Bee decline can be slowed


Growers who care about conservation of wild land around their fields tend to have better pollination. By Judie Steeves


E


ven if we can’t halt the decline in bee populations, we have the ability to slow it. We just need


the will.


And, that’s especially important for growers of crops such as blueberries, the flowers of which require buzz-pollination, which is provided by bumble bees. Wild bees depend on nearby wild habitat to sustain them for most of the year, when blueberries are not in flower.


Elizabeth Elle, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Simon Fraser University, warns that one in three bites on our plate is thanks to a bee. Even some animals rely on pollinated plants in their diet. However, plant reproduction is limited by a lack of pollinators, which may be due in part to ongoing declines in bee populations. She blames the decline on a variety of factors, including diseases and parasites, habitat loss and pesticides. Although there doesn’t appear to be much bee death when pesticides are used responsibly, there can be considerable losses with even a single incident of irresponsible use. Mono-cropping is not helpful in


increasing bee numbers, because bees require sources of pollen and nectar throughout the season, not just for a week or two when that crop is in blossom.


However, when mono-crops are adjacent to uncultivated land, pollination is better, because wild bee populations are larger. They have alternative sources of food once the


JUDIE STEEVES


Elizabeth Elle, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Simon Fraser University.


crop has finished its brief blossom period, she reports.


The other issue for blueberry growers is the variety of blueberry that’s grown, because some are more bee-friendly than others.


After several years of research into blueberry pollination, Elle says Duke are visited more often by bees than other varieties such as Bluecrop, because of the shape of the flower. Duke is wider at the top, where both Draper and Bluecrop are narrow, restricting the bees’ access. She and her students also found that 43 per cent of honey bee visits to


British Columbia Berry Grower • Summer 2016 15


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