<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.5764" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<DIV class=clearfix id=featured-article done2="61" done0="61">
<DIV class=headline done2="61" done0="61">
<P done2="61" done0="61">May 18, 2009 | <A
href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=growth-in-honeybee-population#comments"><FONT
color=#0aa1dd>0 comments</FONT></A></P>
<H1>Growth Industry: Honeybee Numbers Expand Worldwide as U.S. Decline
Continues</H1>
<H2>Despite serious losses to colonies in the U.S. and Europe, honeybees are on
the rise in other parts of the world--although hardly keeping pace with growing
demand</H2>
<P done2="62" done0="62">By <A
href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/author.cfm?id=1822"><FONT
color=#0aa1dd>Katherine Harmon</FONT></A> </P></DIV><!--/end headline--><SPAN class=halfhorizontallines
style="MARGIN: 0px"> </SPAN> </DIV><!-- featured article END --><!-- article START -->
<DIV id=article done2="63" done0="63"><A
href="http://oascentral.sciam.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/sciam.com/everyday-science/418052205/x81/default/empty.gif/7a386830436b6e525163454142726155?x"
target=_top><IMG height=1 alt=""
src="http://imagec14.247realmedia.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/default/empty.gif/0"
width=1 border=0></A>
<DIV class="image-slides fixIEfloats"><IMG id=articleImg
alt="honeybeen population growth"
src="http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/growth-in-honeybee-population_1.jpg"
width=225>
<P class=caption id=articleImgCap><STRONG>BLOSSOMING POPULATION:</STRONG> The
domestic honeybee is enjoying a global population boom even as colony collapse
disorder threatens them in the U.S. and Europe. <BR><SPAN><FONT
color=#c2bbb4>FLICKR/CYGNUS921</FONT></SPAN></P></DIV>
<STYLE type=text/css>
.atools_holder {border:#e4e0dd 1px solid; width:78px; background-color:#e4e0dd; color:#999; text-align:center; margin:0 0 5px 5px;}
.atools_holder {text-align:-moz-center}
.atools {width:98%; padding:3px 1px 0 0}
.atools {text-align:-moz-center}
.atools img {margin-bottom:5px; display:block;}
.badge {padding: 2px; background-color:#fff; width:54px;margin-bottom:3px; left: 50%;}
#atools_sponsor {width:88px;}
#atools_sponsor span {font-size:8px !important; color:#999; font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif !important; text-align:center}
</STYLE>
<DIV class="float_right atools_holder fixIEfloats" done2="64" done0="64">
<DIV class=atools done2="64" done0="64"><A
href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/page.cfm?section=mailarticle&item_id=555D2484-F1F0-805E-EB3D701B6B980770"
rel=nofollow><FONT color=#c2bbb4><IMG height=20 alt=e-mail
src="http://www.scientificamerican.com/assets/img/interface/tools-Email.gif"
width=78></FONT></A> <A
href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=growth-in-honeybee-population&print=true"
rel=nofollow><IMG height=20 alt=print
src="http://www.scientificamerican.com/assets/img/interface/tools-Print.gif"
width=78></A> <A
href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=growth-in-honeybee-population#commentbox"
rel=nofollow><IMG height=20 alt=comment
src="http://www.scientificamerican.com/assets/img/interface/tools-Comment.gif"
width=78></A>
<DIV class=badge></DIV>
<DIV class=badge></DIV></DIV><!--atools --></DIV>
<DIV class="also-in-this clearfix fixIEfloats" done2="67" done0="67">
<H2>More to Explore</H2>
<UL class=fix_floats style="WIDTH: 201px" done2="67" done0="67">
<LI class="articleSidebar float_left fix_floats" done2="67" done0="67"><IMG
class=fixIEfloats height=50 alt=""
src="http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/5E0EB228-BEFF-24B7-B3E4FEDABB68DE04_reports_thumb.jpg"
width=50> <SPAN class=descr>Overview</SPAN><BR><A
onclick="s.linkTrackVars='prop6'; s.prop6='Article - More to Explore'; s.tl(true,'o','Article - More to Explore');"
href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/report.cfm?id=buzz-on-bees">In-Depth
Report: The Buzz On Bees</A> </LI></UL></DIV>
<P done2="68" done0="68">Even as U.S. honeybee populations have been <A
href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=saving-the-honeybee"><FONT
color=#0aa1dd>hit hard by colony collapse disorder</FONT></A> in recent years,
domesticated beehives have been thriving elsewhere.<BR><BR>In an analysis of
nearly 50 years of data on bees from the United Nations <A
href="http://www.fao.org/"><FONT color=#0aa1dd>Food and Agriculture
Organization</FONT></A>, researchers found that domesticated honeybee
populations have increased about 45 percent, thanks in large part to expansion
of the bees into areas such as South America, eastern Asia and Africa. <A
href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(09)00982-8"><FONT
color=#0aa1dd>The results</FONT></A> appear in the latest issue <EM>Current
Biology</EM>.<BR><BR>The overall increase, however, is not what surprised <A
href="http://ecotono.crub.uncoma.edu.ar/aizen.htm"><FONT color=#0aa1dd>Marcelo
Aizen</FONT></A>, a professor at the National University of Comahue in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, and lead author of the study. Instead, he was taken aback by
the sixfold increase in the growth rate of crops that depend on domesticated
bees for pollination.<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=urban-beekeeping-pollinators"><FONT
color=#0aa1dd>Booming demand for honey</FONT></A> and a rise in foods that
depend on bees for pollination are fueling the increase in bee
colonies.<BR><BR>Many food staples, such as wheat, corn and rice, don't need
bees. But plenty of fruits and vegetables that are now mainstays—from apples to
zucchini—need help from pollinators like bees.<BR><BR>Demand for royal jelly,
bee pollen and <A
href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=glue-honeybees-use-on-hiv"><FONT
color=#0aa1dd>propolis</FONT></A> (bee glue) has also contributed to the rise in
beekeeping in some places, notes <A
href="http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/facpage.cfm?id=mussen"><FONT
color=#0aa1dd>Eric Mussen</FONT></A>, an apiculturist at the University of
California, Davis, who wasn't involved in the study. But it is honey that
accounts for most of the growth for bees across the globe.<BR><BR>The common
domestic honeybee (<EM>Apis mellifera</EM>) was brought to the New World from
Europe in the 17th century. Since then it has been responsible for keeping many
crops (which were also imported) bountiful.<BR><BR>As the mysterious collapse
disorder continues to claim hives by the hundreds—threatening, in particular,
the almond industry—more attention is being paid other pollinators, including
other types of bees such as solitary bees and feral honeybees.<BR><BR>Aizen
explains that although "honeybees are the most frequent pollinator, they're not
necessarily the most efficient." He points to the proficiency of <A
href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=other-bee-species-subbing-for-honeybees"><FONT
color=#0aa1dd>local pollinators</FONT></A>, such as bumblebees, to take care of
crops such as squash and cucumber.<BR><BR>Paradoxically, as more land around the
globe is put to agricultural use for pollination-dependent crops, indigenous bee
species get crowded out. And <A
href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bee-and-flower-diversity"><FONT
color=#0aa1dd>as the native pollinators go, so, too, might some local
floras</FONT></A> that need specialized pollination, the study authors
note.<BR><BR>Both Aizen and Mussen see this as an important time to reevaluate
global food needs and goals. If healthful, pollination-dependent fruits and
vegetables are to remain an important constituent of human diets worldwide,
Mussen notes, more land—and even more pollinators—will be
necessarily.<BR><BR>And although the overall growth in the world honeybee
population might sound an encouraging note, Aizen remains cautious. "I think
that there is a problem," he says about areas where their populations are
shrinking. "I'm not saying that there isn't a problem…. But I think that we
should change the perspective of the problem so it's not a question of supply
but a question of changing demand."</P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face="Gill Sans MT" FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>Laurie Davies Adams<BR>Executive
Director<BR><B>Pollinator Partnership </B><BR>423 Washington Street, 5th
floor<BR>San Francisco, CA
94111<BR>415-362-1137<BR>LDA@pollinator.org</FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial
color=#000000 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#0000ff size=4 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="14"><B><A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></B></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"></B><BR><A
href="http://www.nappc.org/">www.nappc.org</A><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="12"><B><I>National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2009. <BR>Beecome
involved at <A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></I></FONT></B></DIV></FONT><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="616eac265f384f626167d34f9f1d88b"><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/>Recession-proof vacation ideas. <a href="http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/domestic/national-tourism-week?ncid=emlcntustrav00000002">Find free things to do in the U.S.</a></font></DIV></BODY></HTML>