Be Kind to Bees

With the planting season about to begin in the Northern Hemisphere, this is a good time to look at the health of bees, those little pollinators that some call nature's migrant farmer force. Pollination of California's 90 million almond trees, for example, depends on almost 1,600 beekeepers from everywhere in the US who bring their hives to the state every February. Nathan Clarke, who owns Mad Urban Bees in Wisconsin, loads 2,400 hives into semi trailers for the westward trip each year. The revenue from pollinating crops, not only almonds but also other fruits and vegetables, can be as much as two times more than the income selling honey to consumers and beer brewers. Plus, US beekeepers face competition from low cost honey imports.

     While bee health benefits from leaving harsh winter climates for warmer areas, healthy bees can be infected when they mingle with sick ones when they pollinate away from home. Then, they continue to transmit disease to healthy bees when they return home. But disease is not the only threat to bees and beekeepers. By limiting crops to corn, alfalfa, and soybeans that have been genetically modified to be pesticide-resistant, farmers use chemicals that only kill the weeds that provide pollen for bees and the bees themselves, if these pesticides are sprayed while bees are pollinating in the area. To support their bees, beekeepers find it necessary to provide their own flowerbeds and weeds where their bees can find pollen.

      During the past ten years, researchers have identified causes of the bee colony collapse that began around 2006. Pollinator protection plans have given homeowners, gardeners, farmers, and beekeepers a list of ways to help bees survive:

• To provide bees with pollen and nectar, plant a diverse array of colorful zinnias, cosmos, and lavender; milkweed and other wildflowers; and herbs, such as mints, oregano, garlic, chives, and parsley. Because they have been modified by breeders, tulips, daffodils, petunias, and roses do not feed bees.
• Bees need a place to nest in messy woody debris and in leaf litter and bare soil.
• To keep pesticides away from what bees might eat or where they might nest, remove dandelions and clover before spraying and do not apply pesticides to blooming plants and possible nesting areas.

Neonicotinoid pesticides that weaken pollinators' immune system abilities to survive mites and diseases seem to be a major cause of colony collapse. Not only does spraying fields and urban areas with the pesticides leave bees no safe place to hide in the immediate area, but dust kicked up by applying pesticides spreads neonicotinoids far afield to the dandelions and clover that bees eat in early spring. Since chemical companies have been able to gain exemptions to labeling and regulations, consumers may not always be able to avoid purchasing neonicotinoid pesticides or plants and seeds treated with these chemicals. Corn and soybean seeds, for example, can be coated with neonicotinoid pesticides to protect young plants when they are most vulnerable. Research has shown, however, that treating soybeans has little value because the pesticide is not timed to provide protection during major pest attacks.

     For additional thoughts about problems bees encounter and ways to help them survive, see the earlier post, "The Bees and the Birds."