Honeybees are an integral part of our local food chain here on Wright’s Mesa. But the honeybee population has been declining around the world, with upwards of 10 million beehives lost in recent years, much of which has been caused by humans. The decline of honeybees has a devastating effect not only on the environment, but on agriculture and food supply chains at a local and regional level, and around the world. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can all do our part to help save these crucial pollinators.
Here are some quick facts about honeybees
- The honeybee is one of more than 20,000 bee species found throughout the world.
- Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world’s produce depend on honey bees and animal pollinators to reproduce.
- In the U.S. alone, one-third of our food supply depends on pollination from honeybees, as well as other animal pollinators.
- It’s estimated that one out of every three bites of food in the United States depends on honeybees and other pollinators.
- Honeybees pollinate upwards of $15 billion worth of crops each year, including more than 130 fruits and vegetables.
- There are more than 3,500 species of native bees that help increase produce yields.
- A honeybee can visit anywhere between 50 to 1,000 flowers in a single trip.
- Dietary needs of honeybees are complex because they need nectar and pollen from a variety of different plants and rely on floral diversity to maintain a healthy immune system.
- It’s estimated that the number of honeybee hives in the United States has decreased from around six million in the 1940s to about 2.5 million today.
- Each winter, roughly 30 percent of beehives collapse due to pesticide exposure, habitat loss, disease, parasites, and poor nutrition.
- There are approximately 19 commercial beekeepers who keep around 38,000 hives in Colorado alone.
What is a honeybee exactly?
The iconic honeybee is a non-native species which originally traveled to the United States from Europe. Honeybees were introduced by European settlers in the 1600s to help pollinate their food crops. Honeybees make the honey we love and enjoy, live in giant social hives, and are deployed to pollinate flowers in order to make the honey that sustains the hive.
Just like humans and other animals, bees and other pollinators need food, water, shelter and space to support robust populations. While they are known for their love of nectar and pollen from flowers, the dietary needs of honeybees are much more complex because they need nectar and pollen from a variety of different plants to maintain healthy immune systems. Nectar from flowers and stored honey provide the carbohydrates for honey bees. Pollen provides the protein, lipids, vitamins and mineral components of the honey bee diet. Water is provided to the colony through metabolism of nectar and honey, and through collection by foragers.
What is causing the decline of honeybees?
The Varroa mite is known as the honey bee’s tiniest enemy. It is a parasitic insect that can ultimately kill off an entire colony. The mites feed on the honeybees, which weakens their immune systems, and introduces other harmful pathogens into the hives while they’re at it.
Notice more honeybees around some years rather than others? Weather and climate can also have a dramatic impact on pollinator populations from year to year. Honeybees are sensitive to temperature. If it stays cold or wet too long in the spring, it will delay the honey bees’ emergence and they will go hungry. On the opposite spectrum, another scenario that is becoming more common here in Colorado, is that flowers are starting to bloom earlier in the season than normal, and the bees are sleeping right through their prime pollen gathering season.
Unfortunately, humans are not helping the honey bee and other pollinator populations any. A recent study that found unprecedented levels of agricultural pesticides in honey bee colonies is prompting entomologists to look more closely at the role of neonicotinoids in current bee declines. Some studies have found that neonicotinoids can interfere with the ability for bees to navigate back to their hives.
Pollinators are also losing their habitat spaces to human development, which is especially true especially for native bees. Honeybees live in hives, native bees live underground or in cavities like a dead log. Those spaces are quickly being taken away by development, especially by urban areas.
What can we do to help save the honeybees on Wright’s Mesa?
Create Pollinator Habitat
Every yard could use more flowers, right? The first and easiest thing you can do is to create pollinator habitat, or a “pollinator garden” with bee-friendly plants in your yard, your local parks and open spaces, or your business’s property. Get creative and artistic with how you design your pollinator habitat. But don’t forget to leave some bare areas without mulch, native bees can utilize it.
Plant Native Flowers
Planting flowers is another way you can provide food sources for nearly all local pollinators. If you’re conscientious about your water use, it’s easy to plant xeriscape gardens with native Colorado plants that are hardy and drought resistant.
Don’t Forget The Water!
Bees get very thirsty with all that hard work, especially in the heat of the summer. Don’t forget to create a bee water garden for all the wonderful pollinators you’ve attracted!
Don’t Use Chemicals!
Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind, whether it be your garden, your lawn, your field, is that chemical pesticides can be harmful to pollinators. Try to grow plants organically as often as possible, and only spray flowering weeds with organic and chemical pesticides and herbicides, especially those pesky dandelions.
By the way, did you know dandelion greens, their flowers and roots are considered to be the ultimate superfood? Instead of killing them, add the greens to your salad or sautee them as you would kale or collard greens, top your salad! Just be sure to leave some of the flowers for the bees!
Support Local Beekeepers
By your honey from local beekeepers, businesses and from local farmers’ markets.
Or Better Yet, Become A Beekeeper Yourself!
As honeybees suffer from population decline, we need more “beekeepers” to help them out. Beekeeping is an inexpensive and rewarding hobby. The Colorado Beekeepers Association has all the information and resources you need to get started!