Bees

Paul 70% of plants are pollinated by bees the rest are pollinated by other insects are self pollinating or wind pollinated so losing bees would be quite catastrophic.

 

It doesn`t sound like something that would be good for the place, or inneffectual either. Not normally one to react to all the doomsday stuff, but I must admit to being a tad concerned. Does the mite only affect our native honey bees? Wouldn` other types of bees be ok?

 

It can affect other types of bees Claire and the mites are proving to be resistant to chemicals however all is not lost and research is ongoing to develop fungi as microbial control agents of varroa in honey bee colonies in which case biological control would be an option for commercial and enthusiast beekeepers alike. In addition, because the physical conditions inside honey bee colonies are similar everywhere, it is very likely that an efficient biocontrol agent of varroa could be used successfully. throughout the world.

 

That`s a relief. Nothing like the soft tremulous buzzing on a hot summers afternoon.

 

or seeing lady imp run for her life because there is a bee 20 yards away:lollol:

 

I have a friend who keeps bees and she's having a very bad year. Lots of her hives are dying off. She also said that in China and other countries, people are being employed to hand pollinate fruit trees.
I'm not so sure we can rely on hoverflies either. I've noticed this year that there have been hardly any insects in in my garden at all. I've seen about 3 butterfiles and 2 wasps (good for pollinating and killing pests).

The thing with bees is that they are essential to our monoculture style of farming. Bee keepers transport their hives all over the country to ensure pollination of extensive crops.

30% of America's food crops rely on bees and the farmers can't get enough hives to pollinate them.