This makes clear that habitat management truly matters. A mile by mile field is difficult for bees to pollinate. worse, the crop is only flowering briefly as well. As i have been posting, the answer is to create refuge strips set about two combine widths or the width of the largest piece of equipment as the crop strip width. The strip between crop strips can be rahter narrow depending on what is growing there.
Ideally we have spaced fruit trees, berry bushes and grasses and many other natural plants as well. Yet even a robust wild flower strip that is perhaps only six feet wide will do as well. That can be harvested in the fall as a fodder source. One could even go heavy on clovers and alfalfa.
The strips are natural habitat for wild bees that sustains them throughout the growing season. Yet when the crop flowers they will dive into the bounty. Thus the grower has a secure source of pollination and a potential extra crop that can be operated to also enhance the productivity of the crop particularly if trees are grown.
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Groundbreaking Study Maps the Decline of Wild Bee Communities in the United States
8th January 2016
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World
http://wakeup-world.com/2016/01/08/groundbreaking-study-maps-the-decline-of-wild-bee-communities-in-the-united-states
By now most of us are aware that the
humble bee is not only responsible for creating one of the most natural,
health giving, and divinely sweet substances — honey — but also for
managing one of the most vital steps in the production of our food crops
— pollination. Unfortunately what has contributed to this newfound
awareness about bees and the crucial role they play in our food chain,
and by extension, their relevance to our survival as a species, is their
rapid and initially mysterious decline.
According to the US Department of
Agriculture, bees (wild and farmed) play a key role in the production of
about 1/3 of all the food we eat, and add 15 billion dollars to the
annual value of the country’s food crops. Because the animals we consume
are generally fed fodder that comes from crops dependent on honey-bee
fertilization, and since even plant based fibres like cotton rely on
bees for pollination, the implications are massive.
A recent study led by Insu Koh at the
University of Vermont in the US, was the first national study to map the
decline of wild bee communities in the US. The findings were published
December 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research team estimate that wild bee
communities declined by 23% between 2008 and 2013 in the US. The study
also demonstrated that 39% of US croplands that rely on bees for
pollination face an ominous mismatch between rising demand for
pollination and a falling population of wild bees.
“Until this study, we didn’t have a
national mapped picture about the status of wild bees and their impacts
on pollination,” says Koh the lead researcher in this study. This is a
vital piece of the puzzle considering that each year more than $3
billion of the US agricultural economy relies on the services of wild
pollinators.
“It’s clear that pollinators are in
trouble,” says Taylor Ricketts, the senior author on the study. “But
what’s been less clear is where they are in the most trouble — and where
their decline will have the most consequence for farms and food.”
“Now we have a map of the hotspots,”
contributes Koh. “It’s the first spatial portrait of pollinator status
and impacts in the U.S.” This ‘portrait’ could become an invaluable tool
in assisting to protect wild bees and for identifying appropriate
habitat restoration efforts.
What is particularly interesting is that while pesticides and fungicides have now been irrefutably implicated in the decline of the bees,
this study shows that their decline may also be influenced by the
conversion of bee habitat into cropland. In eleven states with the most
alarming levels of decline there has been a huge increase (200% in five
years) in grasslands and pastures converted to corn fields. “These
results reinforce recent evidence that increased demand for corn in
bio-fuel production has intensified threats to natural habitats in
corn-growing regions,” the new study notes.
“When sufficient habitat exists, wild
bees are already contributing the majority of pollination for some
crops. Even around managed pollinators, wild bees complement pollination
in ways that can increase crop yields,” says Neal Williams, a co-author
on the study from the University of California, Davis.
“We can now predict which areas are
suffering the biggest declines of wild bee abundance,” Insu Koh says,
“and identify those areas, with low bee supply and high bee demand, that
are the top priority for conservation.”
Homogenization
The study noted that many of the
hotspots for bee decline are in areas that had recently been converted
to corn for the production of bio-fuel. What is particularly disturbing
about this trend is that a majority, if not all of this corn, is likely
to come from genetically modified seed stocks, which are heavily used in
US agriculture. This means that not only is there no diversity in terms
of the types of plants growing in these areas, but there is no genetic
diversity among their numbers either.
Our modern world, based on a scientific
and economic framework has been heading swiftly down a road towards a
regimented, homogenized, and standardized approach to farming (and
unfortunately many other areas as well). A desire for maximum yields and
efficient, consistent production directs us logically towards extensive
mono-crops, genetic engineering and the use of pesticides and
fertilisers.
This regimented, Hegelian mentality is spreading like a cold-hearted disease and slowly absorbing our beautiful rich and varied landscape. Bees, who have been described as symbols of love, sweet abundance and creativity are likely the canary in the coal mine, warning us of the profound dangers of our current approach to land management.
This regimented, Hegelian mentality is spreading like a cold-hearted disease and slowly absorbing our beautiful rich and varied landscape. Bees, who have been described as symbols of love, sweet abundance and creativity are likely the canary in the coal mine, warning us of the profound dangers of our current approach to land management.
“Human beings have fabricated the illusion that in the 21st century they have the technological prowess to be independent of nature. Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less, dependent on nature’s services in a world of close to 7 billion people”~ Achim Steiner, Executive Director UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
Diversity
It appears that diversity is more important for our survival than corporate interests would like to admit. While homogenization might make for good business practice in terms of efficiency, it seems that nature’s preference for diversity might represent a more evolved and healthy approach; one that benefits the planet as a whole, rather than the pockets of few. Just as any human whose diet was based on any one ingredient alone would likely suffer negative health consequences, it is not really surprising that a bee who is deprived of access to diversity in terms of food-source will also suffer. Diversity contributes to creative richness and robustness on both a physical and psychological level.
Solutions: Bee The Change
Researchers at Harvard Micro-robotics Lab believe they may have developed a solution to this problem: mechanical bees.
These tiny robotic bees, made of titanium and plastic, would be immune
to problems facing real bees (ie man-made toxins and homogenous diets)
and could potentially replace our little black and yellow friends.
However, this ‘solution’ follows the same type of logic that got us into
this mess and fosters an increasingly artificial reality. As Albert
Einstein once said, “we can not solve our problems with the same level
of thinking that created them”.
It seems clear to an increasing number
of us that we need to radically change our direction as a species to one
that prioritizes the planet and its inhabitants, rather than profit.
Hopefully as science catches up with what seems obvious at a heart
level, we will see a move towards aware and creative, rather than
emotionless and mercenary solutions to our problems.
“Mindfulness is not the path of chasing. It is the path of beautification. When flowers blossom, the fragrance spreads, and the bees come.”
~ Amit Ray Ph.D, Mindfulness: Living in the Moment, Living in the Breath
In the meantime we can all do a little
bit to help by buying organic, and ensuring that whatever land we have
the ability to manage is free from the chemicals and poisons that
threaten our amazing little pollinating associates. By transforming our green spaces into sanctuaries of beauty, color and scent,
we will not only ensure that there is diversity in terms of the plants
bees depend on as a food source, but that we too have access to healthy,
uplifting environments. Water is also important. An open vessel filled
with stones or marbles and water (to the level of the stones) provides a
safe way for bees to access water without the risk of drowning.
“… tiny striped martyrs then bravely depart
From the plant, at some length, to the swarm.
The nectar collected, their personal art.
The hive waiting, welcome and warm.
To witness this magic in calm disbelief,
Is a treasure, a blessing to see.
The simple, whole truth is, from mountain to reef,
All life here would cease without bees.”
~ Mandi June, An Ode To The Bee