National Pollinator Week was created to bring more awareness to creatures that do their part to help feed the world.
Photo by David Eddy
As many businesses are slowly beginning to reopen even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is nice to know our nation’s pollinators have not been directly affected and continue to go about their work each and every day. National Pollinator Week (June 22-28) reminds us to celebrate the contribution of bees and other pollinators to biodiversity and food security, become aware of the issues they face, and learn more about our roles and responsibilities.
Pollinators come in all shapes and sizes. Many people would be surprised to learn that certain other animals, such as some birds, bats, beetles, butterflies, and flies, may carry pollen from one plant to another as they visit flowers. Of course, when most people think of pollinators, they think of bees. There are more than 20,000 species of bees worldwide, yet relatively few are significantly involved in the production of the world’s major food crops. In the U.S., bumble bees, mason bees, and leafcutter bees are economically important – but no species is more valuable for crop pollination than the honey bee.
Most of the food we consume comes from crops that are pollinated by wind or rain, such as potatoes, wheat, rice, and corn. However, bees are important for the great variety of nutritious foods we enjoy, including many fruits, nuts, and vegetables. All of the insect-pollinated food crops derive some degree of benefit from bees. Honey bees are the preferred workhorses of modern agriculture because they are able to pollinate a wide variety of crops. Also, honey bee colonies can be easily increased as needed, and they can be moved across the country wherever they are most needed during the growing season.
Since the mid-to-late 1980s, honey bee colony health has suffered from many new challenges, most notably from the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor. Not only does this invasive pest feed directly on honey bees and their developing brood, it also transmits several deadly diseases. Left unchecked, an infestation of Varroa mites and the diseases they vector can cause an entire honey bee colony to collapse. Trying to control a “bug on a bug” is not easy, especially as these parasites have grown resistant to the few registered acaricides used to manage them. For this reason, the Varroa mite is justifiably considered the No. 1 enemy of honey bees.
There are many other factors that can affect the health of honey bee colonies, including weather events, nutrition and forage, pathogens, predators, other parasites, management, and environmental toxins. Of these, the use of pesticides – particularly neonicotinoid insecticides – have received much media attention, even as the many large-scale field studies have consistently shown that these products are safe to bees when used according to the label. Proper stewardship of these products has ensured these products are effective for their intended purposes and safe to non-target species such as honey bees.
Growing Matters is a coalition of organizations and individuals committed to scientific discourse on the stewardship and benefits of neonicotinoid insecticides and on alternative pest management strategies in North America. Over the past two years, this group has sponsored an industry-wide stewardship effort known as BeSure! to help growers and applicators protect bees and other wildlife when using these products to control destructive pests. Working with a wide range of agricultural and horticultural partners, BeSure! uses print, radio, digital, and social media efforts to offer a wide range of tips and resources to farmers, applicators, and retailers.
In addition to being a member of Growing Matters, the Crop Science division of Bayer has been an industry leader in promoting bee health for more than 30 years. Healthy Hives 2020 is a multi-year, $1.3 million scientific collaboration with the nonprofit pollinator research organization Project Apis m, to find tangible solutions for improving honey bee colony health. Additionally, the Bayer Bee Care Program has fine-tuned the Healthy Colony Checklist, an approach to bee management that is making it easier for beekeepers to effectively manage Varroa mites and other bee disorders.
Maintaining a secure supply of nutritious fruits, nuts, and vegetables is critical to our food security, especially when the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the many resources we take for granted.
Pollinator Week is a perfect time to celebrate the importance of pollinators, especially bees, which provide vital services to wild plants and crops. It is also a reminder of our need to coexist with nature, even as we protect the plants that bees pollinate to ensure “health for all, and hunger for none.”