Source: Loss of bees causes shortage of key food crops, study finds | Bees | The Guardian A lack of bees in agricultural areas is limiting the supply of some food crops, a new US-based study has found, suggesting that declines in the pollinators may have serious ramifications for global food security. . . . Bob Wilson
What's old, is New Again. I recall some 8 years aso @tochatihu mentioned it could be a variety of things that might even be combined together Honeybee deaths - Corn Insecticide Poss Link | Page 2 | PriusChat mites, fungus, insecticides, higher & higher cell phone frequencies, warming climate, invasive plant nectar/pollen. Several suspects. Several combined suspects that might create the magical formula. We were living in Montana through the late 90's .... & hive collapse was a problem even back then. Turning on different ripening Seasons, you will find yours truly armed with Q-tips going across the flowers of our mandarin orange, lemons, nectarines, key limes, satsuma plums, peaches, apricots, pears, & apples. Yeah, that can be economically expensive for commercial production, but sometimes you got to do things yourself. .
What's even worse for the honey bee problems is the recent 2020 invasion of the Murder Hornet. The Asian Giant hornet have a huge mandible and kill entire bee colonies. They are spreading unchecked. Murder Hornets Partial except: At least three new specimens of the so-called “murder hornet” have turned up in the Pacific Northwest in 2020. They’re Asian giant hornets, a species (Vespa mandarinia) that recently invaded North America. This beast is a threat to honeybees. It’s sting is also something few humans would ever forget. Biologists tried last year to stamp out the invaders. But the May and June discoveries now suggest invaders made it through the winter. The two in Washington State were queens. One had already mated, according to the state’s agriculture department. One of these big, orange-and-black insects was found dead in a roadway near Custer, Wash. Sven Spichiger is an insect specialist with Washington’s Department of Agriculture. He announced on May 29 that the body was that of an Asian giant hornet. It had probably hatched last year, he says. This queen was likely out to found a new colony. The second queen turned up wiggling on somebody’s porch near Bellingham, Wash. The person stomped on it and reported it June 6. Earlier, scientists in Canada confirmed their first giant hornet of 2020. A sharp-eyed person reported it May 15 in Langley, British Columbia. This wasp earned its nickname from preying on honeybees. It can swoop down and grab them out of the air. The hornet then carries this treat home to nourish young hornets. A raiding party of several dozen Asian giant hornets can kill a whole hive. The attackers can kill thousands of bees in just a few hours. In such mass attacks, hornets bite the heads off adult bees. Attackers leave the adult bodies in heaps. They carry off young bees as protein for young hornets.
Reilly JR et al. 2020 Crop production in the USA is frequently limited by a lack of pollinators. Proc. R. Soc. B 287: 20200922. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0922 From the abstract: “We found that five out of seven crops showed evidence of pollinator limitation. Wild bees and honeybees provided comparable amounts of pollination for most crops, even in agriculturally intensive regions. We estimated the nationwide annual production value of wild pollinators to the seven crops we studied at over $1.5 billion; the value of wild bee pollination of all pollinator-dependent crops would be much greater.” The Apis 'industry' is quite well tracked, but wild bees are not.
One more announced today, caught in an insect trap on of before July 14, and identified during trap processing two days go: First 'murder hornet' to be captured in Washington trap found | KOMO
A long list of pollenatees*: Which Crops and Plants Are Pollinated By Honey Bees? - WorldAtlas * no it's not a word.
There is something odd about insect pollination of avocado but I've lost the handle. Maybe floral nectar contains some yuckies? It is also held up as evidence of necessary (but extinct) fruit dispersers. Workaround for that involves guacamole etc.
There is at least an optimistic study finding. Ecologist Matthew Moran and his colleagues wanted to see what was happening in North America, so they did a broad review of thousands of datasets. Their findings show how little we really know about the insect world, and why there’s room for optimism even in a world radically altered by humankind.
Some of the newer insecticides for your home (eg; Termidor/Taurus) you can just buy on Amazon are extremely concerning, They are super-potent and do not kill on contact. They kill gradually via trace contact to the smallest amount as it gets spread to the hive. I had to use a little bit last year due to bad carpenter ant issue. Haven't seen a Carpenter Ant since. I am going with dead roses this year because I am afraid to use my Rose spray for the same reason.
Taurus SC is amazing stuff on termites and ants. Oklahoma has a newish invasion from Texas of "crazy ants" that are real bad news. They are chemically the same as Fire Ants and can live in the same colonies and kill them because they smell the same. The size of the colonies is massive. They range far and have hidden mounds. I was able to get rid of them with Taurus SC in one season with two spray sessions. The stuff is awful. Don't get it on your skin. At $95 for 78 OZ, it's a LOT cheaper than an exterminator. (strictly outdoor use only)
Oh yes I know I've seem some of the YouTube videos. Suffice it to say I spent some time in the Baton Rouge hospital after a couple fire ants got me mowing the lawn one day,. back when we lived out that way. I used AMDRO granules on my centipede lawn there, but I guess a couple advance troops were sent ahead to scout. That's how you know if you really live in the South: can't sit on the lawn
They are in North Oklahoma City and headed everywhere they are not established. Most people don't know about them or have a clue. They also kill honey bee colonies. Here's a video about the problems the Rasberry Crazy Ants cause in electronics, etc. It was the best video I could find. Slow you listening ears down for the Texas drawl.
Two recent attempts to track live hornets back to their nests have failed. The first involved gluing a transmitter on its back. But the glue didn't solidify quickly enough, the transmitter slipped to a wing, leaving enough glue remnants to prevent the critter from being able to fly. The second involved tying a Bluetooth transmitter to another hornet's back with dental floss. It was released, only to vanish in a blackberry bush. Further attempts await live capture of additional hornets. If you catch one, note that this one apparently enjoyed feeding on strawberry jam. I also hope they can find some radio tracker with a longer range than Bluetooth. Washington state again fails to live-track murder hornet | KOMO
Jackpot! Or at least one, out of an unknown number of nests hiding out there. 4 hornets live captured, 3 radio tagged yesterday, one of them led them back to a nest. First-ever giant 'murder hornet' nest in U.S. found in Whatcom County | KOMO
