From paninfopubs@igc.apc.orgWed Nov 27 11:14:09 1996 Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 16:51:39 -0800 (PST) From: PANNA InfoPubs To: Recipients of conference Subject: PANUPS: Forgotten Pollinators ===================================== P A N U P S *** Pesticide Action Network North America Updates Service http://www.panna.org/panna/ ===================================== November 22, 1996 Native Species Fill the Gap Left by Drastic Honeybee Declines Following five consecutive years of the worst honeybee declines in U.S. history, experts predicted that pollinator scarcity could seriously limit crop yields in the U.S. for such traditional Thanksgiving foods as pumpkins, apples, cranberries, almonds and squash. Insects must pollinate these and many other food crops. Honey bees -- the type kept by beekeepers -- are America's number-one pollinator. But honey bees have been largely absent from fields and orchards around the country in recent years, due to a combination of pesticide exposure, early cold weather and disease caused by parasitic mites. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported last spring that in some parts of the country, up to 90% of all honey bees had been killed. Fortunately, Mother Nature has come to the rescue -- at least for now. According to a new report released by The Forgotten Pollinators Campaign, pollination by wild native bees has averted shortages of fruits and vegetables that are staples of the U.S. holiday season. To compile their report, scientists from the Forgotten Pollinators Campaign sampled field crops in Alabama, Arizona and Maine, and compiled bee and crop estimates from New York, California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Iowa and elsewhere. Their field census data indicated reduced visits by honey bees through the spring and summer -- in many cases no visits at all. However, bumblebees, squash bees, gourd bees, sweat bees, leaf-cutting bees and other wild native species were all prevalent. While official U.S. government data on 1996 honey bee populations will not be available until January, the Campaign's survey of key agricultural states -- combined with anecdotal evidence from around the nation -- indicates that farmers and gardeners continue to feel the effects of declining honey bee populations. One indicator of these shortages is the cost to farmers for renting honey bee colonies to pollinate their crops. In the Pacific Northwest, for example, the Campaign found rental costs for agricultural pollination had climbed more than 50% in the past three years. Wild native bees have lived in our forests and fields since long before the first importation of the honey bee from Europe some 400 years ago. Today, threats to the honey bee mean that their wild cousins are more important than ever. Unfortunately, these insects are also susceptible to the pressures of human population growth and pesticides sprayed on crops. "We must invest more resources in protecting wild pollinators," concludes Dr. Gary Nabhan, co-director of the Forgotten Pollinators Campaign and co-author with Dr. Stephen Buchmann of the book "Forgotten Pollinators". He notes that farmers can utilize simple strategies to help -- keeping the edges of their fields in a natural condition to provide nesting areas and applying pesticides in the evening hours when bees are not active. "Wild pollinators will be increasingly responsible for stabilizing the U.S. food supply in an era of honey bee scarcity. While it is important to do everything we can to keep honey bee populations healthy, it is clear that a pollination crisis can be averted only by diversifying our 'pollinator portfolio.'" Source/contact: The Forgotten Pollinators Campaign, Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Rd., Tucson, AZ 85743; email fpollen@azstarnet.com; http://www.oldwestnet.com/asdm/fp/. =========================================================== | Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) | | | | Phone:(415) 541-9140 Fax:(415) 541-9253 | | Email: panna@panna.org http://www.panna.org/panna/| | PANNA, 116 New Montgomery, #810, San Francisco, CA 94105 | | | |*To subscribe to PANUPS send email to MAJORDOMO@igc.apc.org| | with the following text on one line: subscribe panups | | To unsubscribe send the following: unsubscribe panups | | | |*For basic information about PANNA, send an email message | | to panna-info@igc.apc.org | ===========================================================