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dragonlady7via http://ift.tt/2mzvhJo:
“It’s not bees that are experiencing colony collapse and infections by the varroa mite: it’s honeybees. There are 7 recognised species of honeybee, and 20,000 total species of bee, many of which are solitary.
There are also other pollinators that receive nary a mention: wasps, midges, flies, beetles, beeflies, moths, butterflies, ants, birds, bats, lizards, monkeys, lemurs, and possums.
I can no longer get on board with the apocalyptic “If the bees die, so do we,” brigade, because in many places where they are used for agricultural pollination, honeybees are an invasive species. Their transport from crop to crop is what spreads the mite, and weakens the hive. Their honey-hoarding instinct has been shown to be to the detriment of other, native pollinators.
I’d like to see a discourse about “pollinator decline” reaching the mainstream. Most pollinators have been in decline since the beginning of the twentieth century, with the loss of native flora to the expansion of orchards and monoculture farming severely circumscribing their foraging areas.
We can’t hitch the integrity of our entire food system to a few floundering species of honeybee: what can we do to to protect biodiversity, and the delicate web of life that supports our continued existence? Can we shift the conversation from “save the bees” to “save the biome”?”
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Check out the #bees and #pollinators archives for more information.
Further reading:
Pollinator Decline
Honeybee Ecology
(via biodiverseed)
“It’s not bees that are experiencing colony collapse and infections by the varroa mite: it’s honeybees. There are 7 recognised species of honeybee, and 20,000 total species of bee, many of which are solitary.
There are also other pollinators that receive nary a mention: wasps, midges, flies, beetles, beeflies, moths, butterflies, ants, birds, bats, lizards, monkeys, lemurs, and possums.
I can no longer get on board with the apocalyptic “If the bees die, so do we,” brigade, because in many places where they are used for agricultural pollination, honeybees are an invasive species. Their transport from crop to crop is what spreads the mite, and weakens the hive. Their honey-hoarding instinct has been shown to be to the detriment of other, native pollinators.
I’d like to see a discourse about “pollinator decline” reaching the mainstream. Most pollinators have been in decline since the beginning of the twentieth century, with the loss of native flora to the expansion of orchards and monoculture farming severely circumscribing their foraging areas.
We can’t hitch the integrity of our entire food system to a few floundering species of honeybee: what can we do to to protect biodiversity, and the delicate web of life that supports our continued existence? Can we shift the conversation from “save the bees” to “save the biome”?”
-
Check out the #bees and #pollinators archives for more information.
Further reading:
Pollinator Decline
Honeybee Ecology
(via biodiverseed)
