Communities around the world have engaged in the discussion and implemented measures (actions/ policies/ etc.) supporting pollinators (beyond A. mellifera). Do you know of early adopters, success & failure stories, and methods of measuring those?
Hello Maximilian Spiegelberg ,
Contrary to what some environmental activist groups are claiming, data collected by the crop protection industry from the USDA, FAO and StatisticsCanada shows that "honey"bee populations even in intensely farmed areas of the world are increasing rather than rapidly decreasing in the last decades (see graphs).
- http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1191
- http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QA
- http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&id=0040229&p2=17
- http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-260_en.htm
The main cause for honey bee colony losses is due to inadequate or even due to no Varroa treatment at all. The responsibility lies with the beekeeper.
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However, honey bee colonies as a superorganism seem to buffer stressors of different kinds more "easily" when compared to other, primitive eusocial or solitary pollinators.
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This is why, for instance, many findings of pesticide effects on the individual bee level do not necessarily translate to the colony level. Strong colonies are able to take a lot of damage on the one hand, and are maintained by beekeepers on the other, being able to balance environmetal impacts. This does not apply to bumble bees, solitary bees and most other pollinators!
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In my opinion, future bee research should therefore focus on (i) a more effective, sustainable and easy to apply Varroa treatment (with the final aim of a stable parasite-host relationship), (ii) better trained beekeepers and (iIi) shift the focus more on other pollinators than honey bees to generate monitoring data, giving insights in possible losses and regional problems.
Richard
Richard, excellent answer. In Israel we have to deal with honey bee hive overpopulation. We plant nectar plants over the country, and yet collect data that show a decline of native bee species, which may be (partially) attributed to honey bee competition. This is a controversial issue in Israel nowadays.
Dear Richard Odemer, thank you for the detailed reply about the numbers of beehives, but unfortunately it is not an answer to the original question, what measures (activities/ policies/ etc.) to support pollinators (so going beyond the industrial livestock A.mellifera) had been taken and if so how their success or failure is measured.
btw, thanks A. Nasiru for your contribution towards that direction! I edit my original post to make the question more clear and understandable.
PS: not only 'some environmental activist groups' have an interest to raise awareness towards bee-issues (may they be accountable or not) but also lobby groups of the beekeeping industry for example trying to gain government support or researchers pushing for more funding in certain fields or organic farmers having their income and livelihood threatened by pesticide drift.
“Pollinator policies” To my understand few countries have established some strategies/policies to protect local pollinators for example issues related to use of neonicotinoids pesticides. I guess lack of awareness on plant pollinator interactions limits to some extent development of the policies, for example in most of Sub Saharan Africa.
I guess quantifying the success, requires understanding of the status and dynamics of the available local pollinators. This is pertinent for the projection based on the existing policies and for comparisons after implementation of new policies.
I'm not clear of the objective of the question, but I will offer a different interpretation of the statistics presented by Richard Odemer. Through the time period of the graph, there has been an increase in human population and the need for pollination for food crops (the proportion of our diet, etc). An increase in bee colonies would be necessary and expected. (You could compare the increase in pollination, to the increase in required food or certain crops, for a more sensitive analysis). It is not the absolute number of bee colonies that is the problem, but the capacity for pollination relative to the need (or desire) for it. The graphs don't show that honey bees are doing well, only perhaps that the demand for them has increased. Since the proliferation of Varroa in North America (late 1980s) uncounted feral honey bee colonies providing pollination have virtually disappeared. Managed (counted) colonies have replaced them, resulting in a statistic that could be misinterpreted that the overall population is doing well. The increase in annual LOSS of honey bees, from 5-10 % pre 1987, to current 20-40 %, with a potential increasing pollination deficit, is the valid factor behind the (albeit sometimes inaccurately expressed) concern about honey bees. Non-Apis pollinators (bumblebees in greehouses, mason bees in small orchards, leafcutter bees for certain crops, humans with tiny brushes) are used where honey bees are less effective, and that is nice but it is a small proportion of the total pollination requirement.
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