Ways we are helping bees restore their place in nature.

This is a cynical take, but we must search for ways to fix the problems we create. Thankfully, despite our shortsightedness we have the power to reverse the damage done. Some fixes require widespread change, some require the intervention of science. Some fixes will come if we address issues of pollution where bees are normally not brought into the equation. We have ways forward, it just depends on how readily industries will adopt these changes. Conservation and Restoration need to be guiding concepts moving forward. We need ecological based strategy for maintain the environment to keep it suitable for bees, work with nature not against it. However science may be able to make our bees stronger and more resilient. And if it can do so without introducing any new problems than we may have a winning solution.

Controlling pathogens and eliminating disease/resistance to mites- Bees can be bred to produce desirable traits, including resistance to disease and mites. It could come down to genomics and modifying DNA to help create better stock of Bees. The USDA has it’s own stock of more resilient honey bees, which can be used with other stocks across the country to help introduce better bees to the wild. More research is needed before this can be more viable as any surprise unintended consequence could prove catastrophic.

Controlling Pesticides- Some pesticides can be completely ineffective with certain insects like mites, one example being the cryptically named V. Destructor. Which does not care what chemicals it gets hit with and proceeds to pass disease on to the bees. So then it becomes modify the pesticide, or modify the bee (see above). With the pesticide any chemical changes can render it inert towards the things it’s supposed to combat. OR kill other creatures or plants previously unaffected by it.

Slowing the Progress of African honey bees or hornets- It takes a concise effort by people on the ground to go out and find AHB colonies or hornet nests and eradicate them. And in such an undertaking we can barely scratch the surface of the invasion. And even as these colonies or nests get razed a lone AHB or hornet can still get away to reproduce another day. And in the case of the African Honey Bees, one of them may go potentially breed with local bees and turn the colony into that of AHBs and render it useless for honey production

Preserving native flora- Here it’s the pesticides again rearing their ugly head. But with people tending and maintaining the local plant life and observing where damage is happening, we can mitigate the loss of bee’s feeding grounds. There are some environments where bees can thrive, as an example a riparian forest next to a river (like all the cottonwoods that run along Rio Grande) is an excellent habitat for maintaining a bee population. However, invasive flora, for example the Russian Olive tree, which can wreak havoc on a riparian forest and subsequently kill native plants which further deprive the bees of needed feeding.

They're doing their part. Are you?