AMES, Iowa – It?s said that pollinators are responsible for one of every three bites of food we eat. So what?s being done to ensure their health?
Last week the Bee Informed Partnership released its preliminary results on annual loses of bee colonies across the U.S.
Between April 2014 and April 2015, American apiarists lost just over 42 percent of all managed honey bee colonies – the second highest annual loss recorded to date. Here in Iowa, beekeepers lost more than 61 percent of their honey bee colonies.
Iowa State University Associate Professor Dr. Matt O?Neal says one reason the colony losses may have been so high is because of an uptick in interest in beekeeping, both because of and in spite of the various problems that beekeepers face.
?Whether you?re commercial and you?ve got years of experience or not,? said O?Neal, ?you?ve got to deal with hard winter conditions? An increased use in insecticides over a ten, 20 year period, and an environment where a lot of [Conservation Reserve Program] and non-crop habitat have been taken out of our environment. So all of these things are making it challenging for beekeepers. And that makes it, I would imagine, harder for small-scale beekeepers just entering in to this activity.?
Coinciding with the Partnership?s survey, the Obama Administration last week released its strategy to promote pollinator health.
The document sets a ten-year deadline for a goal of losing no more than 15 percent of honey bee colonies each winter. It also plans to restore or enhance seven million acres of pollinator habitat in the next five years, with a focus on the I-35 corrider, which is is a key migration pathway for monarch butterflies.
O?Neal says the federal government seems serious about pollinator health.
?If anything, I?m surprised at the scope,? said O?Neal, who found that the report suggested seriousness on the part of the federal government to actively support pollinators. ?There are more than just USDA and EPA on this, there?s a lot of federal agencies ones that you wouldn?t normally think of, like the Department of Defense, but my sense is that?s reflecting the government saying ?We can do things. Not only can we recommend that non-governmental agencies do things,? but the government itself can do things that could help stem this loss.?
To raise awareness of the multiple issues that plague pollinators today and to celebrate National Pollinator Week, bee enthusiasts at ISU will host a Pollinator Festival on Jun 20th at Reiman Gardens in Ames.
To hear more about pollinator losses from Dr. Matt O?Neal, click the audio player above this story.
