<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.5764" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial" text=#000000 bgColor=#ffffff><FONT size=2>
<DIV><FONT size=2>An interesting article discusses recent research shows that
the number of managed honey bees hives is growing worldwide, mainly to
meet rising demand for honey. However, the increase in demand for pollination of
crops out strips the growth in bee hives.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Matthew</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>**************************************************************</DIV>
<DIV>From: <EM>The Straight Times</EM> (Singapore)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Tech%2Band%2BScience/Story/STIStory_373765.html"><FONT
size=2>http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Tech%2Band%2BScience/Story/STIStory_373765.html</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Bee numbers soar worldwide</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>WASHINGTON - THE NUMBER of domesticated bees is on the rise
worldwide despite declining numbers of wild honey bees in the United States and
Europe, a study said on Thursday. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>'The honey bee decline observed in the USA and in other
European countries including Great Britain, which has been attributed in part to
parasitic mites and more recently to colony collapse disorder, could be
misguiding us to think that this is a global phenomenon,' said Marcelo Aizen of
Universidad Nacional del Comahue in Argentina. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>'We found here that is not the case.' He is one of the
co-authors of a study, published Thursday in the June edition of the US magazine
Current Biology, which analyzed data from the Food and Agriculture </FONT><FONT
size=2>Organization on the number of domesticated bee hives to examine whether
we are heading for a world pollination crisis. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Researchers found that commercial domesticated bee hives have
increased 45 percent in the past 50 years, to match growing demand for honey
among a growing human population, but not necessarily for pollination purposes.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Most large farming operations for corn and rice do not depend
on pollination by bees, the study noted. But demand for other popular crops such
as fruit and nuts, which do depend on pollination by bees and other insects, has
tripled in the past half century, raising doubts that there are enough insects
to do the task. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>These include such fruits as mangoes, cherries, plums and
raspberries which are now found on almost all supermarket shelves. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>'We were particularly astonished when we found that the
fraction of agricultural production that depends on pollinators, which includes
all of these luxury agriculture items, started growing at a faster pace since
the fall of communism in the former USSR and Eastern Europe,' said Aizen.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>'Although the primary cause of the accelerating increase of
pollinator-dependent crops seems to be economic and political, not biological,
their rapid expansion has the potential to trigger future pollination problems
for both these crops and native species in neighboring areas.' </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>The concern is that there may be a fall in crop production
with not enough bees and insect populations to tackle the job. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>An increased demand for agricultural land could also speed up
the destruction of habitats that support hundreds or thousands of species of
wild pollinators, which would in turn cause a drop in crop yield, he
warned.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2> -</FONT><FONT size=2>- AFP</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
<BR>
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3314" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial" text=#000000 bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=1><FONT size=1></FONT> </DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT
size=1>______________________________________________________</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG>The Xerces Society for Invertebrate
Conservation</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>The Xerces Society is an international
nonprofit organization that </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>protects wildlife through the conservation of
invertebrates and their </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>habitat. </FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT
size=1>To </FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>join the Society, make a
</FONT></FONT><FONT size=1>contribution</FONT><FONT size=1>, </FONT><FONT
size=1>or read about our </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>work, </FONT><FONT size=1>please visit </FONT><FONT size=1><A
href="http://www.xerces.org/">www.xerces.org</A>.</FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Matthew Shepherd</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Senior Conservation Associate</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>4828 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215,
USA</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Tel: 503-232 6639 Cell: 503-807 1577 Fax: 503-233
6794</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Email: </FONT><A href="mailto:mdshepherd@xerces.org"><FONT
size=1>mdshepherd@xerces.org</FONT></A><FONT size=1> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT
size=1>______________________________________________________</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>