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As a reformed bee-keeper, I've come to understand that it is the native pollinators that really matter. Monarchs and other native pollinators do most of the wo

As a reformed bee-keeper, I've come to understand that it is the native pollinators that really matter. Monarchs and other native pollinators do most of the work. Except in exceptional (and artificial) situations (like almonds in Ca), domesticate bees mostly get in the way. However, I will add all the "helpful pest control contractors" who want to kill every insect on my property probably don't help.

gerdesj 2y ago
"As a reformed bee-keeper," I take it you mean honey bee keeper and I'll assume American (you) and European honey bees (ie non-native to US). There is nothing wrong with that, provided you also allow for solitary bees and other pollinators too. Note that even "foreign" pollinators are still useful for pollination. Do try to discourage "helpful pest control contractors". As a honey bee keeper, you can't be faulted. Yes you would deploy colonies of 50,000 insects at a time into an area where the locals are not that well organised. However, thanks to the likes of neonics and monocultures, any pollinators at all are welcome. I'm a 53 year old Brit and I live next to a park and have a very insect friendly garden. Butterflies are really down compared to my memories as a child. I do see quite a few social bees (eg bumble bees) and solitary bees (eg masonary bees) but again, they seem to be rather sparse compared to my memories. Also, a summer drive does not leave my car covered in bugs. I have a customer: https://butterfly-conservation.org/ https://butterfly-conservation.org/ ... you'll have a local equivalent. I think we should all try to follow their advice, otherwise we may be the last humans to remember something and the world goes a bit "Mad Max". That's a bit unlikely but it won't end well if we do nothing.
- RoyalHenOil 2y ago
  I can't speak for every location, but where I live, feral honeybees (escapes from beekeepers) out-compete many native pollinators. They also outcompete many native birds by taking their nesting sites (tree hollows, man-made bird houses, etc.). For example, in my region, there is exactly one species that can perform buzz pollination (a specific pollination technique that is required by certain plants, including tomatoes) — blue-banded bees — but they are in decline due in large part to wild honeybee colonies. I have worked very hard over the years to grow lots of plants specifically appealing to blue-banded bees, but I still very rarely ever see them. The flowers are overwhelmingly dominated by honeybees. I don't mind a few of them around, but there are WAY too many of them. They leave so little food for other pollinators and so few nest sites for native birds. Professional beekeepers prevent their colonies from swarming, and many of them — certainly all the ones I know of in my area — will also capture wild colonies (and kill the colonies they cannot capture) as a service to the public to help control this nuisance invasive species. But there is only so much that a few good beekeepers can do; they are massively outnumbered by feral bee colonies released by less responsible amateur beekeepers from years past.
  - gerdesj 2y ago
    Thanks for the heads up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_pollination https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_pollination "About 9% of the flowers of the world are primarily pollinated using buzz pollination" So buzz pollination is very important. Here in the UK I suppose bumble bees do the job. Blue banded bees are native to Australia (according to some frantic searching!) I'm not sure what to suggest and you will know better than most what happens when you try to tinker with species introduction. Australia is practically a poster child for how not to do it but to be fair very few parts of the world are unscathed from unwise introductions. Here in the UK, Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam, a shrimp from NZ (can't remember the name) and others are a bit of an issue. We even have feral apples (thanks Romans) - not really, that was a benign introduction, that seems to have been a win/win and cider resulted! I think we got honeybees from the Roman occupation too but the climate here means that colonies usually need some assistance to survive - wild colonies are rare. The biggest pest for honey bees here is the Varroa mite. Varroa can only live in honey bee colonies, but you let that loose and I doubt it will end well. I can only suggest trying to find what attracts honey bees and growing that in one place and what works for blue banded bees as far away as possible. Reading this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amegilla_cingulata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amegilla_cingulata - threats. Even Cane toads munch on them! Its a tough one but you could try getting touch with the nearest uni biology/environmental/conservation or whatever department and see if they have any ideas. Good luck!
darth_avocado 2y ago
I was going to say, people over index on Monarchs, but other native pollinators need a lot more help. Native bees, wasps, wasps. I converted my backyard into a certified wildlife native habitat and I see the difference in the variety of pollinators I see now vs when I moved in. If anyone is interested on how to do it: https://www.nwf.org/CERTIFY https://www.nwf.org/CERTIFY
Modified3019 2y ago
For those curious about helping native pollinators, it should be noted that there are dozens in not hundreds of different types of bees that should be found around any given area. Many of them need certain plants to complete their life cycle, as well as need certain types of habitat. Sadly, this is a woefully understudied area, and it's exceptionally rare to find easy "plant this mix to maximize resources for your local bees across the year". There's a lot of mental overhead to get through when you start getting into it. In many of the hazelnut orchards in sandy areas, it turns out that having compacted bare soil is a huge win for the sand bees, it's exactly what they need and there can be dozen of holes made by them per square yard in some places. If there's not natural water sources nearby, a water feature is a good thing to look into for both birds and bees. Also note that beetles and moths are also a hugely important part of the ecosystem as well and are big pollinators, you just typically won't see them near as much as bees and butterflies. Healthy beetle populations can reduce slugs. We don't have them here, but fireflies and glowworms also heavily feed on slugs.

gerdesj 2y ago

"As a reformed bee-keeper," I take it you mean honey bee keeper and I'll assume American (you) and European honey bees (ie non-native to US). There is nothing wrong with that, provided you also allow for solitary bees and other pollinators too. Note that even "foreign" pollinators are still useful for pollination. Do try to discourage "helpful pest control contractors". As a honey bee keeper, you can't be faulted. Yes you would deploy colonies of 50,000 insects at a time into an area where the locals are not that well organised. However, thanks to the likes of neonics and monocultures, any pollinators at all are welcome. I'm a 53 year old Brit and I live next to a park and have a very insect friendly garden. Butterflies are really down compared to my memories as a child. I do see quite a few social bees (eg bumble bees) and solitary bees (eg masonary bees) but again, they seem to be rather sparse compared to my memories. Also, a summer drive does not leave my car covered in bugs. I have a customer: https://butterfly-conservation.org/ https://butterfly-conservation.org/ ... you'll have a local equivalent. I think we should all try to follow their advice, otherwise we may be the last humans to remember something and the world goes a bit "Mad Max". That's a bit unlikely but it won't end well if we do nothing.

RoyalHenOil 2y ago
I can't speak for every location, but where I live, feral honeybees (escapes from beekeepers) out-compete many native pollinators. They also outcompete many native birds by taking their nesting sites (tree hollows, man-made bird houses, etc.). For example, in my region, there is exactly one species that can perform buzz pollination (a specific pollination technique that is required by certain plants, including tomatoes) — blue-banded bees — but they are in decline due in large part to wild honeybee colonies. I have worked very hard over the years to grow lots of plants specifically appealing to blue-banded bees, but I still very rarely ever see them. The flowers are overwhelmingly dominated by honeybees. I don't mind a few of them around, but there are WAY too many of them. They leave so little food for other pollinators and so few nest sites for native birds. Professional beekeepers prevent their colonies from swarming, and many of them — certainly all the ones I know of in my area — will also capture wild colonies (and kill the colonies they cannot capture) as a service to the public to help control this nuisance invasive species. But there is only so much that a few good beekeepers can do; they are massively outnumbered by feral bee colonies released by less responsible amateur beekeepers from years past.
- gerdesj 2y ago
  Thanks for the heads up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_pollination https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_pollination "About 9% of the flowers of the world are primarily pollinated using buzz pollination" So buzz pollination is very important. Here in the UK I suppose bumble bees do the job. Blue banded bees are native to Australia (according to some frantic searching!) I'm not sure what to suggest and you will know better than most what happens when you try to tinker with species introduction. Australia is practically a poster child for how not to do it but to be fair very few parts of the world are unscathed from unwise introductions. Here in the UK, Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam, a shrimp from NZ (can't remember the name) and others are a bit of an issue. We even have feral apples (thanks Romans) - not really, that was a benign introduction, that seems to have been a win/win and cider resulted! I think we got honeybees from the Roman occupation too but the climate here means that colonies usually need some assistance to survive - wild colonies are rare. The biggest pest for honey bees here is the Varroa mite. Varroa can only live in honey bee colonies, but you let that loose and I doubt it will end well. I can only suggest trying to find what attracts honey bees and growing that in one place and what works for blue banded bees as far away as possible. Reading this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amegilla_cingulata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amegilla_cingulata - threats. Even Cane toads munch on them! Its a tough one but you could try getting touch with the nearest uni biology/environmental/conservation or whatever department and see if they have any ideas. Good luck!

darth_avocado 2y ago

I was going to say, people over index on Monarchs, but other native pollinators need a lot more help. Native bees, wasps, wasps. I converted my backyard into a certified wildlife native habitat and I see the difference in the variety of pollinators I see now vs when I moved in. If anyone is interested on how to do it: https://www.nwf.org/CERTIFY https://www.nwf.org/CERTIFY

Modified3019 2y ago

For those curious about helping native pollinators, it should be noted that there are dozens in not hundreds of different types of bees that should be found around any given area. Many of them need certain plants to complete their life cycle, as well as need certain types of habitat. Sadly, this is a woefully understudied area, and it's exceptionally rare to find easy "plant this mix to maximize resources for your local bees across the year". There's a lot of mental overhead to get through when you start getting into it. In many of the hazelnut orchards in sandy areas, it turns out that having compacted bare soil is a huge win for the sand bees, it's exactly what they need and there can be dozen of holes made by them per square yard in some places. If there's not natural water sources nearby, a water feature is a good thing to look into for both birds and bees. Also note that beetles and moths are also a hugely important part of the ecosystem as well and are big pollinators, you just typically won't see them near as much as bees and butterflies. Healthy beetle populations can reduce slugs. We don't have them here, but fireflies and glowworms also heavily feed on slugs.