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Can you please post this to the list serve.<br><br>
Thanks!<br>
<img src="cid:7.1.0.9.0.20100113205508.011d1100@xerces.org.0" width=384 height=98 alt="[]">
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January 12, 2010<br><br>
<br>
<h1><b>Groups Seek Regulation of Bumblebee Shipments </b></h1>By THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS<br><br>
<b>Filed at 7:03 p.m. ET<br><br>
</b>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/12/us/AP-US-Plight-of-Bumblebee.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/12/us/AP-US-Plight-of-Bumblebee.html<br>
<br>
</a>GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Conservation groups and scientists want
federal agricultural authorities to start regulating shipments of
commercially domesticated
<a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/bees/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier">
bumblebees</a> -- used to pollinate crops -- to protect wild bumblebees
from diseases threatening their survival.<br><br>
The groups said Tuesday that four species of bumblebees once common in
the United States have seen drastic declines -- and the evidence points
to diseases spreading out of greenhouses that use domesticated
bumblebees.<br><br>
''This is the tip of the iceberg,'' said Scott Hoffman Black, executive
director of the Xerces Society, an insect conservation group based in
Portland. ''Bumblebees need to be regulated or we may see other diseases
spread to bumblebees and potentially other bees.''<br><br>
Besides pollinating wild plants, bumblebees are responsible for
pollinating about 15 percent of all the crops grown in the U.S., worth $3
billion. Demand has been growing as supplies of honeybees decline,
especially for hothouse crops such as tomatoes, peppers and strawberries,
and field crops such as blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, squash and
watermelon.<br><br>
Federal regulation is needed because while some states, like Oregon,
prohibit importation of bumblebees, others, such as Washington and
California, allow it, Black said.<br><br>
Two European companies produce commercial bumblebee hives sold in the US:
Koppert Biological Systems Inc., of the Netherlands, and Biobest
Biological Systems of Belgium. Telephone calls to Koppert's office in
Canada and Biobest's office in Michigan were not immediately
returned.<br><br>
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service was reviewing the petition
and had no immediate response, spokesman Larry Hawkins said in an
e-mail.<br><br>
The Xerces Society,
<a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/natural_resources_defense_council/index.html?inline=nyt-org">
Natural Resources Defense Council</a>, Defenders of Wildlife and
<a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_california/index.html?inline=nyt-org">
University of California, Davis</a> entomologist Robbin Thorp formally
petitioned the
<a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/agriculture_department/index.html?inline=nyt-org">
U.S. Department of Agriculture</a> and its Animal and Plant Health
Inspection service. They want to prohibit shipping commercially
domesticated bumblebees and hives outside their native range, and to
certify that domesticated bumblebees are disease free.<br><br>
The petition cited steep declines in recent years of the Franklin's and
Western bumblebee in the West, and the rusty-patched and yellow-banded
bumblebee in the East.<br><br>
Nine prominent entomologists signed a letter in support of the
petition.<br><br>
''A major threat to the survival of these wild bumblebee pollinators is
the spread of disease from commercially produced bees that are
transported throughout the country,'' said the letter, signed by
<a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_kansas/index.html?inline=nyt-org">
University of Kansas</a> entomologist Charles Michener and
others.<br><br>
Black said they wanted to work with federal authorities to control the
spread of disease before taking the next step, seeking Endangered Species
Act protection for the bumblebees.<br><br>
While research has yet to conclusively blame a specific disease shared
with domesticated species, the petition cited studies showing
domesticated bumblebees regularly escape greenhouses and one bee can
infect another when they come in contact gathering pollen.<br><br>
Unlike honeybees, which came to North America with the European colonists
of the 17th century, bumblebees are natives. They collect pollen and
nectar to feed to their young but make very little honey.<br><br>
A 2007
<a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_academy_of_sciences/index.html?inline=nyt-org">
National Academy of Sciences</a> report blamed the decline of pollinators
around the world on a combination of habitat loss, pesticides, pollution
and diseases spilling out of greenhouses using commercial bumblebee
hives. <br><br>
<br>
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*************************<br>
Scott Hoffman Black<br>
Ecologist/Entomologist<br>
Executive Director<br>
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation<br>
4828 SE Hawthorne <br>
Portland, OR 97215 <br>
Direct line (503) 449-3792<br>
sblack@xerces.org<br><br>
<i>The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit organization that
protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their
habitat. <br>
</i> <br>
To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our work, <br>
please visit
<a href="http://www.xerces.org/">www.xerces.org</a>.<br><br>
<br>
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