[Pollinator] We need to be busy like bees to help save them

[Scott Black]

The Modesto Bee


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Posted on Thu, Jun. 05, 2008


We need to be busy like bees to help save them

http://www.modbee.com/opinion/national/story/319604.html


By BARBARA BOXER

last updated: June 05, 2008 09:27:38 AM

Most people don't spend much time thinking about bees.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
however, between 15 percent and 30 percent of the 
food we eat in the United States depends on honeybees for pollination.

Without bees, avocados, strawberries and almonds 
are just a few of the California crops that would 
suffer. Not only would yields be reduced, but so 
would the jobs that go with them.

The idea of a world without bees sounds 
farfetched, but the truth is that honeybees and 
other native pollinators -- like bumblebees, 
butterflies, even bats -- are in danger.

Last August, I visited an almond orchard in 
Merced County to meet with local farmers and 
beekeepers and learn more about the sudden 
decline in the honeybee population and its impact 
on our agricultural communities. Since 2006, an 
estimated 25 percent of the nation's honeybees 
have mysteriously disappeared as a result of what 
the USDA calls "colony collapse disorder."

The sudden loss of entire hives is only the 
latest sign of trouble in a decades-long decline. 
In fact, the nationwide honeybee population is 
estimated to have dropped from 4.5 million 
managed colonies in 1980 to 2.4 million in 2005.

California is uniquely threatened by this decline 
because healthy honeybees play a critical role in 
our state's $42 billion a year agricultural economy.

For example, in 2007 California produced an 
estimated 1.31 billion pounds of almonds -- a 
yield that would not have been possible without 
honeybees. And while sufficient bees were 
available to ensure a successful almond crop this 
year, we need urgent action to prevent further 
declines. It is estimated that it will take every 
existing colony in the United States to pollinate 
the projected almond crop in 2012.

But scientists still don't conclusively know what 
causes colony collapse disorder. Some scientists 
think it might be a combination of environmental 
stresses on the honeybee population that causes colony collapse.

The first step to reversing the trend is 
adequately funding the scientific research 
necessary to better understand these complex natural systems.

During my visit to Merced, I announced the 
introduction of the Pollinator Protection Act -- 
legislation designed to make funding available 
for just this kind of research. Later, I 
succeeded in getting this proposal included in 
the farm bill. And when Congress voted 
overwhelmingly to override the president's veto 
of the farm bill, that measure became law.

The measure authorizes $100 million over five 
years for high-priority research dedicated to 
maintaining and protecting honeybees and native 
pollinators, effectively doubling the administration's budget for bee research.

Addressing colony collapse disorder and the 
decline of pollinators will require the combined 
effort of the scientific, environmental and 
business communities. I intend to make sure the 
federal government does its part; establishing 
funding for this research is a good start.

Boxer represents California in the U.S. Senate.


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*************************
Scott Hoffman Black
Ecologist/Entomologist
Executive Director
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
4828 SE Hawthorne
Portland, OR 97215
Direct line (503) 449-3792
sblack at xerces.org

The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit 
organization that protects wildlife through the 
conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.

To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our work,
please visit <http://www.xerces.org/>www.xerces.org.


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