May 20 was World Bee Day, a time to celebrate nature’s most prolific pollinators, even as we fret about their fate.
For years, Canadian honey bees have struggled against a range of environmental obstacles. Dwindling populations, collapsed colonies and vast acres of plants left unpollinated have been signals that bees are in distress. During the past two years of pandemic, their peril has only deepened.
There have been many theories about what is causing the worldwide decline of bee populations. Destruction of habitat, use of powerful pesticides, invasive parasites and climate change are some of the factors commonly cited. Another theory is that a change in bees’ diets has weakened their physiological ability to survive environmental contaminants. Bees didn’t suddenly decide to explore new cuisines, however. Like pesticides and pollutants, the dietary change was a man-made idea.
Over the past decade, many beekeepers began feeding bees corn syrup and other types of honey substitutes. As with the mass consumption of corn syrup by people, the results have not been healthy. These cheap substitutes lack the natural compounds like p-coumaric acid that bees need to maintain healthy immune systems. Weakened immune systems leave bees vulnerable to a whole range of colony-killing microbes, and may even compromise their ability to tolerate pesticides.
Bees not only produce honey — it’s also the food nature intended them to eat. But for many beekeepers, honey is too profitable to waste on bees; hence the use of sweetened substitutes that are not fully compatible with bees’ digestive systems and needs.
One survey of honey bee colonies in North America found that hives were contaminated to varying degrees by 121 different pesticides. Ironically, one chemical treatment that was meant to help the bees may be contributing to their decline. An anti-mite compound that is often applied to hives may protect bees from some parasites, but also be affecting their ability to thrive.
Queens seem more resilient than other members of the hive, but the disappearance of worker bees is catastrophic for a colony. As with any monarchical society, royalty requires a deep pool of labor to sustain the empire.
In Canada, bees faced a harsh winter this year that wiped out at least half of all colonies. Ontario has also seen a population decline linked to a parasite known as the varroa mite. On top of that, recent pandemic lockdowns have interrupted regular agricultural cycles, and complicated the task of importing new honey bees to replace lost colonies.
A report by the CBC outlines some of the practical ways people and society as a whole can help rescue the honey bees: “The Bee Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Centre, launched in 2020, has been doing research as well as education, public outreach and policy development. Some projects include bee colony research to find out how the insects react to problems like viruses and poor nutrition, how to breed at-risk bees to maintain populations, and a program called Bumble Bee Watch, which is a compilation and analysis of photos of bumble bees submitted by citizens — aimed at helping researchers track and conserve bee populations. . . .
“People can do things like plant native plants and flowers or ‘pollinator gardens’ on the land they occupy, participate in programs like the Bumble Bee Watch, and try to support legislation that promotes biodiversity, environmental protection, and more transparency about the chemicals used on public land.”