Gary McDonald Business Editor

Some of the staff and pickers at work in the Gilpin farm in Armagh

POLLINATOR: A bee inside a flower

NATURE – and the art of reproduction – is being given a helping hand in Co Armagh in a unique initiative where farmers are being assisted to track pollinators to maintain quality of produce and improve crop yields.

Retailer M&S is teaming up with agri-tech start-up AgriSound to provide in-field noise sensor technology to boost pollinator activity.

More than 70 per cent of the world’s food crops grown for human consumption rely on pollinators for sustained production, yield and quality.

And one of 18 sites across the UK chosen for the experiment is Gilpin Farms in Armagh, where sensors will be placed in its pumpkin patches.

Two in-field sensor trials were launched last year to help farmers better support pollinators like bumblebees and increase crop yields.

AgriSound technology allows farmers to track the number of pollinators visiting their farm in real-time and target specific interventions, like differing wildflower densities, for improving numbers and yields and quality of crops.

Now the technology is being scaled up across the UK to cover a diverse range of M&S’s fruit, veg and salad farms, with monitors covering 120 habitats and more than 1,000 hectares.

The technology will provide growers like Gilpins – which supplies M&S with carrots, leeks, pumpkins and Brussels sprouts – with access to real-time data and insights to help set their farms up to be more nature friendly.

Richard Gilpin, head of operations at Gilpin Farms, said: “The technology will be invaluable to help us monitor the pollinator activity across the whole farm, but particularly in the pumpkin crops.

“We currently bring in over 100 hives of bumble bees and honey bees to aid the pollination of the pumpkins, and the AgriSound technology will monitor how effective this is and also help us to make informed decisions about further interventions.

“We’re delighted to have been selected by M&S as one of the locations for this expansion and are excited to see what beneficial outcomes can be achieved by these relatively simple measures.

“If we can attract more pollinators to our farm, this will be a huge success.”

Andrew Clappen, technical director at M&S Food, added: “Improving biodiversity is at the forefront of our plans to help farmers become more resilient to the impact of climate change.

“Pollinators are the unsung heroes of farming – helping to improve yields and quality while benefitting the wider environment.”

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: How technology is giving nature – and pollinators – a helping hand in Armagh – The Irish News

Dominant in the San Diego region, foreign honey bees visit nearly twice as many flowers as native bees

A honey bee visits white sage. Researchers have shown that pollination by honey bees, which are not native to the Americas, produces offspring of considerably inferior quality than offspring resulting from native pollinators. Credit: Dillon Travis

By:Mario Aguilera – [email protected]

With a broad mix of plant and animal species, the San Diego region is widely regarded as a global biodiversity hotspot.

As key pollinators, bees play a foundational role in the region’s floral diversity. But not all bees have the same influence on the plants they pollinate, new research from University of California San Diego scientists has revealed. Pollination by honey bees, which are not native to the Americas, produces plant offspring of considerably inferior quality (lower fitness), than offspring resulting from native pollinators, according to the study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The study is believed to be the first to directly compare offspring fitness resulting from honey bee pollination with other floral visitors.

Previous research offered evidence that predominantly feral honey bees account for more than 90 percent of the pollinators observed visiting flowers of abundantly blooming native plant species around San Diego. In their new study, School of Biological Sciences recent graduate student Dillon Travis and Professor Joshua Kohn have shown that honey bees visit approximately twice as many flowers on an individual plant before moving to the next plant, compared with native insect visitors. However, this methodical foraging behavior appears to have a detrimental effect on reproduction in the plants they visit because most of the pollen delivered to flowers will come from the same individual plant (known as self-pollination), which can lead to lower-quality offspring.

To gain perspective on the effects of such pollination dominance and propensity to visit multiple flowers on the same plant, the researchers conducted a series of experiments that evaluated the fitness of plant offspring across factors such as seed maturation, germination, survival, growth and reproduction. Using three common plant species from native habitats in San Diego County at locations that included the University of California Natural Reserve System’s Elliott Chaparral and Dawson Los Monos Canyon Reserves, the researchers assessed a variety of conditions including natural pollination, no pollination, honey bee pollination, native bee pollination and self- and cross-hand pollination.

Four to six weeks later they collected the seeds from each scenario and compared the fitness of each. Offspring resulting from pollination by native insects (mostly various species of bees), they found, were two- to five-times more fit—characterized as likely to mature into seed, germinate, grow and reproduce—than those resulting from pollination by honey bees. This seems to be the result of higher levels of self-pollen delivered by honey bees, since offspring resulting from hand pollination using pollen from the same individual plant were two- to 10-times less fit than offspring produced using pollen from a different plant of the same species.

“While honey bees are perceived as beautiful mutualists that are helping plants with reproduction, it turns out they may not be as good for plants as many native pollinators. We have found that they deliver lower-quality pollen than do native pollinators.”

— Professor Joshua Kohn

“While honey bees are perceived as beautiful mutualists that are helping plants with reproduction, it turns out they may not be as good for plants as many native pollinators,” said Kohn, a professor in the Department of Ecology, Behavior and Evolution. “We have found that they deliver lower-quality pollen than do native pollinators.”

In a related study (Travis and Kohn, in press), honey bees were shown to visit more flowers per plant than average among other pollinators across 44 different plant species, which included both crop and non-crop plants. So the foraging behavior of honey bees may regularly deliver more self-pollen, resulting in lower quality offspring.

Honey bees are the world’s most frequent floral visitor, accounting for some 13 percent of all global floral visits to native vegetation. They are native to Europe, Western Asia and Africa and were first brought to the Americas in the 17th century. San Diego is regarded as “honey bee heaven” with a higher frequency of floral visits by honey bees than nearly anywhere else in the world. The area also features more than 650 species of native bees and other pollinating insect species that interact with at least 2,400 types of plants, more than any other county in the United States.

“If honey bees generally lower seed fitness of native plants, it could make the native plant community more susceptible to invasion from introduced plant species that do not require insect pollination…” the researchers note in their paper. These introduced plants are often grasses and other invasives that help spread wildfires in these ecosystems.

“People see honey bees as providing a valuable service, which is pollination, but there’s a decent amount of evidence to show that they’re competing with native insects for resources like pollen and nectar,” said Travis, who indicated that honey bees are also known to have viruses that can be transferred to native bees. “Many conservation efforts are focused on saving the honey bee, but they are not in any danger of going extinct. In fact, their numbers have been increasing. The organisms that do need our help are the native plants and bees.”

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: Plants Pollinated by Honey Bees Produce Lower-quality Offspring (ucsd.edu)

The study was funded by the Sea and Sage Audubon Society, the Messier Family Fund and a UC Multicampus Research Program grant.

By Eurasia Review

Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash

If you’ve ever wondered how the monarch butterfly got its spots, University of Georgia researchers may have just found the answer.

The new study suggests that the butterflies with more white spots are more successful at reaching their long-distance wintering destination. Although it’s not yet clear how the spots aid the species’ migration, it’s possible that the spots change airflow patterns around their wings.

“We undertook this project to learn how such a small animal can make such a successful long-distance flight,” said lead author Andy Davis, an assistant researcher in UGA’s Odum School of Ecology. “We actually went into this thinking that monarchs with more dark wings would be more successful at migrating because dark surfaces can improve flight efficiency. But we found the opposite.”

The monarchs with less black on their wings and more white spots were the ones that made it to their ultimate destination, nearly 3,000 miles away in south and central Mexico.

“It’s the white spots that seem to be the difference maker,” Davis said.

Migration selects for butterfly spots

The researchers analyzed nearly 400 wild monarch wings collected at different stages of their journey, measuring their color proportions. They found the successful migrant monarchs had about 3% less black and 3% more white on their wings.

An additional analysis of museum specimens that included monarchs and six other butterfly species showed that the monarchs had significantly larger white spots than their nonmigratory cousins.

The only other species that came close to having the same proportion of white spots on its wing was its semi-migratory relative, the southern monarch.

Monarchs use solar energy to improve flight

The authors believe the butterflies’ coloring is related to the amount of radiation they receive during their journey. The monarchs’ longer journey means they’re exposed to more sunlight. As a result, they have evolved to have more white spots.

“The amount of solar energy monarchs are receiving along their journey is extreme, especially since they fly with their wings spread open most of the time,” Davis said. “After making this migration for thousands of years, they figured out a way to capitalize on that solar energy to improve their aerial efficiency.”

But as temperatures continue to rise and alter the solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface, monarchs will likely have to adapt to survive, said Mostafa Hassanalian, co-author of the study and an associate professor at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.

“With greater solar intensity, some of that aerial efficiency could go away,” Davis said. “That would be yet one more thing that is hindering the species’ fall migration to Mexico.”

Monarch breeding population is stable

But it’s not all bad news for the flying insects.

Davis’ previous work showed that summer populations of monarchs have remained relatively stable over the past 25 years. That finding suggests that the species’ population growth during the summer compensates for butterfly losses due to migration, winter weather and changing environmental factors.

“The breeding population of monarchs seems fairly stable, so the biggest hurdles that the monarch population faces are in reaching their winter destination,” Davis said. “This study allows us to further understand how monarchs are successful in reaching their destination.”

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: Monarchs’ White Spots Aid Migration – Eurasia Review

By Sydney O’Shaughnessy 

Pollinators including insects, birds, bats, and other animals are essential to agriculture and natural ecosystems throughout North America. About three-quarters of all flowering plant species rely on pollinators for reproduction, including important fruit, vegetable, and seed crops as well as other crops that provide fiber, medicine, and fuel. While the economic and agricultural value of pollinators is clear, these species also help to maintain the healthy functioning of a wide range of natural ecosystems. However, pollinator populations have been rapidly declining in recent years, and if this trend continues, it could put U.S. economic, agricultural, and environmental systems at risk.

The National Academies have worked for decades to develop sustainable solutions to halt pollinator decline. National Pollinator Week was designated as the third week in June by the U.S. Senate.

Why are pollinator populations declining?

The reasons vary depending on whether the pollinator is considered a wild or managed species. Wild pollinators are animals and insects native to a particular area that aid in pollination for both crops and other plants. Managed pollinators, such as imported, nonnative honeybees, are considered commercial livestock. Managed pollinators typically have larger populations than their wild counterparts, and aid in the pollination of over 90 commercially grown crops.

Beehives in Chico, California, almond orchard to aid in the pollination of the trees in bloom. Beekeepers provide bees for pollination throughout California, which contributes over 80% to the worldwide almond market.

Wild pollinators are declining because of spillover of pathogens, like parasites, bacteria, and viruses, from nearby managed populations. Excessive pesticide use, climate change, resource competition with managed pollinators, and habitat degradation and loss from human development also contribute to wild pollinator decline. Habitat degradation is especially detrimental for some wild bats, bees, and butterflies.

Despite the agricultural industry’s propping up of managed pollinators, these populations are also experiencing declines. In addition to the loss of habitat and excessive pesticide use, parasitic mites are causing managed honeybee colonies to collapse.

What is being done to conserve and restore pollinator species and communities?

Pollinator conservation and restoration solutions come from many different sources. For example, a 16-volume National Academies series examines ways transportation agencies can make a meaningful difference in pollinator habitat. The series says that state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) can manage roadside vegetation with pollinator needs and habitat in mind. By using native plant materials, for instance, DOTs can establish diverse plant communities along roadways, minimize mowing and pesticide use, provide water sources, and create pollinator habitat corridors, which is a pathway that offers contiguous habitat and forage.

In addition, a recent report on the nation’s native seed supply says that insufficient supply of these seeds is a major barrier to ecological restoration and other revegetation projects across the United States. The report calls for concerted action to build a more robust native seed supply and industry, so that habitat restoration can be beneficial to both wild and managed pollinator populations, especially in the face of climate change.

What can you do to help pollinators?

There are many individual actions that can be taken to help restore local pollinator populations. Get involved by:

• Building native bee houses
• Planting pollinator-friendly gardens
• Attending native plant sales
• Advocating for responsible or pesticide-free practices
• Spreading awareness on social media

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: To Mark National Pollinator Week, National Academies Offer Sustainable Solutions to Restore and Protect Critical Species | National Academies

While honey bee workers are all the same size, that’s not true for bumblebees. Scientists aren’t sure what’s behind the wide variety in bumble body sizes, but a new UC Riverside project aims to find out.

Certain crops, like greenhouse tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and blueberries, rely on bumblebees for a style of pollination that only bumblebees can perform. Among growers, the preference can be for bigger-bodied bumblebees because they’re thought to be more efficient pollinators.

Enabled by a $750,000 grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the research team will investigate factors suspected of influencing bumblebee biology and body size, including climate change, wildfires, and the presence of nearby honey bee colonies.

In many cases, individual animals are born smaller when their habitat has less nutrition available. The researchers want to know if this is also true for bees. “One idea is that honey bees are taking more food resources, resulting in smaller bumbles. This is part of what we will be testing,” said UCR entomologist and project lead Hollis Woodard.

To test this, the researchers will collect bumblebee size data over the next four years from places both with and without honeybees nearby. “It’s hard to find anywhere in the lower 48 without either managed or feral honey bees. For this reason, we’re headed to Alaska for part of the study,” Woodard said.

Fire may also play a role in bumblebee development. Some research has shown that bumblebees are born bigger, and in higher numbers, during the years following a wildfire. Since wildfires are common in California, the research team will also be collecting data from places throughout the state with different types of fire histories.

“Fires are good in some ways for bees,” Woodard said. “As the land recovers from the burn, a lot of flowers appear, offering food.”

In addition to the mystery of what influences the bees’ body size, it’s also unclear what role size plays in a bumble colony. While all bumblebee workers perform the same functions, variation in size could allow the hive as a whole to collect pollen from a wider variety of flowers.

Though bigger bees can collect more pollen, they might not be right for every plant species. For some flowers, especially those that are trumpet-shaped, smaller bumblebees are better pollinators.

“There are theories that bumblebee sizes are just random, or that it’s just generally good to have variation,” Woodard said. ‘Right now, we don’t yet know exactly what this variation in size does for colonies.”

In addition to benefitting crop growers, the team’s findings could ultimately benefit the bees themselves. “Any insights we gain into factors affecting the bumblebees could help us better understand how to bolster their dwindling populations,” Woodard said. “Helping them in turn helps ensure the health of wildflowers, as well as our food supply.”

Source: ucr.edu

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: ucr.edu

Two pending endangered species listings for pollinators can have major impacts on the almond industry as many almond growers have added pollinator forage such as blooming cover crops, hedgerows and floral strips to add value to their operation. Josette Lewis, Almond Board of California chief scientific officer, said 2023 will be a decisive year for the endangered listing of the monarch butterfly and native bees in California, which leads to questions for growers. However, work is underway to protect producers if this happens and Lewis took some time to answer those questions.

Q – What is the status of the monarch butterfly being listed as an endangered species?

Lewis – A couple of years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the decision that monarch butterflies were warranted as an endangered species, but they had other priorities at the time. So, while it was not going to be listed, they are required by law to revisit that decision by the end of this calendar year.

Q – If they do get listed as endangered, what does that mean for an almond grower? 

Lewis – It means a couple of things:

The first is that a lot of almond growers have stepped up and added pollinator forage, flower resources and habitat to their farms and land around their farms. We’ve seen a great response in terms of the number of growers who have registered as Bee Friendly Farms, who are putting in flowering cover crops, and working with organizations like Monarch Joint Venture to specifically put in monarch habitat around their ranches. Several handlers are working with growers on pollinator habitat too, as it has value to some almond buyers.

For those growers who have stepped up, we want to make sure that they are protected if the monarch is listed as an endangered species. So, if they accidentally harm the caterpillars or the butterflies themselves, we want to make sure that they are not breaking the law because they’ve done such a good job of adding that forage into their operation.

The other issue, on an industry level, is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – who has to approve every crop production product our industry can use – was also mandated by law to increase their review of the potential negative impacts of pesticides on endangered species.

We know that if the monarch is listed, some of the products we use when they come up for re-registration, or any new products that are developed and need to be registered, will have extra scrutiny for their potential impact and could involve more restrictions on the use of those products.

Q – So it sounds like this could be a legal concern for growers and a bigger concern of more regulation on certain products if the monarch gets listed as endangered. What is ABC doing to address these two concerns? 

Lewis – We’ve been working with the Almond Alliance of California, other California agricultural interest groups, and some conservation groups who have been valuable partners of the California almond industry to negotiate a conservation agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that would protect growers who have monarch habitat if they accidentally harm any of those monarch butterflies or larvae.

The way those agreements work is that we have to show that there’s a net benefit to the pollinators. Things like adding flowers and habitat for monarch butterflies, and in exchange for doing those good things, in this agreement you’re then protected if you accidentally harm monarchs.

Also, as part of those negotiations, we are including the kind of practices that reduce risks of crop protection products and try to demonstrate that we can use those safely and still have a net benefit to monarch butterflies.

Q – “Net benefit” seems like the important term in this conversation. ABC grower-funded research has already been completed in this realm and showed pollinator gains from increased habitat outweighs the risk. Can you explain that?  

Lewis – That’s right. ABC funded research with a native bee expert at UC Davis, which was published last year, showed that when farmers add floral strips – such as wildflower strips, part of a hedge row or just wildflowers near the outside the orchard – the added food for native bees helps protect those bees from the impacts of pesticide exposure. So, there is a net benefit to those native bees.

This research provides good, peer-reviewed and science-based evidence that shows these kinds of activities we have seen many growers in our industry do have a net benefit.

Q – ABC and partners are already addressing these concerns, which is good because more and more growers and handlers are utilizing this practice, right?

Lewis – A lot of growers have been looking at cover crop and adding that into their orchard management. This year in particular, I heard a grower who planted cover crops talk about how the water didn’t stay standing in their orchards back in early spring when we had so much rain, rather that the water infiltrated and drained much more quickly.

There are agronomic benefits from the practice that are worth considering, in addition to benefits to pollinators. And adding more permanent habitat outside the orchard is another area where a number of our handlers in the industry have seen a market value. Buyers want to know that they have a supply chain of almonds that allows biodiversity and a healthy ecosystem on the farm. Some handlers have really leaned in with their growers and are encouraging those kinds of practices, and that’s added certain value to both growers and handlers.

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: Pending Endangered Listings: What Growers Need to Know (almonds.com)

Source: National Honey Board

By Brian Amick

Honey bees are responsible for a third of the food we consume as Americans, thanks to their ability to pollinate some of our favorite fruit, vegetables and nuts. These efforts are celebrated during Pollinator Week, which runs from June 19-25.

“Honey bees in particular are powerhouse pollinators and getting involved in protecting their habitats — down to supporting healthy ecosystems — is something we can all do not only during Pollinator Week, but year round,” says Catherine Barry, the National Honey Board’s director of marketing. “The food and beverage industry would be quite bland without honey bees, as they are responsible for pollinating many of the ingredients used in some of the biggest food brands in the world.

Here are five ways to celebrate honey bees and other pollinators, according to the National Honey Board:

1. Plant native plants: Native plants are better adapted to the local climate and soil, making them easier to grow and maintain. They also provide the best food and habitat for pollinators.
2. Plant flowers with different bloom times: Pollinators need a diverse range of flowers to meet their nutritional needs throughout the growing season. Plant a variety of flowers that bloom at different times of the year to ensure a steady supply of nectar and pollen for pollinators.
3. Create habitat: Pollinators need a place to rest and nest in between feeding. Create habitat in your garden by leaving some areas wild and adding features such as brush piles to provide shelter for pollinators.
4. Avoid using pesticides: Pesticides can be harmful to pollinators and can disrupt the natural ecosystem in your garden. Instead, use natural pest control methods such as companion planting or handpicking pests to keep your garden healthy and free of harmful chemicals.
5. Provide water: Pollinators need water to drink and to regulate their body temperature. Provide a shallow dish or birdbath filled with water to give pollinators a place to drink and cool off on hot days.

Those who want to learn more about the essential role honey bees and beekeepers play in the food industry and pollination can visit the National Honey Board’s website or watch its Celebrating Beekeeping video series.

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: National Honey Board shares Pollinator Week tips | Bake Magazine

Links:

Honey Bee Health Coalition: https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/

Farmers for Monarchs: https://farmersformonarchs.org/

$15K grant supports local efforts in eastern Kansas

Kansas teens are learning how to plan, plant and maintain habitats that attract butterflies, bees and other pollinators. (Photo courtesy of Cheri Nelsen, Wildcat Extension District)

MANHATTAN, Kan. – An ambitious group of teenagers have set out on a path to improve pollinator habitat in their communities, while giving a nod to the important role that bees and butterflies play in food production.

Cheri Nelsen, a 4-H youth development agent in K-State Research and Extension’s Wildcat District, said the teens are learning how to plan, plant and maintain habitats that attract pollinators.

“Many youth know about pollinators like bees and butterflies, but they don’t always know what is needed for attracting and keeping pollinators,” Nelsen said.

Earlier this year, Nelsen and Leavenworth County extension agent Sonya Murphy were awarded a $15,000 grant from the National 4-H Council and Corteva Agriscience to support community-based pollinator projects.

The group includes youth from the Wildcat District – which includes Crawford, Labette, Montgomery and Wilson counties in southeast Kansas – and Leavenworth County (northeast Kansas). Nelsen said 17 youth have received initial training for teaching others; each of those youth is charged with teaching an additional 250 youth about pollinator habitats.

National wildlife conservation officials have put recent emphasis on creating habitat that attracts pollinators. As an example, in mid-2022, the iconic monarch butterfly – known for its bright orange and black markings – was placed on the endangered list, a result of habitat destruction and climate change, among other reasons.

As they move about, pollinators often choose milkweed to lay eggs.

“Maintaining a healthy habitat is important for pollinators,” Nelsen said. In nature, bees, butterflies and other pollinators carry pollen from the male part of a flower (known as the stamen) to the female part of the same or another flower.

Nelsen adds: “We all need to eat, and pollinators also play a vital role in food production (by pollinating food crops). For myself, I enjoy watching kids learn new things and doing things to help the community.”

In Parsons, youth are planting a seven acre plot to native plants. Nelsen said part of the process is determining what type of pollinator plants need to be included.

In Leavenworth County, youth are planning a pollinator garden at the Veteran’s Administration hospital.

Nelsen said youth have also taught lessons at Earth Day and in local schools, and are planning events during the upcoming county fair season.

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: 4-H Youth Launch Projects to Improve Pollinator Habitat | Morning Ag Clips

By Eric Ralls

Earth.com

New research is shedding light on the remarkable ability of pollinators such as honeybees to detoxify defense chemicals produced by plants.

Scientists from the University of Exeter and Bayer AG have discovered that these insects, which belong to the Hymenoptera order, have a unique set of enzymes allowing them to break down harmful alkaloid toxins found in plant nectar and pollen. This critical trait has been preserved across nearly 300 million years of evolution and is shared by various species within this order, including bees, wasps, ants, and sawflies.

Alkaloids are chemical compounds that many plants produce as a defense mechanism against herbivores. However, these toxins can also be found in the nectar and pollen that pollinators rely on for nourishment.

To better understand how these insects can tolerate such substances, the researchers examined the genes of several hymenopteran species. They found that all of the tested species produce the same group of enzymes, known as the CYP336 family of cytochrome P450 enzymes, which helps them tackle alkaloid toxins.

Dr. Angie Hayward, from Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, explained the significance of this discovery: “These species differ greatly, but one thing they share is this ability to detoxify alkaloids. We were fascinated to discover this family of genes has been preserved across almost 300 million years of evolution by a whole order of insects with very diverse lifestyles.”

Interestingly, the research also revealed that even species with minimal contact with certain key alkaloids, such as nicotine, have retained the ability to metabolize them. Dr. Hayward compared this to the human tailbone or appendix, which are remnants of our evolutionary past.

To further investigate the enzyme’s capabilities, the researchers extracted the enzymes produced by the hymenopteran species and placed them in a cell-line to observe their reaction with alkaloids. The results confirmed that these enzymes do indeed detoxify the toxins.

Dr. Bartek Troczka, also from the University of Exeter, emphasized the importance of understanding how insects react to specific toxins: “Understanding how insects react to specific toxins is vital – it should inform how we produce any new chemicals such as pesticides and insecticides. To avoid environmental damage, we need very specific compounds that do very specific things.”

This study contributes to the broader attempt to understand how chemicals are broken down by insects and the extent to which the genes responsible for this process persist across insect groups.

Dr. Julian Haas, insect toxicologist at Bayer AG, praised the multidisciplinary nature of the research, stating that it “highlights the promise of multidisciplinary teamwork to better understand the molecular and evolutionary basis of detoxification mechanisms in insects, which will ultimately aid with the understanding of their interaction with other toxins, including insecticides.”

The study received funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Bayer AG.

To read about Plant Toxins go to;

Study reveals how pollinators evade plant toxins • Earth.com

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: Study reveals how pollinators evade plant toxins • Earth.com

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a new way to track the insect pollinators essential to farming.

In a new study, we installed miniature digital cameras and computers inside a greenhouse at a strawberry farm in Victoria, Australia, to track bees and other insects as they flew from plant to plant pollinating flowers.

Using custom AI software, we analysed several days’ video footage from our system to build a picture of pollination behaviour over a wide area.

In the same way that monitoring roads can help traffic run smoothly, our system promises to make pollination more efficient. This will enable better use of resources and increased food production.

A fresh set of eyes

With a growing human population and limited natural resources, food production needs to become more efficient and sustainable. Precision agriculture powered by new technologies, like AI, can help secure future food production.

Efficient pollination is crucial to produce healthy fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts.

Optimal pollination requires just the right number of insect pollinator visits to flowers. Too few or too many visits, or visits by ineffective insect pollinators, can diminish the quality of food a flowering plant produces.

Typical techniques for monitoring insect pollination use direct visual observation or pan trapping, which are labour-intensive and take many days.

Additionally, without a very large number of trained observers it is impossible to collect simultaneous data across large farms. Yet such data are needed to provide time-critical evidence of the extent of crop pollination, before a season’s pollination window is closed.

With our digital system, however, a farm manager could obtain same-day data on crop pollination levels.

How fine-grained analysis of insect pollinator movement enables better food production

Tracking honeybees on strawberry plants.

Our pollination monitoring system was set up at Sunny Ridge farm in a strawberry greenhouse open to insects. The array of cameras monitored insect activity among the strawberries, recording honeybees, hover flies, moths, butterflies and some wasps.

Video capture units placed over strawberry plants. Managing big (insect) data with advanced software

The volume of data our system collects requires custom software to reliably track individual insects flying among complex foliage.

A key issue our software overcome…

To access the whole article go to;

AI can track bees on camera. Here’s how that will help farmers (theconversation.com)

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: AI can track bees on camera. Here’s how that will help farmers (theconversation.com)

An incubator that draws excess heat from a honey bee hive warms up managed Osmia lignaria bees so they can pollinate early-blooming fruit trees such as cherry, apple, and almond. A new study shows the hivetop incubators are effective, with little effect on the honey bee hive temps below. Shown here is a hivetop incubator atop a honey bee hive, with a small exit hole from which O. lignaria bees can be seen emerging.

By Paige Embry

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are the go-to pollinator for early-blooming fruit trees like cherries, apples, and almonds, but they aren’t the best pollinator for these crops. That title belongs to Osmia lignaria, often known as the blue orchard bee or BOB.

In the chilly days of early spring, BOBs fly more hours than honey bees and go out when it’s colder. They carry pollen, dry, in hairs on the underside of their abdomen where it may easily rub off when they flop into flowers, while honey bees carry pollen in tidy packets on their hind legs. BOBs are also flitters, moving from tree to tree rather than just working one plant like a honey bee often does—promoting the cross-pollination needed for some of these trees.

Lindsie McCabe, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service who led a recent study on practices for deploying Osmia lignaria bees for pollination in orchards. Here, McCabe pauses next to a O. lignaria nest box during the season after bloom and bee foraging. In the next box, tunnels with “mud caps” are nests filled with immature O. lignaria bees.

Lindsie McCabe, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, says, “Honey bees are very, very methodical in how they collect pollen, and blue orchard bees are just like, ‘I’m going to get all into this flower and rub it everywhere.’” What that behavior means is that several hundred female BOBs can pollinate an acre of early fruit as effectively as thousands of honey bees.

Part of the reason honey bees continue to dominate is that how to use them is well-established, while how to use BOBs is still a work in progress. A study published last week in the Journal of Economic Entomology focuses on a way to streamline one aspect of blue orchard bee management—waking them up from their winter’s sleep.

BOBs spend the winter as adults in cocoons in a hibernation-like state called diapause. Managed BOB cocoons are kept in cold storage and need to be warmed up before the bees will emerge. An easy, standardized way to do that hasn’t been developed. For example, one grower warmed the bees in her house. Two days usually worked, but when they wouldn’t rouse one year she stuck them in the bathroom with a space heater set to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. It worked, but bees in the house seems like an unlikely method to promote widespread BOB use.

Plus, any method of warming bees inside means they are then thrust out into the cold. “This can cause a problem sometimes,” says McCabe, “especially when you get cold snaps in the orchard or in the western U.S. when it gets really cold at night. … It seems to take them longer to emerge when they don’t have heat below them.”

To read the complete article go to; Honey Bee Heat Warms Up Fellow Pollinators for Early-Season Blooms (entomologytoday.org)

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: Honey Bee Heat Warms Up Fellow Pollinators for Early-Season Blooms (entomologytoday.org)

by Lund University

The proportion (estimated marginal means ± 95% confidence levels) of participants that reported having seen “many insects” in relation to flowering plant species richness in meadows. Pairwise comparisons of estimated marginal means are indicated by compact letter display, where plant species richness categories sharing a letter are not significantly different. Credit: Frontiers in Sustainable Cities (2023). DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2022.1099100

Have you made adjustments to your garden to make it more welcoming for pollinators? If so, you have probably made a valuable contribution, according to a new study from Lund University. The researchers evaluated the national “Operation: Save the Bees” campaign, and their results indicate that what private individuals do in their gardens really can make a positive difference.

The fact that pollinating insects are crucial for the functioning of ecosystems and food supply is well known. However, many pollinating species are endangered or in decline.

In 2018, The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation launched a campaign to save bees and other pollinators, aiming to get the public involved by creating more favorable environments in private gardens. The actions that were encouraged were to create a meadow, plant flowers or set up a bee hotel. Around 11,000 Swedes responded to the call, and now researchers from Lund University have evaluated the measures.

“We wanted to investigate measures that the public themselves chose to implement in their garden, and how these can be the most efficient,” says Anna Persson, researcher at Lund University and one of the people behind the study.

Older and species-rich environments best

The result show that the greatest positive effect on the number of pollinating insects was if you had a meadow with a higher number of flowering species in your garden. As for flower plantings, it was favorable if they were older and also covered a larger area. Bee hotels, in turn, were more often inhabited if they were located in flower-rich gardens, if they were older, and if the nest holes were a maximum of one centimeter in diameter.

Anna Persson believes the study is useful when giving the right instructions to those who want to make an effort for pollinators on their own.

“For example, we can show that it will pay off to create large and species-rich meadows and flower plantings, and that it is important not to give up after a few years, because the measures improve over time. This should be emphasized in future campaigns,” she says.

She also hopes that the results can inspire more people to adapt their own green space so that it becomes more favorable for insects. Gardens often cover about thirty percent of the land area in cities and towns, so garden owners as a group have the potential to contribute to urban biodiversity to a relatively high extent.

It is important to invest in the right measures

“However, the right measures must be taken. Our results can be used when giving advice on what actually makes a difference,” says Anna Persson.

The study was carried out through so-called citizen science, where private individuals reported what measures they took in their gardens, and how many insects they saw. 3,758 people responded to the researchers’ survey.

A third of Sweden’s bee species are currently red-listed, which means they are endangered.

“The situation for bees and other pollinators shows that measures to help them are important. It’s great that the campaign has attracted so much attention, and that citizen science can continue to contribute to new knowledge,” says Karin Lexén, Secretary General of The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.

Citizen research and uncertainty

Since the researchers collected the data via peoples’ own estimates, there is a great deal of uncertainty in each individual data point, says Anna Persson, but adds that one can still be confident in the results given that so many responses were received.

To verify how well the rough estimate of the number of pollinators worked, the researchers also asked the participants to count the number of flower-visiting insects during ten minutes on a sunny day in July. Just over 350 responses were received, and the results were well in line with the estimated quantities.

“Our study could be affected by so-called ‘expectation bias.’ This means that people who have taken measures and created more species-rich gardens also expect to see more insects, and thus risk reporting too high a number,” concludes Anna Persson.

The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Cities.

More information: Anna S. Persson et al, Citizen science initiatives increase pollinator activity in private gardens and green spaces, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities (2023). DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2022.1099100

Provided by Lund University

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: Citizen science initiatives increase pollinator activity in private gardens and green spaces (phys.org)

By Kamanja Maeria

Apiculture Farmers in Igembe South, Meru County, Kenya have been advised to embrace modern beehives for increased honey yields.

Speaking to Kenya News Agency, Livestock officer in charge of Igembe South John Ireri said that apiculture sector has great potential to earn an income if appropriately managed.

Ireri observed that venturing into apiculture farming is not expensive or large parcels of land adding that it also needs minimal input and maintenance.

“In apiculture farming you just need a small piece of land, some little capital to buy beehives,’’ he said.

The officer further said it is more economical to use modern beehives because they are more efficient in honey harvesting than the traditional ones. The modern ones include Langstroth, Warre and Top bar.

Ireri observed that the majority of bee farmers in the area are still using traditional bee hives made from logs and baskets which makes honey harvesting difficult, compromising the quality and quantity of honey harvested.

He explained that using the Langstroth, the honey is extracted by returning the combs relatively intact to the bees to shorten harvesting intervals and potentially increase yield.

He however said that apart from generating income the honey is also considered as one of the best natural medicines for many ailments and used in preserving foods like meat among other uses.

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: Farmers Advised to Adopt Modern Bee Hives – Kenya News Agency

Posted by Dr. Ann Bartuska

Pollinators are a vital part of agricultural production. In the United States, more than one-third of all crop production – 90 crops ranging from nuts to berries to flowering vegetables – requires insect pollination. Managed honey bee colonies are our primary pollinators, adding at least $15 billion a year by increasing yields and helping to ensure superior-quality harvests.

However, our beekeepers have been steadily losing colonies. The number of honey bee hives in this country has decreased from 6 million in the 1940s to about 2.7 million today.

Secretary of Agriculture declared June 19-25 as “National Pollinator Week” to help call attention to these losses, which are caused primarily by biological and environmental stressors. Confronting this diverse mix of challenges requires a mix of solutions, and the odds are that we won’t find one magic fix to help our honey bees.

They all encourage Americans to also consider setting up hives where possible, or at least to plant bee-friendly flowers and flowering herbs in their gardens and yards.

While these are helpful steps that people can take in their own communities, there is also a need for research to better understand this problem and how we can best address it. USDA was one of the co-leaders of a task force that developed a national strategy that laid out a research and management roadmap that we are busily implementing.

Our Agricultural Research Service is conducting research to improve the nutritional health of bees, to control the Varroa mite and other pests and pathogens, and to understand the effects of pesticides on colonies. We are setting up long-term studies to determine causes and evaluate treatments for Colony Collapse Disorder and other kinds of bee mortality, and we are establishing a bee gene bank to help breed traits such as resistance to pests or diseases and pollination efficiency.

Our National Institute for Food and Agriculture is funding important research at our land-grant universities in this area. For example, University of Nevada researchers have are experimenting with a virus that attacks a bacterial disease that affects honey bees. Meanwhile, Michigan State University scientists are developing sustainable pollination strategies such as enhancing the effect of bee-friendly wildflowers.

Our National Agricultural Statistics Service, working with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have begun taking a nationwide survey of bee health that sets baseline values for pest and disease prevalence. The U.S. Forest Service and the Farm Service Agency has been creating and restoring hundreds of thousands of acres of pollinator habitat, while the Natural Resources Conservation Service has provided financial assistance to landowners to protect or restore 30,000 acres of private lands.

Honey bees may be some of the hardest workers you’ll ever see, but they need our help. At USDA, we are making sure that they get it.

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: Being Serious about Saving Bees | USDA