What We Can Do For Pollinators

Threats to honeybees and its wild relatives have sparked Environment Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researchers to discuss ways to protect this species and other insect pollinators. Since pollination is essential to crop and plant life, the Convention on Biological Diversity has adopted the International Pollinators Initiative to promote the conservation and sustainable use of pollinator diversity in agriculture and related ecosystems.

Insect pollination is required for nearly all fruits and vegetables, including annual crops like tomatoes, peppers and strawberries, and tree fruits like apples and peaches. Crops like melons, pumpkins and cucumbers have separate male and female flowers, and would bear no fruit at all without insect pollinators. The value of pollination services for crops, like mustard, canola, alfalfa and fruits and vegetables has been conservatively estimated at $1.2 billion per year in Canada. Therefore, protecting honeybees and other important pollinators is essential to farmers’ livelihood.

Threats to pollination

There are several factors contributing to the decrease in pollination. Habitat destruction, including nesting and mating sites, and alternative forage, is the main issue in the decline of wild pollinators. A diverse floral habitat provides the most abundant alternative forage. Flower-rich field borders, where non-crop forage plants are not treated as weeds, encourage a diversity of pollinators. On the other hand, clearing field borders, fence lines and hedge rows destroys habitat and eliminates alternative food sources. Prairie grasslands and natural pasture can support native pollinators if not over-grazed or brought into annual crop production. Also, cutting hay too early before bloom deprives native pollinators of their feed.

Another serious threat to pollination is pesticide use which has doubled in North America since 1960. Although many insecticides are more effective at killing beneficial insects than pests, a growing number of people spray pesticides on their lawns and gardens. Even at low levels, pesticides affect longevity, memory, navigation, and foraging abilities of the honeybee. The use of herbicides eliminates the natural forage that wild pollinators need before and after crops are in bloom.

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In addition, there are two predators attacking honeybees. The tracheal mite from South America attacks the bee’s windpipe and eventually suffocates its victim. The varroa mite from Asia attaches itself externally and feeds on fluids from the host bee. These small relatives of the spider are responsible for the destruction of 30 to 50 per cent of beehives in Eastern Canada.

About the honeybee

There are 1000 wild species of bees in Canada. The domestic European honeybee remains the most important insect pollinator as it collects both pollen and nectar. A honeybee colony has one queen who produces up to 2000 eggs a day. She lives among hundreds of male bees called drones and more than 80 000 imperfect female bees. Despite its name, the honeybee is much more valuable as a pollinator than a honey producer. It has a long tongue, a hairy pollen-collecting coat and the ability to warm itself. A honeybee will visit many flowers over its lifetime. Despite being too small to trip the pollinating mechanism of some clovers and field beans, it is heavily relied upon because of fluctuating wild bee populations.

The role of farmers

Farmers can help conserve pollinators and protect their crops in several ways. To begin with, they must appreciate the important role honeybees play in pollination. For example, they should avoid spraying during crop bloom because this is when pollinators are most likely to visit. Farmers should consider planting different crops in smaller fields to promote pollinator abundance and diversity. Also, treating non-crop plants like thistles, milkweed, and chicory along fence rows and field borders as bee forage rather than weeds and setting aside herbicide-free meadows will provide alternate forage for bee populations.