It ain’t easy being a bee in the modern world — or a bat or a hummingbird, for that matter — according to a new report from the National Research Council.
The Council, which is the research arm of the National Academies, has found that the bees and critters that pollinate flowers and fruit in North America are in noticeable decline. Last year, for example, was the first since 1922 that honeybees had to be imported from outside North America to pollinate crops.
While most people look on honeybees as a mild nuisance, they play a big role in the country’s agriculture. For instance, “it takes about 1.4 million colonies of honeybees to pollinate 550,000 acres of almond trees in California,” according to the Council.
A number of factors seem to be contributing to the decline of pollinators, including the loss of habitat and the arrival of invasive species that compete with native pollinators.
But the decline of the honeybee can be tracked to the mid 1980s, when the blood-sucking mite called the Varroa destructor first appeared in this country and began ravaging honeybee populations.
What’s the solution? Here’s the Research Council’s take, as stated in its prepared release:
“Effective conservation and restoration of pollinator populations requires a level of knowledge that does not yet exist, the committee determined. It urged USDA and other federal agencies to support research aimed at the sustainable management of these populations.
In the meantime, landowners can take simple and relatively inexpensive steps to make habitats more “pollinator friendly,” for instance by growing native plants. Encouraging such practices will require active public outreach, the committee pointed out.”
For more on pollinators and what you can do, check the Pollinator Partnership.