Mysterious Bee Disappearance Could Disrupt U.S. Agriculture

Up to a quarter of the nation's commercially raised honeybees have disappeared, befuddling scientists and stirring fears that the country's crops could go unpollinated.

Contrary to the homespun image of rural beekeepers and cottage idylls, honeybees in the U.S. are raised on an industrial scale and used to pollinate crops in areas where monoculture planting and pesticide use have killed off indigenous pollinators.

While staple crops like wheat and corn are pollinated by wind, some 90
cultivated flowering crops – from almonds and apples to cranberries and watermelons – rely heavily on honeybees trucked in for pollinization.
Honeybees pollinate every third bite of food ingested by Americans, says a Cornell study. Bees help generate some $14 billion in produce.

Research is only beginning and hard data is still lacking, but beekeepers suspect everything from a new virus or parasite to pesticides and genetically modified crops. Scientists have hastily established a CCD working group at Pennsylvania State University. Last week, the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture held hearings on the missing bees.

For many entomologists, the bee crisis is a wake-up call. By relying on a single species for pollination, US agriculture has put itself in a precarious position, they say. A resilient agricultural system requires diverse pollinators. This speaks to a larger conservation issue. Some evidence indicates a decline in the estimated 4,500 potential alternate pollinators – native species of butterflies, wasps. and other bees. The blame for that sits squarely on human activity – habitat loss, pesticide use, and imported disease – but much of this could be offset by different land-use practices.

What’s happening to the bees? [Christian Science Monitor]

Image: Brandon Keim