What dwindling bee population means for our food supply
Without bees, it’s goodbye to a third of our food. We reveal why we need to care about bee health now more than ever and what you can do to help the dwindling bee population.
You probably know that protecting bees is a good thing, but do you know why? Let’s start with the fact that one in every three bites of the food you eat needs bees to help bring it to your table.
Without bees, your dinners could look very different and cost a lot more than they do today. You may even have to give up coffee! Thought that one would get your attention.
So why do scientists think bees may be at risk? While poor nutrition and pesticides have been cited as causes, the biggest problem is parasites, especially the Varroa mite, which carries bee-killing diseases.
A problem was first noted in the US just over 10 years ago, when beekeepers counting their normal losses over winter reported a sudden surge in the number of empty hives.
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Once identified, the increased losses were echoed elsewhere. Since then, beekeepers in the US have reported losing up to twice as many bees as they can afford to over winter, and wild-bee populations have fallen by 23 per cent.
In Europe, as many as 53 per cent of bees are dying over winter and in China, the native-bee population is now so depleted, farmers have turned to pollinating crops by hand.
POLLINATION 101
Pollination occurs when pollinators like bees, other insects, wind, birds and bats take pollen from the male part of one plant to the female part of another in the same species, which is how a plant makes seeds from which more plants can grow. Not every plant needs bees to pollinate them, though.
“Cereal crops like wheat and rice, which make up the bulk of our diet, are wind-pollinated and this is why we won’t starve if bees die out, but what will be affected are the foods that make our diet diverse and nutritious — like fruit, vegetables and coffee,” explains Australian National University environmental specialist Professor Saul Cunningham.
We have two types of bee in Australia — native bees and European honeybees, which are our main crop pollinators. While you may have an image of this happening as bees fly around the countryside flitting from plant to plant, it’s far more organised than that, to the point that hives are moved in huge quantities to farms when crops need pollination.
“When the almond trees flower, for example, literally truckloads of bees will be moved to a farm to carry out pollination,” says Prof Cunningham.
It’s this ability to mass pollinate that makes honeybees so important to our food supply and why the Varroa mite is so scary. If our bee population catches this, all the wild honeybees and many of the ones used by farms to pollinate our crops will die out ... and that’s when things could start to change.
WHAT FOOD COULD DISAPPEAR?
Let’s start with the crops that will be hardest hit — almonds, apples, avocado, blueberries, cucumber, pumpkin and rockmelon. These are 100 per cent dependent on honeybee pollination to grow successfully.
If the bee population dramatically declines, these foods will either disappear or, more likely, soar in cost as the owners of the hives still left in service charge more for pollination services or farms have to resort to hand pollination — like they’re currently doing in China — where farm workers literally walk from plant to plant themselves doing the job of the bees.
Crops that don’t rely solely on honeybees will suffer less, but the other pollinators they use aren’t as good at the job as bees.
“And if a plant isn’t effectively pollinated, it causes changes in size, shape and the amount of nutrients it contains,” says Prof Cunningham.
“Poorly pollinated plants also have fewer seeds and there’s some evidence that this makes them spoil faster.”
Not only does this mean smaller crops and more waste, it could also affect the nutritional value of the crops.
One 2011 study found that crop plants that depend fully or partially on animal pollinators contain more than 90 per cent of our vitamin C, all of our lycopene, the majority of our vitamin A and a large portion of folic acid. Perhaps the most surprising effect, though, is that the meat industry may also be impacted.
A thick slab of steak may not be something you associate with pollination, but according to Fiona Chambers from the Wheen Bee Foundation: “Animals need protein to grow fast and the protein in their diet comes from clover, which is 100 per cent dependent on bees to pollinate it. If clover stocks fall, it will take animals longer to grow in size and costs of meat will rise.”
Wool and other animal by-products such as leather could also go up.
“It’s this list of associated effects that we really need to think about when it comes to the important role bees play,” says Prof Cunningham.
“Coffee is another good example here. Bees pollinate coffee and while we may be able to live without it if prices soar or crops fail, millions of people around the world, including Australia, are employed by the coffee industry and jobs could be lost.”
There is some good news — currently bees in Australia are OK as the country is free from Varroa (the only continent in the world that is).
“But it’s not if it comes, it’s when,” warns Chambers.
“Only recently, crew on a ship coming into Melbourne noticed a beehive. Biosecurity were called and, yes, the bees were carrying Varroa.”
Native bees are also more resistant to many of the mites Varroa carry — and apiarists (beekeepers) are working out how we can use these more in commercial pollination, but while they buzz about in the background, you can do your part today to help keep both types of bees healthy and happy ...
DO YOUR BIT FOR BEES
Loss of habitat and the use of pesticides are the two main threats that bees currently face in Australia — here’s what you can do to help
1. PLANT MORE FLOWERS
“The number-one thing you can do is to plant more flowers,” says Chambers.
“Bees love flowers, particularly purple and blue ones.”
Adding bee hotels can also give bees a space to lay their eggs, but don’t buy a hive.
“The bees we have are competing for limited resources, so bringing in more bees is not the answer.”
2. NIX TOXINS FROM YOUR GARDEN
Pesticides are another threat to our bee population and while it’s tricky for commercial farmers to stop using these and keep costs down, “there’s no reason why a home garden can’t be maintained without them — pull weeds up by hand and look into natural ways to deter any pests eating plants”, Prof Cunningham advises.
3. PURCHASE AUSTRALIAN HONEY
Most beekeepers’ profits come from the honey they make, so purchasing it gives them the money to sustain hives. More importantly, “when you buy Australian honey, you also support bees pollinating Australian food crops”, says Chambers.
“It doesn’t need to be local. As long as it’s produced by Australian bees, it helps.”
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