a>. Dr. Jennie Durant, an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B1qAtjIAAAAJ&hl=en">agriculture researcher</a> at the University of California, Davis, who specializes in honeybee health, explains why this vaccine is potentially an important step in ongoing efforts to protect pollinators.</em></p>
<h2>1. What threat does this vaccine address?</h2>
<p>The new bee vaccine, <a href="https://www.dalan.com/product">Paenibacillus Larvae Bacterin</a>, aims to protect honeybees from <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md-barc/beltsville-agricultural-research-center/bee-research-laboratory/docs/american-foulbrood-disease/">American foulbrood</a>. This highly destructive bacterial disease gets its name from the foul scent honeybee larvae exude when infected. </p>
<p>An outbreak of American foulbrood is effectively a death sentence for a bee colony and can economically devastate a beekeeping operation. The spores from the bacteria, <em>Paenibacillus larvae</em>, are highly transmissible and can remain <a href="https://pollinators.msu.edu/resources/beekeepers/diagnosing-and-treating-american-foulbrood-in-honey-bee-colonies/">virulent for decades</a> after infection. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VENKKufzMAE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How American foulbrood affects honeybee colonies.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once an outbreak occurs, beekeepers typically have to <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/honey-bee-diseases-american-foulbrood#:%7E:text=American%20foulbrood%20(AFB)%20is%20a,death%20in%20only%20three%20weeks.">destroy any bee colonies</a> that they know were infected to avoid spreading the disease. They also have to destroy the hive boxes the colonies were stored in and any equipment that may have touched infected colonies. </p>
<p>Beekeepers have used antibiotics preventively for decades to keep foulbrood in check and treat infected colonies. Often they mix the antibiotics with powdered sugar and sprinkle it inside the colony box. As often happens when antibiotics are overused, scientists and beekeepers are seeing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2007.05.018">antibiotic resistance</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2001861">negative impacts on hive health</a>, such as disruption of the helpful microbes that live in bees’ guts.</p>
<p>In 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began <a href="https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/development-approval-process/using-medically-important-antimicrobials-bees-questions-and-answers">requiring a veterinarian’s prescription or feed directive</a> to use antibiotics for foulbrood. While this regulatory change <a href="https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/helping-agricultures-helpful-honey-bees">sought to address antibiotic resistance</a>, it limited beekeepers’ access to antibiotics and their ability to treat foulbrood preventively. The vaccine would ideally provide a more sustainable solution. </p>
<h2>2. How effectively does the vaccine prevent infection?</h2>
<p>Studies are still analyzing its effectiveness. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.946237">published study</a> demonstrated a 30% to 50% increase in resistance to American foulbrood in a vaccinated queen’s offspring. </p>
<p>While this might seem low, it’s important to put the results in context. Given how deadly and contagious American foulbrood is, researchers did not want to directly expose an outdoor hive to foulbrood with an unproven vaccine. Instead, they conducted lab studies where they exposed test hives to around 1,000 times the number of American foulbrood spores a colony would typically be exposed to in the field. Dalan, the manufacturer, has field trials planned for 2023. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1539702810916360192"}"></div></p>
<h2>3. How do you vaccinate honeybees?</h2>
<p>It’s not done with tiny needles – beekeepers mix the vaccine <a href="https://www.dalan.com/science">into bee food</a>. This approach exposes queen bees to inactive <em>Paenibacillus larvae</em> bacteria, which helps larvae hatched in the hive to resist infection. </p>
<p>This is not a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/how-they-work.html">mRNA vaccine</a>, like the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines. It’s a more traditional <a href="https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-an-Inactivated-Vaccine.aspx">inactive vaccine</a> like the one we use against polio. To understand how the vaccine works, it’s helpful to know what queen bees eat: a protein-rich substance called “<a href="https://www.beeculture.com/royal-jelly-worker-bee-produced-protein-rich-mothers-milk/">royal jelly</a>” that is secreted from glands on the heads of young worker bees. </p>
<p>When queen bees are shipped to a beekeeper, they are typically placed in a small cage with 50 to 200 worker bees that have been fed something called queen candy. This substance is often made with powdered sugar and corn syrup and has the consistency of sugar cookie dough or modeling clay. Worker bees consume the candy, produce royal jelly and feed it to the queen.</p>
<p>The vaccine’s delivery method uses this unique system. A beekeeper can mix the vaccine with the queen candy, which is then digested by worker bees. They produce royal jelly and feed it to the queen, who digests it and then transfers the vaccine to her ovaries. Once she is transferred to the hive and begins laying eggs, the larvae that hatch from those eggs have a heightened immunity to American foulbrood.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PcDF23HdlUY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The new vaccine takes advantage of the queen’s central role in the hive.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Who will use the vaccine?</h2>
<p>According to representatives at Dalan, limited quantities of the vaccine should be available starting in spring 2023 to commercial beekeepers and bee producers, with the aim of supplying smaller-scale beekeepers and hobbyists in the future. </p>
<h2>5. How long will a dose last?</h2>
<p>Dalan is still researching the specifics. Its current understanding is that it will last as long as the queen bee can lay eggs. If she dies, is killed or is replaced, the beekeeper will have to purchase a new vaccinated queen. </p>
<h2>6. Is this a big scientific advance?</h2>
<p>Yes – it is the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/07/science/honeybee-vaccine.html">first vaccine for any insect in the U.S.</a> and could help pave the way for new vaccines to treat other issues that have plagued the beekeeping industry for decades. Honeybees face many urgent threats, including <a href="https://beelab.umn.edu/varroa-mites"><em>Varroa</em> mites</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-face-many-challenges-and-climate-change-is-ratcheting-up-the-pressure-190296">climate change</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/poor-nutrition-may-be-another-reason-for-the-declining-honey-bee-population-48684">poor nutrition</a>, which makes this vaccine an exciting new development. </p>
<p>Dalan is also working on a vaccine to protect bees against <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md-barc/beltsville-agricultural-research-center/bee-research-laboratory/docs/european-foulbrood-disease/">European foulbrood</a>. This disease is less fatal than American foulbrood, but is still highly infectious. Beekeepers have been able to treat it with antibiotics but, as with American foulbrood, they are seeing signs of resistance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197671/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennie L. Durant does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A vaccine for bees may evoke images of teeny hypodermic needles, but this product works in a sophisticated way that reflects the social structure of honeybee colonies.Jennie L. Durant, Research Affiliate in Human Ecology, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1902962022-10-13T12:23:17Z2022-10-13T12:23:17ZBees face many challenges – and climate change is ratcheting up the pressure<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489384/original/file-20221012-18-sw1rgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5184%2C3880&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bees look for water on an outdoor tap in Berlin, Germany during a hot spell, June 19, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/berlin-bees-try-to-take-water-from-the-thread-of-an-old-tap-news-photo/1241401800">Wolfram Steinberg/picture alliance via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The extreme weather that has <a href="https://theconversation.com/looking-back-on-americas-summer-of-heat-floods-and-climate-change-welcome-to-the-new-abnormal-190636">battered much of the U.S.</a> in 2022 doesn’t just affect humans. Heat waves, wildfires, droughts and storms also <a href="https://www.fws.gov/initiative/impacts">threaten many wild species</a> – including some that already face other stresses. </p>
<p>I’ve been <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=B1qAtjIAAAAJ">researching bee health</a> for over 10 years, with a focus on honey bees. In 2021, I began hearing for the first time from beekeepers about how extreme drought and rainfall were affecting bee colony health. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/drought/202113">Drought conditions in the western U.S.</a> in 2021 dried up bee forage – the floral nectar and pollen that bees need to produce honey and stay healthy. And <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/12/29/wettest-2021-east-us/">extreme rain in the Northeast</a> limited the hours that bees could fly for forage. </p>
<p>In both cases, managed colonies – hives that humans keep for honey production or commercial pollination – were starving. Beekeepers had to feed their bees more supplements of sugar water and pollen than they usually would to keep their colonies alive. Some beekeepers who had been in business for decades shared that they lost 50% to 70% of their colonies over the winter of 2021-2022. </p>
<p>These weather conditions <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/ieaa114">likely also affected wild and native bees</a>. And unlike managed colonies, these important species did not receive supplements to buffer them through harsh conditions. </p>
<p>Each year, the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a> and the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency</a> host federal pollinator experts to share the latest scientific findings on bee and pollinator health, and assess the status of these important insects, birds, bats and other species. One clear takeaway from this year’s meeting was that climate change has become a new and formidable stressor for bees, potentially amplifying previously known issues in ways that scientists can’t yet predict but need to prepare for. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6tZTH5KWFqM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Climate change threatens bees around the world. In Australia, large-scale bushfires and drought have killed millions of bees in recent years.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The scourge of <em>Varroa</em> mites</h2>
<p>Pollinators contribute <a href="https://ipbes.net/article/press-release-pollinators-vital-our-food-supply-under-threat">an estimated US$235 billion to $577 billion</a> yearly to global agriculture, based on the value of the crops they pollinate. Understanding and mitigating the impacts of climate change on pollinators is key for supporting healthy ecosystems and sustainable agriculture.</p>
<p>Bee health first attracted widespread attention in 2006 with the emergence of <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/colony-collapse-disorder">Colony Collapse Disorder</a>, a phenomenon where the majority of adult worker bees in a colony disappeared, leaving their honey and pollen stores and some nurse bees behind to care for the queen and remaining immature bees. In the past five years, reported cases have declined substantially. Now, researchers are focusing on what beekeepers call the “four Ps”: parasites, pathogens, pesticides and poor nutrition, as well as habitat loss for wild and native bees. </p>
<p>One of the most severe threats to honey bees over the past several decades has been <em>Varroa destructor</em>, a crablike parasitic mite that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1818371116">feeds on honey bees’ fat body tissue</a>. The fat body is <a href="https://entomologytoday.org/2019/02/21/inside-look-how-varroa-mite-diet-discovered/">a nutrient-dense organ</a> that functions much like the liver in mammals. It helps bees maintain a strong immune system, metabolize pesticides and survive through the winter. </p>
<p>These are vital functions, so controlling mite infestations is essential for bee health. <em>Varroa</em> can also transmit deadly pathogens to honey bees, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47447-3">deformed wing virus</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489395/original/file-20221012-21-7erbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bee flying, with two brown circular mites clinging to it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489395/original/file-20221012-21-7erbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489395/original/file-20221012-21-7erbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489395/original/file-20221012-21-7erbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489395/original/file-20221012-21-7erbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489395/original/file-20221012-21-7erbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489395/original/file-20221012-21-7erbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489395/original/file-20221012-21-7erbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A honey bee carrying two <em>Varroa</em> mites, one above its leg and one on its back.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/2hcd9TT">USGS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Controlling mite populations is challenging. It requires using an insecticide in an insect colony, or as beekeepers say, “trying to kill a bug on a bug.” It’s hard to find a formula strong enough to kill mites without harming the bees. </p>
<p>Monitoring <em>Varroa</em> takes significant skill and labor, and mites can build up resistance to treatments over time. Researchers and beekeepers are working hard to <a href="https://www.sare.org/publications/a-sustainable-approach-to-controlling-honey-bee-diseases-and-varroa-mites/breeding-for-resistance/">breed <em>Varroa</em>-resistant bees</a>, but mites continue to plague the industry.</p>
<h2>Pesticide microdoses</h2>
<p>Pesticides also harm bees, particularly products that cause sublethal or chronic bee health issues. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156857">Sublethal pesticide exposures</a> can make bees less able to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12292">gather forage</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0077547">grow healthy larvae</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2018.01.006">fight off viruses</a> and mites. </p>
<p>However, it can be hard to document and understand sublethal toxicity. Many factors affect how bees react to agrochemicals, including whether they are exposed as larvae or as adult bees, the mixture of chemicals bees are exposed to, the weather at the time of application and how healthy a bee colony is pre-exposure.</p>
<p>Researchers are also working to understand <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-common-soil-pesticide-cut-wild-bee-reproduction-by-89-heres-why-scientists-are-worried-155985">how soil pesticides affect ground-nesting wild bees</a>, which represent <a href="https://ento.psu.edu/research/centers/pollinators/resources-and-outreach/disappearing-pollinators/nesting-sites">over 70% of the U.S. native bee</a> population. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487116/original/file-20220928-6297-s2i3ld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bee crawls out of a small hole in the dirt, overhung by grass" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487116/original/file-20220928-6297-s2i3ld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487116/original/file-20220928-6297-s2i3ld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487116/original/file-20220928-6297-s2i3ld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487116/original/file-20220928-6297-s2i3ld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487116/original/file-20220928-6297-s2i3ld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487116/original/file-20220928-6297-s2i3ld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487116/original/file-20220928-6297-s2i3ld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A ground-nesting bee (<em>Colletes inaqualis</em>) emerging from its burrow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/9GUDGz">Rob Cruickshank/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Junk food diets</h2>
<p>Like many other species, bees are losing the habitat and food sources that they depend on. This is happening <a href="https://ento.psu.edu/research/centers/pollinators/resources-and-outreach/disappearing-pollinators/habitat-fragmentation">for many reasons</a>. </p>
<p>For example, uncultivated lands are being <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22702-2">converted to farmland or developed worldwide</a>. Large-scale agriculture focuses on mass production of a few commodity crops, which reduces the amount of nesting habitat and forage available for bees. </p>
<p>And many farmers often remove pollinator-friendly plants and shrubs that grow around farm lands to reduce the risk of attracting animals such as deer and rodents, which could <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biv152">spread pathogens that cause foodborne illness</a>. Research suggests that these efforts <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12707">harm beneficial insects and don’t increase food safety</a>. </p>
<p>As diverse and healthy bee forage disappears, beekeepers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2018.10.007">feed their bees more supplements</a>, such as sugar water and pollen substitutes, which are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-015-0386-6">not as nutritious</a> as the nectar and pollen bees get from flowers.</p>
<h2>Climate change is a force multiplier</h2>
<p>Researchers don’t know exactly how climate change will affect bee health. But they suspect it will add to existing stresses. </p>
<p>For example, if pest pressures mount for farmers, bees will be exposed to more pesticides. Extreme rainfall can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-019-09686-z">disrupt bees’ foraging patterns</a>. Wildfires and floods may destroy bee habitat and food sources. Drought may also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14130">reduce available forage</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.628802">discourage land managers</a> from planting new areas for bees as water becomes less readily available. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1062404727995011077"}"></div></p>
<p>Climate change could also increase the spread of <em>Varroa</em> and other pathogens. Warmer fall and winter temperatures <a href="https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1394621/v1">extend the period when bees forage</a>. <em>Varroa</em> travel on foraging bees, so longer foraging provides a larger time window for mites and the viruses they carry to spread among colonies. Higher mite populations on bee colonies heading into winter will likely cripple colony health and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159615">increase winter losses</a>.</p>
<p>Studies have already shown that climate change is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1042/ETLS20190139">disrupting seasonal connections</a> between bees and flowers. As spring arrives earlier in the year, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0573">flowers bloom earlier</a> or in different regions, but bees may not be present to feed on them. Even if flowers bloom at their usual times and locations, they may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2022.100927">produce less-nutritious pollen and nectar</a> under extreme weather conditions. </p>
<p>Research that analyzes the nutritional profiles of bee forage plants and how they change under different climate scenarios will help land managers plant climate-resilient plants for different regions. </p>
<h2>Creating safe bee spaces</h2>
<p>There are many ways to support bees and pollinators. Planting <a href="https://theconversation.com/urban-gardens-are-crucial-food-sources-for-pollinators-heres-what-to-plant-for-every-season-174552">pollinator gardens</a> with regional plants that bloom throughout the year can provide much-needed forage. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cg8BHF_DOud/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Ground-nesting native bees need patches of exposed and undisturbed soil, free of mulch or other ground covers. Gardeners can clear some ground in a sunny, well-drained area to create <a href="https://xerces.org/blog/ground-nesting-bees#:%7E:text=If%20you'd%20like%20to,growing%20plants%20to%20prevent%20erosion">dedicated spaces for bees to dig nests</a>. </p>
<p>Another important step is using <a href="https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=17624">integrated pest management</a>, a land management approach that minimizes the use of chemical pesticides. And anyone who wants to help monitor native bees can join <a href="https://xerces.org/community-science">community science projects</a> and use phone apps to submit data. </p>
<p>Most importantly, educating people and communities about bees and their importance to our food system can help create a more pollinator-friendly world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190296/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Jennie L. Durant has received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. She was a AAAS Science and Technology Fellow at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2021-2022.</span></em></p>Honey bees, wild and native bees face threats from parasites, pesticides and habitat loss. Shorter winters, more extreme weather and more habitat destruction won’t help.Jennie L. Durant, Research Affiliate in Human Ecology, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1893162022-09-06T17:46:55Z2022-09-06T17:46:55ZBlueberries and their pollinators aren’t native to South Africa but local honey bees can help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482701/original/file-20220905-12-cg7qo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=411%2C42%2C1818%2C1474&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers have found that honeybees are effective blueberry pollinators.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dr Keanu Martin</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Next time you see a bee hovering around a fruit tree, you’re probably witnessing pollination in action. Pollination is what enables a plant to produce seeds and fruit – and, as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3976118/">research has shown</a>, pollination by insects can greatly improve the quality and quantity of fruit produced.</p>
<p>There’s mounting evidence of a decline in the populations of pollinators all over the world. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/biodiversity-depends-on-pollinators-a-first-estimate-of-how-many-plants-rely-on-animals-166908">consequences</a> for agriculture could be significant. In 2008, some scientists <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800908002942">calculated</a> the economic value that <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-triggering-global-collapse-in-insect-numbers-stressed-farmland-shows-63-decline-new-research-170738">insect pollination</a> contributed to world agricultural output. The number they came up with was €153 billion a year – it’s likely to be much higher now. </p>
<p>Some fruit crops require very specific kinds of insect pollination. Take blueberries. Their flowers have specialised anthers (the part of the stamen containing pollen) which release large amounts of pollen only when certain pollinators visit them, such as blueberry bees, bumble bees and mining bees. In a process called buzz pollination, bumble bees vibrate their bodies at a certain frequency when they visit blueberry flowers. This triggers vibrations in the anthers that cause the pollen to burst out. The special shape of blueberry flowers and the number of flowers on a blueberry bush mean there’s no way to mechanically pollinate blueberry plants on a commercial scale. </p>
<p>In recent years, blueberries have become increasingly popular because of their <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10408398.2018.1518895?casa_token=JWZsR1yBuxIAAAAA:3TT-pxESudMR-plKf5ZpbQg2St0ibFd1VGzwHvHkla1V2SzcWNAeMYXvIAVprgaX6b67JwUh2yXyOaU">perceived health benefits</a>. They’re now planted all over the world, including areas where their natural pollinators don’t occur – like South Africa, where the blueberry exports to the world have <a href="https://www.berriesza.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/3-BerriesZA-Elzette-and-Brent.pdf">grown</a> from 1,792 tonnes in 2014 to 20,013 tonnes in 2021. </p>
<p>In South Africa there aren’t any native pollinators for the fruit in the country, and the local honey bees aren’t seen as an efficient substitute. Farmers are <a href="https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/agri-technology/farming-for-tomorrow/bumblebees-fly-to-the-rescue/">considering</a> importing large bees, like bumble bees, that aren’t native to the country. (The big bees South Africans may see in their gardens that look like bumble bees are actually carpenter bees.) But that could devastate local environments: bumble bees are strong competitors and often outcompete native pollinators for resources, as has <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/120321">been seen in Argentina</a>.</p>
<p>Until now, little research had focused on how honey bees actually perform as blueberry pollinators in South Africa. It was important to fill this knowledge gap, since the honey bee is the country’s only pollinator that occurs in large enough populations, is easily managed and can be moved around to meet commercial needs. </p>
<p>In two <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0254629920311005">related</a> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0254629922003520?via%3Dihub">studies</a>, we put honey bees’ pollination abilities to the test on some of the most common blueberry varieties planted in South Africa. Honey bees were found to be reliable pollinators of blueberries, increasing fruit number, fruit diameter and mass and decreasing fruits’ developmental time. Importing bigger bees like bumble bees is simply not necessary.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-honeybees-in-south-africa-need-from-people-better-managed-forage-166369">What honeybees in South Africa need from people: better managed forage</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But our findings also suggest that honey bees perform best on certain blueberry varieties. This shows it’s important to test the efficacy of honey bees on new blueberry varieties brought into countries where honey bees are the only commercially available pollinators. This information can guide variety choice, ultimately improving crop yield and profit returns.</p>
<h2>Honey bees in action</h2>
<p>Many people in the commercial fruit industry think honey bees are poor blueberry pollinators. There are a few reasons for this.</p>
<p>First, honey bees are substantially smaller than the natural pollinators of blueberries, and they <a href="https://academic.oup.com/aesa/article-abstract/86/5/577/49678?redirectedFrom=fulltext">cannot vibrate their bodies</a> at the frequency needed for efficient pollen release. </p>
<p>Also, honey bees are often reluctant to forage in cold weather. So there may be little pollination during periodic cold spells. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20568598/">They have</a> slower foraging times and deposit less pollen on each visit to a plant than <a href="https://academic.oup.com/aesa/article/95/3/345/82511">other pollinators</a> like bumble bees. </p>
<p>These concerns are valid, but we show that honey bees are far better pollinators of blueberries than farmers may think. Our research shows that, as new cultivated blueberry varieties become available, buzz pollination may not be as key as it was with earlier varieties. </p>
<h2>Improvements and questions</h2>
<p>We compared fruit produced through hand-pollination to fruit produced through honey bee pollination.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/shining-fluorescent-light-on-bee-sperm-could-help-explain-colony-survival-184659">Shining fluorescent light on bee sperm could help explain colony survival</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Honey bee pollination consistently produced better results than no pollination. We found that, on average, when blueberry plants were not pollinated, they produced 47% less fruit and the fruits were 13% smaller than with honey bee pollination. Blueberries also took 6% longer to ripen without honey bee pollination than with it.</p>
<p>There is room for improvement. Bees were able to fully pollinate some plant varieties, but were not as efficient at pollinating other varieties. </p>
<p>Certain varieties are not reaching their full potential fruit production because not enough high-quality pollen is being transferred between flowers. Our research suggests that this may not be due to the inefficiency of bees. Instead, it comes down to pollen movement between varieties. We also suggest that the way the blueberries are planted makes a difference and will explore this hypothesis in a forthcoming paper. </p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>We hope that our findings will debunk the notion that highly invasive pollinators need to be imported into South Africa. </p>
<p>We’re not the only ones testing honey bees’ efficiency as pollinators. The importation of bumble bees is prohibited in India because of the risks they pose to local ecosystems. Researchers there <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8396518/">are testing</a> honey bees’ pollination performance in different settings, including greenhouses.</p>
<p>This sort of research can help guide policy makers and farmers to decide how best to boost blueberry yields without putting native pollinators and flora at risk.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project recieved funding from The National Research Foundation (South Africa), BerriesZA , the Claude Leon Foundation and the Eva Crane Trust.</span></em></p>Honey bees have what it takes to pollinate blueberries, boosting the quality and quantity of the popular fruit.Keanu Martin, Post doctoral fellow, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1851712022-08-29T12:40:26Z2022-08-29T12:40:26ZDo humans really need other species?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476534/original/file-20220728-1306-a2vwxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C0%2C6679%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Science shows that humans are happier and healthier around other animal and plant species.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/hiker-with-yellow-coat-walking-in-the-deep-forest-royalty-free-image/1323397248?adppopup=true">Artur Debat/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Can humans live without any other species of plants or animals? – Arunima S., age 14, Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, India</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>People definitely cannot survive without other species.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0ePGCP8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">As an ecologist</a> – a scientist who studies the interactions of plants, microorganisms, fungi and animals, including humans – I know there are at least three reasons we need other organisms.</p>
<h2>Humans need other species to produce food</h2>
<p>First, without other species people would have nothing to eat.</p>
<p>Humans and all organisms require food for energy and the materials to build their bodies and reproduce. Only some microorganisms and plants have a way to <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/terrestrial-primary-production-fuel-for-life-17567411/">use energy from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide</a> to make the basic molecules that provide that food. <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/photosynthesis">This process is called photosynthesis</a>. </p>
<p>Without these organisms, humans wouldn’t have food to eat. Almost everything we eat is either a plant or other photosynthetic organism, an animal that grazes on them, or an animal that feeds on animals that graze. </p>
<p>Processed foods may not look like they come from microbes, plants, fungi or animals, but nearly all do. Some vitamins and other food ingredients are manufactured, but they are only a very small component of the human diet. </p>
<p>Chemists have discovered ways to use various sources of energy to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcou.2021.101726">make molecules that could be used for food</a>. Molecules produced this way are called “synthetic.” However, these processes are so difficult and expensive that it is currently impossible to feed people with these synthetic foods. </p>
<p>Production of synthetic food <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fufo.2021.100025">using genetically modified bacteria or cultured cell lines</a> is growing in importance. In the future, the human diet may become a little less dependent on consuming plants and animals. Still, living organisms will remain a core component of these foods. </p>
<p>It takes countless different organisms – big, small and microscopic – to <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/soils/health/biology/?cid=nrcs142p2_053868">create healthy soil</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2018.03.004">breathable air</a>. To break down and recycle waste. To purify water and prevent erosion. To break down toxic chemicals into harmless forms, and convert other chemicals into sources of nourishment <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCH1Gre3Mg0">that other organisms need to grow and thrive</a>.</p>
<p>And many of our food plants – over 1,200 species – <a href="https://www.pollinator.org/pollinators">depend on pollinators to produce the fruit or seed</a> that humans and other animals eat. Pollination, the process that allows plants to reproduce, happens when animals carry pollen from one plant to another. Bees are the main pollinators, but many other insects, birds, bats and other animals also transport pollen between plants.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Yellow, brown and green bird perching on a red flower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476537/original/file-20220728-11927-udlpwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476537/original/file-20220728-11927-udlpwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476537/original/file-20220728-11927-udlpwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476537/original/file-20220728-11927-udlpwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476537/original/file-20220728-11927-udlpwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476537/original/file-20220728-11927-udlpwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476537/original/file-20220728-11927-udlpwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Birds and other animals fertilize plants by transporting pollen between them – enabling them to produce fruits and seeds that humans eat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/little-spiderhunter-bird-royalty-free-image/858993576?adppopup=true">krisanapong detraphiphat/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Animals of all sizes, from tiny ants to enormous elephants, also <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-fewer-animals-to-spread-their-seeds-plants-could-have-trouble-adapting-to-climate-change-174516">move seeds, spreading plants</a> that make for healthy and productive ecosystems. Diverse species, from tiny microbes to huge vultures and sharks, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/natureworks-decomposers-and-scavengers/">break down dead organisms</a> into chemicals that can be used to grow more food.</p>
<p>The number of species that contribute to creating each bite of the average meal is mind-boggling.</p>
<h2>Human bodies need other species to stay healthy</h2>
<p>Many functions of the human body itself rely on a complex and highly diverse ecosystem of microbial species that live on the skin and in the respiratory, digestive and reproductive systems. These bacteria, fungi and other microbes are called a “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X8p0vhsWRE">microbiome</a>.”</p>
<p>Each person has a unique personal microbiome to protect against infection, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-human-microbiome-is-a-treasure-trove-waiting-to-be-unlocked-118757">digest and extract nutrients in food</a> and synthesize vitamins. </p>
<p>For example, the gut microbiome is important for breaking down food into usable energy and nutrients, and converting other indigestible or toxic substances into forms that can be excreted. </p>
<p>This microbiome changes over people’s lifetimes based on what they eat, what’s around them, where they live and how healthy they are. In fact, human bodies <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/how-many-bacteria-cells-outnumber-human-cells-microbiome-science">are made up of more bacterial cells than human cells</a>. </p>
<p>Diet and drugs strongly affect the 300 to 500 bacteria species <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3983973/">that are the core of a healthy gut ecosystem</a>.</p>
<p>The microbiome also plays an important role in preventing infection. Many diseases are associated with microbial communities that are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k2179">dominated by just a few species</a>. Some physicians <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.519836">transplant poop from healthy to ill people</a> to establish a healthy community of microbes and hopefully cure the disease.</p>
<h2>Humans are happier around other species</h2>
<p>Finally, research shows that people are healthier and more content <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GqdShUJNSA">when they are around other species</a> of plants and animals. They need to <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/biophilia#how-nature-improves-well-being">experience the sights, sounds, smells, feel and taste</a> of other organisms for mental and physical health. This drive is called “biophilia,” meaning love of living things.</p>
<p>For example, seeing and hearing birds creates positive feelings. Two recent studies in Canada and Germany found that <a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/more-birds-bring-more-happiness-according-science">the more species of birds</a> in a neighborhood, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/land10020153">the happier people are</a>. This may be due to experiencing the birds themselves, or due to a healthy environment, as indicated by the presence of birds.</p>
<p>In a different Canadian experiment, researchers played birdsong from hidden speakers along hiking trails. People reported that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1811">they felt more restored and were more satisfied</a> about the hike when they heard a diversity of birds species than when they heard few or none. </p>
<p>Today, <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2014/07/472752-more-half-worlds-population-now-living-urban-areas-un-survey-finds">more than half the world’s population lives in cities</a> instead of the countryside. So urban planners and landscape architects are exploring <a href="https://eos.org/features/growing-equity-in-city-green-space">ways to include more green spaces and green infrastructure</a> in cities.</p>
<p>Research shows that when a city has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-021-00321-9">diverse wildlife, ample open green space and vegetation</a> along streets and on buildings, people are more active, less stressed, healthier and happier. These conditions provide opportunities for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-021-00027-9">people to experience and interact with other organisms</a>, as well as benefit from the other things that plants, animals and microbes do to make the environment healthy and pleasant.</p>
<p>Scientists now know that it takes thousands of species to support human life. Yet we are only just beginning to understand the <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/biodiversity-and-ecosystem-stability-17059965/">important roles different species play in ecosystems</a>, including urban ones. We still need to learn much more about why and how other species are necessary for human survival. And if people are to successfully travel for long periods in space or establish space colonies, we will have to understand what species we need to take along with us to survive and prosper. </p>
<hr>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Langen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People wouldn’t last long without the countless other species we depend on for survival.Tom Langen, Professor of Biology, Clarkson UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1893332022-08-26T14:20:08Z2022-08-26T14:20:08ZPlagues of wasps? A scientist explains why you shouldn’t panic about rumours of rising populations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481308/original/file-20220826-12-8lgtub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C23%2C5161%2C3410&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/common-wasp-vespula-vulgaris-1896451651">Thomas Hochreutener/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Late summer is all about BBQs, ice creams and parents counting down the days until schools open. Then along comes a wasp. There’s some screaming and flapping (mostly by the parents). Usually, no one gets stung and the wasp disappears. And yet we treat the arrival of this small insect at our picnic as if a tarantula has invited itself to tea. </p>
<p>It’s no surprise we act this way. </p>
<p>Every summer, newspapers shower us with headlines about the horrors of wasps. As a wasp expert, I am inundated with calls from the media at the end of August, asking me to explain why wasps ruin our late summer fun. </p>
<p>This summer is even worse. This time, newspapers are <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/uknews/19439217/wasps-set-to-be-worst-for-years-experts-warn/">running headlines</a> blaming the heatwaves for what they are calling <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2022/08/07/heatwave-to-make-uks-plague-of-wasps-worst-for-years-17140545/#:%7E:text=Armies%20of%20sugar%2Dcrazed%20wasps,saw%20temperatures%20climb%20past%2040C.">huge plagues of wasps</a> invading gardens and claiming <a href="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/britain-under-attack-drunk-german-27798014">Britain is under attack </a>from <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1658668/wasp-invasion-uk-german-yellowjacket-wasp-growing-population-extreme-weather-climate">aggressive “German wasps”</a>. </p>
<p>These articles say this is a bumper year for UK wasps, that wasps are on a crazed stinging frenzy and the heatwaves are to blame. </p>
<p>The source of information that these news reports rely on are from pest-control companies who claim wasp nests are larger this year, and that they’re seeing a 20-30% rise in call-outs for “wasp interventions” than in previous years. </p>
<p>Let’s take a look at the science behind this.</p>
<h2>What the research says</h2>
<p>It’s too early for anyone - scientists, journalists or pest controllers - to have proper data on how wasps are doing this year. Records are still be being submitted to official data portals such as <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/">iNaturalist</a>, <a href="https://www.bwars.com/home">Bees Wasps and Ants Recording Scheme (BWARS)</a>, the government-funded <a href="https://ukpoms.org.uk/">Pollination Monitoring Scheme </a>(POMs) and the <a href="https://www.bigwaspsurvey.org/">Big Wasp Survey</a>. </p>
<p>In the absence of data, let’s use established research on wasp ecology to work out how heatwaves affect wasp populations. Warm, dry springs <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.12622">are certainly good for queen wasps</a> who are in the first stages of nest founding. This year did see a warmer, drier spring than average, and so more wasp nests than normal will have survived that first life-cycle hurdle. However, the hot, dry summer we are having is likely to be having the opposite effect.</p>
<p>Wasps hunt insects <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/brv.12719">to feed their brood</a>. Our UK insect populations are not adapted to deal with this year’s relentlessly hot, dry summer. Their metabolism and life cycle <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221457451630089X">are out of sync</a> with their food supplies. It’s August and yet flowers are dying, and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62582186">trees are turning autumnal</a> as they enter survival mode. Dead plants mean fewer plant-feeding insects, which means less prey for hunting insects like wasps. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Wasp on a jam jar" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481309/original/file-20220826-16-i4xa8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481309/original/file-20220826-16-i4xa8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481309/original/file-20220826-16-i4xa8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481309/original/file-20220826-16-i4xa8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481309/original/file-20220826-16-i4xa8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481309/original/file-20220826-16-i4xa8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481309/original/file-20220826-16-i4xa8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wasps are unwelcome visitors to picnics worldwide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/wasp-eating-jam-1166190907">Amani A/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I asked entomologists (people who study insects) on Twitter about their perceptions of how insects are doing this August. Three quarters of 397 voters <a href="https://twitter.com/WaspWoman/status/1562534064703225856">thought they’d seen fewer insects in the UK this August than last year</a>. This shows people’s perceptions, not data, but it suggests insects (wasps and their prey) are not doing especially well this summer.</p>
<p>Why, then, are pest controllers telling us there are more wasps? </p>
<h2>Heatwaves and wasps</h2>
<p>Wasp-human interactions are different this year because of how the heatwave has affected their environment and behaviour. In a normal year, most people don’t notice they have a wasp nest until the end of the summer when wasps are furloughed from hunting for the colony and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-wasps-become-so-annoying-at-the-end-of-summer-145053">switch to a more sugary diet</a> (your ice cream, for instance). The insect shortage means wasps have to work harder to find food, so they are more <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/04/wasps-jubilee-picnic-sting">likely to visit our BBQs and picnics</a>. </p>
<p>Like all insects, a wasp’s metabolism and activity <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aat3466?cookieSet=1">increase as temperatures rise</a>, meaning that wasps which do come into contact with people may be livelier than normal. But wasps only sting if you provoke them. They rarely sting at random. </p>
<p>If a wasp arrives at your BBQ, stay still and watch her. Work out what she’s after and then give her a small food offering. You are of no interest unless you start waving your arms around and shouting. If you do this <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/04/wasps-jubilee-picnic-sting">you’ll remind her of a predator</a>. </p>
<h2>A serious problem</h2>
<p>Wasps are essential pest controllers and pollinators. The last few decades have seen widespread declines in insect populations <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08974-9">in the UK</a> <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aax9931">and globally</a>, largely due to changes in land use. </p>
<p>This summer, entomologists are concerned about the effects of the heatwave on insect populations: it’s not plagues of wasps that we should be worried about, but a dearth of wasps and other insects. At a time when the natural world needs every ounce of support from us (and yes, that does include wasps, along with other essential invertebrates like slugs, spiders and the other creepy crawlies we find it hard to like), scaremongering that fuels people’s prejudice against wasps is irresponsible.</p>
<p>A national TV station asked me to appear on national TV this week to talk about horrific wasp stories. But after explaining to the broadcaster’s researcher that these articles have little scientific truth, they dropped me with the words:</p>
<p>“We might need someone who works in pest control instead.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189333/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Seirian Sumner receives funding from the UK's Natural Environment Research Council. She is a trustee of the Royal Entomological Society, co-founder of <a href="https://www.bigwaspsurvey.org/">https://www.bigwaspsurvey.org/</a>, and has recently published a book on the natural history and science of wasps, ENDLESS FORMS: The Secret World of Wasps (Harper Collins) <a href="https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/endless-forms-the-secret-world-of-wasps-seirian-sumner?variant=39532321472590">https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/endless-forms-the-secret-world-of-wasps-seirian-sumner?variant=39532321472590</a>
</span></em></p>Why you shouldn’t get in a flap over reports that swarms of wasps are descending on Britain.Seirian Sumner, Professor of Behavioural Ecology, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.