National Pollinator Week is all the buzz

Pollination is critical to the production of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Pollinated crops contribute $15 billion to farm income in the United States. Recent declines in pollinator populations pose a threat to farm production and U.S. food security.

To help raise awareness of the perils facing pollinators, Secretary Sonny Perdue declared June 19-25 as National Pollinator Week at a June 6 event at the Vice President’s residence in Washington, D.C. Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence, installed a honey bee hive on the grounds of the residence at the event and encouraged Americans to take similar steps to promote pollinator health. The event is part of an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by pollinators such as bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles.

Between 2008 and 2014, NIFA invested approximately $42 million in competitive grants on research, education, and extension programs on bee health. NIFA-funded projects are helping to understand the causes of pollinator declines and educate growers and citizens with best practices to foster pollinator populations

Learn more about NIFA-supported endeavors in this week’s issue of Fresh from the Field.    

What wild bees need

A new national assessment estimates that wild bees declined in 23 percent of the contiguous United States between 2008 and 2013. The team of Project ICP researchers, led by Insu Koh at the University of Vermont, found that the decline was generally associated with conversion of natural habitats to row crops. Areas of intense agriculture (e.g., the Midwest Corn Belt and the Central Valley of California) have among the lowest levels of predicted wild bee abundance.

The study, published in the December issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that 39 percent of the U.S. croplands that depend on pollinators—from apple orchards to pumpkin patches—face a mismatch between rising demand for pollination and a falling supply of wild bees. As the acreage of pollinator-dependent crops expands, the concurrent loss of natural habitat leads to lower abundance of the wild bees needed to pollinate these crops. To maintain stability in pollinators, crop pollination, and yields of these crops, the authors suggest that farmers may need to maintain or enhance habitats for wild bees on and around their farms or invest more heavily in managed pollinators.

Read more in this ICP blog. 

Pollen power

Bumble bees have discriminating palettes when it comes to their pollen meals, according to researchers at Penn State. With NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative funding, the researchers found that bumble bees can detect the nutritional quality of pollen, and that this ability helps them selectively forage among plant species to optimize their diets.

"Populations of many bee species are in decline across the world, and poor nutrition is thought to be a major factor causing these declines," said Christina Grozinger, director of the Center for Pollinator Research at Penn State. "Our studies can help identify plant species and stocks that provide high-quality nutrition for bumble bees and potentially other bee species, which will help in the development of pollinator-friendly gardens and planting strips."

According to Anthony Vaudo, a graduate student in entomology who led the study, scientists previously believed that bees' preference for flowering plants were driven by floral traits, such as color, scent, morphology or nectar concentration.

"Here we show that bumble bees actually choose a plant for the nutritional quality of its pollen," said Vaudo. "This is important because pollen is bees' primary source of protein and lipids." " 

Read more at Eureka Alert.

Bee informed about bee health

Beekeepers across the United States lost 44 percent of their honey bee colonies during the year spanning April 2015 to April 2016, according to an annual nationwide survey of commercial and small-scale beekeepers. The survey found that summer losses – when bees are at their healthiest – rivaled winter loss rates. 

This survey was conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership, which receives a majority of its funding from the NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.

The researchers note that many factors are contributing to colony losses. A clear culprit is the varroa mite, a lethal parasite that can easily spread between colonies. Varroa is a particularly challenging problem among backyard beekeepers (defined as those who manage fewer than 50 colonies).
"Many backyard beekeepers don't have any varroa control strategies in place. We think this results in colonies collapsing and spreading mites to neighboring colonies that are otherwise well-managed for mites," said Nathalie Steinhauer, a graduate student in the University of Maryland Department of Entomology who leads the data collection efforts for the annual survey. "We are seeing more evidence to suggest that good beekeepers who take the right steps to control mites are losing colonies in this way, through no fault of their own."

Read more in Bright Surf.

Almonds, wildflowers, bees, oh my!

Some almond growers have started planting wildflowers on the edges of managed fields as a way to help bees do their jobs in the face of pollinator pressures. There are, however concerns that the wildflowers may pull valuable pollination services away from the almond crops. New research reveals that almond growers can put this particular concern aside.

The study notes that planting wildflowers next to almond orchards does not cause fewer honey bees to visit the orchard. This finding is important because it shows wildflower plantings can help keep bee populations healthy while also not harming almond crops.

“The high honey bee visitation rates to the flower plantings suggest benefits of wildflower plantings for honey bees,” said Ola Lundin of the University of California, Davis, one of the researchers and an author on the paper. “Such benefits may include the ability to support or increase bee population sizes before and after almond bloom and increased resistance to harmful effects of pesticides and pathogens through a more diverse diet.” 

This research was supported through a five-year NIFA grant to the Integrated Crop Pollination project (ICP), funded by NIFA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative. Michigan State University (MSU) leads this this collaboration of scientists from 10 universities and other public and private partners to develop sustainable pollination strategies and offer resources and education for growers and consumers.

Read more in Entomology Today.

A multistate hive mind of research

Bees provide essential pollination for many of the nut, berry, fruit, vegetable, and seed crops grown in the U.S. To supplement wild bee pollination, farmers often rent managed honey bee colonies. Demand is skyrocketing, but catastrophic die-offs are threatening the supply of healthy honey bee colonies. Parasitic mites, pathogens, pesticide chemicals, nutritional deficits, and environmental conditions have contributed to the decline of honey bees. With NIFA's Multistate Research Fund, researchers at the University of Arkansas collaborate with twenty other institutions to seek solutions.

Extension specialists and educators are sharing information with beekeepers, farmers, home gardeners, regulatory agencies, and others. Beekeepers following research-based recommendations have saved an estimated 10,500 honey bee colonies, which provide a value of over $5,750,000 each year they are used to pollinate crops.

Read more about protecting pollinators.  

Busy bee researchers in Minnesota

There are almost 20,000 known species of bees in the world.  About 3,500 live in the United States and an estimated 400 native bee species find their home in Minnesota.  For nearly 100 years, the University of Minnesota has conducted research on bees. The university has even hired faculty specializing in native bees. University researchers remain committed to finding ways to organically assist bee colonies and native bees. In this video, entomologist Marla Spivak discusses how U of M researchers are working to address the changing needs of bees in Minnesota.

This research was supported by NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.

Watch the video about University of Minnesota pollinator research.