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Pollen Counts by Sue Moore Birds do it and bees do it and so do bats and wasps but they have an image problem and didn't make it into the song book. Unfortunately many of these pollinators are making it into another kind of book, namely a redbook. Redbooks serve to alert the public to species extinction. Currently sixty percent of the 165 genera of birds, mammals, and reptiles that provide pollination services have species that are either threatened or extinct. Some wildland habitats have lost 70% of their feral honeybee populations. According to the USDA we are facing an “impending pollination crisis.”
But why should we care? Pollination to most of us means pollen and allergies and puffy eyes and sneezing and Claritan. Few of us would free-associate pollination with food and clothing. But we should. There would be no cotton or linen without the gracious act of pollination. More importantly, over seventy-five percent of the staple crop plants that feed the world depend on some kind of animal or insect pollination. Ninety percent of all flowering plants, including medicinal ones, depend on a pollinator intermediary. No pollination. No harvest. “People don’t understand where [food] comes from,” says entomologist Stephen Buchmann, in a 1997 interview on Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now. “The apple, just like most of our fruits and vegetables, started out as a flower.” And flowers needs to be pollinated in order to bear fruit. To put pollination back on the public’s radar screen, Mr. Buchmann along with colleague Gary Nabhan wrote “The Forgotten Pollinators”. They also founded a public awareness campaign under the same name (1). “We are in the worse shape with the most important domesticated pollinator than we’ve ever been in human history,” declares Mr. Nabhan. “We’ve always taken honeybees for granted and when we say we’ve lost a quarter of all the bees in this country, people don’t fathom what that may mean.” To help us fathom, let’s look at the California almond crop. Honeybees are our mainstay pollinator. It takes roughly 840,000 honeybee colonies to pollinate the almond crop. Since the wild honeybee colonies have all but dried up, almond growers must rent honeybee colonies to provide pollination services. There are only 1.5 million managed honeybee colonies in the United States. There are about 150 other crops that need to be pollinated. “Clearly,” declares Mr. Buchmann, “there’s a shortfall of honeybees.” So what is taking out the bees and other pollinators? Pesticides, pestilence and habitat loss. If the chemical insecticides and herbicides frequently used in agricultural and other applications don’t kill off the pollinator outright, they often impair its ability to reproduce, compromise its food supply, and destroy its nesting places. Loss of wild habitat to urban sprawl and agricultural monoculture further exacerbate the pollinator’s plight. Thus weakened, the pollinator becomes susceptible to disease and parasitic infestations. The honeybee population has been decimated by infestations of two different parasitic mites and now a parasitic beetle looms. In fact this past spring about 300,000 honeybee colonies were too weak to service the California almond crop. And now the bee is under attack by the Bush Administration’s Farm Bill. The Washington Post reports that the administration is proposing to close three of the four USDA bee research laboratories and to seriously downsize the fourth to a budget of 2.9 million dollars and a staff of nine. The National Wildlife Federation puts the value of “bee-dependent” crops at about ten billion dollars annually. Protecting a ten billion dollar crop with nine staff people? That just doesn’t add up. The light’s on in the White House but apparently nobody’s home. We may all end up getting more than stung. Endnote The Forgotten Pollinators Campaign seeks to raise public awareness to the following pollination issues: Pollination is not free. Policymakers must realize the economic importance of pollination and promote investment in pollination research and stewardship. Research into alternative pollinators needs to be bolstered. Protect wildlife habitats and “nectar” corridors. Many pollinators are migratory and depend on an unbroken food supply along their flight path. Loss of the natural habitat along these paths can potentially devastate pollinator populations. These nectar corridors need to be acknowledged and protected. Recognize ecological relationships between plants and pollinators. Pollination does not occur in a vacuum. Pollinators need the host plants and the plants need the host pollinators. Conservation policy should be focused on preserving ecological relationships. Still got a bee in your bonnet and want to do something? Well, you can: Buy organic food and clothing. Did you know it takes a third of a pound of pesticides to produce a single cotton t-shirt? Buying organic means supporting environmentally sustainable farming practices. Buy organic cotton towels, sheets, and clothing. And don’t forget about hemp. Hemp is grown without pesticides and is beautiful and durable. Green Home features an extensive line of products featuring hemp. Backyard pollinator gardening. Provide food, shelter and nesting sites in your backyard for pollinators. It’s easy and fun. Read our "Going Wild In the Backyard" article in this issue! Support The Forgotten Pollinators Campaign!
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