Important Pollinators in Decline

There could be trouble for the nation’s food crops. Rebecca Williams reports researchers say some important pollinators are in decline in North America:

Transcript

There could be trouble for the nation’s food crops. Rebecca Williams reports researchers say some important pollinators are in decline in North America:


Without bees, hummingbirds and bats, many plants can’t reproduce.


A new report from the National Academy of Sciences says some of these pollinators are in trouble. Especially honeybees – their numbers have been dropping since the 1980s. That’s partly because non-native parasites are attacking the bees.


Allison Snow is an author of the report.


“Pollinators are so important for plant reproduction, for example: pumpkins and cranberries, almonds, strawberries, and in addition pollinators are important in the natural world because most flowering plants and shrubs and trees are visited by pollinators.”


Snow says diseases, parasites and habitat loss are some of the threats to pollinators. She says much more research is needed, especially on the smallest pollinators that tend to fly under the radar.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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Study Supports Honeybee Dance Hypothesis

  • When foraging bees find food, they fly back to the hive and dance. (Photo by Jenny W.)

Bee researchers have long believed that honeybees use a special dance to show their hive-mates where food is. A study published in the journal Nature provides direct evidence that the dance works. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rebecca Williams explains:

Transcript

Bee researchers have long believed that honeybees use a special dance to
show their hive-mates where food is. A study published in the journal
Nature provides direct evidence that the dance works. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Rebecca Williams explains:


Honeybees have a complex way of talking about dinner. Forager bees fly out
of the hive in search of pollen and nectar. When they find something tasty,
they fly home to the hive and dance.


Researchers in England caught bees that had watched the dance and tagged
them with tiny radio trackers. Then they followed the bees’ exact flight
paths.


Joe Riley is lead author of the study. He says the research relieves some
doubts about how well honeybees interpret the dance.


“The only thing that was missing was a really convincing demonstration that
this happened. And what we saw what happened was they left the hive,
circled for a minute or two to get their bearings and then flew straight off
in this predicted direction and for the distance that was coded in the
dance.”


Riley says the bees do need a little help once they get close to the food
source: they have to look and sniff around to find the right flower.


For the GLRC, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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