[Pollinator] Conserving honey bees does not help wildlife

[Shannon Westlake]

You make a great point, Maraiah; I do not think this is an "either / or"
situation, but an "and."  Helping honeybees with their plights will be
beneficial to minimize risk of disease spread to native pollinators, but
that is not the only issue when these two mix.  I am sure we are all
familiar with the issues presented by competition from nonnative species,
which has been the growing concern in recent articles.  This is why, more
than ever, it is important to make sure the public is aware of the
differences between and importance of both honeybees and native pollinators.

The issue I have seen firsthand is farmers thinking they are benefiting all
pollinators and doing all they can by simply not spraying near honeybee
nest boxes.  Although a flagship species can be extremely beneficial to
raise awareness and support, continued education surrounding the additional
species affected (in this case, native pollinators) is essential to
properly inform landowners to promote the most beneficial conservation
practices.  For future food security, biodiversity, and environmental
amelioration, we need to move forward with the "and" in mind; improving
honeybee health and also providing the necessary attention and support for
our native pollinators.

On Wed, Feb 21, 2018 at 8:10 AM, Maraiah Russell <
maraiah.russell at kidszoo.org> wrote:

> So, to stir the pot a bit, wouldn't healthier honeybees be good as they
> wouldn't spread disease to wild bees?  And the efforts being put forth by
> farmers to include wildflower strips on their land, that wouldn't have
> happened without the threat to honeybees, but should also benefit wild
> bees/pollinators.  I just think that we can't possibly help one pollinator
> species without helping all.  I understand the messaging to the public is
> wrong, but what the public really cares about is access to the variety of
> food they want.  Monocrops aren't going to disappear anytime soon, and
> honeybees are needed to maintain those.  It's not an idea situation, but if
> we take measures to support honeybees I think it will only support native
> pollinators as well.  I'd love to hear discussion...
>
> Maraiah Russell
> ________________________________________
> From: Pollinator [pollinator-bounces+maraiah.russell=kidszoo.org at lists.
> sonic.net] on behalf of David Inouye [dwinouye at gmail.com]
> Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2018 12:04 AM
> To: pollinator at coevolution.org
> Subject: [Pollinator] Conserving honey bees does not help wildlife
>
> I can send a PDF if you want one.
>
> Geldmann, J. and J. P. González-Varo (2018). "Conserving honey bees does
> not help wildlife." Science 359(6374): 392-393.
>
> David
>
>
>
> --
> Dr. David W. Inouye
> Professor Emeritus
> Department of Biology
> University of Maryland
>
> Principal Investigator
> Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pollinator mailing list
> Pollinator at lists.sonic.net
> https://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/pollinator
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pollinator mailing list
> Pollinator at lists.sonic.net
> https://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/pollinator
>



-- 
_________________________
*Shannon M. Westlake*
Graduate Research Assistant, Lab Coordinator
Human Dimensions Laboratory
Wildlife, Fisheries & Aquaculture
Mississippi State University
smw750 at msstate.edu
*"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
-Eleanor Roosevelt*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sonic.net/pipermail/pollinator/attachments/20180221/510140a3/attachment.html>