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That eternit/asbestos roof in the first picture ... no, thank you. Another article about Slovenia's beekeepers: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/business/bee
by myshpa 3y ago
That eternit/asbestos roof in the first picture ... no, thank you.
Another article about Slovenia's beekeepers: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/business/beekeeping-companies-colony-collapse.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/business/beekeeping-compa...
“If you overcrowd any space with honey bees, there is a competition for natural resources, and since bees have the largest numbers, they push out other pollinators, which actually harms biodiversity,” he said, after a recent visit to the B&B bees. “I would say that the best thing you could do for honey bees right now is not take up beekeeping.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41271-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41271-5
Honeybees disrupt the structure and functionality of plant-pollinator networks
... results show that beekeeping reduces the diversity of wild pollinators and interaction links in the pollination networks ... High-density beekeeping in natural areas appears to have lasting, more serious negative impacts on biodiversity than was previously assumed.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.767950/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.76795...
The Diversity Decline in Wild and Managed Honey Bee Populations Urges for an Integrated Conservation Approach
Using honey bees as an example, we argue that several management practices in beekeeping threaten genetic diversity in both wild and managed populations, and drive population decline.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7708548/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7708548/
Why bees are critical for achieving sustainable development
Bees comprise ~ 20 000 described species across seven recognised families ... Fifty bee species are managed by people, of which around 12 are managed for crop pollination ... Wild bees contribute an average of USD$3 251 ha−1 to the production of insect-pollinated crops, similar to that provided by managed honey bees
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5722319/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5722319/
Do managed bees have negative effects on wild bees?
The majority of reviewed studies reported negative effects of managed bees
https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2021/June-July/Gardening/Honey-Bees https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2021/Ju...
“Keeping honey bees to ‘save the bees’ is like raising chickens to save birds.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01847-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01847-3
Greater bee diversity is needed to maintain crop pollination over time
- kdmccormick 3y agoNot challenging your overall point, but your nwf link specifically calls out the introduction of extra non-native pollinators as a problem, and explains that honeybees were brought over from Europe and thereforr aren't native to North America. The original article is describing honeybeekeepers specifically in Slovenia.
- myshpa 3y agoTrue ... but whether they are native or not, their effect on wild pollinators is the same.
- antwerp1 3y agoThe effect could be dampened by cultivating bee-friendly crops. Yes, it is a somewhat artificial system and will divert resources away from the natural system but perhaps it would create a boundary between the honeybees and native pollinators
- nemo 3y agoHoneybees aren't native to Europe or the Americas, they originated in Asia. In any habitat at all, keeping honeybees is actually adding some strain to local ecosystems. Honeybees are voracious nectar drinkers, once they're hit a habitat it can support fewer native bees, moths, butterflies, beetles, etc.
- Swizec 3y agoWere bees introduced into Europe from Asia? We have evidence of domesticated bees in Egypt circa 2600BC. Not to mention rock art of honey collection from bees dating back to 7000BC in Spain. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee#Domestication https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee#Domesticat...
- nemo 3y agoYes, Humans have been keeping domesticate bees for a long time and spread them around the globe. The wild animal that was domesticate originally lived in Southeast Asia.